First Foray Into Contracting: PVD Products

A taste of what’s possible

After Mytide imploded at the beginning of Summer 2023, I took a few months to casually apply to jobs and spend a lot of time traveling and resetting myself. Despite the basement of my house catching on fire, it was overall an excellent summer. In parallel to a halfhearted job search and interview process, I also made my first steps into the world of contracting.

I had been hoping to snag some of the work for clients that had been left undone by an indefinitely shut-down Mytide, as well as use some of my connections to find additional freelance work, but ultimately those didn’t peter out (at least, at that moment – who knows what the future may hold?).

However, I did end up getting recommended for a quick-turn job to help out PVD Products. They needed some shielding for one of their new systems drawn up and made ready-for-manufacture. The original estimate of work was around six weeks; I completed it (with a bonus side project while awaiting revision review) in a little over two.

Though the experience was short, it felt right – there was me, the client, the work, and that was it. The incentives aligned for me to work at a higher efficiency (the first draft of the project was complete in only 3 days!). I look forward to further work in this style.