Making a career out of Temp work

[jacquespluto]

Thinking about lifestyle design, I've been searching a lot for flexible, WFH jobs.  Unfortunately, in my area (corp finance), there aren't many out there with the exception of entry-level and some bookkeeping.

We love extended travel.  I've been with my current company long enough to have 6 weeks of PTO (including sick time).  The problem is that outside of my recent sabbatical which we spent over a month in Spain and Portugal, it isn't really possible to take more than 2 weeks off at a time and most times that can even be difficult.  Typically, it's 1 week at a time. 

In my city (and at my current employer), there seem to be a lot of mid-level, short-term, temp finance jobs available.  There are at least 4-5 big finance and accounting, 3rd party Temp companies to work through.  The jobs are usually anywhere from 3-12 month contracts to cover maternity, FMLA, projects or temporary shortages in full-time staff. 

We are in a fortunate situation where I could take a pay cut if it was the right situation.  The goal would be to reduce the overall hours of work in a year and spend more time traveling and being together as a family.  Ideally my average hourly rate would be consistent with my current salary/hours.

Pros - Could be selective in accepting next contract giving 1-2 months in between for extended travel, won't get too bored at work as there is always a defined near term end-date, gain a broad range of experience

Cons - Always be in training/learning mode, treated like a 2nd class worker (seen this in certain groups), loss of full-time benefits

I'd be curious to hear from anyone out there that has experience doing shorter-term temp work.  How did the transitions from one job to the next usually work?  Is there anything that I'm not thinking of?

[use2betrix]

While I don’t use the term temp (we use contractor) I’ve done essentially about what you’re discussing for the last 7-8 years.

My contracts have ranged from a couple months to about a year. On the contrary, I make significantly more as a contractor, probably 75k-100k/yr more than I could make in a permanent position.

Also - I don’t limit myself to one location. My wife and I typically live full time in a 5th wheel, so we travel all over the country for work. I’ve lived in 8-9 states and about 14 cities in the last 8 years. I’m 30, wife is 24, no kids, wife doesn’t work, so it works out great.

I didn’t really start to get ahead financially until 2016. I pretty much worked straight non stop til then. In November 2016 my wife and I called it quit and bought one way tickets to Asia where we traveled for 2 months. Upon return, we decided we still weren’t done and did a 3 week motorcycle trip through Baja. Then I worked for 4 months, then we took two months doing an 8000 mile cross country/Canada camping trip. Took a couple more months off then I’ve been working since December. I actually just put my 2 weeks in at existing contract yesterday to take a two year contract with a fortune 30 company that is about the pinnacle of a contracting career for my industry. Not bad for a young guy with just an associates degree.

So there’s my history. It leaves me with a few questions for you:

Are you married? If so - does your spouse have the time to do extended travel? And your kids? Are they in school? Home schooled? Can they take significantly long trips?

The only way I could justify taking a paycut and temp work (for you) is if your family is actually capable of spending months and months traveling. If you can’t honestly see making that work, I wouldn’t see a huge benefit in it (if you were just going to do a few two week trips, which you can do right now with your current 6 weeks)

Just some thoughts, I’d also make sure you’re in a very good spot financially in the event you can’t find work. My wife and I are ultimately flexible and make far more as a contractor, so it makes sense for us.

[jacquespluto]

So there’s my history. It leaves me with a few questions for you:

Are you married? If so - does your spouse have the time to do extended travel? And your kids? Are they in school? Home schooled? Can they take significantly long trips?

The only way I could justify taking a paycut and temp work (for you) is if your family is actually capable of spending months and months traveling. If you can’t honestly see making that work, I wouldn’t see a huge benefit in it (if you were just going to do a few two week trips, which you can do right now with your current 6 weeks)

Just some thoughts, I’d also make sure you’re in a very good spot financially in the event you can’t find work. My wife and I are ultimately flexible and make far more as a contractor, so it makes sense for us.

