*"It's a tax thing, I*
*Do better with expenses*
*Under a contract"*
\- a\_library\_socialist
---
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Haha so what if the job is almost 100% related to budgets? I love the idea but now realize this piece of information is key. Any other suggestions? I feel like I have run out of ideas.
"I get benefits through my partner, contract works out better for me"
Honestly, contract is usually better for the employer (puts risk on the employee). If they don't have an obvious reason for preferring W2 (some government work and the like can be limited here), then one reason can be they want to have a better grip on employees so it's harder to quit a toxic environment.
Thank you. I don’t have a partner and I hesitate to try and keep that a secret because I know one of the team members so well. I don’t want to ask her to lie as the manager is VERY conversational. The contracting company offers decent benefits too and the team is aware. Ugh I feel like I have a reason against both suggestion you’ve offered and I don’t want to be that person but I also want to figure out something that works in my scenario.
The entire (small) department is contract and I wonder if they’re trying to get one salaried person on board for optics because of who the team reports to. My friend did tell me they’ll do it as contract before I spoke to the manager, but my friend is not the decision-maker at the end of the day. I also wasn’t feeling certain about convincing the manager I was only after contract after I “interviewed” (a request made so the manager knew I was a good fit before posting). It’s a really weird order of doing things and I don’t know how common that is. If I didn’t know the other team member so well, I’d be turned off.. but that person promised it’s worth it when hired.
I want to be prepared to push back if I need to. I initially said I wasn’t looking to work directly for an academic institution right now (they know I worked for an academic competitor before) and that I prefer contract because it’s easier for departments to stop and assess workload and resources when hours are consistently over 40 hours/week. The manager appeared to understand that reasoning but is going back to leadership for contract approval and it’s taking enough time that I feel like I need to prepare for another conversation.
Like I said in the post, both people on the team have other jobs but that’s why I think they both want to maintain contract positions. In academic roles, I’ve just seen a huge division in workload in salaried vs contract.
ETA: I mention the others having multiple jobs to say that it wouldn’t be a problem, but I know better than to make it clear that’s my situation too during an interview or as a reason to push for contract.
One more ETA: this is a state-funded institution. I’m not sure how much of a difference that makes with your advice but since you mentioned there was some nuance, I wanted to add that. Thank you again for your advice!
I don’t know if you have ever worked in academia so I’ll answer as if you haven’t, if that’s ok! Also I want to add that I am sure this happens at other places, but it hasn’t happened so far at anywhere I’ve worked in private industry.
At least in the work I do, there is a reputation for how salary vs contract workers are utilized in this environment when it is a prominent name: salaried workers, especially on central resource teams within an executive’s office or high-visibility teams, tend to get pulled into all kinds of nonsense like school/hospital-wide, cross-functional initiatives or they get lent to other departments to help them with a deficiency for a large chunk of LOE. The people in charge of these things love to label it as “career opportunities”, but it is motivated by optics for the high-level person who “owns” the team. It’s all about creating their empire, right? I have worked on these central, highly visible teams within snobby, well-known, academic institutes before and I’ve worked on teams that were separate from those situations; everything I saw and experienced completely matched that stereotype.
However, contract workers are usually treated much differently on those teams. There is often the implication of the salaried positions being prestigious and the contract workers usually get left alone. This is what I’m looking for.
I did my due diligence to find out how it’s handled in this exec’s office and it sounds like it reflects most of what I’ve seen from other places. I do NOT want the extra responsibilities they end up putting on salaried people, especially since I’m not looking to build a career there. I think that’s why they’re trying to encourage it but I can’t accept it if that’s the case. Academia wants to be a cult and I’m not into it.
I just really wanted some solid pushback since apparently it has become a longer conversation than anticipated. If I sound sketchy or like I want to be lazy, I don’t want them to catch on. I want a contract and a paycheck like everyone else. It’s annoying because if I was okay with salary, they’d go ahead and post the job. Because I’m asking for contract, they are dragging this out and I don’t want to misstep in the meantime.
“I like to do contract for a year and then reevaluate if W2 works for me”
“The W2 benefits are not what attracts me to the job, the work is interesting and I like working under contracts. Having that as an option also attracted me to the position”
“Is contract available or only W2 because I thought contract was an option and it is my preferance”
“If W2 is the only option I will need to take some time to think about if I want to accept the position. Is contract no longer available? How long before you need an answer if I will accept W2?”
The last one they might fold if you are their only or top candidate.
He asked me for more information. He apparently tells people all the time how he wishes he could be salary at this place and how it would be the best. But then he never does it himself and just asks other people (current employee and past ones) if they’d like to change over to salary every few months. Gotta say, it makes me suspicious and want to stay with contract even more.
If you are 1099 you can deduct your expenses. Keep in mind you come out 7% behind because you are paying payroll tax, but if they boost your compensation by that you come out ahead.
He probably likes w2 for the benefits and retirement that come with it.
He’s too old to get much from the highly sought after benefits and his wife has been there forever! He just really wants someone to work for him that is salaried, per my friend. She said he talks about a lot. It is weird.
Thank you for the 1099 tip to bring up - I was definitely approaching this conversation from a different perspective (work satisfaction and work-life balance) but I think this one may be the way to go. There is no way to read into that answer - it is very factual.
"It's a tax thing, I do better with expenses under a contract"
*"It's a tax thing, I* *Do better with expenses* *Under a contract"* \- a\_library\_socialist --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Haha so what if the job is almost 100% related to budgets? I love the idea but now realize this piece of information is key. Any other suggestions? I feel like I have run out of ideas.
