So ... I have a great job in terms of quality of life and a job I enjoy, and the pay is OK. Raises are few and far between right now at the company, and its also the ONLY job I have had out of college, so I have no real network operations experience.

I have a CCIE which has recently helped me land a job offer, for a position that is a 3 month Contract (with SUN) where I would fly to vegas for 1 month and lead a new data center installation turnup, and then work from home for the remaining 2 months, doing remote maintenance and support.

From a career experience perspective, I think it would be a great thing for me, though I dont necessarily want to do it longterm ...

If I could have it my way, I would be able to go on temporary leave at my job, and take the contract position, and then return to work in 3 months.

The contract job is 60 hours a week (for the first month), with $70 per hour pay... not sure about overtime.

My base at my real job is probably half that, though the weekend pay and benefits and incentives do bring me up about halfway between my base and the contract pay (over 100k a year).

So, do I even consider a short term thing like this, and should I try to finagle something with my management? Would a corporation even consider letting me off for a few months to do something like this (keep in mind that the holiday season is a bit slower around work than at other times during the year).

Are benefits more than 15k per year for a family of 4 (soon to be 5) and would I have any options to keep my current insurance plan since my wife is pregnant?

Should I just slap myself in the face and get back to work, instead of considering such a short term contract like this?

Anyone with contract work experience, your feedback would be greatly appreciated.

10/30/2009 2:04:19 PM

sounds like a lot of questions you should be asking people that don't post on TWW.

10/30/2009 2:07:32 PM

^ that's ridiculous. i'm sure plenty of people on here have experience with career decisions like this

unless your boss really, really likes you, i'd be surprised if they'd let you take a leave of absence, knowing you're just going to go work for somebody else. especially if you're still with your first employer, there's probably a lot of room to improve your situation. each time i've begun a new career path, both with contract work and full-time positions, there's been between a 10-20% bump in pay.

if you leave your job, you'll be able to get health insurance through COBRA for up to 18 months. this will mean you'll pay your part of the premium and your employer's part. When I was on COBRA, it was about $850/month for a family. Does your employer do matching 401k? that's another benefit you won't be getting

on the other hand, somebody with your skills and experience should have a pretty easy time finding contract work or even a new full-time job if you decide you don't want to do contract stuff anymore. and like you said, the per hour rate is going to be significantly more.


[Edited on October 30, 2009 at 2:32 PM. Reason : .]

10/30/2009 2:09:02 PM

my point is no one here can give him any kind of serious advice on if his company would let him take a 3 month absence.

Also insurance will be completely different for him then it is for you or anyone else especially with a family.

10/30/2009 2:34:08 PM

i don't think he's expecting that anybody will be able to tell him EXACTLY how this choice would work out for him. i think he's looking for the experience of others and he will use that information combined with the experiences of other people he talks to, combined with the facts that he is able to obtain from his employer, and from that make a judgement whether he wants to purse contract work.

you know, the typical process that people go through when they make life decisions

10/30/2009 2:38:21 PM

Anyway...last thing I will say....its fine and dandy getting 'estimates' especially if you're single. But he's got a soon to be family of 5...I'd want to get exact figures and answers rather than best guesses before i gave it any serious thought

Sometimes job stability when you have a family to provide for is worth more in the long run then making a significant amount more but in short bursts.

[Edited on October 30, 2009 at 2:47 PM. Reason : .]

10/30/2009 2:46:36 PM

5 month contract =! over 100k a year

Quote :

"Are benefits more than 15k per year for a family of 4 (soon to be 5) and would I have any options to keep my current insurance plan since my wife is pregnant?"

depends on your plan and such, you'll have to do this one yourself.

Quote :

"should I try to finagle something with my management? Would a corporation even consider letting me off for a few months to do something like this (keep in mind that the holiday season is a bit slower around work than at other times during the year)."

depends, no reason to tell them you'll be working for someone else during this time though. i dunno, how bad did the economy hit your job/work/market? if it's bad enough they might be willing to drop paying you for the 3 months you'll be physically gone and still take you back (cutting costs).

[Edited on October 30, 2009 at 3:46 PM. Reason : more]

10/30/2009 3:42:08 PM

^ my thought exactly about cutting costs ... our organization did not lay anyone off during the downturn, but with the holidays coming up, its not like they actually NEED me ... networks put out change freezes from now til mid january, so there will be a significant drop in work around the office.

