I contracted for 10 years, then switched to a full-time job at a unicorn. Salary-wise, I calculated my yearly netto for the last contracting year, and submitted it to the HR as the netto salary I want to have. They approved in a blink of an eye.

The main problem with contracting is lack of career path and random, not very interesting projects where the contractor has little say.

The downside of employee life is non-technical meetings, personality trainings and yearly reviews. They make me feel like a kid.

I also miss the luxury of buying VAT-free tax-deducible gadgets.

> I also miss the luxury of buying VAT-free tax-deducible gadgets.

Like what kind of gadgets ?

Bikes are the most interesting. 120% deductable where I live. Notebooks, phones, various hardware. I have half a dozen Mikrotik routers, for example. Some serve their purpose at home, others are for playing.

What is personality training?

We had a dumbed down MBTI offspring. And a security training. And the bias/unconscious bias/unknown bias training. And a few more that I can not remember.

Been contracting for decades. Wouldn't do it any other way.

The critical thing is to get a pipeline of folks you know that send work your way. So rarely idle. That was done by working 15 years in the field in a variety of companies. I keep in contact with many old colleagues and remind them I've got bandwidth.

I never made more money than I do contracting now. I've never had to 'chase down money' - never had a bad check, never been stiffed. Had some late checks for sure. Probably due to the quality of my contacts.

What kind of day rate do you manage to pull?

It depends. Some midwestern companies want to pay < $100/hr. Californians will pay up to $145/hr for special skills. New York is accustomed to outrageous fees. I feel bad about taking advantage them so I only go up to $165/hr or so. And of course for assurances about hours and duration of the project, discounts.

You cannot put a price on career-long isolation from office politics

This is one of my favorite parts about contracting... you still have to deal with a little bit of office politics and drama but you're mostly shielded from it. I love dropping in once a week or so, greasing the relationship wheels, and getting the heck outta there.

Instead you have politics at the companies hiring you.

Which country?