Do you interleave full-time and consulting gigs? If so, how does that work in practice? Wouldn't doing a fulltime job for a while tend to dry up your client pipeline, as they find someone else for urgent work? With that in mind, when is it worth it to even try to find a fulltime job? I'm about to start my career, and wondering how hard it is to walk the line between consulting and "regular" jobs.
As you mention, having a client pipeline is the easiest way to find contracts. My last fulltime job came out of a contract - they wanted me on board. Worked for a few years, then they changed direction.
I thought work might have dried up. But I got a call the next day from somebody who had dug up my number in an old rolodex, desperate to get me to pick up the slack on a project. So, right back in the saddle!
That works better if you have 10 or 20 years of experience at different places. So there are people out there thinking of you.