Contract Work vs. Direct Employment 1

[kat6787]

Hi everybody,
I'm a young engineer (<2 years after grad with 1 internship during school), I graduated with a BS in a maritime structures/coastal engineering degree. I am working towards me EIT certificate and will start working towards a masters in structures (after I get done with my EIT quest), however all that means absolutely nothing to employers until I have the certificate or diploma in my hand.

I was hoping to get some opinions about working a contract position with the limited experience that I have. I only ask because all the contract engineers that I have worked with have had a atleast 5 years of experience and normally had a specialty that the company needed at that time, but not necessarily for an extended period of time.

Is it better to stay on as a direct employee for a few more years before making the switch to becoming a contractor?

Thanks
Kat

 

[dtn6770]

It probably wouldn't hurt as long as you're gettin usefull experience and can pay your bills.

 

[Ussuri]

When you work as contract you are selling something to the company you work for. In particular your skills and abilities.

In my opinion contract staff must be competent at the vast majority of tasks the employer would expect of them. If you are still on a learning curve I would stay as staff. This way you get the training (on the job, courses, seminars etc) paid for by the company. Contract staff should really know how to do the job before they are taken on.

I would stay staff with less than 2 years experiance and use the resources of the company to my best advantage for increaseing my base skill set.

 

[GregLamberson]

I concur, stay where you are, get some more experience. Talk to consultants that your company uses, most are willing to give advice. When you get experience under your belt, go for it.

Greg Lamberson
Consultant - Upstream Energy
Website:

http://www.oil-gas-consulting.com

 

[KENAT]

I'm tempted to say that you're right that it might be better to get a little more experience in a direct position first. Certainly I had around 5 years experience before I did a stint as an engineering prostitute, sorry job shopper, I mean contractor;-).

Personally I consider that I only really started to get what I’d call ‘useful’ after a couple of years experience. Certainly before that I wouldn’t have had much to offer as a contractor and even at that stage the reason I was useful was as much because I’d worked out how the company and our customers worked as much as any technical prowess I’d developed. As such I would have had limited utility as a contractor. By the time I’d hit 5 years I had some skills, knowledge etc and so had something to offer even outside of my field of experience.

However in the end I took the contract job because I needed to pay the bills. So if you’re in the position that you don’t have a job then by all means go contract, I wouldn’t wait for the perfect direct employment position to come along. You can still look while contracting. However, if your current place pays OK, is giving you good experience and you’re basically fairly happy there I wouldn’t jump ship for a contract job just yet.

Just my opinion though.

 

[Senselessticker]

Direct engineering positions are fading away....go to work for an engineering company, but don't be a job shopper.

 

[ewh]

I agree with the others that you may want to wait until you have more practical experience before you try shopping. I don't understand Senselessticker's comment "don't be a job shopper". I usually hear that from die-hard directs. What I would not do though is take a series of short term contracts one after the other (unless my unemployment was running out). This will not look good on a resume. Try to find 1 yr+ positions if you can.
Job shopping can be very rewarding, both monetarily and in personal experience.
Try subscribing to a contracting magazine such as CEWeekly. Much good information and interesting threads on their website.

 

[prohammy]

Kat,

Gotta agree with comments that others have made. Contracting is about selling yourself on two levels. First, and foremost, an employer will want to see proven engineering experience with a variety of previous employers (the more diversity you have the better, it shows your adaptability) so that he/she can be sure he/she is not taking a chance on you and won't have to invest too much time training you. He/she will be very interested on systems that you have worked on (be they design systems, PLM, basic softwares) so that he can be sure that you can tailor yourself to his requirements. Secondly, the employer will be interested in you ability to blend with different teams, a point that most contractors seem to miss. Contractors need to be able to demonstrate that they can fit inot other people's operations with a minimium of fuss.

My advice(similar to others), get your basic engineering experience, somewhere between 5-7 years with a minimium of 3 companies and then think about contracting.

PS Learn to sell yourself. Confidence (not arragance) is a difficult skill to develop, but is worth its weight in gold (or cold hard currancy).

Kevin Hammond

Mechanical Design Engineer
Derbyshire, UK

 

[kat6787]

Thanks to everybody for the advice. I kind of figured what the response would be. I was just curious because I was approached with the opportunity and I thought it was sort of odd that somebody would be looking for a young engineer to work as contract. I appreciate all your help.

