Escaping contract roles in O&G

[J-D]

Fairly recent grad at this point (<2 years in the workforce), but I seem to be stuck working and getting interviews for contract positions. The money is fine, I like the work - and the companies I have worked for... but I'm completely sick of not having vacation and benefits.

What's the best way to get out of this slump?

[davidI]

For me it was always the opposite. I would have rather had the money than the benefits.

What benefits do you need? If you have a family or health issues or something then it may be worthwhile. To me, as a healthy single young dude, I felt completely ripped off by all the deductions that were essentially funding things for senior guys with large families who were making 4x what I did. I'd prefer contract - negotiate in unpaid leave if you want.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[ExtraSlow]

If you are working in contract roles right now, and you are doing an excellent job, asking for full-time work is a good idea.

If you aren't really knocking it out of the park, why on earth would they want to hire you as an employee?

Also, about vacation, the contractors that work for me can have pretty much all the vacation they want. Unpaid obviously, but that's partly why the hourly wage is so high.

[egmilano]

My fiancée was just offered a full time position with her company, she worked her ass off and made sure that she stood out. Not sure what type of company your working for in O & G but what she did to turn her contract into a full time position was lots of overtime and networking. After 4 months they had her doing literally 2 jobs and one of which wasn't even on the description. She hates sports and signed up for a couple marathons and soccer games just to get to know her co workers and clients, it sure worked all she had to do was ask and make sure her boss was aware she loved her job. She's now making more money and was just offered a full time position in the department she wanted to be in, 4 months before her contract ends. Maybe your just not trying hard enough if you've had 2 contracts that just don't seem to be working out .

[J-D]

Originally posted by egmilano
My fiancée was just offered a full time position with her company, she worked her ass off and made sure that she stood out. Not sure what type of company your working for in O &amp; G but what she did to turn her contract into a full time position was lots of overtime and networking. After 4 months they had her doing literally 2 jobs and one of which wasn't even on the description. She hates sports and signed up for a couple marathons and soccer games just to get to know her co workers and clients, it sure worked all she had to do was ask and make sure her boss was aware she loved her job. She's now making more money and was just offered a full time position in the department she wanted to be in, 4 months before her contract ends. Maybe your just not trying hard enough if you've had 2 contracts that just don't seem to be working out .

Previous contract would have ended in full time but the company ended up laying off a bunch of people so the possibility pretty much went out the window anyways.

My current contract has some stupid clause where I'm not supposed to work for the client company for a period of 6 months after the contract ends... I don't think this would even hold up legally, but it certainly limits my options.

[l/l/rX]

Originally posted by J-D
Fairly recent grad at this point (&lt;2 years in the workforce), but I seem to be stuck working and getting interviews for contract positions. The money is fine, I like the work - and the companies I have worked for... but I'm completely sick of not having vacation and benefits.

What's the best way to get out of this slump?

What are you talking about? We get all the vacation time in the world

Also like davidI said, I like money more than benefits. And if you're incorporated and smart with your taxes, it can really work out for you.

As well, being an employee part of your pay goes to CPP, something you'll never get to benefit from in the future. F that noise.

My $0.02

[Mitsu3000gt]

Contracting can work in but only if you are making 75-100% more than salaried people IMO (I assume oil & gas).

The paid vacation, bonuses, stat holidays, RRSP matching, 100% health coverage, spending accounts, wellness spending, DT parking, etc. are worth A LOT. So is being able to take off early for an appointment or whatever and not have to stop billing hours.

Contractors are also always the first to go during layoffs, and job security is worth something too.

I wouldn't go back to contracting unless I was paid roughly double my base salary. I still might not even do it. In my experience it is FAR better being an employee since most companies only see contractors as 15-25% wage increases compared to salaried employees, when it needs to be closer to 100%.

There are some perks to contracting but IMO the disadvantages far outweigh the advantages unless you have negotiated an incredibly high hourly rate.

[carson blocks]

That's funny. I just spent the past two years trying to move from employee to incorporated contractor. The extra ~50% pay will more than pay for some vacation time and health benefits, and actually being able to write stuff off will be a nice change.

[J-D]

Originally posted by l/l/rX


What are you talking about? We get all the vacation time in the world

Also like davidI said, I like money more than benefits. And if you're incorporated and smart with your taxes, it can really work out for you.

As well, being an employee part of your pay goes to CPP, something you'll never get to benefit from in the future. F that noise.

My $0.02

It's different when you're just starting your career, though. I contract through an agency which eats up most of the wage difference, have no job security, harder to qualify for a mortgage, etc...

Not to mention the changes to how Personal Service Businesses are taxed...

[carson blocks]

Originally posted by J-D
I contract through an agency which eats up most of the wage difference

I had a similar situation until very recently. I worked for a pair of agencies that between them made as much as I did every hour, let's call this x/hour. There are a handful of companies pre-approved to provide services to the end-client O&G company, so I simply called up their competitor out of the phone book, explained I already had the job and asked if they wanted to make (1/2)x/hour off me. They jumped at it of course and my employer was willing to facilitate the change as I've proved myself to be an asset.

Originally posted by J-D have no job security, harder to qualify for a mortgage, etc...[/B]

I might be a pessimist, but I don't believe you have any job security as an employee anyways. The only 'security' you have is 2 weeks severance pay, which you should be able to bankroll yourself. I'm hoping to be able to leave enough cash in my new business to be able to continue to pay myself without interruption between contracts if there's a gap. I asked my mortgage broker and she said it wouldn't be much of a problem to get new mortgages or renewals, especially since I have 1yr contracts and a good history.

Originally posted by J-D Not to mention the changes to how Personal Service Businesses are taxed... [/B]

Don't be a PSB. Get a good accountant, understand the CRA's criteria and four-fold test to determine if you're a PSB and have a damned good answer for each point.