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Tip #6: “Employees Are Soft Targets”
If you are an employee, companies can feel more entitled to expect you do whatever they say, within reason and the law, and you can’t object. This means assigning you to awful projects, giving you a long commute to offsite locations, or generally making your job suck. You’ve given your right to make these decisions to the employer once you come onboard. Employee beware!
Tip #7: “Non-Employees Are Disposable”
There’s no such thing as job security, but contractors and consultants are seen as more disposable than permanent staff. They’re the first ones to be shown the door if any downsizing happens. They’re great fall guys to blame problems on. “It wasn’t our employee, but this outsider!” There’s little to no loyalty in the corporate world, especially for non-employees.
Tip #8: “Beware the Illusion”
There’s an old joke that the difference between employment and contracting or consulting is the illusion of job security. The former supposedly has it while the latter don’t. Well, employment doesn’t have it either. It just seems like it. You can lose your job for seemingly endless reasons that can have absolutely nothing to do with your performance.
Tip #9: “Beware the Bait and Switch”
Sometimes you’re told during an interview what you will be doing but, when you arrive for your first day (or shortly thereafter), you are told you’ll be doing something quite different. The excuses can vary and I can’t claim it’s never done on purpose. But it doesn’t matter. You have a new job, one which you may have quit your last job for, but now you don’t want it. They trapped you and they know it. This is typically only done to employees, not contractors or consultants, who can “walk” more easily.
Tip #10: “A Body in a Seat is Headed for the Street”
If you are working at your employer’s client, they earn their fee for each hour you are there, whether you have anything to do or not. This is known as the “body in a seat” situation. This can seem relaxing with so little work to do, but the moment there’s contract trouble, your name comes up first for someone to blame, scapegoat, and send to the unemployment line. So if you find yourself in this position, try to get out of it before someone does it for you.
Bonus: “Consultants Can Lie”
If you are unemployed, you typically need to admit it on a resume, job application, or to a recruiter/hiring manager. But if you own your consulting company, you are technically employed. You may not have a client, so you’re looking for work, but you don’t have to admit it. They can’t make you. Your client list and contracts, etc., are confidential and none of their business. This means you don’t have to admit to having no income or “job” right now. You technically do have a job, so it’s not even lying!