Contract Vs Full Time Positions for IT Professionals
If you are an IT Professional, you are probably aware that there are a large number of employment opportunities available to you on a contract basis. Many IT professionals shy away from these opportunities in favor of the more traditional ‘Full Time’/'Permanent’ positions. Here we will explore some of the things that you need to consider before you reject any position out of hand.
Pros and Cons of Full Time/Permanent Employment:
Most people consider these kinds of positions to be more stable. In my experience, stability of these kinds of positions is debatable, but in most scenarios I would agree with this assessment. In some companies, yes, these kinds of positions are truly more stable than contract positions. However, if a company is truly going through tough times and needs to reduce “overhead”, full time employees are just as likely to be laid off as contractors. However, in that scenario, there is the possibility of filing for unemployment benefits, so that is a plus. In addition to the cash compensation, full time employees typically get a whole host of benefits such as paid federal holidays, paid vacation and sick time, and matching funds for 401k retirement account contributions up to a certain limit. These benefits add a significant amount of value to your compensation. One of the biggest benefits however, is membership in the company’s group health plan. This membership allows you to get health care at a decent cost with many companies because of the fact that the company covers a significant amount of the monthly premiums on your behalf. If you are fortunate enough to work for a large company you can get even more benefits such as discounts through partner networks, holiday or performance bonuses, and the like. The downside to being a full time IT professional is the competitive environment. There are many other people competing for the same promotions and to move up the corporate ladder just as you are. At many places, overtime is also an issue because you do not get paid anything additional for working more than 40 hours in a week if you are salaried. Some companies take advantage of this and you can end up working late into the evenings or on weekends.
Pros and Cons of Contract Employment:
The biggest downside to Contract Employment is the uncertain nature of it. You always have to be on the lookout for the next position before your contract ends just to be safe. You do not get any additional benefits such as paid vacation or paid holidays, so you have to try and build that into your contract rate up front. The biggest downside is it is very costly to purchase health insurance for yourself and your family outside of a group plan, and after the first year of coverage, your premiums continue to rise at a fast rate multiple times a year. On the positive side, there is the opportunity to make a lot more cash by working a contract position. Especially, if you are a healthy single individual, contracting may be the way to go. You can purchase a “High Deductible” medical plan to keep your monthly premiums low if you do not visit the doctor often. You can negotiate a very good contract rate. The reason for this is that oftentimes, companies that hire contractors do so because they lack that skillset in house and need to supplement with an outside resource. This puts you in the better negotiating position. Also, since overtime will have to be paid at your contract rate, you will find most employers will want you to work only 40 hours. This is great for you to have a lot of leisure time to yourself and if you do have to work you get paid for it. You also rid yourself of the mental burden of competing with others in your department for promotions and can focus on doing the best job you can do and bringing value to the company so you can stay employed as a contractor. The other benefit to contracting is that as you move from one place to another you get to see a variety of environments and the positives and negatives of each.
The above discussion is just the start of the things you need to think about before you make a decision on what type of employment is best for you. You should also talk to other IT professionals in your area of expertise and find out what has worked for them.
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