Fw: Re: Did I overreact?

["Anonymous Poster" <techwhirlanonpost -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

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I've been lurking on this thread for a few days and I have to respond.
I'm not proud to say I just agreed to one of those $24 hr contracts.
I've been sitting on the sidelines trying to find work for the past 3
months, seeing occasional contracts ranging from the low $30s to low
$40s come and go. Generally my resume would be submitted by some
recruiter or another and that would be the end of it, no response.
Sometimes I'd hear back from a recruiter that the opening was
cancelled.

I was contacted by one recruiter a few weeks ago about an opening at
one of those "billion dollar" companies, only to find out they were
only offering $20 hr. I politely declined, still holding out hope that
I could do better. A few weeks later she called back with another
opening at the same company and said she'd spoken to he boss and they
could squeeze it up to $22 hr. At this point I'm getting worried how
I'm going to make my rent payment for July and I agreed to be
submitted. Shortly thereafter another recruiter contacted me about an
opening at another company for $24 and of course at that point I
agreed to let them submit me. Within a day I interviewed and was hired
for that position. BTW, these are rates that are W2 with benefits,
including PTO. They offered rates as a straight subcontractor, but the
difference was so small I was better to just take the lower hourly
rate for the PTO and to not have to worry about self-employment tax.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to have a contract. I'm just annoyed with
myself for lowering my standards to take a rate significantly lower
than anything I've worked for as a contractor. I did try asking for a
higher rate, but I was stone-walled. This reminds me of my first TW
position as a full-time employee several years ago where I was hired
at an embarrassingly low rate. After 3 months my manager called me in
and with a huge grin told me he was giving me a 25 cent an hour raise.
He honestly expected me to be excited about it. I put on a plastic
smile and went on, shaking my head after I left his office.

Believe me, if I wasn't in the position I'm in financially I wouldn't
consider this sort of rate. I didn't go into contracting to work for a
rate that's below the median salary for FTEs in this area. I'm just
hoping I can successfully avoid letting my resentment affect the
quality of my work. It's a 6 month contract and the recruiter says
they expect it to be extended, but I'll certainly be looking for other
opportunities when the time comes.
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