[ale] the truth about contracting?

[Fulton Green]

Already some really good opinions. Here are mine ...

On Thu, Apr 25, 2002 at 03:13:11PM -0000, John Wells wrote:
> I received a call from a recruiter last night regarding a contract position
> she has with a large corporation here in Atlanta.  While I'm typically wary
> of contract work, she assured me that all the contractors she's placed there
> are always renewed...in her words "long-term" contractors.

"Long-term" contractors aren't unheard of, but that is definitely more the
exception than the rule. "Long-term" in her mind may mean 3-4 years, which
come to think of it, would be synonymous with "long-term" in today's job
market.

> Anyway, the contract is for a year, but she keeps guaranteeing it will be
> renewed.  The pay is a bit higher than what I'm making now, which makes it
> sort of attractive, but I'm not completely sold.  It was my opinion that
> contractors are typically the first to go in a layoff, but she says this
> company actually wants to keep contractors and layoff employees in that
> case...

Actually, in a lot of cases, the length of the contract specified to you is
meaningless. It's just an approximation of how much work the client thinks
they will have for you at the time you sign on. Unless you have specific
penalties for early termination stated in your contract, it's pretty much
like having an unstable job with slightly higher pay.

A quick horror story: at my first contract job, two others were hired to
start a month after me. One guy temporarily relocated from St. Pete, FL by
way of Jamaica and started on a Thursday. Another guy permanently
relocated from upstate Noo Yawk and started the following Monday. That
Monday evening, their respective account manager(s) informed them that
their services were no longer needed, as my client had suddenly discovered
they didn't have the budget to pay for either of them. Fortunately, the
idiot VP that approved their hiring in the first place was forced to resign.

As for laying off employees and keeping contractors ... that also happens in
some businesses as their core focus shrinks and IT personnel are seen more
as augmented support staff and less as a key member in the company's
critical mission. It doesn't make the contractor's job any more stable,
though.

> Wanted to hear what the group thought.  What have your experiences been? 
> Have you been made these sorts of claims/promises before only to see them
> fall through?  What are the caveats of contract work?

I've actually done the contr^H^H^H^H^H consulting (as the agencies call it)
thing three times in the past five years. My advice:

- If it's "contract-to-perm", make sure the perm salary is negotiated before
  the beginning of the contract.
- Always ask your agency (derisively known as "the pimp") what THEY'RE
  charging the client for your services, so you can get a feel for their
  overhead (30% used to be typical, may be less these days).
- Always ask where your re'sume' is going before it's sent out. Otherwise
  you run the risk of "double-submittal", which makes both you and the
  second submitter look bad (and usually results in both your re'sume's
  being tossed out by the client).
- If it's with a big company like BellSouth or IBM, find out in as much
  detail as possible which department it's going to, as one agency that
  knows about an opportunity in one department may not know about an opp. in
  another division that another agency knows about.
- And, as always, make sure that stuff you do on your own time is yours, and
  not the client's or the agency's. And make sure your client knows that
  any work on open source code you do on their time for their project is NOT
  owned by them.

Good luck. And can I have your job when you leave? ;-)

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