Is it better to go for a contract role or full-time opportunity?

Question

For context - I have recently left Amazon and I'm actively looking for another role that suits my lifestyle in terms of work/life balance as well as the interest during the job role. Given how the market is right now - I was wondering if it is better to get a contract role until you can get the opportunity that you find interesting or go for a full-time opportunity regardless?

Accepted Answer

It depends a lot on your current job-hunting journey and your needs. Here's my thoughts:

Case For Full-Time

You need benefits like health insurance
You are ambitious with your career growth (FTEs are given way better opportunities compared to contractors)
You have high compensation requirements

Case For Contracting

You don't need benefits (I see a lot of married couples where one of them works as FTE getting benefits and the other as a contractor)
You want better work-life balance with more flexibility and less pressure
You can't get anything else (very possible in the current crappy market)

For broader advice around finding good opportunities in general, I highly recommend this video (it has a software engineer focus, but most of its advice applies to anyone in tech): [Masterclass] How To Choose A Good Company And Team As A Software Engineer

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Is it better to go for a contract role or full-time opportunity?

Discussion

Case For Full-Time

Case For Contracting