Would you leave a Full Time position for a Contract?

Would there be any reason to take a risk on leaving a comfortable full time, permanent position for a contract to hire. Specifically a 6 month contract to hire. Was passively looking at the job market and a recruiter reached out to me about a contract to hire opportunity that seems pretty intriguing with an overall salary increase of $25k.

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gespenstern

If I'm bored to death and the pay is higher -- sure. Did that more than once. Never looked back and looking forward actually to repeat.

Consider medical insurance expenses though. On full time I pay something like $150/month for a family and have small co-pays for everything except hospital.

When I was on obamacare I was paying $1500 for a family premiums for a shitty HDHP plan with no co-pays (means an urgent care clinic visit costs roughly >1K and counts towards my deductible) and my overall med expenses for a year on a contract were $26K for a family of four. On a permanent position my expenses like 5-6 times lower than that.

LA2

Yea, I can see how a difference in medical benefits can heavily influence someone decision, especially if they have a family.

jelevated

Nah. Full time status.

Danielm7

I did when I was trying to specialize, worked out really well for me. Everyone's situation is different.

Oregon Jobs

That REALLY depends on your job total , do you wanna be going through risk/reward matrix ?

I have a family now, so no but if I was still without a kid probably depending on the pay or what I expected to acquire for new skills.

Chevel

Nope I personally wouldn't, still trying to get back full time. Contract expiring in 3 months. Smh.

scaredoftests

No, especially if it is labelled 'temp'. Run away

volfkhat

LA2 wrote: »

Would there be any reason to take a risk on leaving a comfortable full time, permanent position for a contract to hire...

There's no such thing as a "permanent" position.
Just weigh all the pros & cons of the other job.

then make an informed decision :]

Mooseboost

I went from a full time stable position to a contract position because I wanted the opportunity to be at the new company. The transition also moved me from salary to an hourly rate. The benefits are not stellar, but thankfully I am on my spouses insurance now so that isn't a great concern. I felt relatively comfortable because my contractor has a 3 year contract with the client and tends to be successfully with renewing contracts with them.

Would I do it again? Probably. That being said, I would like to shift back towards full time for the long term. It may just be my personal experience (first and only time being a contract employee) but there seems to be a bit more politics involved with being a contractor.

Node Man

ive done it a couple times. over the years, you lose money at the same employer. it becomes pretty easy to double your salary with a new cert and some new experiences on the resume.

Kreken

I went from full time to contract but I get my medical and other benefits from my wife. I wouldn't go for a 6 month contract unless it is close to doubling my current compensation. Most of the time I consider one year plus contracts only.

It also depends where you are in your career. If you are trying to get into a management or team lead position, going on a contract wouldn't get you there most of the time.

GSXR750K2

Do your homework. I'm exploring some options due to the IT implosion that has occurred in my area and I'm getting some sleight of hand responses from the people working the contracts. Mainly, they're avoiding certain questions regarding health premiums and 401k when it comes to some long-term contracts (12+ months) they've pitched me.

If I were to be 100% on the hook for the health premium, that could take a good chunk of the pay increase (YMMV depending on your situation and dependents, I'm single, but I don't like the idea of shelling out tons of cash for the entire premium when I'm perfectly healthy and take no meds of any kind). Also, I contribute the max for my 401k, but I've gotten conflicting info from this particular firm about when contribution eligibility begins, anywhere from six months to a year. That can be anywhere from $9,000 to $18,000 not going towards retirement and helping lower my tax bill.

Sometimes more money isn't always more money at the end of the day.

scaredoftests

Kreken wrote: »

I went from full time to contract but I get my medical and other benefits from my wife. I wouldn't go for a 6 month contract unless it is close to doubling my current compensation. Most of the time I consider one year plus contracts only.

It also depends where you are in your career. If you are trying to get into a management or team lead position, going on a contract wouldn't get you there most of the time.

I love your avatar picture!!

mbarrett

Only reasons I can think of would be relocation or career change (or both). No logical reason why you would want to give up long-term stability for a bit of cash.

coreyb80

I did it about 3 years. I was contacted by a company for a position on the desk as a contractor. I had been in my then current position for 3 years and it wasn't going anywhere plus I was itching to get in to IT at the time. I ended up getting more $ and after about 8-9 months I was hired on full time. It was a gamble, but I worked my butt off and got hired on full time.

ITSec14

What do your benefits look like now? $25k is a nice increase, but if you have to get some expensive personal health care plan, then it's probably not worth it.

Recruiters can be full of crap too. That's always another thing to consider.

SpetsRepair

I've done it before and I think I'll do it again in a few months

Took a contract which turned to hired on, benefits, salary etc... problem is I'm not really good at what we do here and I'm far away from being a qualified engineer at this company. Some companies you work at you might be awesome as a system engineer, admin, analyst and so forth and other companies you just don't fit in well but the money is good

LA2

ITSec14 wrote: »

What do your benefits look like now? $25k is a nice increase, but if you have to get some expensive personal health care plan, then it's probably not worth it.

Recruiters can be full of crap too. That's always another thing to consider.

Benefits are through the military. Primarily healthcare through TRICARE.

Remedymp

scaredoftests wrote: »

No, especially if it is labelled 'temp'. Run away

All jobs are temp regardless.

DatabaseHead

If it was a perfect fit I would most certainly do it.

I'm currently in the midwest and if I could get south in a desireable area, heck yes I would. California, Texas, part of Florida. If the pay was there seee ya.

Node Man

Remedymp wrote: »

All jobs are temp regardless.

Need more +1's

volfkhat

Remedymp wrote: »

All jobs are temp regardless.

Thats what i been saying for years :]

brewboy

Remedymp wrote: »

All jobs are temp regardless.

I think a job with a specific end date is a little different. Just sayin

NavyMooseCCNA

I am in a full time role, and I would jump to a contract role. My reasons are as follows: the health insurance is going away and I have to find coverage for my wife and I. My salary is very low for the area. Lastly, I want to do information security or at least networking and where I am, that will never happen.

volfkhat

brewboy wrote: »

I think a job with a specific end date is a little different. Just sayin

Nah,
you are just referring to a job with a known end date.

(as compared to a job with an unknown end date)

UnixGuy

I agree all jobs are temp to a degree, but I get plenty of recruiters wanting to talk to me about a 6 months contract, I always say no.

It's not really easy to get a job in Australia and the market is small. It might work better in the US with MUCH bigger market and more opportunities, but it doesn't work here. The recruitment process here is very slow.

Blucodex

I might have to answer that question myself.

Cons - Contract is 6 months

Pros - Will get exposed to things I don't currently do and get paid 50-70% more.

Worry - Contract ends and I haven't found another job or resume gives the appearance I like to bounce around.