TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Tony, I know you love books but I've been a contractor for the last 10 years,
although I took a salaried job last March. Here's some info for you on what
it's really like to contract.
Many people use agents to find work simply because there are a lot of
companies
that won't hire you as a contractor without an agency involved. It
protects the
company from contractor-as-employee lawsuits, such as the one that hit
Microsoft
about 10 years ago. It also protects the company from other things,
such as odd
workman's comp claims.
Agencies bill you out at about 40% more than they pay you, on average.
They pay
your SSI (otherwise you pay the full 15% of your gross) and taxes,
leaving them
about 15% of that hourly bill rate. That 15% pays the agents salaries, lights,
phones, etc.
Some people choose to be independant (1099). That limits and expands the
companies they can deal with. Some companies are not able to deal with
unincorporated entities at all - I lost projects because I never incorporated.
And there are many good reasons not to incorporate. Other small companies may
be fine with your 1099 status. It varies from company to company.
All that said, in early 2002, rates fell apart. In So Cal, most contract jobs
were advertised at ~$25 an hour or less (we are usually the high end of the
scale and had previously been at about $50 an hour). You can make more waiting
tables. And there was almost nothing available and many of us were
overqualified and unemployable for most of these gigs. The market is back but
it's not that strong on pay yet in the contract work range.
What you choose to go with has a lot to do with your ability to manage your
books and pay your quarterlies in time and in full. Your ability to manage and
cope with risk. How well you network and stay plugged into your network.
After you pay the taxes out of your pocket, $45 an hour is no better
than $30 an
hour, really. Remember, you only pay 7.5% of your SSI as a W-2. You pay
15% as a
1099. Plus all the other taxes and, no, you don't get to write off that much.
The government says it loves small businesses but it really doesn't.
The trick is to always be working and then being scared when you are between
gigs because you don't know where the next is coming from. It's not a
vacation,
its a scramble for the next contract. You don't get to enjoy the time off.
Quoting Tony Markos <ajmarkos -at- yahoo -dot- com>:
Can a TW contractor win? $30 per hour on a W2
contract equals $30 K per yer as a permanent employee
with benefits. Many untrained customer service reps
make more than that here in Cleveland - and you are
saying (I don't doubt you) that they want experienced
TWs!
And subtract for any downtime between assignments and
that 30 K per year rapidly drops.
To quote the on-line Contractor's Handbook: "...if [a]
contractor employee were to use an agency to locate
their next assignment, they would most assuredly earn
significantly less... in some cases less than half as
much as a permanent employee doing the same job!"
Try WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word today! Smooth migration of legacy
RoboHelp content into your new Help systems. EContent Magazine Decision-
maker review (October 2005) is here: http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
Doc-To-Help 2005 converts RoboHelp files with one click. Author with Word or any HTML editor. Visit our site to see a conversion demo movie and learn more. http://www.componentone.com/TECHWRL/DocToHelp2005
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
