Is there any room for income growth in contracting outside of building an agency?
A couple of years ago, my career seemed to be dead in the water, so I thought about contracting. It's not clear to me what changed, but in the course of a year, I got two huge promotions and am now making double. I'm currently interviewing for a huge step up that might bump my salary another 25% more.
I imagine if I went the contracting route, short term, I could've made much more money per hour, since I am/was pretty productive. But I /really/ doubt I'd get to where I am now on an annual basis (especially considering benefits and vacation). I also seems to have a clear path toward being a VP, CTO doesn't seem unrealstic in a few years, if I want to continue down the career path (I don't, rather start my own business, but nice to have a solid backup).
I know there's a lot of money to be made running an agency, but I don't think that's a natural skillset for the vast majority of engineers. Also it seems like a really competitive space.
I'd love to hear more from some contractors about this.
Contracting is effectively going mercenary. It's straight up 'I've got the expertise, you've got money... let's get together for a while.' There's no career path for you as far as the client is concerned but the pay is better. The understanding going in is that you will likely not be together for more than about a year. In addition to the bump in pay, since you know it's not a long-term situation, you typically get to avoid much of the office politics and organizational dysfunction and focus on what you're there to do.
It's not an ideal terminal position: either you use it as a stepping stone to something better (i.e. starting your own agency, getting into consulting, starting some other kind of business etc.) or you use it as a way to test drive companies without committing (i.e. If you like the place, convert to an employee if it's offered. If not, move on ASAP)
There are people who do contracting for the same company indefinitely. That's usually a career mistake as you're not getting valuable new experiences which will prepare you for something better and your hourly rate will get stuck in the mud. After 2-3 years it will have often been better to have converted to an employee. (i.e. more relaxed relationship, benefits/paid time off, stock/bonus programs etc.) Many larger companies love it when contractors stay long term: for them it's all of the upside of having an employee with none of the downside. (it's also legally problematic but that doesn't stop most of them)
If you contract direct, you can make decent money. I have multiple clients at the same time and work 4-6 hours a day and make 40% more than when I was working 40hrs a week as an employee. I also have my own office close enough that I sometimes bike to work in the summer.
A couple of years ago, my career seemed to be dead in the water, so I thought about contracting. It's not clear to me what changed, but in the course of a year, I got two huge promotions and am now making double. I'm currently interviewing for a huge step up that might bump my salary another 25% more.
I imagine if I went the contracting route, short term, I could've made much more money per hour, since I am/was pretty productive. But I /really/ doubt I'd get to where I am now on an annual basis (especially considering benefits and vacation). I also seems to have a clear path toward being a VP, CTO doesn't seem unrealstic in a few years, if I want to continue down the career path (I don't, rather start my own business, but nice to have a solid backup).
I know there's a lot of money to be made running an agency, but I don't think that's a natural skillset for the vast majority of engineers. Also it seems like a really competitive space.
I'd love to hear more from some contractors about this.