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WOrking in IT?
brianetz1
Posts: 4,134 ✭✭✭
Ok for my career in IT i have been a full time employee. I am kind of looking for a new job and a headhunter is big time after me to interview for a job, but it is conract work. 17 months+ is the length, but they assure me that this is a 24 month+ contract and if i am successful i would have the ability to stay there for as long as i like.
BUT
i am not used to this contract stufff. it would be a SIGNIFICANT pay increase, but the stability worries the crap out of me. Do any of you guys in IT go the contract route and if so, how do you like it?
BUT
i am not used to this contract stufff. it would be a SIGNIFICANT pay increase, but the stability worries the crap out of me. Do any of you guys in IT go the contract route and if so, how do you like it?
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On another note, you might want to tell Big Jim about the discount on heart transplants, it sounds like he is falling apart and he would probably trade a cooler full of cigars for some work on his broken parts.
In the end, it is a job. I would be very cautious signing on with a contractor service or agency though. They take a good percentage of salary off the top, and have a lot of control over your work. Some services have contracts in place with companies to never allow contractors to take a job with them full time. They don't want to lose their cut.
Most recent was our janitorial services. Contract ran out. We didn't have any janitorial services for about a month and a half while we modified another contract with that same company to pick up the slack for this expired contract. When we did, that contract expired about a month later. Now there is an entirely different contract company for the new one - but the same people working. Just wearing a different uniform. Getting paid less.
This is the worst example, I'm sure. Maybe someone has some better experiences. All of our higher tech contracts are a bit more stable because of more stringent security clearance requirements. Our IT falls into that. The operators that run the ID cards section aren't as strict when it comes to the security clearances. What I see with our IT contractors is kind of the opposite. There is much better pay in the civil service or private sector side so we see a high turn over rate for those contractor positions.
Our statistics here are probably off kilter a bit from the norm because of our large military retirement population. I see people with masters degrees who are contract employees, and they are making $35-45k/year, even though we are paying the contractor the equivalent of $60-80k per position. I think its because most of these people are already retired from some other career in law enforcement or military, and are willing to take these much lower than usual salaries because it's not their only source of income. Folks like me are just making up for the windfall that is the difference between what they were paid full time while active duty, and what retirement and/or VA compensation brings them now. As a perfect example, my wife and I have enough income coming in from our military service to have enough money to survive. But who wants to just survive? Our jobs bring in that above and beyond money.
I've heard the saying that the only person that likes a change is a baby in a wet diaper. Having said that, I think if you don't take that leap of faith you will always wonder 'what if'. With risks come rewards. Just trust in yourself and you will be fine.
Thanks for the last paragraph. That gives me a few things that i never really thought to ask. I assumed that the rate they were offering me was what i took home and from they way she explained it to me she gave the impression that i could sign on with them full time. Regardless those are questions that i am goign to have to ask.
My brother-in-law worked in IT a long time, and eventually started his own business and is doing well. I also work in IT, but the area has so few jobs that I had to sell the house and move to another city to stay in the IT field. As for contract work, I have done some but the pay was horrible. There really isn't much for good IT jobs in my area. The full time job is a regular pay check, and that does count for something.
I would take the contract work if I could support being out of work for short periods of time between contracts. If being out of work for a few weeks/months between contracts is not something you can't afford, then don't do it. If you can afford the down times, then go for it. You will be well rewarded and have a lot of opportunities to change things up stay interested in what you are doing.
Best of luck to you in whatever way you go with this.