Articles & News About Jobs & Employment

What is Contract Programming? An Alternative to the Conformity of Everyday Employment

What is contract programming, you ask? Well, when companies need specific computer programming expertise, for temporary periods of time, they generally hire a contract programmer or an employee of a consulting firm. Contractors almost always have a higher hourly wage than a salaried employee and are often paid for overtime. Contracts can last from one to three months to many years, depending on the situation. A contract programmer generally does one thing: program (code) for the duration of the contract. So, contract programming is just an area of computer consulting. Other areas of computer consulting include custom developers, network consultants and information technology (IT) consultants. The contract programmer can work via two forms of contracts: 1) "W-2 " contracts and 2) "1099" contracts.

There's the "W-2" contractor

The "W-2 contractor" receives the typical IRS W-2 form at tax time and works as a temporary employee of a contract broker or some form of employment agency. The contract broker basically acquires a contract with a client company and hires the contractor to work on that contract for them. Brokers make their money by charging the client an amount over your agreed upon hourly rate. In this form, the contract programmer is a temporary, hourly employee of the broker's company and this is the form that is easiest for the newcomer to obtain.

And the "1099" contractor

As a "W-2 contractor", your broker a.k.a.: temporary employer or agency will collect taxes from your paycheck, just as if you were a regular employee. The "1099 contractor", can still work through a broker, but gets paid on an IRS form 1099 and must take responsibility for paying all applicable taxes herself. This "1099" form is for, in IRS lingo, "Independent Contractors." Independent contractors have more work to do before they get a contract: they have to market themselves like any other business. This includes brochures, business cards, web sites, networking, etc. They have to consider obtaining more forms of insurance that may include general business liability and errors & omissions insurance. They also generally have to form a corporation in order to work for certain companies. The pay back for this extra work is a higher hourly rate. To the beginning contractor, I always suggest starting out as a "W-2" contract programmer because it is generally the quickest and easiest path to becoming a contract programmer and the best way to determine if contracting is the right career choice.

The "W-2" contractor is like a typical employee...almost

The main differences between a full-time employee and an hourly, contract employee working for a broker are, the contractor:

1) Will probably have to pay for his or her own health and disability insurance, which amounts to very little compared to the increased income one usually sees.

2) Generally gets paid top-dollar for his or her work. Many earn $100 or more per hour for 40+ hours a week.

3) Can take as much time off from work as he or she pleases, while in-between contracts.

4) Has independence from corporate politics.

5) Has the chance to live wherever she wants or live in different places as determined by the particular contract.

6) Is often seen as an expert in his or her field.

More work for "1099" contractor

These points apply to the "1099 contractor" as well, but the "1099" contractor has more work to do in filing taxes, corporate paperwork, advertising and searching for her next contract as opposed the "W-2 contractor," who basically makes a few calls to her favorite brokers and tells them she is ready for another contract and the brokers do the job-searching for her. Now, everything I've said thus far is pretty cut-and-dry, so let's take a look at a more elusive topic: what qualities make a good contract programmer.

Signs of a good contract programmer

Over the last decade, I have met and worked with many varied computer programmers. From this experience, I have devised the following list containing what I believe makes a good potential contractor programmer. A good contract programmer:

1) Makes computers an avid hobby of his. When he comes home from work he plays with or hacks the computer trying to improve its performance.

2) Tries to learn more about computers than his peers do and he also likes to program the computer to have it do "cool" things.

3) Has often dreamed of being an expert, high-paid computer professional.

4) Has learned how to master the art of studying computer science.

5) Spends his free time reading computer books and magazines — yes kind of geeky!

6) May like to build his own computer systems and enjoys tweaking and upgrading them to extract the most performance from them.

7) Is very professional and humble.

You've got to love to do it!

These really are just some of the basic qualities of someone who loves computers and loving computers is really the main ingredient for a successful career in contract programming. If you don't love doing it, you will not survive. If you do love it, it will be a joy to go to work every day and to continually update your skills. The computer field changes rapidly and only someone who really loves computers and makes it his hobby will have the desire to continually upgrade his skills and be the best he can be at all times. If you possess most of the seven qualities listed above and like the idea of using your hobby to catapult yourself into a high-paid, fulfilling career, even if the economy is down, you should consider a career in contract programming.

About The Author

Michael Nigohosian is the author of the award-winning and bestselling series, "The Secret Path to Contract Programming Riches" and instructor for the course "Introduction to Contract Programming". He is also director of Rapid Mastery Technology™ at McGillis, Wilcox, Webster & Co., Inc.™ http://www.mwwcorp.com

