Making big changes in your life is very difficult, especially if you are not entirely sure how you are going to do it. There’s an expectation that you have to have a plan for everything before you start. Something in our heads tells us we need to have a plan from a-to-z and not just a-to-b.

Anyone who has ever been in the military knows how difficult it is to get out. It is the job of a re-enlistement officer to sit down with you and try to get you to re-enlist. Unlike the first recruiter you spoke to, this guy can’t make you unrealistic promises of a fantastic life in the military (travel, adventure, etc). Instead, the re-enlistment officer scares you with the prospect of unemployment. At 22 years old and contemplating leaving the Army as my four-year enlistment was up, the re-enlistement officer hit me with all the scary questions:

“So if you leave the Army, what will you do then?”, he asked.

“I don’t know. Go to school, I guess.” I answered. I felt guilty because I didn’t have an exact plan to give him.

“Ah. So you’re going to make your wife work for you, huh?”

“Well, no. I’ll get a job.” I say defensively.

“What if you can’t get a job? It’s a tough world out there. Believe me, I’d hate to see a bright guy like you out on the streets.”

He then asks questions about how I will handle my medical expenses and all that other stuff that a 22-year-old shouldn’t be concerned with. I was so close to re-enlisting out of fear that it scares me today. I would have been a staff sargeant now, probably. I’d be one of those miserable people I worked with who talked about retiring in just 14 short years. Then life would really start, I suppose.

The re-enlistment officer almost had me because he wanted me to justify my entire future to him. He wanted me to tell him my entire plan for the rest of my life. I didn’t have a plan. I still don’t. I have a rough idea, but I’m still open to the idea of new opportunities arising.

But, luckily, I held my breath and jumped. At the last minute (literally), I decided not to re-enlist. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I knew I needed to change something in my life. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but I was sure I didn’t want to be a carreer soldier. I traded job security for an unknown future. I was terrified, but it worked out in the end.

This doesn’t just happen in the military.

The same thing happened several years ago when I was working too long in a job I couldn’t stand. I was miserable in this job but was afraid to leave. The old job security phantom was keeping me there. It was during the dot com bust and it seemed that everyone was out of work. For a while, I kept sending my CV out but didn’t get anything but a few interviews. Everyone in the market was available immediately (because they had been made redundant) and I had a one-month notice period to contend with. Finally, after about a year of fruitless job searching, I decided to leave.

I quit my job without another one to go to. I had no savings and two kids. Again, I was terrified. Again, I heard the same questions:

“What are you going to do?”

“What if you don’t find anything?”

“You have a family to think of. What about them?”

Everyone wanted me to explain myself and tell them my whole plan for the future. I didn’t know my whole plan. I didn’t know how to get from a-to-z, but I knew what a-to-b was: I needed to leave (then I would look for c).

It was tough, but the risk paid off. Very well. Other people (who were even more miserable than I was) stayed with the company until they were made redundant.

I’m all for planning. When possible, I will have a strategy mapped out. I always prefer certainty to uncertainty. Sometimes you really need a plan (you wouldn’t topple a dictator without knowing how to set up the ensuing government, for example). But sometimes you just need to take the plunge and get started. When everything is riding on that decision, you’re mentality changes. From the comfort zone, everything looks hard. When you take the plunge, you find ways to cope with the difficulties and move towards the direction you want to go.

I hate to be the geek who quotes movie lines, but . . .

As Indiana Jones says?”I’m making this up as I go.”

There are lots of things about being a contractor that I really like. Permanent employees often like to make a big deal about the fact that I don’t get sick days or paid holidays (and no medical, pension, etc), but there is no way I would trade places with them. I’ve been asked a few times whether I could join on permanently and I always politely decline.

When I talk to other contractors, they always feel the same way. It’s not often you see a contractor go permie unless (1) it’s his first contract, or (2) he has been in one contract so long he’s got stage fright over the job hunting process.

Yesterday I had a dentist appointment. I took a half day off (with no pay, of course). Back when I used to be a permie, I would have this fear that my request to see a dentist might be miscontrued as sneaking off to an interview. I would be doing it on company time and mustn’t dilly dally. I don’t need to do that anymore. If I need to see a dentist, they don’t pay me so there is no guilt. If I need to go to an interview, I tell them I have an interview. There’s no disloyalty with this anymore.

