Project Management

Please login or join to subscribe to this thread

Give Contract Work a Try!

linkedin twitter facebook   Career Development  
avatar
Annette Suh Manager, Agile Practices| The Walt Disney Company Winter Garden, FL, United States
Hi all: I'd like to share my experience with being a contract PM, because it seems that contracting doesn't get the love it should within the general PM community.

I've got the opportunity to work at 8 Fortune 100's, and Nike, and learn new things, all while being paid more than FTEs and having the flexibility to learn how really big organizations operate. I've learned a lot, grown a lot, and have taken on progressively more complex roles, all while putting out a great work product.

Changing jobs every 6 mos to a year has helped me to become very adaptable, and able to make an impact quickly because I can easily size up a current situation and formulate a plan of attack.

Got questions? Want to share your stories about how contracting has helped your career?
Sort By:
< 1 2 >
avatar
Bruce Gay Principal Consultant| Astrevo Labs Pittsburgh, Pa, United States
Annette,

Thanks for sharing your experience as a contract PM. A few questions for you:

* How often have you had extended breaks between contract assignments?
* Has your salary rate been steady or does it fluctuate between assignments?
* Have you had any issues with taxes?
* Have you been more satisfied with the shorter assignments (less than 6 months) or with longer assignments (more than 12 months)?
* Have any clients offered to hire you full time?

-Bruce
...
1 reply by Annette Suh
Sep 05, 2017 11:16 PM
Annette Suh
...
Bruce: I rarely have a break between contracts. Hourly rate (I don't get a salary) varies by role, location, skills required. I try to stick with W2 contracts so taxes are not an issue. Satisfaction is not determined by duration, rather by the nature of the work. Most clients offer to hire me, but the comp usually doesn't measure up to make it worth it.

Hope that helps.
avatar
Michael Delaney Partner| Delaney Management LLC West Chester, Pa, United States
Annette
Thank you for the post. I am looking at contract work for a different perspective since looking to work with the smaller companies which can not necessarily support full time senior PM but require the skills to get a new product launch or develop their PM organization. I also see how the larger companies could benefit from having fresh and independent perspective as well.
avatar
Annette Suh Manager, Agile Practices| The Walt Disney Company Winter Garden, FL, United States
Sep 23, 2016 9:19 AM
Replying to Bruce Gay
...
Annette,

Thanks for sharing your experience as a contract PM. A few questions for you:

* How often have you had extended breaks between contract assignments?
* Has your salary rate been steady or does it fluctuate between assignments?
* Have you had any issues with taxes?
* Have you been more satisfied with the shorter assignments (less than 6 months) or with longer assignments (more than 12 months)?
* Have any clients offered to hire you full time?

-Bruce
Bruce: I rarely have a break between contracts. Hourly rate (I don't get a salary) varies by role, location, skills required. I try to stick with W2 contracts so taxes are not an issue. Satisfaction is not determined by duration, rather by the nature of the work. Most clients offer to hire me, but the comp usually doesn't measure up to make it worth it.

Hope that helps.
avatar
Deepa Kalangi Manager, Program Management, Author, Trainer| CVS Health Charlotte, NC, United States
Hi Annette
Good to see you are working for Nike, I am in Portland. And exactly in the same boat like you are:-) Always contracting, 16 years now. Only one FT job and the company got merged right after I took FT..that way it never worked for me. A lot of people are concerned about security on a contract job, but I felt the opposite. I enjoyed the flexibility and growth. And on the bright side, I got extensions on the contracts always, and I was the last one to go even if the contractors are let go on a program. All in all, I agree with your viewpoints.
avatar
Aline Vida Singer Seattle, Wa, United States
Thank you for starting this thread.
< 1 2 >

Please login or join to reply

Content ID:
ADVERTISEMENTS
ADVERTISEMENT

Sponsors







Vendor Events

See all Vendor Events

Newsletters

Jun 3: The Career Problem Facing New PMs
May 20: Your PM Career as a Project Life Cycle
May 13: The Big Lie After Layoffs

See all newsletters