If you"re currently on the job market, what can you do in a softening economy to maximize the number of opportunities you"re exploring?
Have you considered contract/consulting work? It may not be the ideal choice for you, but at the very least it may provide more options for you to explore and compare.
During a tight market, employers may be more prone to hire temp workers, instead of burdening their payroll with full-time employees. So if you"re open to consulting, what should you do next?
You need to determine your consulting rate. Whatever the market bears or what you"re earningas a full-time employee (in reference to yearly salary) contracting should enable you to make 15-25% more per year. So if you’re currently making or bearing a market value of $75,000 as a full-time employee, contracting should enable you to make approximately $86,250 - $93,750 per year. So to determine a ballpark hourly rate, take that number and divide it by 2080 hours (number of work hours in a year) $93,750/2080 which equates to $45.07 an hour. If you want an easier (not exact) way to calculate a ballpark hourly rate, just take the first two numbers of the yearly salary $90,000 (90) and divide that by two = 90/2 = $45 an hour. $100K = $50.00 an hour, $120K = $60.00 an hour, so on and so forth.
If you want to verify your compensation, Salary.com can provide basic salary information (for fulltime employees) which you can use as a framework to determine your hourly rate. You cansearch by zip code/city and position title, the search resultswill provide different job titles you can compare. Once you ID a position title and job description that best matches your background, this free service can provide a general salary framework you can refer to. Salary.com also provides a paid service to which you can enter more data (industry, size of company, advanced degrees, etc) that can provide comprehensive data on your compensation framework.
Here are some other items to consider when exploring consulting opportunities.
On average, consulting rates are usually based on 6 month engagements. If the engagement is shorter than 6 months, the rate usually increases, if a contract is 9-12+ it is good etiquette to be more flexible on your hourly rate. Most of the time (considering your performance is strong) initial durations on contracts usually extend, especially on large projects.
As a general rule of thumb, you should know 30-45 days before your contractual duration ends if you"ll be extended. Don"t be afraid to ask about extensions.
If your position requires extensive travel, it is not uncommon for organizations to pay a higher hourly rate.
Lastly, some organizations may provide "quality of work life" perks such as; tele-commuting, free or discounted onsite services such as health club, day care, free breakfasts, paid training, etc. If some of these services are offered, you should weigh these options against your hourly rate. A great way to explore perks is using the perk search feature offered by www.JobMapper.com.
One of the key advantages of consulting, it can provide you exposure to different projects, industries, technologies and provides a great opportunity to build your networking pool.