

Ask HN: Contracting with Former Employer - marktangotango

I worked at a company for 3.5 years then left for higher pay and more interesting work. Since then the company has struggled with declining sales. A new CIO came on board and instigated a rewrite of the legacy applications.<p>Not long after most all the devs of the legacy apps were let go, leaving only a skeleton crew to support them, while a lot of contractors were brought in for the new stuff.<p>Fast forward to today, all but one of the legacy skeleton crew have left, and the rewrite is far, far from done. Now the company is advertising heavily for the legacy skill set. They have quite frankly screwed themselves.<p>So, I&#x27;ve been approached by them. I an expert on there stuff, I worked on the most tricky bits. How would you handle this situation?
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jeffmould
I personally don't see anything wrong with approaching them as a contractor.
You know the applications, and you can set your own rate. If they truly want
help they will hire you as a contractor.

I actually was in an identical situation years ago with a former employer
years ago. When I got out of college, I went to work for a government
contractor for about 3 years doing network administration on a Novell network
with cc:Mail. During that time I had upgraded their entire network and built
several database systems for them. I later left for a higher paying startup
(the first internet bubble in the late 90s). However, I knew the first company
still needed help, so I worked out an agreement with them to be a contractor.
I would come in 2-3 days a week at night, install updates, manage users, fix
desktops, whatever needed to be done. I was making double as a contractor than
I was making as an employee. On the down side, I was a 1099 so I was
responsible for my taxes, but that wasn't too bad. I did this for about a
year, but then burning the candle at both ends I needed some me time so I quit
contracting.

It is fairly common in the government world to see employees leave and return
as contractors at higher rates.

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RogerL
It's up to you, but it sounds like you would in large degree saving the
company. That means you have a high value.

But, what do you want? Do you want this job? If it wasn't interesting then,
would it be interesting now? Are you between jobs, or would you be quitting a
job to do this. I don't need the answers to those, just answer them for
yourself.

But, some extremes: boring work, no one else can save the company, you'd have
to quit your job and work at this 14hrs/7days a week for 2 years. I'd suggest
a very high daily rate, and a significant signing bonus to compensate for the
risk of quitting a job you like plus the career stagnation this job entails.
to be clear, 'very high' means, I dunno, 5x a normal rate, maybe much more.
Whatever reflects the value you bring to them. I'd also probably negotiate
something in terms of who your boss is and who makes decision. Do you really
want to answer to a CIO that made those kinds of decisions? Probably not. So,
autonomy, replace the CIO, or buckets of cash to compensate for risk. If you
are not leading, make sure you trust whoever is, or the pain will just
continue. Get that all in writing, and give yourself enough cushion to bail if
that person bails after a few months. All this assumes you see a way out of
their mess. If it can't be fixed? I'd run.

Inverse: best opportunity of your lifetime, great enhancement to your skill
sets, you are unemployed with no prospects. What are you waiting for, make a
mid-level rate request and expect to get talked down a bit.

But, you asked how _I_ would handle it. I'd walk away without a second
thought. Life is too short to suffer for other's bad mistakes, or to stall my
career. Maybe if I could turn it into FU money then I'd do it, but other than
that ... naw. Don't underestimate how a bad situation at work colors your
entire life (at least for me, you may be different).

But that is me.

~~~
marktangotango
Great analysis, thanks! My motivation would be FU money, and I would be
approaching them. I do have a comfortable, _mostly_ stable position at the
moment, and obligations, so there is indeed a large amount of risk for me.
It's because of the 'mostly' that I'm considering this course of action. Sales
are off at the current company as well, also due to a rewrite that has
faltered.

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creyes123
I was in this type of situation once. I took the job and enjoyed being a
contractor better than an employee. Just keep your eyes open and make the most
of it.

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bdcravens
No issues, just frame the business side of the conversation such that
compensation is discussed from a contracting point of view, and that your
previous salary really isn't relevant.

