Ask HN: Is contracting full time a good career path?

[r3vo]

Hi HN,

I've been a contract web developer for a full year now after two years of salaried work.

I work in the Atlanta area, and am making $77/hr at a great company here. I always get 40 hours of work a week, so I should come out somewhere around $160k at the end of the year. This sort of money is unheard of here, the absolute best money I've seen for a full time developer role here is probably $120k.

It seems to me like I'm getting an extremely good deal, but I have a sinking feeling that I am missing something. Most guys my age are doing regular salary work for half the pay. I can't see what justification there is for doing this.

Am I missing something by not committing to a company? I don't think I necessarily have the interpersonal/ office politics skill to get into some executive role at this time, and I don't see why I can't do that down the road.

Can anyone here argue for a salaried job in my situation? I feel like I'm missing something.

Thanks for any feedback you can give me!

[JMTQp8lwXL]

When you're employed by someone else, they'll cover their half of FICA taxes (6.2% each), offer health insurance, HSA contributions. It might be possible in Atlanta to secure a compensation package that includes RSUs or access to an ESPP plan.

I'm not sure if you are covering both halves of FICA or not, but the above benefits could explain the difference, e.g., $120k + benefits = $160k.

Financials aside: If you're the type of person that likes switching companies once every 12 to 18 months, contracting could be a good fit. In my personal view, to really master a role, you need to be in it longer than that. It takes a junior engineer a couple years to become mid-level; the same for mid-level, to senior, and so forth.

[r3vo]

I'm actually a W2 through an agency, so the other half of my FICA is covered by the agency. The agency also provides some health insurance.

> likes switching companies once every 12 to 18 months

This does kind of resonate with me. I'm kind of restless now having been working on the same project for a year.

I don't think the benefits adds up to a 40K difference a year. As I said, I get health insurace, but no 401k matching. If I got something like 10% 401k matching I'd get about $400 per pay period ($400 * 12 = 4800).

I'm worried that these salary guys are going to be in some wildly better position in 10+ year because they committed to a company. But I don't really see how they will be.

Thank you so much for the response.

[gshdg]

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