Here are some of the other perks of being an IT contractor:

No one is promising me a promotion

Back when I was permie, I always had the promotion or bonus carrot held in front of my face. For this, I would work longer hours, do any crap work that needed doing, demonstrated my loyalty throughout the day, etc. I was also afraid of criticizing the way things were done. If I disagreed with my boss on something, I’d better not make a fuss.

As a contractor, I don’t expect a raise or a promotion. I’m around for a set amount of time. I’m giving them 3 or 6 months. If at the end of that time, they want to renew me, fine. My rate may change (it might even drop?depending on the market). If I don’t like the conditions, I probably won’t stay much longer. If they don’t like me, they don’t keep me. It’s perfectly equal. They pay me what I want to be paid, and I do what they need to be done. I never have to worry about competing with other people for a raise or promotion.

I’m hired for my skill

As a permie, I worked on whatever the company needed me to work on. If we were a classic ASP development team, I had no reason to start trying to learn .net. If the company used SourceSafe, I shouldn’t trouble myself learning Subversion. My learning curve was set by the company.

As a contractor, I need to think about where the market is going. I need to know what’s at the cutting edge and at least start playing with it now. This is often difficult when in a contract. I get up at 4am most mornings so I have a few hours of development before going off to work. It’s a lot more interesting than working on yesterday’s technologies all the time.

I need to know about ASP.net Ajax extensions. I need to know about Silverlight. I need to know about Orcas. I’ve made it my job to know about them.

When I look for a contract, I look for a project I want to work on based on the skills I get to use (and sometimes based on the rate). My clients hire me because I want to work on their projects and not because I am forced to. It’s better for me and better for them.

You may wince when I say that I get up at 4am, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I go to bed earlier and watch less television than most people. Believe me, I never thought I would ever say that.

I’m always loyal

As a permie, being loyal meant that I would never leave. As a contractor, being loyal means that I will do everything in the best interest of my client and keep any confidential information secret after I leave. I have no problem with getting a call a few months after I leave a contract with a technical query?I consider it a professional courtesy.

I’m not afraid of losing my job

As a permie, losing my job was one of the scariest things I could think of. I have a mortgage and kids. I couldn’t make waves.

As a contractor, I always expect to lose my job. It’s in my contract. I know that I’ll be out in 2 or 3 months. I’m also very aware that I could be out of work in a month (or whatever notice period I have on my contract) if things go wrong.

I have to always be ready for the market. My CV has to be up to date. My skills have to be sharp. My suit has to fit. My financial reserves have to be healthy.

As a permie, I lived at or just above my means. As a contractor, I have to live well below my means?because I know that rainy day is coming. Best of all, I can predict it.

I’m in control

Finally, I’m more in control of my life as a contractor. Sure, I’m at the mercy of the IT market?but that’s part of the fun. I choose the technologies I get to work on. I choose when I take on a job. I choose when I’m out of work.

I choose when I go to the dentist.

When life gets really hectic and you feel swamped with things to do, it’s always amazing to think of people with ridiculous hobbies. I know that no matter how busy I am, there’s always someone building a ship in a bottle or a replica of the Golden Gate Bridge with toothpicks.

A guy in Wisconsin has carved a replica of Mount Rushmore in cheddar. BBC has a story here.

Best quote from the article: “It’s amazing where the power of cheese has taken me over the years.”

The power of cheese! I always knew there was something there.

I was amazed by this waste of resource until I read that he had actually been commissioned to carve the block by a cracker company (looks like Cheez-It from the picture). My opinion of this guy changed. He’s probably the world leader of cheese carvers. If you need a cheese sculpture, he’s your man.

I once worked with a guy who was an expert on one particular obscure investment banking trading system. I was amazed that this one application was all he was interested in. I asked why he didn’t get into web development or .net to diversify his skill portfolio. He didn’t need to. The amount of money he was paid to work on his system dwarfed by daily rate considerably. He was highly paid because he was unique. He was probably one of a few dozen people who could do what he did and I’m sure he looked at me with my popular skillset as being crazy for not finding something obscure. He could be the best in the world at the one system he works on.

Troy Landwehr, the cheese carving artist, has found a unique niche. He’s probably the best in the world (I would think). I’m sure he would never trade that for a 9-to-5 job.