Posted in Freelancer,
"So, what does the onboarding process look like?"
In a permanent role, it is a perfectly natural question. Onboarding is something that happens to you: an induction, a laptop, a list of people to meet. As an independent, it is the wrong question.
Ben, our Head of Interim, heard it recently from a candidate who had built a hugely successful permanent career and had just accepted their first fractional contract. They were ready to go, but they were waiting to be told where to sit, who to meet and what to do first. After years of permanent employment, they were still thinking like a new hire.
Ben and I ended up talking for a long time about that one question, because it captures the biggest shift anyone makes when they go independent. You are not the new hire. You are the consultant. And the sooner you think like one, the better it goes for you and for your client.
Thinking like a consultant is what your client is paying for, and it is also what HMRC expects. Clients bring in independents for expertise, a fresh view and someone who can get on with it without being managed. HMRC, meanwhile, wants to be sure you are genuinely in business on your own account and not a disguised employee.
From my own experience, when things go wrong between an independent and a client, it is often because the independent has slipped into acting like an employee. They wait to be told what to do, they take on work outside the brief, they slot into the team structure. None of it is done with bad intent, but it blurs the line for everyone.
The IR35 rules are a useful lens here. HMRC and the courts look at three core questions: control, personal service (the right of substitution) and mutuality of obligation. They also look beyond the contract to how the work actually happens day to day. Understanding what these three really mean helps make the mindset shift feel natural rather than technical.
As an independent, you are in control of how you work and when. That does not mean working in isolation. You will of course agree with the client what success looks like, the deadlines and how you will keep them updated. But the how is yours. The client is buying an outcome, not supervising your day.
Which brings us back to onboarding. Ben's advice to the candidate was spot on. Rather than waiting for the client to run them through an induction, they should contact the client and set out what they need to get started properly: the information and access required, the key stakeholders to meet, and the first milestones. In other words, they lead their own onboarding so they can deliver what was agreed from day one.
A simple test: if you find yourself asking "what would you like me to do today?", pause. A consultant asks "here is what I need to deliver what we agreed, can we make that happen?"
If you work through your own limited company, remember that the client has contracted with a company, not with you as an individual. That means if you cannot do the work, it is your responsibility to make sure the client's needs are still met.
This is one of the real benefits of being part of The Work Crowd. If you need to step away, you and the client can work with us to find a substitute. That person must have the right skills and experience for the job, and the client can reasonably check that. But if they do, the client should accept them.
The mindset shift here is to think about the problem you are solving and the solution you are providing, not the job you are filling. Work is an outcome, not a destination. Your permanent colleagues often treat it as the latter: a place they go. As an independent, it is the result you deliver.
You are there to deliver an agreed piece of work. That means you drive it. You use your initiative, you take ownership and you get it done. What you cannot do is expect more work simply to land with you once it is finished, the way it would in a permanent role.
The flip side is freedom. Once the agreed work is complete, you can say no to further work, just as the client can end the contract when the work is done. If the client asks you to pick up something new, treat it as a new piece of work: scope it, agree it and, where needed, update the contract. Quietly absorbing extra tasks is one of the quickest ways to start looking like an employee.
IR35 only applies if you work through a limited company, but the same thinking applies to sole traders. Clients can still check your employment status, and they look at the same things: who controls the work, whether it has to be you, and whether either side is obliged to carry on. Act like a business and you will be treated like one.
The small things add up. Use your own laptop where you can, stay outside the client's team structure, have your own insurance and keep an eye on your next piece of work. None of this is about ticking boxes. It is about running your own business, and showing it.
I use IR35 and status checks to illustrate the point, but the point itself is bigger than tax. You are your own business. You are the consultant who has been brought in for your expertise: to solve a problem, find a solution, take a company from A to B or hit a business objective.
That means being a leader from the very first conversation. Have confidence in what you are doing and what you need to do it well. Tell the client how you work, what you need from them and how you will report progress. Of course, work with them, because it has to work for them too. But do not wait to be onboarded. Onboard yourself.
The experience you built in your permanent career is exactly why clients want you. The shift is simply in how you bring it.
If you are making the move to independent working and want to talk it through, we would love to hear from you at The Work Crowd.
MMadeleine Weightman is Co-Founder and COO at The Work Crowd, working with businesses to find flexible solutions and helping consultants build rewarding portfolio careers.
Whether you need interim, fractional or freelance expertise for a project, to plug a gap or upskill your team, or you are exploring new opportunities as an independent consultant, The Work Crowd can help you connect to the right person.