independent Consultant VS Regular Jobs

Chandradev

Having done both, I would say one could build a career either with a permanent position or a series of contract positions - I have been contracting for over a decade and in that time I have been unemployed for a total of one hour.  As far as the work itself goes, there is virtually no difference - the work performed is identical whether you are a direct employee or a contractor.  On an assignment, you can expect to, for the most part, be treated exactly like any direct employee working the same job.

Generally speaking as a contractor you will earn a higher income but for it you will trade job security to some extent as well as benefits.  I have to purchase my own health insurance for example and it is not subsidized by any company.  I also do not receive any paid vacations or holidays - all of that comes out of that additional income so in a lot of ways, the pay is a wash.

The one thing I like about contracting is the variety of work assignments.  It is difficult to grow bored with the assignments given they typically last between three to six months; that is not to say they all do - I have had some assignments that spanned two years on the long end of it whilst others were as little as a couple of months in duration.  That does lead me to point at an obvious pain in the neck with contracting - you are always looking for the next contract and you are constantly interviewing.  If you don't like to interview then contracting is not going to be a lot of fun for you.

As a permanent employee you will have some measure of security, you will get some form of benefits, and you will have paid holidays and vacations.  The downside might be, for some people anyway, working on the same product year after year - that to me can become a bit dull.  You can also expect a lower rate of pay too because at the end of the day, you are the one paying for those benefits.  Quite often I find that the delta in pay (when I am offered permanent slots) is too great a difference to feel good about it.  That is to say, that the amount they tend to lower the pay to when transitioning from contract to permanent outstrips the value of the benefits offered in exchange for a permanent role with a company.

Anyway, that is what I view as some of the major differences between contract and permanent work.  Again, you can build a career either way.  You will just have to decide if the trade-offs between contracting versus permanent work lead you in one direction or the other.