Tech IndustryNov 30, 2017
SAPGGuB80

Any advice for contract workers?

I recently have taken a contractor role at SAP and after realizing how expensive benefits are with the ACA in place as far as health benefits go & the lack of employee perks in general, I’m considering putting in 6 months and then leaving to find a regular position. Any advice on this? I’m a recent MBA with about 2 years (pre MBA) & 1 year (during MBA) experience.

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Expedia hiimabot Nov 30, 2017

Are you representing yourself or a firm? The consulting firms I've seen usually provide insurance benefits to their contractors.

Starbucks Zxk342 Nov 30, 2017

They can be quite high depending on the ops state

SAP GGuB80 OP Nov 30, 2017

Through Yoh. But the benefits are next to nothing. You get a week vacation after a year of service but most contracts are only 12 months long and the health benefits are what is offered in the healthcare marketplace. So you’re pretty much on your own.

Google ungoogley Nov 30, 2017

You don't have to quit to search for another gig... That would be dumb. Stay until you find somewhere else. But do get the hell out.

SAP GGuB80 OP Dec 11, 2017

But what do I do about this short experience? Im at exactly the 30 day mark. I wanted to stay for at least 6 months so that I wouldn’t have to lie on my resume. If I exclude this position I’ll be excluding the only real experience I have post MBA and I’ll just have my internship and a couple of jobs (closely related to the field but not particularly) that I had before going back to school

Starbucks Zxk342 Nov 30, 2017

Are you getting the correct rate? I know a lot of contract first timers tend to accept low hourly rates because they forget the costs of healthcare / retirement when negotiating the hourly rate. You should be getting paid more then a comparable salaried offer.

SAP GGuB80 OP Nov 30, 2017

You’re right and I am a first timer and I most likely am getting paid on the far lower end of the spectrum for the role. However, this is my first post grad job as an mba grad and I just chalked it up to experience and leverage for my next role. Not to mention the offers I received thus far haven’t been all that attractive. In my internship I made about $60k. Most of the jobs I was finding were offering equal or less. There was another person here who also had an internship with SAP as a MBA student and settled for a lower paying position within the company as a regular employee.

Starbucks Zxk342 Nov 30, 2017

I’m also looking at this from the tech perspective I’m not sure how much my experiences would apply to a business oriented role. Have you asked other contract coworkers or even a manager you know how you compare pay wise? That would give you a good idea if they are swindling you or just paying low in general. What part of the country is this?

Starbucks Zxk342 Nov 30, 2017

Also if it’s a contract just start searching now and leave this position off of your resume. I’d stay working there though until you find that next position

SAP GGuB80 OP Nov 30, 2017

I’ve thought about doing that but this position would be the most valuable work experience I’ve had thus far. I do have a interview with Lockheed Martin coming up so we will see how that goes.

Starbucks Zxk342 Nov 30, 2017

Cool, I just said that Incase you had concerns about the length of employment aspect.

Amazon btBH44 Nov 30, 2017

Try Microsoft. They're hiring like crazy for SAP roles