Temporary
Very often I can read here the opinion about assigning boring/low-level tasks to contractors (most recent example here: http://discuss.joelonsoftware.com/default.asp?joel.3.592674.8 ). To me - in Germany - the opposite is true in all the years I'm doing this kind of job. I'm most of the time hired for my particular/general experience. Up to the point, that Employees are a bit envious at times. Seems to be reasonable too, considering the amount of money put into me / the consulting companies. And a waste of money otherwise.So, is this a general characteristic of US contracting?
It depends, and varies from company to company, contract to contract. Most contracts tend to be of the staff augmentation type -- temporary help to get a product out the door, unless you have a specialized skill set.
Personally, I really don't care-- It's a job.
When one manager asked me what I wanted to do, I simply told her that I would do anything she wanted so long as she signed my time sheets and paid me. Of course, I had to add, "...except anything that is illegal or Java... but I'm flexible on the illegal part provided we renegotiate my rates."
To me, a contract is just a temporary job, and I'm basically a technical prostitute. I'll do whatever you want with a smile; there will be plenty of time later to cry myself to sleep, and repress those memories (I can't believe I fixed that JSP code, I feel so dirty...).
Whenever I run into a difficult personality or situation, I just try to think about what I could be doing in a few months-- sitting on a beach. After all, it is just a temporary job. Get back to work, and finish one more document, debug the horrible XML code, because tomorrow will be a better day.
And it will. One thing I have learned is that managers, no matter how preferential they want to be to their own employees will ultimately start doling out the hardest work to the developers who are the most productive, and they will generally fight to keep them.
My original six month contract has been extended again, and the client wants to keep me until the end of the year, that will be a total sum of two years... as I look at the snow falling outside in arctic Minnesota winter... I think about someplace tropical.
Labels: Consulting
