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La Lettre de l'Indépendant en Informatique |
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This is a translation of a few paragraphs of the article.
Eric Poncet, Engineer of the CNAM, works in Paris area, where he offers mainly consulting services to his clients. He told us about his career, his experience, and the way he makes contacts. His clients, an engineering office and an automotive consortium, also give their opinion...
On March 1st, 1991, after an 8-year work experience and 7 years of night classes, Eric Poncet graduates at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers. He decides to setup his own company: "Intuition".
Explains the 28 years old Engineer, "I aim mostly at solving complex tuning problems in a very wide range, which requires not only knowledge and efficiency, but also intuition!"
To start up, he contacts companies (30% of which by phone) and former school or work friends, most of whom are now employed. Says he, "It's good to keep a good address book, and remind friends that you're still around; they can well have become Project Managers in some company".
On his working methods, Eric clearly tells his mind: "One should try to avoid working for a computer services company: you make less money in a more risky context, not to mention a lack of control on the final work".
Keen on challenges, Eric confesses he's happy to reduce runtime execution of a program from 2h30 down to 8 minutes - a trick he did for a big oil company - showing the ambition of this definitely independent Engineer.
He acknowledges that "The price to pay for independence is that you have to pay for your own social insurance, and to accept ups and downs in order to come up with a good average".
In order to attract a client on a first contract, Eric doesn't hesitate to do him a favor. He adds, "Later, I apply market prices... otherwise it would hurt our profession".
He works on limited-budget and time-based contracts at the same time. In order to keep up-to-date, he spends intercontract time on self-education.
Eric likes to work on a limited-budget basis, for flexibility, and enjoys doing what he wants to do, when and where he wants to do it, aiming only at doing a quality job.
. Pay a lawyer to strengthen soundness of your contracts
. Make out invoices on a monthly basis, to ensure healthy cashflow
. Before starting contract, ask for a signed order with prices and terms of payment
. Print a monthly production report, and have it validated by your client
. Get a special insurance for professional liability
. Important mails should be sent with acknowledgment of receipt
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References/Articles: L'Usine Nouvelle (French original)
| L'Usine Nouvelle (English translation)
La Lettre de l'Indépendant (French original)
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