I ended up doing some client work which ended last year. It lasted about 7 months, and was a pretty good project to work on. A few months after the project ended, I heard back from someone at the same company, but someone I never dealt with the first time around. Another project came up, and they wanted me to join, but at the time, I wasn’t too interested.

The big concern at the time was, like most project work I have taken on so far, I would actually be required to travel to the client. This came up the first time around, and I actually hated it. Part of the issue with traveling was the way I structured the contract. Instead of my rate plus expenses, I just listed a higher rate when I am actually onsite.

That sounds great in theory, but I totally called it wrong. I had to travel for 2 days, and the additional amount that I get paid covers very little of the expenses I incur while traveling. Despite hating it the first time around, I kept the same agreement. However, I just turned the project down. Traveling was far too inconvenient to deal with.

About a month goes by, and I hear back. The project is still available. I find out that someone was hired to do it, but with the sponsorship regulations now in place, there was a problem getting work authorization. Since I am a US citizen, I become the top prospect since none of that would apply to me. Since I walked out of my office job, I could technical travel now. But luckily for me, they were in a bind, and removed the traveling requirement.

Last week, I talked to the technical architect on the project and the call went well. It was a whole lot shorter than what I thought it would be, but since I am not new to everyone, I figured I got recommended and the whole call was mainly a formality.

Today I finished the last round with the project manager. 11 minutes after the call ended, I received the offer to start the project. This is actually a project that I would want. I liked the people that I talked to, and I like the work. It is the exact type of work I like to do, and the project is a fairly large project that has the potential to last 2 to 3 years. Everything about it was positive.

It just so happens to be an additional bonus that it comes just a few weeks after leaving the office job. I have about 2 weeks before I am supposed to start, but this bring my total client count up to 2, this and the Chicago client that is still going strong…well, as strong as it ever was.