Yes, I'm married but my wife doesn't work.  We have a 3 year old, but we aren't opposed to homeschooling.  We are definitely capable of traveling more than a few weeks.  We recently spent 5 weeks in Spain and Portugal as part of my Sabbatical that I earned at work.  We would like to do 6-8 weeks in SE Asia next year.  I'm trying to get 2 weeks off in Nov for a trip to Costa Rica and it will be tough to get the green light from work.  Outside of a planned Sabbatical where someone is appointed as a backfill, it can be difficult to get longer than 1 week at a time.

Thanks for sharing your experience and input.  Sounds like you have a good setup that allows for some great adventures along with increased pay!

[use2betrix]

Sounds like with your current situation you have the “right” answers to any concerns I had about moving to a temp position! Def have a good set up!

[AZDude]

The problem is that outside of my recent sabbatical which we spent over a month in Spain and Portugal, it isn't really possible to take more than 2 weeks off at a time and most times that can even be difficult.  Typically, it's 1 week at a time. 

This is your problem. Most companies have policies on such leave. Have a conversation with your employer about your plans. If you give enough time to properly strategize, there is no reason why you cannot take 3-4 weeks off at a time. You need to be more assertive in taking time off.

[jacquespluto]

The problem is that outside of my recent sabbatical which we spent over a month in Spain and Portugal, it isn't really possible to take more than 2 weeks off at a time and most times that can even be difficult.  Typically, it's 1 week at a time. 

This is your problem. Most companies have policies on such leave. Have a conversation with your employer about your plans. If you give enough time to properly strategize, there is no reason why you cannot take 3-4 weeks off at a time. You need to be more assertive in taking time off.

I agree.  The issue is that the type of finance job that I have is not one that can be left for 3-4 weeks without some major plans to cover that work.  It's not a plug and play in the sense that others can easily cover in my absence.  1 week planned at the right time of the month, sure.. but 3-4 weeks it just doesn't work.  For my sabbatical, I basically had to document everything I do step-by-step and then my manager needed to find a contractor to cover.  That came at an additional cost for the company.  It took a lot of planning and coordination and it's not something that they would allow me to do 1-2 times a year.  I'm important, but not that important lol. 

[GuitarStv]

I kinda see Temp work (which I'd consider working through a temp agency) as being quite different from contract work.  Through a temp agency sucks . . . and ensures that you'll always be paid far less than the job would normally compensate you, and you're typically working at their beck and call.  Contract work is more effort (you're hustling between work to find jobs), but tends to pay pretty well and be at least somewhat flexible.

[Acastus]

I befriended a couple of nomads a few years back. They both did contract IT work, and happily moved every 12-18 months from city to city to do that. All their furniture was collapsible or disassembled easily, and it all fit in their minivan.

They moved away, of course.

It could be fun for a while, and Steve at ThinkSaveRetire is doing something similar in early retirement. I personally like having a permanent base of operations to make excursions from.

If you have someone else you can rely on for benefits, I think you can make more cash with temp gigs than salaried people. You probably need to hire in direct, not through an agency. My early career was temping, and I got hired full time at my 2nd company. They paid the agency 50% more than I was paid. If you can grab some of the 50%, you should win.

[AZDude]

I've done contract IT work. I have also worked for a temp agency way back in the day. The temp agency was terrible, paid terrible, and offered craptastic jobs. IT contract work pays much better, and there is not a whole lot of stress.

I still think you could figure out a way to have someone else cover for you. If you are truly so important that being gone 2 weeks causes so many waves, then you should ask for a 20% raise on the spot.

[Papa bear]

I ran one of the big firm temp/consulting finance and accounting offices.  PM me if you want any specifics about how this all works.

There really is no difference between being a W2 temp or W2 consultant.  If you go work as a "contractor" you'll be 1099'd but will need to handle sales/marketing yourself. You can try and work Corp to Corp for some jobs, but know that the firm/agency is still going to markup your rate.




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