Name: Robert Buckingham
Title: Computer Consultant
Location: Dallas, TX
Years as an Independent Contractor: 10

Monster.com: What kind of independent contractor are you?

Robert Buckingham: Right now, I'm the year 2000 project manager for Latin America and the Caribbean at Compaq Computer Corporation. I'm a computer consultant who's been in the business for 20 years, and an independent contractor for over 10.

Mc: What pushed you to go solo?

RB: I've had several companies that I've worked for that went into receivership, out of business or were bought by another company. I worked for quite a while for consulting firms, and at the last one I worked in the manufacturing division. When peace broke out the division went away because it was in the aerospace industry. I've been an independent contractor ever since. I have full security and I haven't had any down time. I no longer depend on company employment. I do it for security. I make enough money that I don't need the benefits; I purchase my own. I choose my own thing.

Mc: At what point did you realize that you could actually make a living on your own?

RB: It was probably a couple of years in. For a while I had some anxiety attacks, like it was up to me to keep a paycheck. But after a while I found out that, hey, nothing's happened to me. I learned to be lax and start picking and choosing the technology. And I would only go to good locations.

Mc: What's the biggest mistake you've made to date?

RB: My daughter was just graduated from medical school last year. I had this idea that I had to have a paycheck. Because I was worried I wouldn't have a paycheck, sometimes I went to a place I didn't want to go for things I didn't want to do. If I had just waited a week I would have gotten what I wanted. I was just being impatient.

Mc: What was your most memorable contract?

RB: The Miami Herald job. I did a conversion from IBM 3090 to HP 3000 platforms. I had a blast there. It was right off South Beach, across the bay. I got my scuba license there, down in the Keys, and met a lot of interesting people. The Miami Herald had this idea that everybody who worked there, including contractors, should know something about the newspaper business. So, I had to go out at midnight, follow a newspaper from conception, through the building, to the shipping docks and the distribution points. I had to see all the different ways newspapers are sold, from families putting inserts into the paper to street vendors. I also sold newspapers. I had a little Miami Herald hat on, getting paid good money to sell newspapers. The contract ran about six months, but I wished it was longer.

Mc: What has going solo meant to you personally?

RB: I don't run out of money at the end of the week. I can spend whatever I want to spend. There's nobody who's going to lay me off or force me into early retirement. I have independence as a person, not just as an independent contractor. I get offered permanent jobs at just about every place I contract out to. I say no. And it's always an adventure.

Mc: Any advice for your fellow soloists?