I will suggest to my manager that they put me on temp leave of absense, after running out my pto (got 190 hours saved up). That would be a win win in many ways. I get invaluable experience outside of my current job, and some extra cash, and they dont have to pay someone that they dont actually need for a few months ... and they get to clear the books of my many hours of PTO.

Thanks for the advice above ... I really think it could be a good career step, but I feel a great amount of loyalty to my employer currently, so I am pretty torn.

10/30/2009 4:34:26 PM

i am actually in the exact same position (same employer since graduation, offer to take a contract job at almost 2x the pay).

For now, I've decided I'm going to stick with my current job. My company has been pretty loyal to me, and I really enjoy the people I am with and the projects I work on. I calculated how much I'm getting in benefits at my job (vacation/sick pay, 401k match, insurance contribution, bonus) and added that to my current salary to get a better idea of exactly how much more money I'd be making with the contract position. It was easier to think about whether it was worth trading job security, working close to home, moving to a contract position, potentially having to find a new contract in 12 months, etc for an increase in money.

For you situation though, would you be leaving your girl and 3 kids at home while you stay in Las Vegas? Wouldn't that put your girl in a tough spot with a newborn?


[Edited on October 30, 2009 at 4:57 PM. Reason : ]

10/30/2009 4:49:33 PM

Quote :

"our organization did not lay anyone off during the downturn"

not true.

also.. if only the first month is on site.. would it be possible to take a month off using the time you have saved up then go back to work while doing the "work from home" at your current job? seems like a win win to me if you could pull that off

[Edited on October 30, 2009 at 5:49 PM. Reason : a]

10/30/2009 5:48:16 PM

with a family this would be stupid, imo. No employer is going to hold your job for 3 months so you can go make bank elsewhere.

Keep looking for a better, more interesting permanent job.

10/30/2009 7:08:46 PM

^^^ the vegas time would be right before the baby comes...

^^ I work in Cisco TAC ... the TAC organization did not lay anyone off during the downturn. An isolated loser may have been fired without me knowing it, but there were no TAC "layoffs".

^ Yeah, im sorta starting to lean that way ... definitely not counting on them holding my position.

10/30/2009 8:50:38 PM

I've been trying to find work in Vegas because a good friend of mine just moved out there and needs a roommate.

10/30/2009 8:53:40 PM

i'd like to move out west

10/30/2009 9:18:27 PM

$70 is pretty weak for a CCIE imo. With 0 certs and no degree I get 50-150/hr for contract work, depending on how specialized the job is, so this particular contract seems a little shaky but the resume line should be pretty solid. In this day, staying loyal to an employer is just plain stupid. It really doesn't matter who you work for, staying with the same company is really only going to let you take linear salary increases and let you grow within a very small scope that the company sees for whatever your career path happens to be. I encourage moving around and gaining skill sets and experience, while letting your salary take jumps instead of baby steps.

The current economy and your prowess for finding work for yourself are the only things I would say that have weight in you keeping your current job. You got a lot of responsibilities with a wife and soon to be 3 kids that don't allow you to be as risk taking as I would be. I will say that insurance is not worth 15k a year as you can get your BCBS policy for much less than that and then save invest as much or as little as you see fit for retirement.

10/30/2009 10:24:50 PM

Quote :

"In this day, staying loyal to an employer is just plain stupid. It really doesn't matter who you work for, staying with the same company is really only going to let you take linear salary increases and let you grow within a very small scope that the company sees for whatever your career path happens to be. I encourage moving around and gaining skill sets and experience, while letting your salary take jumps instead of baby steps. "

in my first career, I went through 4 promotions in 3 years and still pulled only 40k. When I asked for 50k they said no and 3 months later I found a new job. It sucked cus I had been there 6 years and knew everything and could do a lot for the company, but the truth is you almost always are gonna be getting screwed if you stay with any given employer too long.

10/30/2009 11:56:25 PM

Quote :

"In this day, staying loyal to an employer is just plain stupid ... I encourage moving around and gaining skill sets and experience, while letting your salary take jumps instead of baby steps"

Ahh. A lot of us alum have families and debt of some sort. Such movement is risky, as paychecks are not guaranteed month to month, but, bills and hungry mouths are. However, I will comment and say movement is a VERY good thing. Therefore, find a company that allows and encourages horizontal movement. Loyalty is not required to the company, but, the ability to be perceived as having a valued and diverse skillset will make them loyal to you.

