Is there something like Company Envy?  That is not for their products but for a place to work.  I am fairly sure of it and most of us had this desire to work for one or other company be it Google, Facebook, IBM (did work for them) or even Microsoft.  These are all big companies and are all over the press every day.  We all know how well the employees get treated at GooglePlex and we have all heard stories about other companies.

I have this secret that I have Company Envy and have been for the past couple of years.  There is this fairly small company that is based in the Western Cape which I really want to go work for. I am not going to mention their name but people that do know me would figure this out fairly easy.  Now you may ask, why, surely they not that much different than other companies.  

So why do I want to work for them:

• I believe in the work they do and think they so far ahead in their field.
• I know lots of the people working there and they ethical, fair and commited to do the right thing.
• They work hard but at the same time ensure that there is balance between work and life .. you know that work/life balance thing.
• They treat their employees as family which is more than can be said for most other companies in this day and age.
• Only the best gets the opportunity to work there and if you in the fortunate posotion then you know you one of the best.
• And the list goes on ….

We all have this bucket list of things that we want to do and I do not think many include working at a specific company on their bucket list.  Well it is on my bucket list together with climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and playing golf on the Old Course at St Andrews (done that and ticked off).

I am sure the opportunity will present itself in near future and believe me, I will be ready to grab it with both my hands.

Here’s to dreams coming true … 

I have this debate with myself at the moment of what is the most suitable way for me when it comes to working.  Contracting or Permanent?

As a background, I have no small schoolgoing children but do have 2 that are still dependents since they are at varsity.  So I do need a stable income and some form of security to cover things like medical aid, provision for retirement and all the expenses that goes with life. 

Further, I am lucky that to a certain extend I am a highly qualified and experienced professional which make finding work fairly easy even in the tough economic situation we are currently in.

I have worked both as a contractor and a permanent employee, most as a permament employee.  From my experience over the last couple of months as a contractor, I defnitely prefer to be permanently employed.  I have found that although most companies say that they treat contractors and permanent staff the same, in practice this is far from true.  I am not going to mention company names but one company has a destinct difference in the office space they allocate to contractors vs their permanent staff.  Contractors might get a working space off somewhere between 2 and 3 square meters where permanent staff gets around 10.  As you can image, when people work in such close proximity to one another, productivity and concentration goes out the window.

Although as a contractor, my take home pay each month is far in excess than would I have been permanent, each minute and day I do not work, I do not get paid.  When we look at April and May then it means that the working days is a lot less which has a real material affect.  Also since one do not get paid for vacantion, one tends not to take any which over a period of time has a detremental affect on your health.

Also I have found that contracts tend to very short, anything from 3 to 6 months.  This always sits in the back of your mind and you are constantly on the look out for new work just incase your contract does not get renewed.  This just increase the daily stress levels one has to cope with.

At the moment the debate is strongly leaning towards the permanent side.  Even with 20% less in salary, I would go back to permanent.  Maybe it is a age thing or the way I went through my working life, but I just prefer permanent.

I would like to hear your comments on your experience regarding this.