> The choice between a $200k/yr salary and a $200/hr contract is so far of an outlier that you read it on HN and just roll your eyes. Right?
Without more detail, it's hard to say if it's an outlier or not. $200k is $96/hr, but the employer pays their half of SS. Self-employed, you're paying both. And how many hours are they giving you in a week? What if they cancel arrangement 3 months in, and it takes you 6 months to find another contracting gig? You would've made more at the $200k job in that event. But with so many different dimensions (job security, hours, taxes), it's a bit comparing apples to oranges.
You're absolutely right! And all of those concerns were flying through my head too.
One nice thing is that it's an evaluation on both sides. If they cancel, it's a mutual benefit, because I wouldn't want to be in a situation where someone was unhappy with my services. But the reverse is true: having the option of noping out after three months is underrated. All signs point to "this is an awesome company and I'll be here for many years," but eliminating the uncertainty is no small benefit.
One other interesting aspect is that when you bill daily, you can do two gigs at once. It's impossible to have two salaried jobs, but having two contracts is entirely feasible, as long as you can do the work. So that was another tempting thing that tipped the scale. Taking a salary job generally means you'll need to either backburner your existing contracts or call them off entirely, since full time job + contracts is a recipe for not having a life outside of work.
COVID made some of these things easier, too, so it may be a recent phenomenon. Getting the sweet jobs used to require a commitment to e.g. San Francisco. That may be true in 5 years, but circa 2021 I can do this in my pajamas from lovely Lake St Louis middle-of-nowhereville. (Our aunt is coming to visit us on Monday, and she's bringing her cat -- I'm super hyped to see both of them again. Stuff like that is normally a nonstarter when your aunt would otherwise have to fly across the country to come see you.)
It could all be a terrible idea. It'll be interesting to revisit this in a year. But it's also exciting to try out a new path. Hopefully it won't be the wrong sort of exciting. :)
Without more detail, it's hard to say if it's an outlier or not. $200k is $96/hr, but the employer pays their half of SS. Self-employed, you're paying both. And how many hours are they giving you in a week? What if they cancel arrangement 3 months in, and it takes you 6 months to find another contracting gig? You would've made more at the $200k job in that event. But with so many different dimensions (job security, hours, taxes), it's a bit comparing apples to oranges.