Man, i feel like i'd be worried about droughts of jobs.Any advice on dealing with that stress? I take a lot of value out of standard jobs and stable companies.
It depends on the market and your skillset. You can test the market right now by polishing up your CV & profile (LinkedIn is actually a good source of leads), getting in touch with some recruiters and seeing if you can get some offers, and adjust your rates & risk tolerance based on this.
At least in the UK, the contract market seems quite good for this early in the year, and usually peaks around summer. YMMV.
It obviously depends on your situation and whether you have any responsibilities; my opinion would probably be different if I had a family, but in my case I have little to lose even if things go sour. I won't be able to do this forever so I make the most out of it while I can still afford the risk.
It's always good to have a financial buffer, but I've never really needed it. Recruiters find me on LinkedIn and call or mail me. I generally blow them off or ignore them, unless I'm actively looking or they have something that catches my eye.
I suppose I could do my own acquisition; cutting out the middle man would probably increase my hourly rate, but that's a lot of work I don't like, and this works well enough for me.
