In this episode, I cover some differences between being a full-time employee and a self-employeed professional.

1. Fulltime employee (FTE) career development
   1. Get good at what you do
      1. Often happens by "sharpening the saw" on your own time
   2. Often get more responsibility for what you are good at
      1. Don't always get to do new things if you are good at something
      2. Good = more responsibility
   3. Throw more time at projects when need to
      1. No need to "ask" in order to work more time on something
      2. Costs the company the same, since salary is set
2. Reasons to hire Independent Consultant
   1. Skills
      1. Seen as an expert or at least highly qualified on solutions a client needs
      2. More experience with newer technologies than FTE
   2. Convenience
      1. Use for short term, more flexible than hiring/firing employee
3. Managing expectations
   1. Independent Consultant, Contractor or Freelancer?
      1. Independent Consultant = expert, higher cost, shorter term engagement, tax purposes 1099, control your own schedule
         1. Hired to be the expert on a topic or solution the client needs
         2. Important to understand requirements before starting billable work
         3. Can't just throw more time at a difficult problem without eating that time yourself
      2. Contractor = highly qualified, staff augmentation, can cost higher for client (while not earning more as contractor), longer term engagement, tax purposes could be W2 for contract agency or 1099, work on client's schedule (or predetermined and agreed schedule)
         1. Often hired to add to augment an existing team
         2. Able to just start billable work once onboarded
         3. If difficult problems arise and communication is clear with the team, often can just put more time into them (like a FTE)
      3. Freelancer = non-employee, project or short term deliverables (though could be on a reoccurring basis), tax purposes 1099, work on your own schedule
         1. Often hired to deliver a specific deliverable
         2. Likely to bill for the deliverable, not the process of the work
         3. Like an Independent Consultant, you are expected to know what the short term deliverable requires before starting the work
         4. Like a mix of the Independent Consultant and Contractor, it depends on the difficult scenario, you may or may not be able to charge for it.