What About Job Security?

Mon, 2010-07-19 06:36 — danieldigriz

So let's say I'm a current or former employee (or perhaps current or former contractor) about ready to pull the trigger on becoming a Free Agent...

I'm not worried about health insurance or 401K, because I get that with FAS, since all Free Agents get FAS employee status.
I'm not worried about switching benefits all the time, if my first contract is 10months, my second is 24, etc, because the insurance follows me.
I'm not worried about being underpaid, like a staffing agency temp, because I negotiate my own rate with the client, so I can bill enough to cover my FAS costs, and I keep 85% of net anyway (instead of get half or less, depending on what a staffing agency isn't showing me).

Seems like I've only got one concern: If the traditional 'job security' bullet points are all covered, what about the security or insecurity of working in the contractor job market. I know I have access to more jobs than traditional employment seekers, so I'm not competing with every Tom, Dick, and Susan, but how stable do you think the contract work economy is - both in and of itself and by comparison with traditional employment. Should I be worried that I might have to do the job seeking, interviewing thing again once every 6months to 2years, or not? With traditional employment, it seems like mobility is every 3-5 years, or was before the bust. Is the contractor job market robust enough to sustain me all my life, or does the traditional employment market provide me with additional security over the long haul, even if there aren't pension-type retirement packages anymore? I guess I'm not limited to one or the other, and neither burns bridges for the other - quite the contrary - but is there anything I'm not seeing?

Contract Jobs

Mon, 2010-07-19 06:54 — Steve

security = always on the lookout for the next assignment

The problem with being an employee is, we get comfortable. Perhaps we don't keep the résumé current. Maybe we don't keep our professional network fresh by keeping in touch. Perhaps we've skipped the last few meetings of the professional association we belong to. Maybe our LinkedIn profile hasn't been updated recently.

When we get comfortable, it means we have become dependent on our employer. We are are no longer ready to interview for and switch to the next job on a moment's notice.

Consider accountants and attorneys. Many of them belong to small firms or even run their own firm. Successful accountants and attorneys are always cultivating their network and looking for the next assignment. It's simply a natural part of the business routine.

And so it should be for us in other professions. Essentially, becoming a Free Agent is about adopting those business cultivation habits. I actually feel more secure knowing that I am better at finding the next contract job, than when I was an employee with long periods at one company, during which I inevitably lost touch with the market and wondered whether I could land another job that paid as well and that I liked.

The good news about working as a Free Agent is, it's understood that we move frequently from assignment to assignment, project to project. We get the benefit of accpetance for switching AND we get much better at switching - introducing ourselves, interviewing and getting the next assignment. Yes, even shy, quiet types will get comfortable with this.

As an employee, we are discouraged from switching too frequently and that keeps our interviewing skills rusty.

I will throw-in one other point about security, which really deserves a separate post. As Free Agents, we cannot live paycheck to paycheck the way some employees do (and the way I did sometimes as an employee). We must build-up some financial reserves so that we can relax and enjoy time with family during down-time, in between jobs, while we are working on getting that next project assignment.