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Job Advice

nixxon2000

Premium Member
I was recently offered a job as a consultant for a medium size company. This company hired people are consultants and sends them to companies to help.

I am having some concerns.

First I have a full time job and it's stable. The consulting gig does pay well 40% of billing.

Second I had a son back in April an we could use the money. I'm just not sure about all the traveling.

Also what if I accept this job and don't like it. I won't be about to get this position back. I've been at the company for 3 years and am in a sr position.

I'm just confused and hope someone can give some advice.

It's all appreciated.
 

dfreybur

Premium Member
There are differences between full time staff, consultants and contractors. Fail to learn the differences and that increases your chances of disliking a job. Consulting takes a specific mind set to enjoy the work. Treat yourself as an employee of your parent company and you'll fail to like the work at the clients because you won't pay enough attention to delivering value to each client. Treat yourself as a job shopper working for each client in sequence and you'll fail to appreciate the support system from your parent company and you'll grow to grudge their cut of the hourly rate. I have friends who have fallen into each of those two traps. Consultants act as bridges between a service company, your parent company who send you out of deployments, and a product company, your end clients you travel to. Viewing yourself that way is key to liking your work.

Make sure it's consulting (Accenture ...) not contracting. Or if it really is contracting (Teksystems ...) not consulting in spite of their name. Find out what they expect and deliver accordingly. Contracting is delivering heads. You're temping as short term staff at each company in turn without much support form your parent company.

Thing is, once you get the difference you'll be able to act accordingly and flourish on your assignments.

There are consulting companies that keep you at their office to work remotely and companies that send you on travel deployments. I've done both and am currently at one where I do the work remotely. Lots of guys love traveling for work. Even more burn out on traveling for work. You pretty much have to live it to find out for yourself. The travel is its own issue. Be sure to see "Up in the Air" for how bad it can get. Be sure to watch the SPECTRE era James Bond films for a comical view of who good it can get.

Per diem rules as long as you keep your expenses down. I've lived in a lot of weekly studio places doing my own meals.
 

NY.Light

Registered User
Is it possible for you -- to ask your HR or your Boss at current company that you got an offer with higher salary?
I'd look at reaction. Then, it'll be easy for you to understand how to act. Good luck.

Unexpected, yet solid advice.
 

crono782

Premium Member
I've made the jump from perm to contract and made the uphill climb back to perm again. It's tough. Honestly, unless you are unhappy with your salary and this contract position will give you a stepping stone in either experience or pay, I'd be very careful about the decision. Going contract is well and good and they pay is usually spectacular, but there's a reason for that. You often lose many of the perks that permanent employees have such as insurance plans, accrued holiday/pto, etc. In my case, I made the jump because I was stuck in a salary rut and jumping to contract broke me out. Now that I'm perm again, I'm making a much better salary, but it took me a good 2 years to go perm again. It seems once you go contract, it gets difficult to go perm again. Dunno why.

Asking for a counter-offer isn't a bad thing. It really goes back to your motivation. If it's purely money, then asking HR for a counter offer along with your reasons for it might get you what you want (hint: they almost certainly can't match a contract offer, but you might get a pay boost). If you're unhappy with your position or the company, then not much will sway you in a counter, so you might as well consider jumping ship.

Also, I do a decent amount of travel for work now. Seemed fun for the first few trips, got old quick.
 

nixxon2000

Premium Member
Thank you everyone for the great advice.

The jump is not purely for money. I feel like I am stuck where I am. I work in a team on 1 right now. My previous teammate left in April so I've been alone and on call since then. The one thing I do like about the job is that I have a feeling what is going to happen the next day. The consulting gig leave me wondering what is going to happen.

I am actually working with a consultant from novacoast which is the consulting company I would be working for. They do have full insurance benefits which I need for my family.

Part of me is afraid of new things. I normally stay with a company for many years.

I do have the option to stay home and work but some travel will be involved.

I'm still not quite sure what to do. Anymore advice or suggestions are appreciated. Hope adding some more information was helpful.
 
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