Whether you decide to work on a contracting basis or take a full time job...form a Board of Directors for your career. This is the only way you're going to get the best advice for your unique personality. It takes a special type of person to do contracting work sucessfully, and the decisions surrounding this type of work have to be made by people that know you and your situation.
When you find three or four people that you trust, ask them to join your "Board" and then let them run your career. The first thing they'll probably have you do, is to write a mission statement and a 5 year business plan. This "forces" you to make some decisions about what you want your future to be and then a strategic plan on how you're going to get there.
There's a good reason why successful companies have a Board of Directors...because they work! If you treat your career like a business, you'll soon realize that it doesn't matter whether your full-time / part-time / contractor / whatever... instead of waking up each day and "trying your best"...you have a solid business/career/life plan in place.
I did this for myself about 10 years ago and the difference is like night and day. The downside (if you want to call it that) is that I can't walk into my boss' office today and quit...such a move would need Board approval. I needed Board approval when I wanted to get another graduate degree. As usual, the Board wanted to know costs...benefits...timeframe..etc. before making a decision.
The fact that you posted your question shows that you have the right frame of mind. We all like to think that when it comes to our career, only we know what's best for us. Forming a Board of Directors is going to be a lot more work and it takes a lot of humility...but it's worth it.
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Whether you decide to work on a contracting basis or take a full time job...form a Board of Directors for your career. This is the only way you're going to get the best advice for your unique personality. It takes a special type of person to do contracting work sucessfully, and the decisions surrounding this type of work have to be made by people that know you and your situation. When you find three or four people that you trust, ask them to join your "Board" and then let them run your career. The first thing they'll probably have you do, is to write a mission statement and a 5 year business plan. This "forces" you to make some decisions about what you want your future to be and then a strategic plan on how you're going to get there. There's a good reason why successful companies have a Board of Directors...because they work! If you treat your career like a business, you'll soon realize that it doesn't matter whether your full-time / part-time / contractor / whatever ... instead of waking up each day and "trying your best"...you have a solid business/career/life plan in place.
I did this for myself about 10 years ago and the difference is like night and day. The downside (if you want to call it that) is that I can't walk into my boss' office today and quit...such a move would need Board approval. I needed Board approval when I wanted to get another graduate degree. As usual, the Board wanted to know costs...benefits...timeframe..etc. before making a decision.
The fact that you posted your question shows that you have the right frame of mind. We all like to think that when it comes to our career, only we know what's best for us. Forming a Board of Directors is going to be a lot more work and it takes a lot of humility...but it's worth it.