Journey vs. Destination

Everyone needs ways of talking about themselves. And many people  says “I’m <name> blah blah blah” in their own heads because we don’t really like to talk about ourselves to ourselves.

On the other hand, you need to practice your personal introduction so you don’t end up vocalizing something that sounds like “blah blah blah” to the other person.

I’ve got my twitter self-description:

I’ve made DNA scanners, inertial boxes for airplanes and racecars, children’s toys, a gunshot location system and other neat gadgets. Oh, and I wrote a book!

Which then links to my book. This is my basic go-to introduction in a networking context (not that I quote it, it provides the highlights of what I say when meeting someone new). People often want to hear more about one of my past projects, so it starts a conversation. Plus I give the other person the option to choose the conversation path while still talking about *me*.

Ok, that last bit is terrible. Conversations do not need to revolve around me. Though, if my intro lets a conversation start that way for a minute, that’s ok. My followup question back to them is either a request for info about them or a query as to why they are interested in whatever path we’ve gone down.

See, the goal is to have an introduction that starts a conversation. Like a chess game, it is the opening gambit. Plus, I’ve given myself a plan for dealing with whatever move they make. Hopefully after we’ve each moved twice, the conversation is in play and we can stop with these silly games, get to real connections.

I’ve been thinking about this today because I’ve been writing other introductions to myself.

I wrote Making Embedded Systems for O’Reilly. I have shipped dozens of projects from DNA scanners to children’s toys to FAA certified airplane system. I have made many simple embedded systems (so many projects seem to be LEGO blocks: processor, sensor, some software algorithms, connect to USB, Bluetooth or WiFi, etc.). I also enjoy projects with more complicated math (signal processing, machine learning, control loops). For example, I worked at ShotSpotter, identifying gunshots in the midst of busy city soundscapes. I’ve been an engineer, a manager, and a director.  While the others roles were interesting and rewarding, I prefer engineering. I am founder of Logical Elegance, a consulting company focusing on embedded software.

I wrote that as an introduction to a company that I’d like a contract with. I didn’t want to just send my resume as I hate getting cold calls. I think this describes my skills and personality without taking all day. It may need to be broken into paragraphs but I didn’t for that email.

I had to write a section on a form, 1000 characters of “achievements” so I took the above email-description, made a few tweaks and wondered what else made me who I am. So I added this at the end:

I’m easily amused but care deeply about the application and users of the products I work on.

It isn’t exactly an “achievement” but it fits (to me).

In the same form, I had to write a linkedin-like 300 character description “what I do” so here is what I came up with.

I write software for things that aren’t computers, whether you call that firmware or embedded software. I like the little processors, dealing with their RAM, ROM, cycle, power constraints. I design and implement system architectures.

These forms are tough because I want to keep saying the same thing over and over again. I have to work to find a different spin. Ideally, something that will make the person reading it contact me to work on something neat. 

I wonder if I should change my LinkedIn profile. Let’s see… yes, it is getting a little stale:

My goal is to make interesting gizmos that make the world a better place.

I have deep experience in embedded systems and signal processing over a broad range of applications: a gunshot location system, educational toys, inertial measurement in race cars and airplanes; and a DNA scanner.

I am interested in solving big picture problems, producing quality designs and implementation, and delivering excellent technology products.

I can help you with signal processing, hardware/software intersections, complex system problems and resource constrained systems.

All this and management and mentoring experience.

Specialties: Embedded systems!

Preferred languages: C/C++, Matlab, some assembly, some python

And then it goes into acronym bingo with processors that is annoyingly out of date. And that “Specialties” line needs to go. I’m glad I wrote my new intros without looking at this. It sounds too sell-y to me know. What was I thinking?

Well, I kinda merged my new one with my old one. You should be able to see it on my public profile.

People don’t like to talk about how much they make. Fair enough, I’m not going to be a trend breaker. On the other hand, engineers new to contracting often have questions about what they should charge. It really all depends. But I can give a slightly more useful answer than that.

You could take the salary you currently make, divide by 40 hours/week (or however many you work), then divide that by 52 weeks/year. This is what companies want to pay you and what some companies expect you to take. Unless you are hurting for work this is a really, really bad deal.

See, you don’t work 52 weeks a year in a full time job, with 10 paid holidays, 5 days off sick and 10 days off for vacation, you’d only work 47 weeks a year. A full time job pays part of your social security which you will now pay as self employment tax, 13.3% for 2012. If you’d found you were making $1/hour in the initial calculation ($2080/year), you probably find you are closer to $1.25.

And a full time job has perks, health care is the big one that can be expensive to manage as a solo contractor. But don’t forget the dental and vision coverage, retirement savings programs, lunches, stock options, and assorted other benefits. Even if they aren’t contributing to your 401k, they may have the benefit in place so you don’t have to deal with it yourself. It can be a hassle.

Oh, and as a contractor, you are supposed to provide (and maintain) your own gear. This can be good (tax deductible gadgets!) but can get expensive. And billing hours and dealing with clients who haven’t paid you is part of being a contractor so you need a little buffer in your month for that.

You could keep adding things up but for a back of the envelope calculation, I go about it all differently.

How much would you want to make in a full time salary? Use salary.com or whatever is good for your industry to figure out a range for what you should make. If that research shows you should make $1,000 per year, then you should be charging $1/hour. Where the divide by weeks and hours method gave you a lower bound, this one usually gives a higher bound.

From this higher bound, I often give discounts (and occasionally adders) based on how much I like the product, how much I’ll learn about technology I’m interested, if they’ll be engaging a little time (more expensive) or lots of time over months (less expensive). If I know I like the people, I’ll charge less. If the client tends to need high-priority emergency time, I’ll charge them more (because it is harder to fit in other projects without good planning). And if the client wants short term loans from me, they get charged more (about 5% per 15 days after the initial 30, I do not appreciate net-90).

So do I charge different clients, different rates? Yes. And usually if multiple clients want things at the same time, I work on whichever one is paying the most (with exceptions whenever I’ve promised a completion date, promises before cash). And I’m upfront with my clients that they aren’t only ones I’m working for so they understand this.

I don’t usually carry more than two clients, heck I don’t always carry more than one since I like to work on my own projects but I try to treat my project time like client time (I even clock in and out of my own lab books sometimes).

It is easy to think about every hour of your day being billable (e.g., “I should have pizza delivered instead of spending an hour making dinner”). That can be dangerous to your mental health. Sleeping is just money being thrown away.

Finally, a bonus suggestion for new contractors: figure out what you can live on and make goals for yourself. Put upper bounds on your goals as well as lower. Getting burnt out or physically hurt (or not hired because you aren’t doing good work because you haven’t slept in six months) is more expensive than reasonable goals.