Other Article Sites

findabook.com  moneycd.info  a-mortgage.info   about-lemon-laws.info  aboutstudentloans.info
all-about-publishing.info  auctions-articles.info  bestcollege-university.com  bestispconnection.com
biblefolder.com  blogger-website.com  books-used.info  brokers-guide.info  buywindows.info  cable-dsl.info
career-miner.com  carpel-tunnel.info  cashinaflash.info  cashloanreviews.info  casinobell.com  chat-house.info
clearmycredit.info  collegeloantips.info  crones.info  depression-articles.info   dirnic.net  dishguides.info
divers-below.com  expodog.info   financewizz.com  fire-insurance.info  getgood.info  handleit.net   it-idea.info
health-supplies.info  hosting-right.com  insidealert.com  insurance-facts.info  jobs-employment.info
justgood.info  lookgold.net   lowcost-travel.info  money-source.info  myhostzone.info  numisblog.com
peoplesearchfinder.info  pr-articles.info  realeas.com   refinancing-guides.info  spyware-remove.info
telelot.info  the-law.info   toppaid.info  travel-deals.info  travelcorrect.com  wedding-guide-site.com
your-blog.info  your-credit.info

Thune Republicans: Sudden Friends of the Working Person?
The Right's defense of John Thune in the Dan Nelson/MetaBank MetaGate intrigue has taken an odd twist: the Daschlistas lost people their jobs at DNA.Sen.

Work From Home: Providing You With That Extra Cash You Need
After graduating from college and being an independent person, you may find it hard to budget all your needs in your daily life. In fact, many single hard working Americans today says that with today's economy, just making ends meet is a very hard thing to do. Even if you have a good take home salary from your company, you still need to think about your expenses to live a comfortable life, such as paying for your rent, paying for groceries, and paying for you utility bills, such as electric bills, gas bills, and water bills and also your credit card bills.

Work From Home With Your MLM Business
Thanks to the millions of companies doing business over the Internet more people than ever are choosing to work from home With an MLM business you can say goodbye to the daily grind and never ending commute and launch a great career from the comfort of your home

Learn Some Useful Feng Shui Career Tips
As it does with every main life aspect, feng shui also provides tips and guidelines to help you improving your career. If your career is not moving on in the way you wish, that is due to a lack of balance and harmony within your environment and the elements that affect it.

Feng Shui with Style! Working with Your Element Type
When you begin to study feng shui, you quickly realize the importance of the qualities and characteristics of the five feng shui elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. This knowledge is essential to selecting appropriate colors, furnishings, and accessories for your home.

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Human Resources at Work
This article relates to the Human Resource Functions competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. It reflects one employee's satisfaction with the manner in which her HR department carried out their work.

Consultant Jobs In The United Kingdom
One of the hottest areas in the UK job market today is ?Consulting?. The reason why consultants, whether in the financial or technical field, are so highly in demand right now is that companies are facing the squeeze of increased competition. The Internet, the promotion of small business, and the rising demands on businesses from consumers means that everything from production processes to budgets needs to be assessed. The consultant is, therefore, a key member of any personnel grouping.

How Pheromone Concentrates Work
In many commercial labs around the world, workers are busy synthesizing special chemicals that both men and women will buy hoping to attract more of the opposite sex. No, these aren't aphrodisiacs in a bottle, they're pheromones.

Make Blog Commenting Your Best Work At Home Ideas
Link management plays an important part in how successful your home business can become in internet marketing. It is also very relevant to every marketer's desire to achieve high search engine ranking in Google, Yahoo and other top search engines. In my other articles, I mentioned that it is important to get quality links related to your work at home business. While this remains true, it is also imperative that we find the best way to get this done easily, painlessly and preferably getting result exceeding our expectation. This article shows you how blog commenting can become your best work at home ideas for your business.

Airbrushing Does Not Have to be All Disappointment, Heartache, and Bloody Hard Work!
A smart, but irritating man once told me that Airbrushing did not have to be all blood, sweat and tears. If only I had someone guiding me back in those hard, frustrating and sick in the stomach days of airbrushing, I wouldn't have wasted all that time and money!So here you are.

Work At Home Moms Can Have It All
With proper planning and good time management, work at home moms can achieve balance in their work, parenting and personal lives. That?s not to say it will always be smooth sailing. Kids get sick, computers crash, and spouses say things like ?Oh didn?t I tell you, the boss invited us to his summer home this weekend? and it?s Thursday night. Some things are out of your control, and your attitude will determine how far off balance you become when life unexpectedly takes a wrong turn. Getting back on track, however, is much easier if you have a plan in place before those incidents occur.

JWT Employment Communications Releases "Health Care HR Best Practice Brief -- Exit Interview Surveys"
JWT Employment Communications, one of the world’s largest recruitment marketing and internal communications companies, has released the Health Care HR Best Practice Brief: Exit Interview Surveys(EIS), detailing the strategy and benefit behind exit interview surveys in the health care field, written by Senior Partner Beth A. Brooks, PhD, RN, FACHE.

Wear the Message of Grace: A Work Weeks Devotions
As the artist and designer for Ashbach Designs, I want more than for you to just wear a piece of pretty jewelry, I want you to wear each piece as a symbol of your faith. In keeping with this idea, I have created a work week's devotions to go with your jewelry, or another special faith symbol in your life.

Things You Should Know Before You Attempt to Work From Home
The idea of working from home has often been on the minds of many people today. The opportunity to make money from the comfort of your own home is quite enticing. However, gaining profits by working from home isn't always easy. There are many other difficulties as well. Before you attempt to work from home, there are some things you should know.

Painful Stress Headaches Affecting Your Work?
Learn how creating Wellness Triggers can prevent headaches and migraines