Perhaps things are different in the hardware arena than in firmware, but less than half of the work I've done over the years since 1980, when I formed my company, has been at the outset of the project. Mostly, I'm engaged to fix the problems other have either created and are still around to defend/explain, or have left behind without adequate documentation.

I've been engaged as you were on that occasion a number of times, albeit not as a full-time employee, as, having once worked independently, I seldom wanted to "work for the man" after that. One noteable exception was when an old friend had taken over a project in an aerospace company here, and wanted some new eyes on the project.

Maybe it's because of what I charged 'em, but most often I've only been called-upon when the project was seriously behind schedule and often also over budget. Sometimes I've had authority to get rid of problem personalities, most generally by making the recommendation rather than simply by firing them. Generally, and this has mostly been in the far-distant past, it's been those guys who think their own business to be more important than getting their work done who've caused the schedule slips and budget overruns. You can recognize them by the fact they're always on their cellphones, talking loudly while others try to ignore them.

In my own shop, we don't tolerate cellphones and iPods. They're time-wasters. Of course, if we don't notice them, it's not so bad, i.e. if it's just texting or playing the audio so quietly that we don't hear it, we don't take 'em out and shoot 'em.

BTW, what I've found about price is that the only difference between working for $180/hr and $60/hr is how they treat you. Go in cheap, and they treat you badly. Charge 'em a lot, and they treat you very well. Of course, that's predicated on your doing a quality job.

RE