StackOverflow2013

Note that there are some explanatory texts on larger screens.

plurals

PO
text
Body
copied!<p>I've been migrant IT labor for 30+ years.</p> <p><strong>"I have been told that as a contractor I would basically be constantly coding"</strong></p> <p>False. You might wind up doing a lot of new development or a lot of maintenance. Depends on the contract firm's relationships.</p> <p><strong>"no BS meetings about project charters and stage gates"</strong></p> <p>False. The contract firm has to land the gig. As a contractor, you write a LOT of proposals that get shot down in flames. In-house initiatives are quietly morphed into something else. Out-of-house initiatives turn ugly -- the contracts are fired -- there are lawsuits.</p> <p><strong>"and that I would learn more in a year than I would in 10 years at my current job"</strong></p> <p>True. If you pay close attention and take careful notes. More importantly, if you've done your homework outside the workplace. I've been to a fair amount of training, but I think that 75% of the skills I use regularly (Java, Python, DB Design, Architecture, Apache config, HTML) I had to learn on my own.</p> <p><strong>"what to expect if I decided to go the contracting route"</strong></p> <p>Parts of it are bad. Parts are good. It's a job -- that's why they have to pay you to do it.</p> <p><strong>"if traveling is worth it."</strong></p> <p>Let me list the benefits -- Skiing in Anchorage, Skiing in Utah, Diving in the Florida Keys, flying the entire family first-class to San Diego, using Hilton Honors points to stay at the Waldorf=Astoria.</p> <p>Let me list the problems -- kids who got into serious trouble at school. Missing family time because of travel. The unending stress of air travel, including the TSA security theater setups everywhere.</p>

Querying!

Guidance

An individual column

Larger individual text columns get their own page to allow for proper reading.

SQuiL has stopped working due to an internal error.

If you are curious you may find further information in the browser console, which is accessible through the devtools (F12).

Reload