5 Steps Before Becoming a Freelancer in the Security Market

“There is such high demand in the security market – I’ve decided to become a freelancer.”

There are two types of people who say this: people who are truly at the stage of becoming a freelancer, and young consultants with little work experience who think freelancing is the same as a permanent job but just earning more money.

The last person who said this to me was a female (high demand) IAM (high demand) technical specialist (high demand) with 5 years’ (high demand) experience.

She’s under high demand for a permanent opportunities. Not freelance work… that’s where the confusion comes in.

Are you actually a “consultant” or do you work for a consultancy and have the title of Consultant? Or is it just because of money?

I get it. There’s "so much more" money when you freelance.

Yeah. But only if you have consistent work.

What VALUE can you bring? If it’s just about earnings, then you need to rethink your value proposition.

Have you led a global transformation project? A new tool roll-out? An upgrade project? Great. Did you run this project end-to-end? At what scale? How many times have you done this?

5 steps before becoming a freelancer in the security market:

1) Work out how many decision-making contacts you have.

Real contacts, you know: CISOs, CIOs, Directors with budget responsibility. If you have fewer than 5 people who know you by name – don’t even think about it. Get that list up to 10, and you’re getting somewhere. 15-20 and you’re looking better.

2) Contact them.

Tell them what you’re thinking about doing and ask their advice. Would they hire a freelancer with your skills? If you’re too nervous to contact them, then they’re not a real contact. Remove them from your list.

3) Your back-up plan.

Calculate how long not earning between contracts you are willing to wait before you go back to getting a permanent job. Add 4-6 weeks because that’s how long it takes to get a permanent job offer.

Will your first contract bring you enough money? Think about set-up costs for a business, living expenses, holiday pay, etc. Write a budget.

If you’ve got enough people who back you, your budget works out, and you really think you can line up some work – then go and become a freelancer. But be prepared to continue networking and remember to keep money aside when you’re not earning during the holidays, when you’re ill, etc.

4) Build your network.

If you’re not there yet: then build up your contact network. It won’t happen overnight. You need to look at the kind of company you’re working in, and the people you interact with. You may need to move to another job first as a “stepping-stone”.

If you’re at a consultancy: you’ll have more exposure to multiple clients, so you may get the opportunity to impress multiple people with budget responsibility. Build this network.

If you’re working internally for a company: then get networking across the security community.

Then look at this again in 12 months and see how you get on.

5) Know who the good freelance recruiters are.

You want people who specialise in freelance work, not someone who mainly does permanent recruitment with the occasional contract position to help out a client.

Remember: recruiters will put the best candidates forward to any opportunity. Can you really compete with that 15+ years’ experience freelancer on £750/day? Do you even make the shortlist (usually the top 3-5 candidates for freelance work). Don’t compete only on price. What else can you offer?

Does this recruiter have consistent freelance work for the same skillset? Recommendations from candidates? You want to build a relationship with them if they’re a good freelance recruiter.

It’s a great time working in information and cyber security. But make sure you’re planning long-term and not just short-term. Training, relationships, and gaining leadership skills working for company may outweigh a bit of extra short-term money and the risk involved with being a freelancer.

Have I missed anything out?

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Whenever you’re ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:

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→ Read our Free Guides: 10 Step Guide To Hiring A Security Specialist and 7 Steps To Fix Your Recruitment Process.

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→ Or speak to me directly here: Book a Security Hiring Strategy Session. 

2. If you're a Candidate:

→ Read our Free Guide: How To Negotiate Salary.

→ We place security specialists across Europe. Get in touch if you are looking for another opportunity.

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