How to go about applying for full-time job after being a consultant

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got FT job after being an independent consultant for many years. I regret this now. As an employee I get less respect, now have bosses instead of clients, who assign any tasks they want regardless whether they make sense. Anything can be piled up on your lap as an employee and if someone quits they usually spread the job this person used to do to the rest of the staff instead of hiring someone, vs. with consultants, they are hired for a specific job and are rarely reassigned or asked to do things outside of their area. Also, there is no overtime pay if you are a salaried employee, so you must tread waters carefully and not over-commit to things you cannot accomplish within 40 hour week. As a consultant you are used to be paid for every hour and you may not be able to escape this train of thought that your time is worth a certain price. It has been a hard adjustment for me so far, not sure if this is just the office I am at or I am just wired differently after being my own boss for so many years.

Everything you said is so true! I made an opposite transition - from being an employee to the independent consultant role. I love it so much! There is zero stress - I forget about the job the minute I leave the office. I work on just 1 or 2 projects simultaneously, not a few dozens as I used to at the employee's role. I have no boss - so no worries about performance review or raises, no goals' setting and no performance reviews any more. No subordinates with their issues and drama. And yes, overtime is paid, and they don't even ask me to work much overtime because I'm expensive. So their employees work 60-hour weeks, and I work only 40 and make more money than they do (at my level).

Headhunters keep reaching out to me regarding full-time opportunities, but I don't know how I can even become an employee again.

PP here, good for you! I am planning to go back after my maternity leave, unfortunately stuck here until baby is born and hate it. I made it so that it's cushy and I never work a minute of overtime, but the lack of respect, the projects that people just reassign to you and your staff without even asking you and absolutely zero chances of advancement with everyone fighting for little crumbs. And yes, you are so on the spot about all the annoying reviews and the drama of having to deal with people below you always asking for better reviews, raises while you hands are tied. Add constant re-orgs to it and movement of people on top, who push their own agenda and change things around just adding us more work. Not being a part of corporate culture and just observing it from the outside as a contractor was less stressful, less responsibilities and more pay. But, it is not for everyone, you have to find your own gigs, you have to network, you have to have enough savings when unemployed for a while and not freak out, and you need to buy your own health insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got FT job after being an independent consultant for many years. I regret this now. As an employee I get less respect, now have bosses instead of clients, who assign any tasks they want regardless whether they make sense. Anything can be piled up on your lap as an employee and if someone quits they usually spread the job this person used to do to the rest of the staff instead of hiring someone, vs. with consultants, they are hired for a specific job and are rarely reassigned or asked to do things outside of their area. Also, there is no overtime pay if you are a salaried employee, so you must tread waters carefully and not over-commit to things you cannot accomplish within 40 hour week. As a consultant you are used to be paid for every hour and you may not be able to escape this train of thought that your time is worth a certain price. It has been a hard adjustment for me so far, not sure if this is just the office I am at or I am just wired differently after being my own boss for so many years.

Everything you said is so true! I made an opposite transition - from being an employee to the independent consultant role. I love it so much! There is zero stress - I forget about the job the minute I leave the office. I work on just 1 or 2 projects simultaneously, not a few dozens as I used to at the employee's role. I have no boss - so no worries about performance review or raises, no goals' setting and no performance reviews any more. No subordinates with their issues and drama. And yes, overtime is paid, and they don't even ask me to work much overtime because I'm expensive. So their employees work 60-hour weeks, and I work only 40 and make more money than they do (at my level).

Headhunters keep reaching out to me regarding full-time opportunities, but I don't know how I can even become an employee again.

What is your area of specialization?