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757bred

757bred

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Sep 26, 2005
Wassup.....I work for a gov't contractor in DC doing Tech Support. The contract still has 2 years on it and the job is pretty cool. A recruiter called me offering me a Temp to Perm position that would be close to 10K 
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 more than I'm currently making.  Its temp for 3 months, and then after that the company can hire me full time or dead me.  Has anyone had experience with Temp to Perm positions?  Obviously I'm a little nervous about leaving a sure thing for a maybe......
 
Evaluate your risks overall man.

It's hard to judge upfront in today's times what's a blessing, what's a possible missed opportunity you let slide, and what is straight carrot and stick business that f'ed you over in the end.

I always make the Business 101 "SWOT" Analysis chart in these situations -- Strength/Weakness/Opportunities/Threats.

Best of luck to you.

But the bottom line ain't always the dollar bra. What's the entire package looking like (benefits, etc.)

What can they guarantee NOW? What can they solidly offer you and keep their word on later?
 
i used to get approached for this all the time. i never had the guts to do it. i personally wouldnt recommend it. i hate contracting.
 
The permanent position sounds cool- benefits,  better pay, the whole package.  But it's the uncertainty of possibly being let go after 3 months that's killing me.  I can't afford risk like I used to since I just bought a condo in April.   I just don't want the "what if's" to drive me crazy.
SoleWoman- are you in IT too?
 
what certs do you have? In this economy you want to stay with the company that you could potentially have a career even if the money and benefits dont come right away. Experience is what your after right now, which can only be gained if your employed
 
I don't have any Certs yet....even though I'm going to take the first one in the MCSE path in a few weeks.  I have a 6 years of experience though.  
 
yeah i am in it. for about two years. i was a contractor with ft. belvoir under accenture and @ the pentagon. now im gov for judiciary system. i would def try to go gov if you can get the money
 
well just go for the job that will keep you paid....2 years contract is great. with 6 years experience shouldnt you be able to find a solid position?
 
Wow, haven't posted in a while. 

Anyway, I've been in the IT contracting game for about 6 years.  The temp to perm folks are usually the smaller IT "head hunters" trying to make a quick buck out of YOU.  The 10k boost may sound great at first but when you go perm, that's IF you go perm, you'll likely take a 10k cut for benefits.  The chances of going perm are pretty slim at some spots, it's actually slimmer being a 3 month contract vs a 6 month temp to perm.  Pretty much the deal is they need "surge" staff for increased amount of call volume, someone being out for a while, or something of that nature, the "perm" portion is actually added in there for the enticement of the whole deal.  If you're working at a stable contract 5+ years, stay there, do well, promote yourself, your company will take care of you once you prove that you are an asset, trust.  I'm at one of the most "prestigious" contracts any contractor could have
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Let me know if you have any questions my dude.
 
If you have some sort of security clearance now, I would stay. Then seek other opportunities at the end of the contract. A 3 month temp to perm to possibly nothing is not worth it. Also as stated before, check your benefits pacakge.
 
Originally Posted by eyes of hazel

Evaluate your risks overall man.

It's hard to judge upfront in today's times what's a blessing, what's a possible missed opportunity you let slide, and what is straight carrot and stick business that f'ed you over in the end.

I always make the Business 101 "SWOT" Analysis chart in these situations -- Strength/Weakness/Opportunities/Threats.
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Thats real talk there ^^ I like that "SWOT" saying, thats good HAZE.

OP - I do IT work and have done IT work for 5+ years now, and have never done contract work, or Temp to Perm jobs, but what Air Jordanism said, is that that "10K" will be erased by the insurance, and benefits blah blah blah, whatever comes with it. If you have still have 2 years left on your contract now, I would stay stick with it and in maybe a year or so, try to renegotiate the contract to get more money.
 
keep your options open, go meet the people there, see how they like you, ask them questions. not all temp to perm are bad. it's just a way for bushiness to protect them self.
 
There are positives and negatives for sure. I have worked in staffing for the past 5+ years and could argue both sides for days on end. At the end of the day, you have to do what you think is best for you. Shoot me a PM if you want to talk specifics, I have no problem giving you an honest opinion from a company point of view.

**EDIT** Have you interviewed for the new position?  Was the interview with the agency or did you get to meet the end client?  We encourage our contractors to ask the management about the possibilities of becoming permanent employees.  That way they can hear it directly from the people that we hope hire them.
 
Thanks for all the replies.  I decided to just chill and stay where I am for the moment, I have some other stuff going on and switching jobs now would make things more hectic.
  ^^RStansbury I might hit you up with a few ??'s anyway for future reference though.
 
