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There's nothing wrong with offering a contractor a full-time position. I've worked with CTO's that started out as contractors, who turned down the extra money t

There's nothing wrong with offering a contractor a full-time position. I've worked with CTO's that started out as contractors, who turned down the extra money to work on a project and business they believed in. If they say no, you've got nothing to worry about. Use them as a contractor, as you do already, but ensure that you're prepared for them to walk away if a better offer comes along. It's shocking how so many businesses are not prepared for the day when a contractor gives in their notice, and ultimately a contractor should be handing their work off to an available employee to take over.

pyang6641 7y ago
I guess the problem, however, is that it's a large commitment/risk for the contractor to give up on their own business in favour of yours, right? Could you expand a little more on your experience with those CTO's, how you got them on board, etc.?
- EnderMB 7y ago
  That's true, but I guess you'll get a feel of what that person values after working with them for a while, whether it's money, freedom to choose their projects, the ability to work on tricky sub-problems, etc. In my experience, it's always been down to what that person values. At my last company my "boss" was a contractor, and although he was given the ability to build a team however he saw fit, he didn't want to sacrifice his freedom. Before that, my CTO took the role because she believed in the team and the projects we had - and we did some fantastic work. The roles were almost identical, but the people were different. My hiring experience is limited to developers, so I've never been a part of the actual hiring process, but I've bonded with a handful of people that were offered the role, and it's always been down to belief in the long-term vision and whether they'd value that role over what they value from their current role as a contractor.

pyang6641 7y ago

I guess the problem, however, is that it's a large commitment/risk for the contractor to give up on their own business in favour of yours, right? Could you expand a little more on your experience with those CTO's, how you got them on board, etc.?

EnderMB 7y ago
That's true, but I guess you'll get a feel of what that person values after working with them for a while, whether it's money, freedom to choose their projects, the ability to work on tricky sub-problems, etc. In my experience, it's always been down to what that person values. At my last company my "boss" was a contractor, and although he was given the ability to build a team however he saw fit, he didn't want to sacrifice his freedom. Before that, my CTO took the role because she believed in the team and the projects we had - and we did some fantastic work. The roles were almost identical, but the people were different. My hiring experience is limited to developers, so I've never been a part of the actual hiring process, but I've bonded with a handful of people that were offered the role, and it's always been down to belief in the long-term vision and whether they'd value that role over what they value from their current role as a contractor.