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| 1. |
CPUniverse |
| We had to travel to a parallel universe to find our top pick for Contract Employee sites. In this universe – the CPUniverse – you’ll find a host of wonderful information about available jobs, employers, tax laws, insurance information, travel resources and in-depth articles about the business. And if you find yourself dragging a bit on your job, be sure to click the “procrastinate” button at the top of the page -– this is filled with gems like the ‘Bill Gates wealth clock’ and a dream interpretation site. CPuniverse is also the website for Contract Professional Magazine, so here’s where you have to pay to get content ($24.95/12 issues). This site is a definite must for all contract employees. |
| URL: http://www.cpuniverse.com |
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| 2. |
Realrates.com |
| You’re going to love this one. Realrates.com does offer you rates for consultants and contractors, but you’ll find much more than that. You’ll find salary surveys for industry-specific jobs, tips and gotchas, a contract database, a search consultants/contractors directory and current news. But don’t miss out on the humorous links! The staff for this site obviously wants to help lighten things up a bit with discussions like: The worst contractor you ever knew; sequential fiction writing; and silly interviews. Check it out! |
| URL: http://www.realrates.com/ |
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| 3. |
Contract Job Hunter |
| Our journey through the treacherous contract employee site jungle led us to a familiar hunting ground for the CE – CJHunter.com. The prey of information is abundant here as the folks of CJhunter also offer a CEWeekly publication (you have to pay for this content). This double resource makes for a powerful contract employee tool. Within, you’ll locate numerous job-finding features, including a cheap way to blast your resume to the top employers in your region. CJhunter also has a fee-for-service area for added employment ideas. This site does a good job providing free external information, such as relocation tools, education links and much, much more. |
| URL: http://www.cjhunter.com |
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| 4. |
The Contract Employee's Handbook |
| Eureka! You just hit paydirt! Let prospector ‘Dungree Dan’ walk you through a witty but informative handbook of the pluses and minuses of the CE world. Use him as your insider to the industry to get started in the CE community. Mine the golden nuggets or this site, such as the CE Bill of Rights, true stories of real contract employee wins and losses with employers, and a great area on how the system works. This site has really done a good job to gather information from real CEs to highlight the pitfalls and intricacies of becoming a contract employee. Also associated with this site is the Professional Association of Contract Employees or Pacepros. This is a CE agency that offers an umbrella service to technical and professional contract workers. This organization provides financial and back-office support services for self-reliant contract employees. We felt this site is useful because it is one of the best overall employee service sites we could locate on the net. |
| URL: http://www.cehandbook.com/ |
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| 5. |
Contract Employment Resources |
| This site may not be the most aesthetically pleasing, but dig in and you can easily find tons of contractor-related resources: tax explanations, how to negotiate a contract, how to write a contract; tips on mistakes to avoid; links to resume services; links to placement services and professional associations. And it’s all coming from one man who’s been there, and it makes a big difference. You really feel like someone is guiding you in the right direction. A diamond in the rough, but worth every click you make. |
| URL: http://www5.palmnet.net/~puriarte/prof.htm |
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| 6. |
Freeagent.com
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| Break free with this top-to-bottom small business/contract employee site. The circle of services on the front page is a good place to get caught up on the amenities this site has to offer. Much like PacePro, which as we mentioned can be found through the above cehandbook.com link, Freeagent.com also provides an umbrella service for the CE. Aside from the mundane legal, health and employment services, there are a bunch of fresh articles on the industry from a large division of experts. Features like advice column Ask Ronna, Free Agent 101 for novices and Handy-e-Men for the ‘e’ in you -- make for fun reads that are as amusing as they are informative. |
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URL: www.freeagent.com
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| 7. |
Software Contractors' Guild |
| You may have to scratch the surface a little to find this site’s true potential, but once you surf around a bit we think you will find this user group site as useful as we did. The Software Contractors’ Guild has put together a nice array of resources for the CE employee. For a small fee of $20/year you can post your resume on the site. But without plunking down any cash you can still use this site to your advantage by scanning the hundreds of employer thumbnails and contact names. Also you can find a local user group near you to help make the job search easier. Read their newsletter and browse through the nearly 500 job listings. |
| URL: http://scguild.com |
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| 8. |
Contract Employment Daily |
| The cedaily.com site is primarily a forum site for CEs by CEs. What this site lacks in concrete information it makes up in true contractor experiences. Fellow contract employee share their knowledge in a forum setting on the industry, ranging from tax information, legal advice, and real horror stories that many have gone through with employers. This site does have a job listing section, although upon inspection, we found it to be somewhat thin. Stick with the categories that are deep with user participation and you might find the knowledge that will save yourself from a CE disaster. |
| URL: http://www.cedaily.com |
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| 9. |
National Association for the Self-Employed |
| As a Contract Employee, you can also look at yourself as a small business. The National Association for the Self-Employed site is definitely a good place to find reliable information. Geared toward the small business, this site still covers the major issues plaguing the CE. This site also taps into the content provided by Self-Employed America magazine. This publication has quality articles and information that every small business owner/CE contractor could use to make their business run more smoothly. Another plus: small business links, tax tips and reference material for the individual. This site is worth a look. |
| URL: http://www.nase.org/default.htm |
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| 10. |
ZDNet Small Business |
| Rounding out the top ten is another small business site. This isn’t contractor-specific, but you’ll get loads of information and product reviews that are geared for working on your own. Check out ZDNet’s Small Business advice center for timely articles on the most pressing issues a small business owner or a CE might be curious about. This site can be used as a one-stop shopping center for office supplies, or as a tool to find the latest news. |
| URL: http://www.zdnet.com/smallbusiness/ |
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| 11. |
Temp 24-7 |
Proceed with caution, and take a peek at one of the sites that didn’t make the top ten -- not because we didn’t like it but because it is just too wacky for words. Take a walk on the wild side of the Contract Employee world with ‘Site 11’…
Temp 24-7 lets you ‘share the pain’ of other temps and contract employees. Read the tales of horror submitted from users with sad tales of horrific woe. Also, let it all hang out and gripe away to the resident queen of the complaint ‘Dear Blabby’. If those features still do not satisfy you, take your frustrations out on the permanent employees and go ballistic with the online game Temps vs. Suits. This site is a riot -- take a look! |
| URL: http://www.temp24-7.com/LIVE/issue/current/home_frames.html |
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