Thebreeze I don’t understand how a consultant “gets” a raise from someone else. Aren’t you self-employed i.e. your own boss? Getting a raise as a contractor means the next time you sign a contract make sure your pay is 15% more in the contract. No?

If it’s any consolation, I am a consultant and I get many, many more calls during down-cycles in the economy than up-cycles. Companies don’t want employees because they pay them full time even when there’s nothing for them to do, so basically they’re paying someone to blog on piggington all day or whatever. They’re also paying taxes on them and medical/dental/retirement benefits on top of the insurance expenses, wages, vacation, sick days, training, all the OSHA and worker’s comp, on top of all the California employment entitlement benefits.

For consultants, they typically pay an hourly rate and the consultant works on a deadline which is listed in the contract. At the end he walks and there are no hard feelings. The company pays no tax or benefits to him, no sick days, no vacation, is not responsible for insuring him or worker’s comp or any of that overhead which makes running a business so difficult. In down times, it’s a better move to hire consultants.