Slashdot Mirror
Switching to Contracting?
SoonToBeWorking asks: "I recently did a telephone interview for what I thought would be an absolutely wonderful job. It is primarily embedded Linux, with a stable employer that was less than 10 miles from my residence. The interview went extremely well, until the end. The position was listed as full-time but they want me to come on as contractor because the approval is easier to get. Then, I am told they would move me to full-time. I'm recently married, and looking for stable income because I have more than myself to look out for now (kids are not present or on the way for several years yet). I've never contracted before, so I am in unfamiliar territory. I hear a lot of good things -- 3-day work weeks and crazy amounts of money, but is the lack of stability worth it? I know I need my own health & life insurance, but what else? How do I convert my base salary to a contractor rate? Without a 401k or a 403b, how do I take care of retirement?"
What a timing! I'm recently thinking of moving from permanent employment to contract works, not that I don't enjoy my current income, but the inability to do something else in the quiet period (unlke Google which allows employees to work 1 day a week on their own hobby/project) is a killer. I'm a developer and all I want is to develop/create things, not sitting around waiting 3 months for PHB to approve a 8-week project.
I'm also thinking of my future income and lifestyle. Contractors seem to have more exposures to different industry/management styles, I hope to be more in-demand with such exposures, and through word-of-mouth, as long as you did good in the previous jobs, it shouldn't be too hard to find another contract. Your permanent employer probably wouldn't do word-of-mouth for you to many others.
And let's not be fooled into thinking you have a stable job by being "permanently" employed. You're only employed as permanently as the required notice period, 4 weeks maybe?
Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
I've been contracting for the last 5 years..
With the company I am presently with, for 2 years. They constantly dangle the "full time" carrot, but never deliver. I've found this with every place I have contracted, they talk the talk, but make excuses when its time to pay up on promises.
i hate pansy republicans
There's a number of different options for independent contractors as regards to retirements savings. You can actually save more than an employee as an independent contractor. You can put 25% of their income up to $41K / year into a retirement savings account.
The Google keywords are: independent contractor retirement savings.
In Soviet Russia, I ruled you
Depends on the job. Most contracts I've taken have been short-term for almost that reason: if you don't work out, they want to be able to get rid of you.
If you're right for the job, then chances are the contract will be extended (depending on what kind of job it is). I've never had a contract that only lasted as long as the initial duration, and about half of them have lead to full time positions.
Dont be fooled into thinking that a non-contractor position is any safer than being a contractor.
The market is still brutal and there is no loyalty anymore between corporations and their employees. I would take the position in a heartbeat.
Good Luck!
You should carefully weigh what you feel. Do you have a natural drive or are you more interested in things outside your sphere of work? If you have the need to charge forward and can self-motivate then, assuming you have decent social skills, you could probably make yourself a better living as a contractor. As for your questions about health and retirement I would suggest you check with a local expert. Perhaps your bank or your lawyer could point you in the right direction. That direction, of course, is a decent accountant (similar to a geek but it doesn't count in binary, it counts in $).
What is important to remember is that you really will need to have good social skills, I have seen so many "coders" try to go independant and fail because they think that they can just "geek" their way through.. uh uh uh... nope, wear that suit and articulate properly, yes, go for aftershave! As an independant, YOU are the executive and you must look the part. I cannot stress this enough!!
Good luck and Go get 'em tiger!
-if at first you don't succeed, stay the heck away from paragliding.