anyone gone from full time to contract?

[Maverick]

Seems like contract jobs are a dime a dozen in IT these days. Anyone made the switch from full time to contract? I'm contemplating it so I can get some new skills my full time job just isn't providing me with. My dad has been trying to talk me out of it unless I want to go start my own business eventually (which I might). His argument that you can't be promoted is valid though. Thoughts?

 

[StageLeft]

It's valid, but who cares about promotion anyway these days? Chances are in an IT job you won't keep it for long anyway, and if you enter an IT company as a developer you'll probably be one 5 years from now, even if you've somewhat enhanced your duties. I personally just wouldn't go contract because I like job security, and IT still doesn't have any. if you have a full time job, keep it.

 

[waylman]

if you have a full time job, keep it.

 

[Red]

Originally posted by: waylman

if you have a full time job, keep it.

 

[Maverick]

what if the full time job sucks beyond belief?

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: Maverick
what if the full time job sucks beyond belief?

Is it worse than flipping burgers?

 

[Red]

Originally posted by: Maverick
what if the full time job sucks beyond belief?

What's the problem you have with it? Does the job suck beyond belief, or are you simply looking at it in a negative light because you're getting excited about quitting and going contract? Full time job security has a lot of benefits:

(1) Loans. Banks like to see a person working 40/hrs a week and the longer you've worked somewhere, the better.
(2) Steady, predictable pay. Easy to setup your budget to make your life easier.
(3) Stability. You know what is expected of you at work everyday. You, not the job, decides how much fun you have at work.

 

[propellerhead]

I wish I could go back to contracting. The money was good. Imagine $60/hr. $90 on overtime. That blows Redhotjrm's item #1. Us contractors had lots of cash in the back. The direct employees lived from paycheck to paycheck. And at the height of the contracting market, I had 5-10 calls on my answering machine for jobs everyday! If my current contract ended, I could be employed the next day. There goes Redhotjrm's items 2 and 3.

Don't knock contracting until you've tried it. It's scary at first but it's really the same thing as being a direct. The contracting agency provides benefits, 401k, etc. ceweekly.com used to have tons of info. I haven't been to that site in a long time though.

 

[Maverick]

Originally posted by: propellerhead
I wish I could go back to contracting. The money was good. Imagine $60/hr. $90 on overtime. That blows Redhotjrm's item #1. Us contractors had lots of cash in the back. The direct employees lived from paycheck to paycheck. And at the height of the contracting market, I had 5-10 calls on my answering machine for jobs everyday! If my current contract ended, I could be employed the next day. There goes Redhotjrm's items 2 and 3.

Don't knock contracting until you've tried it. It's scary at first but it's really the same thing as being a direct. The contracting agency provides benefits, 401k, etc. ceweekly.com used to have tons of info. I haven't been to that site in a long time though.

See this is the positive stuff I've been hearing about it. You get to do new things, keep gaining new skills, and all while being in more direct control of your employment.

And yes my full time job does suck...its always I'm either overloaded and working crazy overtime hours (55-75 hrs/week) or I'm so bored that I can barely find stuff to fill in a 40 hour week. On top of that, I'm not gaining any new technical skills (other than what I try to teach myself during my downtime). Just seems like the full time job is going nowhere but getting another full time job seems to be very difficult when everyone wants contractors these days.

 

[PingSpike]

I'd stick with the fulltime job myself. But then again, I like stability more than big money. Its up to you.

 

[RossMAN]

I would keep the full time job because:

1) Benefits (particularly medical and dental).
2) Steady FULL TIME employment helps when trying to find housing or applying for credit.

If you can get benefits otherwise and don't care about steady employment then by all means go contract.

My wife has been able to do temporary work (full time) for the past 2 years 3 months because my full time job offers her medical/dental/vision benefits. So in our situation it works out perfectly.

 

[Linflas]

Can someone provide some links for me to go look into this? GIven what I described in this thread this may be an option I want to explore in the short term myself. I have been full time employed for a long time and am not really up on this option.

 

[MadPeriot]

I guess it depends on how old you are. I'm 25 and been working contract for almost 2 years now. Earned a lot of money started my own IT consulting business and still getting work. But stress level of one job to another and worrying about how to get my next job is scary. I'm working full time as a contractor but thinking about switching to permanent for the stablility. At my age I can careless about benefits, I don't have a family and when I did have benefits I rarely if ever used it.