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Subject:RE: Exempt status for Tech Writers From:"Dan Goldstein" <DGoldstein -at- riverainmedical -dot- com> To:<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:17:52 -0500
Hi Don,
Sorry I wasn't clear enough -- let me try again...
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Donald H White
> Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 10:51 AM
> To: Dan Goldstein; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: RE: Exempt status for Tech Writers
>
> A step down? Are those of us who are contractors less noble,
> less professional? Could we be more flagrantly snobbish?
I've also worked as a contractor, and I wasn't any less professional
than I am now. At the time, some of my clients treated me more
respectfully than they treated their own FTEs, so in that sense it was a
higher-status position.
Even so, I prefer the way things are now. Like other FTEs who've posted
to this thread, I'm flexible about working long hours when the project
needs it, and my employer is flexible about my needs as well.
So for my own personal preferences, it would be a step down to have a
direct, pay-for-time relationship. If I had the choice of working for
the same company as a contractor, being treated me with the same respect
as now, I'd still rather be an employee.
Of course, many employers show no consideration toward their salaried
tech writers, and that's a shame -- I'd hate to have to work under those
conditions.
> By the way, in light of our economy, what is a "permanent" employee.
> Frankly, I don't believe such a category exists in the minds
> of a corporate HR department or board.
I've hired people in the past. If I hired them with an end-date in mind,
they were temporary (and that was stated to them). Otherwise, they were
permanent employees. I've also had jobs in the past where I expected to
leave for my own reasons within a certain time frame.
> It's of no particular concern to me what other professionals
> think of my status as an independent contractor. I'm just
> mercenary enough to do what I can or must to pay the mortgage
> and feed the mouths therein.
Doesn't sound mercenary at all. Everybody's got bills to pay, and we're
all lucky enough to be using our brains to pay them.
Happy Tuesday,
Dan
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