Re: Transition from employee to consultant--any gotchas?
My employer terminated me yesterday as part of a we-hope-we-can-still-hang-on-until-things-turn-around deperate last cut. They have asked me to continue performing a subset of my former duties as a consultant, with the understanding that I'm going to look for a full-time job and may end up being barred from moonlighting for them if I get one.
First of all, my condolences. It's still a tough market out there. When I was laid off 2 years ago, my confidence was *severely* shaken when I wasn't able to get another job right away. Or even an interview. Or even an acknowedgment that a resume and cover letter had been received.
In the meantime, here's the tentative arrangement, about which I have questions:
1. They're giving me severance of a few weeks' pay, to be paid in biweekly instalments. My understanding is that this probably will prevent my collecting unemployment benefits until I've received the last installment. Not a problem. However, I don't think this prevents me from entering into a contract with the company effective today.
I don't think the IRS cares about *when* you earn salary monies vs. contract/consultant monies. You can even earn it at the same time. You'll get W2s for one and 1099s for the other.
In CA, unemployment benefits are reduced based on money you receive during the two-week reporting period, regardless of the source (monies such as child support may be exempted).
Pretty much what everone else said. If you *can* negotiate the severance in a lump sum, get it, even if the tax bite is bigger.
And good luck with your search.
I don't know where you're located, but if your area has a Craigslist, post your resume there. You'll get better results than on Hotjobs or Monster or Dice or CareerBuilder (although you'll want to post there too).
The folks who used to work at Synergistech (a tech pubs recruiting company now in hibernation) here in the Bay Area have also started their own career counseling service. They provide a free basic resume review. I know the folks there and they do some good work. They are at http://www.lifesworkservices.com/. (And I apologize in advance is this crosses the line into advertising.)
--
--
Chuck Martin
User Assistance & Experience Engineer
twriter "at" sonic "dot" net www.writeforyou.com
"I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me.
The day may come when the courage of Men fail, when we forsake our
friends and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day!
This day, we fight!"
- Aragorn
"All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given you."
- Gandalf
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ROBOHELP X5: Featuring Word 2003 support, Content Management, Multi-Author
support, PDF and XML support and much more!
TRY IT TODAY at http://www.macromedia.com/go/techwrl
WEBWORKS FINALDRAFT: New! Document review system for Word and FrameMaker
authors. Automatic browser-based drafts with unlimited reviewers. Full
online discussions -- no Web server needed! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
Previous by Author:
Re: job title nomenclature on biz cards
Next by Author:
RE: Why we hate/love the STC (Was open letter ...)
Previous by Thread:
Re: Transition from employee to consultant--any gotchas?
Next by Thread:
RE: Transition from employee to consultant--any gotchas?
Search our Technical Writing Archives & Magazine
Visit TechWhirl's Other Sites
Sponsored Ads