Thread by @HeyChelseaTroy

Oh, I LOVE this question.

Let's talk about contract work versus permanent roles, specifically as an engineer (maybe it applies outside engineering, but I'll stick to what I know).

I have done, and still do, both of these, and I'd love to bust some myths about them.

Thread. 1/

https://twitter.com/zerornella/status/1412010813024620545

MYTH 1: You have to choose one or the other at a given point in time.

I realize that, for plenty of folks with children and other obligations, having anything in addition to a full time job is not tenable, and I acknowledge that.

That does not mean it's always impossible...

/2

...to try a contract role while in a full time role, if they are curious about it.

Before I started my consultancy, I picked up teaching on the side of my day job. Once I started feeling more fulfilled in teaching than at work, I got A LOT more curious about contract roles.

/3

MYTH 2: One or the other is a universally better way to get skills/get mentored/get promoted.

First of all, tech companies are beyond-satirically bad at promoting people on schedule, especially URMs. So my heuristic is "if you want a promotion, switch jobs basically"

/4

...cue a few repliers who will be like "but I got promoted in my FTJ!"

Congratulations to the six of you. Four of you admit that it was way overdue, and for the remaining two, there are hundreds who did everything you did and didn't get it. Sorry. The trend is the trend.

/5

Second of all, promotion is kind of a construct beyond the compensation piece because everywhere I have worked had a completely different idea about the skills and responsibilities that constituted, for example, "senior."

So unless you're wanting something SPECIFIC...

/6

...beyond just "I want to get promoted," then I think this is mostly a red herring of a metric to use on what to do with your career.

When I quit my FTJ to do contract work, I wanted some specific things. I discuss those in the piece below.

/7

chelseatroy.com/2019/06/17/an-…

The VERY short version was: your manager is perhaps the most important variable in your experience at a FTJ. Ideally, they know what they're doing and have your best interests at heart.

But if they don't have #1, at least make sure they have #2. I knew I had #2 for me.

/8

MYTH 3: The money is better/worse

The money is hard to compare.

FTJ: income gauged annually. You get your take-home every 2 weeks, most of which you'll keep.

Business: income gauged monthly. Take-home whenever client pays. Expect a third to go to taxes eventually.

/9

So that's the first part of that myth. The second part of that myth is that it really depends on your business ethos, your clients, and your experience level.

My rates, for example...

/10

... in contracts are RAISED by my exp level and my unique fit for jobs (I've done a lot of legacy maintenance, testing support, and work with scientists). They're LOWERED by the fact that I specifically take the kind of project that tends to be nonprofit or grant-funded.

/11

It means that when I tell you my client list, you're gonna be like "Oh, that's some cool shit"

It is. And to do it, I had to ignore the often-followed advice to raise my rates. Had I done that, my client list would be insurance companies.

/12

MYTH 3: Health insurance is, like, impossible outside a full time role (in the U.S.)

Look, I'll be totally clear with you. Concerns about the availability of health insurance to me were part of the reason I took a FTJ again. More below.

HOWEVER...

/13

chelseatroy.com/2021/06/03/wha…

...I did not actually EXPERIENCE an inability to get health insurance.

Was it annoying? Yes. Expensive? Yes. Prohibitively annoying or expensive? No. I paid around $400 a month and my plan was okay. I chose it in 45 minutes on the exchange, with help from a doctor friend.

/14

My OTHER friend hypothesizes that corporations deliberately make it sound prohibitive for an independent business owner to get health insurance because that keeps supply of willing employees high relative to demand. I don't hate this hypothesis.

/15

MYTH 5: you're either in a full time, permanent, insured role, or you're in a full time, not permanent, contract role.

Nope! I took almost no contract clients on a full-time basis. Instead, I deliberately divvied up my work among multiple clients at a time.

/16

The one time I contracted full time, it was for a single month and I HATED it. I would never do that again.

Now, it depends on who you are. I don't mind context switching much, and I appreciate a diversity of projects. I also think...

/17

...that for me, limiting exposure to any one project to 24 hours or fewer per week kept me UNDER the burnout threshold on all of them.

/18

Having multiple clients felt more secure than having just one, much like diversifying an investment portfolio.

That's also why I wouldn't currently go back to "a FTJ and nothing else." In order to bring my whole self to work, I have to be CHOOSING that work.

However...

/19

...if I depend on any one thing to make ends meet, I no longer feel like I am choosing it. I feel like I am compelled to do it. And that, for me, shortens the time to burnout on it.

Also...

/20

...I just loved my clients too much. So when I went full-time, I scaled down client work, but I still work with a few clients.

My employer is aware, and supportive, of my client work. We had that discussion before I accepted an offer; everyone knew this would be the deal.

/21

MYTH 6: Skill development is better at a FTJ

I think MOST companies don't support aggressive leveling up. They provide a pro dev budget, but they don't expect people to study at work. They don't assign stretch projects by default. Conference/course time counts as PTO.

/22

I went to contract roles, in part, specifically to assign MYSELF stretch projects by choosing stretch project clients, and that worked for me.

In this piece, I describe my thinking when I took a FTJ again. In part, it had to do with the work.

/23

chelseatroy.com/2020/12/09/ano…

If you were to ask me NOW what I imagine my career will look like going forward, here's what I'd say:

I imagine it will be a few perfect-fit full time roles, probably with time between them, against a consistent backdrop of contracts and teaching—pending health insurance.

/24

MYTH 7: FTJ is more secure

In the U.S., many states are at-will, laws are anti-labor-organizing, and health coverage is tied to work.

An exclusive income source that can be taken away on zero notice is not secure.

This myth is so mythical it's practically malicious.

/25

That's all I can think of right this second, BUT

1. Happy to answer questions!
2. I might add more later
3. I did a tweet thread about how I keep my consultancy in working order, which may help with decisions about contracting:

/26

https://twitter.com/HeyChelseaTroy/status/1341806150380040192