Yeah good decision you made there. Like dude said above, they mostly tell you about the "Perm" part because that gives you hope but usually its a contract for say 3 months. Then they extend it for a couple of more months and then your done. You getting benefits with your contracting company? The contracting company usually can pay you more cause they dont offer benefits. I just came off a consulting gig for about 3 years and doing contract work, lot of hell traveling back and forth all around the states (sounds good at first), till you realize that your paying rent on a place that you haven't stayed a solid 2 consecutive weeks in, and you living out of a suitcase in hotels. Pay your dues and get your cert game up, get that basic CompTIA A+ cert and if your into the network security/Project management (I know, 2 totally different worlds) get your Cisco certs (CCNA, CCNP, etc) and PMP or PMI cert too. Something will open up for ya more lucrative......or at least a 12month+ contract.
 
I guess I will piggy back this thread and ask a couple questions of my own dealing with changing jobs or "Job hopping"....

How long would you say you should stay with a company? I have heard both sides to this saying you will only get paid more if you change jobs, and that the longer you stay with a company is better because hopping jobs doesn't look good for you. I am an integration engineer and have had Google Search and Google Earth training and I am VCP4 certified (VMware) down in Quantico. I have been at my current position for 2 years (intern and now FT). Some people say I should start looking for a raise with the training and cert I have since it is one of the more sought after certs, but I like the environment and management where I am so I was just wondering and weighing the options against it all.
 
^^ I don't have much "work" experience, but I would say if you love your job stay at it. Your right, It doesn't look good on your resume that you've been hoping around from job to job IMO.

If your at this job now, and have gotten this training and your VMCert while you've been there I would def be asking about a raise. Don't force it but if you have a good relationship with your manager/boss ask him, the worst he can say is no.
 
Originally Posted by 757bred

Thanks for all the replies.  I decided to just chill and stay where I am for the moment, I have some other stuff going on and switching jobs now would make things more hectic.
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^^^^the last time to man got his party on as a single man....
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I have been w/ my non-profit ORG. going on 4 years now....we do SWOT analysis at most of our Staff meetings... def. works!

I have aslo heard from many Corperate and non-profit folks that it doesn't look good switching jobs....
 
Originally Posted by WrightOne86

I guess I will piggy back this thread and ask a couple questions of my own dealing with changing jobs or "Job hopping"....

How long would you say you should stay with a company? I have heard both sides to this saying you will only get paid more if you change jobs, and that the longer you stay with a company is better because hopping jobs doesn't look good for you. I am an integration engineer and have had Google Search and Google Earth training and I am VCP4 certified (VMware) down in Quantico. I have been at my current position for 2 years (intern and now FT). Some people say I should start looking for a raise with the training and cert I have since it is one of the more sought after certs, but I like the environment and management where I am so I was just wondering and weighing the options against it all.
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are you going to continue becoming a "specialist" with vmare, concentrating on a certain area?  in IT i think you should first concentrate on being in an environment where you have the resources to learn......the money will come later

  
 
Originally Posted by Rightguard

Originally Posted by WrightOne86

I guess I will piggy back this thread and ask a couple questions of my own dealing with changing jobs or "Job hopping"....

How long would you say you should stay with a company? I have heard both sides to this saying you will only get paid more if you change jobs, and that the longer you stay with a company is better because hopping jobs doesn't look good for you. I am an integration engineer and have had Google Search and Google Earth training and I am VCP4 certified (VMware) down in Quantico. I have been at my current position for 2 years (intern and now FT). Some people say I should start looking for a raise with the training and cert I have since it is one of the more sought after certs, but I like the environment and management where I am so I was just wondering and weighing the options against it all.
Click to expand...
are you going to continue becoming a "specialist" with vmare, concentrating on a certain area?  in IT i think you should first concentrate on being in an environment where you have the resources to learn......the money will come later

  
Click to expand...
I wouldn't say specializing in just VMware but I do know those positions are out there. By end of the year, I should be maintaining my team's environment instead of our internal IT department so they wanted me to be proficient with the tools we use. I am going to be doing some Linux work in the future as well as a couple other projects we have internally (I'm in R&D). I am also adding to my developer skills as well so I can do some debugging minor coding (I have some Java and PHP skills). I am still trying to learn and perform well with as many different tools as I can. I figure me being fairly young still, I can specialize later down the road...
 
great responses....

made the best move bro....

IT work is cool, especially if you can twerk apps to run on auto pilot. less work, more efficient, more money in the long run...
 
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