A Case of the Mondays: A Contract for Your Life

Good Monday Everyone! Time for the weekly blog post for professionals and would-be employed.

I apologize for this being late, I spent my weekend nerding it up with the family and all day today trying to code a client-side version the the AD Migration Tool.

Today I'm looking at the different types of jobs out there: Contract, Contract-to-Hire, and Direct Hire. 

Direct Hire
A while ago you could go to a company, get a job, do your work, and if you got fired you at least had unemployment to lean on until you could find a new job.  However companies learned that it's not cost effective to have to pay for that, much less all the benefits like health insurance, vacation days, and sick days they have to pay to their employees.

Contract to Hire
Now this is a more formalized version of the 90 day waiting period before benefits, etc. that we had with direct hire.  If you were good and they liked you, then you were brought on permanently with all the nommy vacation days and health insurance.

Contract
Here's the kind of scary one.  You see - a lot of employees, especially at the entry-level position, are young, eager, and desperate for work.  They may not want health insurance, so a contract-only position (that can easily pay $10k a year more than a regular position) is a great deal for not only them but their employer.  Not only that if the employer decides to "end your contract" then that's it - your job is simply gone.  No unemployment for you.

Other Contracts
There are a couple of contracts IT professionals need to be aware of that can come up even if you're a direct hire.  The first is the non-compete contract.  This generally says you won't go work for a competitor or for a customer that you worked for in the course of your job.  These contracts will typically expire after a year or two and generally don't cause much a hard ship.

The one that's really nasty can be called any number of things - but I call them training contracts.  Training contacts state that if you are terminated - be it you quit or you're fired - you owe the company for any training or certifications that they helped pay for.

Now one one hand I don't disagree with these entirely.  However if the company decides to fire you suddenly, then you're on the hook for a few thousand dollars.  One training contract I've seen actually required me to pay back my salary for the training period as well as food, lodging, travel expenses, and training.

Making it Work
Yeah - this is all terrible but a fact of life anymore, with no sign of it getting better.  However there is hope:  During your contract be the epitome of skilled professional and continue looking.  When you find a new job that is appealing, give your notice.  If your current employer asks to make a counter off take a few grand off your current salary (or equivalent) and say that if they make your permanent that you'll stay.

I speak from experience here :)