I became a contractor after i left the Navy, I find most people are happy to be employed and will sign any agreement the corporate recruiters slide across the table. my first JOB job I negotiated a pay rate twice my coworkers because I didt need a workplace health care plan since I had tricare as a veteran. then I realized I can ask for whatever the fuck I want because if a company wants my skills, they will pay for my skills. it's different than being a replacement body in retail, anyone who can breathe can work in sales.

you have to have the skills worth negotiating. i ended up working my way into being head of west coast troubleshooting and field techs in an electric sign company by having the ability and confidence to be like, you dont want any field tech, you want ME as YOUR field tech. if you're willing to bring trucks of money to my house, i'll run the trenches for you like you're sending trucks of money to my house. but it will be when I want to work, and my work is immaculate. I LOVE working with electric wiring and troubleshoot powered systems, its thrilling to me to defeat the ghosts in the machine. Now they've got to figure if my time is worth what I want paid, or if their product is worth the product a $7 an hour mouth breather from local college will provide.

if not, I'll work for a competitor and dunk on you all day.