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5 Things I learned being a web development contractor for five years
First, let me outline what I mean by being a development contractor instead of, for instance, a freelancer.
The two terms have most things in common. And are really very much interchangeable. Where things ‘sometimes’ differ is in the length of the project. So where a freelancer might have 1 or 2 or more clients at the same time on shorter stints, a contractor might be expected to stay on for a much more extended period, six months- 14 months to 2 years or even longer.
Granted, the law is not the same in every country, so this might not even be possible in yours given that maybe after 2 years, you will need to become an official employee, so your contract can’t extend beyond that. However here in the Netherlands, it’s such that given that you have your agreements in order, together with a statement from the client that you are not a true employee, and you make sure you retain and perform all your ‘self-employment’ rights, you can work for the same client for an extended period of time, without risk.
Now most companies that employ contractors likely have more than a handful already. They are usually large companies (or government agencies) with big IT budgets and a large challenge that needs to be met and scaled up or down (workforce-wise) multiple times a year, such as banks and…
