I don’t mean to compare who works good for a company, but instead if had a choice to work as an Employee or as a Contractor/Consultant.
As an Employee, you get benefits like vacation, retirement fund (401k), medical, dental and if you have spent time like I did in a company (7 years) you get a “severance” package if you become a victim of “downsizing”.
As a contractor, you get paid hourly, you don’t get paid for the hours you don’t work i.e. 4th of July , very minimal 401k if at all (not all consulting/contracting companies offer that), relatively expensive medical / dental benefits, no vacations (in some cases), the day the company you consult with decides to kick you out for downsizing you don’t get paid for anything.
Now, as I mentioned, I worked for this company for almost 7 years and had to spend last few years without a pay raise due to bad corp financials (red all the time) and job nature changed which I didn’t like (changed from design to testing). I searched for jobs and found a better company (green numbers ) but thru a contractor, so I accepted the offer to be a consultant. (Is there a difference between consultant and contractor? ). But the new position will be in “Testing” too, I thought if I have to do testing why not do it at better pay rate.
What do you think, is it right move? What would you do if you were in a situation like that? What are the pros and cons of Contractor/Consultant vs Direct Employee?
I always go for consultancy/contract job without time restriction. I cannot follow stupid and strict time schedule associated with a permanent job and sleep on my chair for most of the time.
I have worked as system and database administrator on hourly bases (not restricted ones, you just go and work for 4-6 hours when you feel free), these days I work as a consultant too and have no time schedule to follow as well. Just have to deliver the requirement before some deadline.
Well I don't know the situation in your area, but mostly a contract job requires you to follow timings each day (though you can adjust these timings as opposed to permanent job) like a sys admin for instance, whereas as a consultant you will work when there will be load (though some companies try to put time restrictions too).
At the end of the day, a consultant and a contractor both offer temporary professional services.
Your question will take me pages to expand on since I’ve worked in almost all the various capacities in the IT sector:
i) an internal consultant (on the company payroll),
ii) external consultant (self-employed),
iii) consultant to my firm’s client,
iv) a contractor through an agency, and finally
v) a regular employee in the organization.
Whether one’s better than the other basically depends on how pro-risk or risk-averse you are generally. In both consulting and contracting, the risks can be higher than full-time employment but the financial upside can make the risks attractive. Secondly, if you want more control over your career, consulting or contracting may be the right option for you.
Lastly, the line between a contractor and a consultant has become blurred over the years, but you should realize that there’s semantic difference between the two. Contracting itself is a more formalized legal and financial arrangement. In their purest of forms, contractors are regarded as vendors, they’re expendable at a moment’s notice, and assume similar responsibilities as a regular employee except the arrangement is through a third-party/agency. You can often get trained on the job. On the other hand, consultants are considered to be subject matter experts in a focused specialty. They usually market themselves based on their existing portfolios and the company hires them only after making sure they have the right expertise for an implementation project. Consultaning arrangements (I prefer not to call them CONTRACTS) are based more along a Terms of Reference that is agreed upon in advance and consultants have more control over their work than a contractor.
Hope this clarifies it a little for you. Good luck in your new job :k:
KAptaan bhai
I recently leaft a permanent job witha consulting firm to take a contract job with one of the largest Chemical Companies in the world (I am a chemical engineer)
For me the most important factor in making a decision was the experience I would get at the job. I was never overly concerned about the details about contracter\employee\consultant. These are all labels, once you have the experience you can do whatever you want and the choice is yours. Until you have the experience you are at others mercy.
Umar Talib: Thanks for telling me the diff between consultants and contractors, by that definition I’m a contractor.
As I discover differences, I came to learn that hourly paid guys get different type of insurance, and all of them are really expensive… most of the medical insurances I’ve seen offered are “sick and accident”, meaning you can’t go for “regular” checkup, pregnancy is not covered. In all medical insurances that I found so far, either monthly premium is high (US$ 900-1200) with no deductible or if premium is low (US$160-$400) deductible is high ($3000+). That is a really big difference to me, whereas I was used to paying $90 per month with no deductible and everything was covered 100% (except non-PPOs). Lets see what else I do learn :halo:
As far as timing at work is concerned, its like regular timing, no esp requirements.
I would like to add here that, stay as a contractor so that you gain as much experience as possible, but, sooner or latter one has to get settled in a permanent job. If you come across a very good permanent offer..my advice is to take it. MOney is good in contract position but then, when there is no work and you are not makign any money then it all becomes even. One thing is that in permanent job, the tension is less.
, very minimal 401k if at all (not all consulting/contracting companies offer that), relatively expensive medical / dental benefits, no vacations (in some cases), the day the company you consult with decides to kick you out for downsizing you don’t get paid for anything.
) but thru a contractor, so I accepted the offer to be a consultant. (Is there a difference between consultant and contractor? ). But the new position will be in “Testing” too, I thought if I have to do testing why not do it at better pay rate.