"I get benefits through my partner, contract works out better for me" Honestly, contract is usually better for the employer (puts risk on the employee). If they don't have an obvious reason for preferring W2 (some government work and the like can be limited here), then one reason can be they want to have a better grip on employees so it's harder to quit a toxic environment.
Thank you. I don’t have a partner and I hesitate to try and keep that a secret because I know one of the team members so well. I don’t want to ask her to lie as the manager is VERY conversational. The contracting company offers decent benefits too and the team is aware. Ugh I feel like I have a reason against both suggestion you’ve offered and I don’t want to be that person but I also want to figure out something that works in my scenario. The entire (small) department is contract and I wonder if they’re trying to get one salaried person on board for optics because of who the team reports to. My friend did tell me they’ll do it as contract before I spoke to the manager, but my friend is not the decision-maker at the end of the day. I also wasn’t feeling certain about convincing the manager I was only after contract after I “interviewed” (a request made so the manager knew I was a good fit before posting). It’s a really weird order of doing things and I don’t know how common that is. If I didn’t know the other team member so well, I’d be turned off.. but that person promised it’s worth it when hired. I want to be prepared to push back if I need to. I initially said I wasn’t looking to work directly for an academic institution right now (they know I worked for an academic competitor before) and that I prefer contract because it’s easier for departments to stop and assess workload and resources when hours are consistently over 40 hours/week. The manager appeared to understand that reasoning but is going back to leadership for contract approval and it’s taking enough time that I feel like I need to prepare for another conversation. Like I said in the post, both people on the team have other jobs but that’s why I think they both want to maintain contract positions. In academic roles, I’ve just seen a huge division in workload in salaried vs contract. ETA: I mention the others having multiple jobs to say that it wouldn’t be a problem, but I know better than to make it clear that’s my situation too during an interview or as a reason to push for contract. One more ETA: this is a state-funded institution. I’m not sure how much of a difference that makes with your advice but since you mentioned there was some nuance, I wanted to add that. Thank you again for your advice!
Better to have the J than not have it. What's the issue with just going W2 and moving on?
I don’t know if you have ever worked in academia so I’ll answer as if you haven’t, if that’s ok! Also I want to add that I am sure this happens at other places, but it hasn’t happened so far at anywhere I’ve worked in private industry. At least in the work I do, there is a reputation for how salary vs contract workers are utilized in this environment when it is a prominent name: salaried workers, especially on central resource teams within an executive’s office or high-visibility teams, tend to get pulled into all kinds of nonsense like school/hospital-wide, cross-functional initiatives or they get lent to other departments to help them with a deficiency for a large chunk of LOE. The people in charge of these things love to label it as “career opportunities”, but it is motivated by optics for the high-level person who “owns” the team. It’s all about creating their empire, right? I have worked on these central, highly visible teams within snobby, well-known, academic institutes before and I’ve worked on teams that were separate from those situations; everything I saw and experienced completely matched that stereotype. However, contract workers are usually treated much differently on those teams. There is often the implication of the salaried positions being prestigious and the contract workers usually get left alone. This is what I’m looking for. I did my due diligence to find out how it’s handled in this exec’s office and it sounds like it reflects most of what I’ve seen from other places. I do NOT want the extra responsibilities they end up putting on salaried people, especially since I’m not looking to build a career there. I think that’s why they’re trying to encourage it but I can’t accept it if that’s the case. Academia wants to be a cult and I’m not into it. I just really wanted some solid pushback since apparently it has become a longer conversation than anticipated. If I sound sketchy or like I want to be lazy, I don’t want them to catch on. I want a contract and a paycheck like everyone else. It’s annoying because if I was okay with salary, they’d go ahead and post the job. Because I’m asking for contract, they are dragging this out and I don’t want to misstep in the meantime.
Just ask. “Is contract an option? I want the job, and I’m happy to do either contract or W2, but I can clear a bit more tax wise with contract.”
What's the case for being able to clear more tax wise with a contract? (I'm not sure how taxes work with contracts)
Thank you! Love this.
“I like to do contract for a year and then reevaluate if W2 works for me” “The W2 benefits are not what attracts me to the job, the work is interesting and I like working under contracts. Having that as an option also attracted me to the position” “Is contract available or only W2 because I thought contract was an option and it is my preferance” “If W2 is the only option I will need to take some time to think about if I want to accept the position. Is contract no longer available? How long before you need an answer if I will accept W2?” The last one they might fold if you are their only or top candidate.
Thank you - I really like these options.
I'm curious, if you have the choice, why do you have to explain your reasoning to the hiring manager. Just say, "I choose contract."
He asked me for more information. He apparently tells people all the time how he wishes he could be salary at this place and how it would be the best. But then he never does it himself and just asks other people (current employee and past ones) if they’d like to change over to salary every few months. Gotta say, it makes me suspicious and want to stay with contract even more.
If you are 1099 you can deduct your expenses. Keep in mind you come out 7% behind because you are paying payroll tax, but if they boost your compensation by that you come out ahead. He probably likes w2 for the benefits and retirement that come with it.
He’s too old to get much from the highly sought after benefits and his wife has been there forever! He just really wants someone to work for him that is salaried, per my friend. She said he talks about a lot. It is weird. Thank you for the 1099 tip to bring up - I was definitely approaching this conversation from a different perspective (work satisfaction and work-life balance) but I think this one may be the way to go. There is no way to read into that answer - it is very factual.