Self-Motivation - Permanent or Contract? Permanent to Contract? Permanent & Contract

Deciding on which path you should take is quite an important decision, as well as quite debated about.

The best way to decide for me was from when I first started in IT which is the permanent route. You need a solid foundation before you can build up to a decision as to if you feel you should be contracting.

Firstly you need to start formulating your skill set. Speaking for myself I was very IT Generalistic and for me this was like my specialization which had no specialization. I was hungry enough to want to study anything and everything in IT, and through various projects I went through, I started to shape and mould certain skills until I fell into the specialization I have now which is in the System Centre space.

But you also need to understand the role that you play in a permanent position. What your skills and strengths are, how does your role impact others when performing it well or bad and how well you are utilized.

Definition of “Job Security”
Permanent and contracting have one big common denominator within them which I will explain. The biggest point I hear a lot of people make as an argument to why a permanent position is more favourable than a contract role is because of "Job Security". But this is quite a vague reason and this is what we exactly need to dive into.

What exactly is "Job Security"? Is it because you are given a contract with a salary every year you assume that you are going to get this salary for the rest of your life or as long as you want it? And this exempts you from not being made redundant or told to leave? These conditions are very similar to the world of contracting.

Permanent roles are always looked at as the "safe" option. But the question I have is what do you do if the safe option fails? You go into a panic because almost every plan you hear of always has a Plan A or Plan B (Risky option and the safe option). Now risky options have a higher pay off but higher risk rate, but what they don't mention is that you are the one that decides the risks and stakes.
The safe option has a high chance of winning, but a small risk is still a threat! Take blackjack for example (yes, I have played before 😀) you can have 20 as a hand, the dealer has 6. They can still get 21 and beat you and they have!

The real JOB Security is your "skillset". This is what decides whether you are in demand or not. And the IT Industry is very fast paced and technologies change all the time. No organization whether contract or perm will want to pay somebody for a stale skill set regardless of what your work preference is.

I've worked as both in permanent roles and now as a contractor and I at first in the beginning of my career was totally against contracting for the exact same reasons that everybody else has said in the past.

When I first had the idea of contracting, I reached out to some helpful people for advice whom I’m friends with till this day, and I had done enough thorough research to understand the pros and cons for my decision. I also spoke to mentors which I had in the past and a lot of them were against the idea of me doing it…. until I explained my position and showed them the in-depth research and expectations which I had going in and they knew I was serious and done my homework.

Real Answer on what route to take

So, the question is really which one is the preferred or better route? The answer is.... it actually makes no difference!
The reason is because whether you are a contractor or permanent employee.... You should have the exact same attitude.

Your career and decisions are always fundamentally down to you. There is nothing stopping you from advancing yourself whether you are in a permanent role and they have a training budget or not. If you wish to develop you really shouldn't have to wait or depend on anybody to do it for you. Of course, personal circumstances can dictate your decision which is fine...as long as they really are personal circumstances and not excuses. Contractors have to go without most benefits you would get such as paid holidays, healthcare, insurances etc which is something that has to be paid for on your own. But then that still relates to self-motivation. If a company’s benefits don’t include healthcare and it's something you want are you just not going to not get it because the company doesn't offer it? Depending on your salary there is no reason why you couldn't get it yourself to protect yourself.

For me, I was working as a contractor and didn't even know it! (Covers a lot in my Self-motivation- Invest in Yourself blog https://www.walshamsolutions.com/self-motivation-invest-in-yourself ) As I was paying for all of my own exams and my own courses and building of my own labs. I did enquire about courses, training, tasks to be thrown at me, but I never seemed to ever get the courses or the training, so I decided to do this myself.
In my previous permanent roles, I was actually staying in them for about 1.5 years max and was constantly moving until I was at a role for about a year max. I was aware of how quick the industry moved and wanted to get involved in as many projects as I could. And I had been thrown into the deep end many times at times was extremely difficult to keep my head above water.... But I did.

So I had seen so many risks already during my first few years. So, with this experience the contracting route suited me as I was already self-motivated and self-funding and it appealed to me a lot more and have been a contractor ever since.

So it really doesn't matter which route you choose. Contracting may look attractive in terms of the financial benefit but the ones who contract successfully with longevity do not do this for the financial aspect believe it or not. A skill set and your own personal drive is key.
Football players are paid well because of the skills and the goals they can bring. And I would like to think a football player wouldn't be getting a high salary for scoring no goals or the only skill he knows is the 360 turn! (Haven't seen anyone do that in maybe over a decade lol)

Sometimes these routes are decided by just taking the option with the most money, and this is another thing as to why you should NOT decide like this.
Remember, you have to understand the remuneration is not the money you get paid, but it's the skills and experience you get from it . With taking a role just because it pays well, once your skills get stale or no productivity is happening, if or once you leave a role how will you keep yourself in demand when your skills are not updated? Substituting your skill set for more money is not a good idea at all.

I was doing computers for free! Literally spending my own time building computers understanding all components, wanting to type properly and having a well-organized music library ( Self-motivation Career Soundtrack - https://www.walshamsolutions.com/self-motivation-soundtrack-to-my-career-part-1-before-the-success-2005-2006 )
So anything I may benefit financially from is a bonus.