Re: The Worst Thing About Contracting

[Kevin McLauchlan <KMcLauchlan -at- CHRYSALIS-ITS -dot- COM>]

About the joys of contracting versus wage-sucking, Sharon
had this to say:

        And everyone I know in permanent jobs works as many
        hours as I do. But I get paid for every one of them! Whoo-eee!


I'm not sure how to take that...

I don't get paid as much as you do, 'cuz I'm an employee,
and because I'm in Canada, being paid in metric dollars
(which, like the metric version of a mile, go only six
 tenths as far).

But, I work 37.5 hours, most weeks, and leave my work at
the office. Maybe twice a year, things have gone bad with
a development or marketing project, and I've had to put in
a few long days to get the docs out on time. Maybe I'll
charge overtime for that, or maybe I'll just bank the good
will, for when I want to sleep late or do chores during office
hours, see the doctor/dentist, etc.

The company pays me to apply my skills and to produce.
However, as I outlined in my "Staring into space" post, my
methods can involve activities or periods of stillness (no, that
was NOT snoring) that do not look at all like intense, high-
volume productivity. Effectively, the company is paying me
for whatever it is I happen to be doing while my butt is in
their chair, including SOME of this correspondence and
reading, as well as surfing the weeeb, looking for tools
and neat stuff, and a variety of formal and informal learning.

As an independent contractor, are you saying that you
handle billable hours like a lawyer, and don't even fart
without toting it up?

Based on your statement, do you, or do you not get paid
for your time while you market yourself, shop your resume
around, troll for new contracts, interview, prepare proposals,
and all that neat stuff that no sane company would really
want to pay for?

Note:  I am not saying that "wage-slave" (stupid oxymoron...:-)
          is preferrable to independent.  I'm just wanting to
          keep the line sharp, between apples and oranges.

Regards,


Kevin McLauchlan
kmclauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com    (aka  kevinmcl -at- netrover -dot- com)
Journeyman techy writer, duffer skydiver, full-time unrepentent chocoholic


 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=