4 ms·

Yeah, but an employee might get 'laid off' (and have to look for a new job) at most, say once every 3 years. It's possible it could be more often, but over the

by smanek 16y ago

Yeah, but an employee might get 'laid off' (and have to look for a new job) at most, say once every 3 years. It's possible it could be more often, but over the course of your career the average probably doesn't exceed once every 3 years (unless you're particularly poor). A contractor, on the other hand, has to look for new work every few months, at least. If I hate looking for new work, then being an employee might make sense.

rorrr 16y ago
My last two contracts were 1 year and 1½ years. There are short term contracts out there, and they usually pay much more per hour, so I'd actually prefer them. Most companies want you for at least 6 months. It takes getting used to, but at least I don't have that terrible feeling of being afraid to lose my job. Many people are scared into being "loyal", and it really costs them. Consider how much your average raise as a full time employee is. I'd say most people get 5%/yr if they are lucky. By going from contract to contract, my salary grows much faster than that. I'd say 30%/yr for the last few years (on average).
nl 16y ago
The contracts I usually see are at least 6 months, and I've never, ever seen a case where it wasn't extended (not just for me, but for anyone I've worked with - including some "programmers" who simply couldn't program). The few shorter contracts that are around pay have to pay extra to make it worthwhile - I've seen a few 3 month contracts that pay around 25% more. Funny story: there is a large government department here that was famous for hiring people on 3 month contracts, but keeping the people there for years. It turned out that the reason for this was that the expense for a contractor for 3 months was around $50,000 (including agent fees and the 25% loading for a short term contract), and $50,000 was the limit for that the department managers could sign off on without going through a long, expensive procurement process.

by smanek 16y ago

rorrr 16y ago

My last two contracts were 1 year and 1½ years. There are short term contracts out there, and they usually pay much more per hour, so I'd actually prefer them. Most companies want you for at least 6 months. It takes getting used to, but at least I don't have that terrible feeling of being afraid to lose my job. Many people are scared into being "loyal", and it really costs them. Consider how much your average raise as a full time employee is. I'd say most people get 5%/yr if they are lucky. By going from contract to contract, my salary grows much faster than that. I'd say 30%/yr for the last few years (on average).

nl 16y ago

The contracts I usually see are at least 6 months, and I've never, ever seen a case where it wasn't extended (not just for me, but for anyone I've worked with - including some "programmers" who simply couldn't program). The few shorter contracts that are around pay have to pay extra to make it worthwhile - I've seen a few 3 month contracts that pay around 25% more. Funny story: there is a large government department here that was famous for hiring people on 3 month contracts, but keeping the people there for years. It turned out that the reason for this was that the expense for a contractor for 3 months was around $50,000 (including agent fees and the 25% loading for a short term contract), and $50,000 was the limit for that the department managers could sign off on without going through a long, expensive procurement process.