[Buttons840]

> The nice side effect of being a contractor is that your CV now looks like you have been in the same position for 10 years instead of a series of 2 year stints.

Can't you do this with W2 work too? "Oh, that was all private consulting work. No sorry, I'm not able to tell you who I was consulting."

[em-bee]

that's effectively what i did, but i listed all stints as if they were jobs, and my CV is rather lengthy as a result. some of them were contracts, some where were actual employment. we used whatever form was more convenient. sometimes employment was necessary for visa purposes. in the end i don't think it matters. consulting is consulting, and i may very well share who i was consulting for, it's still different from having a long term job. as a hiring manager i would still ask: "you have been consulting for the last 10 years, why are you looking for employment now?"

the transition from independent consulting to long term employment is just as questionable as the one from job-hopping to long term employment. you'd have to be working as an employee for the same consulting company for multiple years to give the impression that you are willing to stick with the same employer for a longer period.

[AmericanChopper]

> the transition from independent consulting to long term employment is just as questionable as the one from job-hopping to long term employment

This is very easy to explain. Contracting is inherently a less stable way to make a living, and many contractors return to normal employment when they decide that they want the extra stability back. Perhaps they just want to reduce the stress, or maybe their home-life changed for some reason…

[em-bee]

oh right, that's a good point. getting older, having a family and wanting to settle down is a good explanation for wanting a stable job after years of work on short term projects.