Stick or Twist

[Unix]

I have a few months left on my contract and they are taking about extension, however this work will be on a old legacy system not in my main dev lang.

Pro's of staying
Good rate
Not much pressure
Short day
Not bad commute

Cons
Lot's of process
Have to do everything myself (PM, BA etc)
Will be working in old legacy system in different lang
Zero eye candy in the office

Thoughts?

[northernladuk]

My thoughts as its purely your choice as it's down to personal circumstances it good on you for asking a load of strangers.

[FatLazyContractor]

Leave and find a job with MF.

HTH

[Unix]

My thoughts as its purely your choice as it's down to personal circumstances it good on you for asking a load of strangers.

Well this a contracting forum so maybe some might have been in a similar position?

[LondonManc]

I have a few months left on my contract and they are taking about extension, however this work will be on a old legacy system not in my main dev lang.

Pro's of staying
Good rate
Not much pressure
Short day
Not bad commute

Cons
Lot's of process
Have to do everything myself (PM, BA etc)
Will be working in old legacy system in different lang
Zero eye candy in the office

Thoughts?

Pros:
It's work

Cons:
It's work that may be taking you away from what you want to do. Bottom line is that you're a contractor so have far less control over what parts of your skill set you get to use.

The contract market is getting crapper all the time; perhaps move into perm if you want more control over what skillset gets used.

[ChimpMaster]

You're close to retirement aren't you?

In which case, stick to your current contract.

BTW "Have to do everything myself (PM, BA etc)" should be a pro not a con, unless you enjoy being managed by a client and being at further risk of falling foul of IR35.

"Zero eye candy in the office" is an irrelevant argument because this is the norm in IT. You should see where I contract

[Unix]

You're close to retirement aren't you?

In which case, stick to your current contract.

BTW "Have to do everything myself (PM, BA etc)" should be a pro not a con, unless you enjoy being managed by a client and being at further risk of falling foul of IR35.

"Zero eye candy in the office" is an irrelevant argument because this is the norm in IT. You should see where I contract

No I'm not close to retirement.

I think I will stay and milk this one for a few years and build the warchest up.

[FatLazyContractor]

No I'm not close to retirement.

I think I will stay and milk this one for a few years and build the warchest up.

That was the original problem, wasn't it?

[dogzilla]

Only you can decide however in my opinion it's sometimes better to get out before you get too soft.

I've known a few guys stuck in contracts too long who took the easy money and then got screwed when they had to start looking around.

That or make sure you spend the time keeping up to date in a meaningful manner.

[vetran]

work to live! not the other way round.

As above low pressure self management is a big plus.


Is what you are doing interesting to others? While you might see it as not your main devlanguage how do clients see it? If you are enhancing XYZ to create £++++ revenue I doubt most will care what you coded in. If there isn't much going on you could knock up some extensions in your favourite language to keep your hand in? Maybe for another customer?

My Brother stopped contracting earlier this year because his plan B became plan A, it was based on a small project he did for a side customer.