first of all, am i a contractor or a consultant? i've heard people use both terms. if i do a google search for "contractor" i get lots of pics of guys in flannel shirts and hard hats, with scrolls under their arms. searching for images of "consultant" has people in suits, globes, & hand shaking.
when i go an image search for "consultant contractor" i get an image of glowing puzzle.... weird....
in dilbert cartoons we're called "consulticks", which isn't a compliment. whatever about the name. i call myself a consultant. it's good work. it pays well, but the benefits (health insurance, paid vacation, etc...) generally suck.
in deciding to go from being a company employee to consultant, you have to weigh the pay increase with the benefits lost.
also, being a contractor feels different then being part of the company. you're sometimes treated like a 2nd class citizen. you'll be left out of company picnics. if the company has had layoffs, you'll be considered as the one who "took" their jobs.
you most likely won't get a nice desk with a name on the door. you'll probably be seated wherever they can find room. i've sat in locked closets, rooms called "the pit", "the cave", etc...
but it's not always that harsh. it can be fun & interesting.
i've met some amazing people from all over the globe & made good friends sitting in rooms like "the pit". i've watched people get married, have babies, lose loved ones, lose their jobs, fight cancer (and not always win.)
being a consultant, i learned more about my job as a QA analyst and how to manage projects. it was like "QA bootcamp" for the first year i worked at the big corporation downtown.
and of course i learned what a "bio break" is...
in deciding to go from being a company employee to consultant, you have to weigh the pay increase with the benefits lost.
also, being a contractor feels different then being part of the company. you're sometimes treated like a 2nd class citizen. you'll be left out of company picnics. if the company has had layoffs, you'll be considered as the one who "took" their jobs.
you most likely won't get a nice desk with a name on the door. you'll probably be seated wherever they can find room. i've sat in locked closets, rooms called "the pit", "the cave", etc...
but it's not always that harsh. it can be fun & interesting.
i've met some amazing people from all over the globe & made good friends sitting in rooms like "the pit". i've watched people get married, have babies, lose loved ones, lose their jobs, fight cancer (and not always win.)
being a consultant, i learned more about my job as a QA analyst and how to manage projects. it was like "QA bootcamp" for the first year i worked at the big corporation downtown.
and of course i learned what a "bio break" is...
3 comments:
I think you should be forced to wear a hard hat.
The pit's not so bad...especially since you've been contracted elsewhere :-P
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