Hi HN,<p>I've been a contract web developer for a full year now after two years of salaried work.<p>I work in the Atlanta area, and am making $77/hr at a great company here. I always get 40 hours of work a week, so I should come out somewhere around $160k at the end of the year. This sort of money is unheard of here, the absolute best money I've seen for a full time developer role here is probably $120k.<p>It seems to me like I'm getting an extremely good deal, but I have a sinking feeling that I am missing something. Most guys my age are doing regular salary work for half the pay. I can't see what justification there is for doing this.<p>Am I missing something by not committing to a company? I don't think I necessarily have the interpersonal/ office politics skill to get into some executive role at this time, and I don't see why I can't do that down the road.<p>Can anyone here argue for a salaried job in my situation? I feel like I'm missing something.<p>Thanks for any feedback you can give me!
When you're employed by someone else, they'll cover their half of FICA taxes (6.2% each), offer health insurance, HSA contributions. It might be possible in Atlanta to secure a compensation package that includes RSUs or access to an ESPP plan.<p>I'm not sure if you are covering both halves of FICA or not, but the above benefits could explain the difference, e.g., $120k + benefits = $160k.<p>Financials aside: If you're the type of person that likes switching companies once every 12 to 18 months, contracting could be a good fit. In my personal view, to really master a role, you need to be in it longer than that. It takes a junior engineer a couple years to become mid-level; the same for mid-level, to senior, and so forth.