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I'm nearing fourties, only working intermittent contracts, managed to accumulate enough for a modest FIRE through them (would like a bit more to upgrade the lifestyle though), spend a lot of time between contracts working on things that interest me. On personal front, I haven't been in relationship for over 10 years now (don't have kids as well). I feel like I'm an outlier as far as general population goes, probably not as much here in HN.

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How much length do you leave between contracts? How have you found scaring up contract work after long layoffs to go?

I'm in a somewhat similar situation but I'm scared to leave too long of a gap. Not so much worried about the resume gap as falling off on networking and the other things that lead to getting more work. It seems like I'll probably end up working mostly continuously for the next couple years while pursuing FIRE.

My gaps are usually 6-12 months long. I have significant in experience in a hot technology, so I’m currently not that worried about getting new contracts. I find them from internet ads only. As for getting referrals via contacts, I get the feeling that my developer colleagues don't like me very much - I don't share the typical philosophies of the field (huge overcomplication, willy-nilly adding technologies to the stack). Managers quite like me I think - they're happy to see a developer who says the job can be done without changing the stack every quarter. However, they tend to stay in a single company for a long time, so are a poor source of referrals.

Gotcha, thanks for the reply.

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