What may be the biggest difference between the contract developer and the permanent developer?

Question

As I will need to leave the place where I'm living now, so probably will become to be a contract worker, does this normal mean you earn less because you are on pay as you done basis? Should I got even higher hour rate as I don't have the pension and benefit scheme from employment?

Answer 1

I can't comment on this because I have only been a permanent developer, but this is a question that I just came across that I think would be helpful for you: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/201088/full-time-employee-versus-contract-work

Answer 2

My personal experience (in the US) is that I got a higher hourly rate, but no benefits. My overall income was a little bit lower, because I didn't work consistently. This was as an employee of a contracting company--I've never been completely independent.

Answer 3

Non-core work, I would say. We use FTEs for core product development for Aivea Commerce Server (http://www.aiveacommerceserver.com) and contractors for implementation services.

Answer 4

Don't know were you live, but for me, being a contract worker always gave me 1.5 to 2 times the normal earning...

When a society have to buy some contract workers, it is usually because it have a cruel need of them. The price then do not seems very important. As long as you look professional, it's ok.

Answer 5

Different answer for different countries.

Australia, Contract: paid by the hour, usually at a higher hourly rate. Generally lower job security, although I know contractors who have been in the same job for 8 years.

I've worked both as contract and permanent - the actual work wasn't different at all.

Answer 6

In my experience, there are two types of contract workers. There are the smart specialists that are brought in because they are experts in areas that the company doesn't have a knowledge base in. This is the kind of contractor that you want to be. The other type of contractor is essentially a provisional or temporary worker, whose appealing point is not that he is an expert but that he is completely and instantly expendable and can be fired faster than you can make a cup of tea. From a legal contracts perspective, they are the same thing, but that's probably the only way in which the experiences of the two are the same.

So if you want to be the first kind, find a skill you have that is in demand and play up your experthood. If you end up doing the second, do everything you can to shine for six months. If after six months, they haven't brought you on as a full time employee, leave.

Answer 7

Anywhere I have worked, it was generally understood that contractors make more (hourly) than the permanent employees... for a few reasons:

• Contractor don't receive the benefits nor and any other "perks" you would get working as a regular, salaried employee of the company.
• Contractors work on an as-needed, when-needed basis. That could mean full-time employment but the contractor always knows that their term of employment could end at any time. And the company pays for that flexibility.
• Contractors are generally hired for their vertical knowledge (i.e. they are considered more of a technology specialist). They are there to do a specific job. The company (generally) will not be investing in their future the way they might want to invest in and diversify a full-time employee.

Having said all that, companies often employ contractors as a sort of "Try Before You Buy" -type arrangement before they make a permanent (and more expensive) commitment.

Enjoy,

Robert C. Cartaino

Answer 8

Contractors are paid more, but often earn less. As a contractor in the US your taxes are much higher. In addition you end up having to buy your own insurance (life, health, in many cases liability). You don't get paid vacations, holidays, sick days, overtime (depending on the terms of the contract), and cannot collect unemployment. It maybe weeks or months after one contract ends before you can find another.

To the average hourly employee the "big bucks" a contractor makes looks very attractive, but make sure you look at the whole picture.

On the flip side you do have a lot more freedom. While not exactly your own boss (you are under contract) it is close to it. Just make sure you go over the fine print and that all the I are dotted and the t crossed. Many people enjoy it and do well.