Thanks
Kat

 

[csd72]

I can think of one main reason why an employer would be looking for a junior engineer to be on contract - flexibility. They will be able to get rid of you easier if the work dries up!

As a contractor you need to be prepared to be out of work on a weeks notice and to be able to pick up work quickly afterwards. If you have only 2 years experience then you wont be able to find work as easy as someone with more experience.

You are also treated much differently as a contractor. As you are billing them for each hour you are there, then they are less willing to sit down and give you the advise and training that you require.

 

[KENAT]

Kat,

I started getting phonecalls from contract agencies when I had just over a years experience, based on letters I'd sent them a year or more earlier after I graduated and had had trouble finding a job.

From what I've seen the agencies will blow smoke up everyones proverbial if it means they get to place you and charge money for you. Many of them don't particularly care if you're well qualified or not or if it's in your best interest.

Just because they approach you with an offer doesn't mean it's a position you're actually suited to. I think somone gave examples of this on another thread recently. Something like they got sent to an interview by a contract/recruitment agency and turned out the company was looking for an electrical engineer and the person was mechanical etc...

 

[STYMIEDPIPER]

KENAT
"an engineering prostitute..."
Love the term

 

[ewh]

"roadwhore" is the more common street term

 

[prohammy]

Ken, Sty & ewh,

Harsh guys, really really harsh. Such naming calling really cuts me to the bone. I am off to my gold encrusted house to cry myself to sleep on my whalebone four poster bed after such abuse


Kevin Hammond

Mechanical Design Engineer
Derbyshire, UK

 

[Senselessticker]

Okay,

Here is some more insight:

Companies hire contract engineers mainly because the company needs engineering help. If you are a contract engineer to a given company expect to find: very technically incompetent engineers who have "been there for a long time" telling you what to do. The reality is, the "engineering" part of that company is is in deep trouble given their engineering technical skill sets and mgt.

In a contract position (even if you are new to engineering), you will probably be a much needed breath of fresh air to a failing engineering division/department.

That's why it's important to work for an "engineering company" which is able to back you up (vs. some kind of staff aug. company with no engineering roots).

Contract engineering is rough, tough, and nasty. Expect to get beat on, spit at, and insulted by the direct engineers who've been there for decades (who have drawn paychecks for decades and take alot of pride in that fact). They will consider you a threat (with rightful cause). There will be lots of "tribal knowledge" which the company direct employees will not share with you (as a means to make you look bad).

Go into contract engineering only if you are very thick skinned, a very quick learner, are willing to take a risk for a good paycheck, and can handle getting cut loose any given week.

 

[ewh]

Pretty harsh assessment to use such a broad brush. Companies and engineering departments such as that do exist, but that is hardly the total story.

 

[Kwan]

Nice post Senselessticker!

I've been there before. One guy would try his best to get me fired! But I knew what I was doing (and had a good engineering boss) so it wasn't a problem. Even if he succeeded i would have just moved to the next job. Contractors don't generally bleed when someone sticks them in the back!!!

Worked another program where the program manager hired mostly contractors. Other programs were going on at the same time (using mostly directs). Our program made money while the others ran the company almost out of business.

 

[Ashereng]

Kat,

In some areas, contract versus employee status is really just a financial arrangement. I have been both - at the same company once.

There is very little additional protection being an employee in my opinion. If your employer hits hard times, they layoff. I have been at places where employees were laid off before contractors because the contractors had specific skills the employees didn't, and were needed to finish the project.

Most employment contracts are "at will". Meaning, the employer may terminate with appropriate notice, without cause, at any time.

I do not find it any easier to let a contractor go than an employee. Two weeks notice is two weeks notice.

The big thing is the culture of the particular market you are in. In my market, contractors and employees are very similar - there is little to differentiate them, other than on paper.

Just a different outlook.

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."
Albert Einstein
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[GregLocock]

I rather like the image of contractor as superhero... but by and large while they may wear their underpants outside their trousers that's about as good as it gets.




Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[KENAT]

I like to think that I was a good contractor, they took me on direct in the end so hopefully that's the case.

However, I've worked with contractors that were really good, contractors that were OK and contractors that left something to be desired.

I can only think of about one contractor that was in the first category, 2-3 in the second category and the rest in the last category. Some of it may have been the situation they were put into compared to their skills/experience but none the less they weren't much good.

Senseless, I'm not sure about the first half of your 26/3 post but the second half definitely has an element of truth.

I've seen contractors treated badly, some of them deserved it but the one who got treated worst was the only one I put in the really good category.