What's the point in permiedom?

[Troll]

None whatsoever - in the old days with a job for life employment model you could make arguments against being a contractor - today you have to look on wherever you permie work as being temporary in nature, in which case the risk / rewards just aren't worth it

The only exception is if you can get your nose in the trough in the food chain high enough where the rewards and potential pay-offs exceed those available for contractors... as one of esteemed congregation has already published (jammy git)

[MarillionFan]

What a cynical bunch you are.

Contracting is more unstable then perm, hence the
reason higher rates. You will only be able reap the rewards if
your percentage of contracted days versus available working days is high. To do that you need to be good at what you do.

Perm is more stable and offers career progression for thos who are good at what they do. But allows you time and resources to get better. You
can only get promoted to your own level of incompetence and for the vast majority of
people perm is all they understand.

Anyone can go perm. But only certain personalities can contract and be successful. We are all in a minority and we all share certain personality attributes.

[Doggy Styles]

Anyone can go perm. But only certain personalities can contract and be successful. We are all in a minority and we all share certain personality attributes.

Following on from MF's comment, everyone is different. Permiedom suits some people, contracting suits others, and there are a lot in between.

It also depends on the client and the job. I've been contracting for over 20 years, but I've had one or two clients I'd have considered going perm with.

Why would I go perm? It's a combination of many things. Good location, good package, interesting work, long-term project(s) and prospects, well-run company, good people. It can be sad to leave some of that behind just because "I am a contractor".

[d000hg]

Before going contracting I was warned about the risks and the instability. About the difficulties and having to travel etc etc.

9 months into contracting I am struggling to see the exact same points with regards to permiedom. i.e.

The instability of worrying about getting through each month
The risk of losing the job and having absolutely no money
The difficulties of getting into debt and having financial problems
Having to travel but not being able to claim it back in expenses

Now will somebody explain to me what is the point in permiedom?

Those are negatives about a bad job at a poor company, not permiedom in general. Not to mention only a fool would fail to save money up towards a rainy day fund while employed.

You're 9 months into contracting. You're in no position to make any generalisations based on what, 1 or 2 contracts? If you spent all your days as a permie worried about losing your job, maybe you weren't very good...

[MarillionFan]

I've converted a couple of contracts into
perm. In both cases I got a good deal the last time in excess of 100k and a career path. But i tend to get bored / frustrated and the politics used to drive me wild.

I've mastered the 2nd part but i still struggle with boredom.

For me, contracting is a piece of piss & easy money. I find perm much more difficult.

[Francko]

Permiedom might have made some sense in the days when you could enter upon a career and change companies somewhere between zero and three times, with the final company being the one you stayed in for twenty or more years and left with a comfortable pension. My father, who will be eighty in a couple of months, is of a time when that was feasible.

This is the whole point. A permie job is just a longer-term contract of 3-5 years nowadays. You give up to some money in exchange of not having to deal with agents for that time and have at least a few months notice (in general when they sack permanent they normally warn you many weeks in advance). Regarding career progression I didn't notice much difference. If you are the type of person who wants to go up the ladder then you will anyway, whether you are permie or not.

[MarillionFan]

This is the whole point. A permie job is just a longer-term contract of 3-5 years nowadays. You give up to some money in exchange of not having to deal with agents for that time and have at least a few months notice (in general when they sack permanent they normally warn you many weeks in advance). Regarding career progression I didn't notice much difference. If you are the type of person who wants to go up the ladder then you will anyway, whether you are permie or not.

Only contractors think that perm jobs are the equivalent of 3-5 year contracts. They're not.

I am surprised at the number of 10,20,30 and a guy on 35 years service at some of the clients I have worked at this year. In all cases though, I was asked how
come I have so many different skills in different areas. I have heard the 'oh i haven't been on a course for that' or 'how did you learn that?'

Only the most blinkered contractor (or bloody successful) would never consider a perm role.

[AtW]

I got a good deal the last time in excess of 100k and a career path.

[gingerjedi]

Why laugh?

I'm stuck in this 8x1 years experience syndrome where I'm not getting the exposure to the technologies I need to move on. There's only so much you can read about Cisco kit or Virtualisation, without proper hands on experience I'm not going to get the gig.

A good permy job will allow you to expand into new areas, no fecker wants to train a contractor and I don't blame them.

[AtW]

Why laugh?

MFs "career path" is becoming a permie and then punching his boss before becoming contractor again

Plan B is the only way forward - neither perm jobs nor contracting are remotely safe, ultimately if you just have a handful of customers who can choose someone else for whatever reason then you are taking big gambles that soon or later will cost you.

So talk less and work more on Plan B.