I've changed teams 3 times in 3 years within my own department (by my own choosing). I'm now perceived as ridiculously valuable as if one team gets overloaded, they can move me around to help with the workload. That being said, I've also been with companies who have no career path or growth, and do NOT encourage horizontal movement. I jumped ship from those companies pretty quickly. Within my own company, the term "Software Engineer" can apply to about 20+ different job roles. Same pay band, different work. Again, can move horizontal across job roles if I so choose. Or, if I want to do something completely different (supply chain, marketing intelligence, business analytics, etc.), have the background to allow that to happen as well.

robster you have a strong skillset, both business and technical. Think about if your company truly does offer both horizontal and vertical movement long-term, and, at what point you want to say "I'm happy where I am with both my career and family". One of the other officers who served with us is now a CTO of company with a couple thousand customers at age 27 ... and when I last saw him, he looked like absolute crap and was working 80+ hours a week. Despite all of that, he was happy where he was. Making the decision of where in your career you want to find your stopping point vertically will ultimately help decide what to do.

So far as the 3-month leave of absence ... again, risky, and I'd advise against it unless you have some burning financial need (read, need ... not want) to be met. OR, unless your employer flat out says "Does anybody have any suggestions for cutting costs ... WANT to voluntarily take a LOA?"

[Edited on October 31, 2009 at 9:05 AM. Reason : gotta censor myself on public message board, blah]

10/31/2009 8:44:40 AM

How long have you been with your first company? I think, based on my experience, and others, that a first job nowadays is very difficult to get good raises/bonuses in. If you really want that big raise, you gotta jump ship.

That being said, I would be very careful about jumping ship in this economy. Once you start a new job, you're going to be the low man on the totem pole for at least a year.... If, for any reason, they have to lay someone off, you've got a huge chance of being the one that gets screwed.

I would be even more averse to incurring this risk for a 3 month contracting job... I know you're talking about taking a leave of absence, but I would be really surprised if your boss allowed you to do that. There's all kinds of ethical/legal crap and it would be too hard for them to sort out so I think they would just say no.

One more thing - I think that full time positions look better on a resume than contracting work. Obviously contracting is not bad and you can learn a lot of good skills from it, but if you can learn those skills in the full-time job you're in now, do that instead.

And also, like others have said... You should get rid of the loyalty you feel towards your employer. I know this is your first job and all so "its different, maaaan..." but well, you'll see.

10/31/2009 9:02:51 AM

Quote :

"In this day, staying loyal to an employer is just plain stupid. It really doesn't matter who you work for, staying with the same company is really only going to let you take linear salary increases and let you grow within a very small scope that the company sees for whatever your career path happens to be. I encourage moving around and gaining skill sets and experience, while letting your salary take jumps instead of baby steps."

that is true in a lot of cases, but it really depends on the type of company you work for. The company I work for has lots of people who have been here for 20-30 years and for a good reason. They are very flexible about moving people around to different parts of the company to make sure that you are seeing a very large scope of work. Also, its project based work so each new project you are working on a new scenario and new set of problems so you are getting totally different experiences. On top of that, I have worked here for 2.5 years, only gotten 1 promotion but my salary has increased 27% (and would have been more if we didnt suspend 2009 raises). Plenty of friends have told me I've stayed here too long for being my first company, but I don't plan on leaving here anytime soon if I have anything to do with it (had a few layoff scares this year that I've been lucky to avoid so far).

Luckily the company really rewards loyalty too. When they need people they certainly will hire people back that jumped ship for a higher paying job a few years ago etc. But when layoffs come those are the first people to go (well after contract workers of course).



[Edited on October 31, 2009 at 9:48 AM. Reason : ]

10/31/2009 9:41:40 AM

2 years is too long for a first company? You can hardly learn the job in that amount of time.... unless you guys are doing some easy work... I dunno... In my field, I think about 4 years would be long enough to get a solid foundation before leaving.

10/31/2009 10:00:26 AM

oh yea, i meant friends outside the company and even industry telling me that. its engineering construction work (working on a nuclear power plant now) so yea there is no way you can learn all you need to in 2 years. ive learned a ton and still feel like a n00bie.

I'm prob looking at 4 years + a long term (6mo to 1year) field assignment on site at a project before I'd feel like I had a good foundation in this stuff.

[Edited on October 31, 2009 at 10:46 AM. Reason : ]

10/31/2009 10:40:25 AM