Contract Your Way to a Better Career

I'm going to start by saying that I don't work for a contracting company, I'm not a recruiter, nor have I ever been. I just wanted to write about how I used contracting to get better jobs, more experience, and more pay throughout my career.

I started my career in tech support, working for $12/hour. Being 19 and having my first job, I was happy to be employed in my field. But I needed to make more and I didn't want to spend my time fixing PCs. I wanted to leverage and expand my programming skills, so I took a contracting position that paid me 75% more, taking me to $21/hr. This was my first foray into contracting and I was amazed at how easily I could increase my pay. On top of that, I was able to find a contract that wasn't just for tech support but allowed me to write code. Throughout my career I continued to use contracting to increase my pay, gain skills, and change my career from Tech Support at a small, local company to Data Architect\AI Ambassador at Microsoft. Here are some lessons I learned along the way.

Lesson #1: Use a contracting company and recruiter that isn't just trying to fill seats. The biggest lesson I learned was that there are recruiters out there that aren't just trying to fill contracts, but are genuinely interested in you. This means that they are finding you contracts that are leveraging your skills. For instance if you have experience in Java and want to continue writing code, they aren't sending you positions for a Linux Administrator just because you have Linux experience. 

Lesson #2: Use a recruiter that only finds contracts in your pay range. After trying several firms and getting emails about contracts that paid much less than what I currently made, I finally found a recruiter that only sent me contracts in my current range. As your range goes up, that means you might have to find new contracting companies as some specialize in filling higher paying positions. This goes right along with lesson 1, finding that recruiter that cares about you.

Unfortunately finding that right company/recruiter can take some trial and error. Early on, I used job boards and would have multiple recruiters looking for me at the same time. As I got a better feel for contracting, I changed my strategy to having conversations with recruiters first, sometimes multiple conversations over coffee or lunch. I really wanted to make sure that I felt comfortable with them and that they understood what I was looking for. You should build a relationship with your recruiter through the life of the contract, which will allow them to continue finding you those contracts that are a great fit.

Lesson #3: A contracting position should pay enough to cover all your expenses. As an employee at a company you have a lot of benefits like paid vacation, health care, training, etc. As a contractor, you'll likely be paid by the hour, so that hourly rate should cover all of your benefits. It's easy to see a high hourly rate and get excited about that pay raise, but you need to make sure that you are subtracting vacation days from your yearly pay, as well as the cost of paying for your own benefits completely out of pocket. That means if you want 2 weeks of vacation, you would multiply your hourly rate times 2000 (40 hours per week times 50 weeks) and not 2080. If you want more vacation, then that multiplier drops. Also include time\expense to continue learning since you'll be doing this on your own time and out of pocket. 

Lesson #4: Save enough for bench time. Making sure you have enough in the bank when your contract ends in order to wait for that next one is key to being a successful contractor. If you have skills that are in high demand, there may be no time between contracts, especially if you have a good relationship with your recruiter. However, in order to cut down on the anxiety of worrying about a contract ending, you should have regular conversations with your contracting company. They'll be able to give you an idea of what the market is like for your skills and how long it should take to find something new. This is also a great time to plan your vacation.

Lesson #5: Short term contracts can lead to long term work. Don't be afraid to take a short term contract. I took several short term contracts during my prime contracting years. Each one led to either multiple short term contracts at the same company or to a longer term contract. Short term contracts are usually to get some project work done in a specific time frame. However, there is usually more work at the same company and if you excel at that first contract, it is my experience that the company will have another contract for you. They like using people that they know can get work done and you've already gained some domain knowledge about their company. That may mean working for a different group or on a different project. I once leveraged a 12 week contract into a multi-year contract where I was able to learn new skills and work on incredible technology.

Lesson #6: Eventually you will max out your rate. As you get higher paying contracts and negotiate for higher pay, eventually you will hit a ceiling. This means you've hit the market cap for your current skills. I hit that cap, but was happy with my pay, happy with my work, and happy with the lifestyle I had as a contractor, so I continued at that rate for a few years while learning new skills. However, if your rate starts dropping, that can be a sign that your skills are becoming more common and it may be time to learn something new. Contracting is a great gauge of your skill set. Eventually I leveraged all of my past experience and new skills to get a full time position with a company I was previously contracting with.

It's up to you to manage career and using contracting as a tool can help you gain new skills, leverage your skills, and/or establish yourself as a subject matter expert. Good luck in your contracting endeavors. And if you're looking for a great recruiter, Sarah Pervo is who I worked with for almost 8 years and set an extremely high bar. I honestly couldn't recommend her enough to anyone looking to take this journey.