You are correct - I did not intend to put myself out as independent, merely that consulting comes in different flavors, and there are hazards - an independent consultant has a lot of volatility, but working for a consulting firm (as I do) has some of the same hazards as corporate work.

I was responding to the note about 'every hour being billable' as if that was some kind mechanism for ensuring good project scope and specifications, good client responsiveness and/or good project management - my contention is, being billable is not necessarily a guarantee your time will be treated any better. I should have spelled that out.

I absolutely agree. My only point would be - it sucks when you are fired for wanting to be treated reasonably.

Clients do get what they pay for - and oftentimes, that aint good.

Cheers!

American here - we don't prefer to work hard, some of us just aren't up to the task of working smart. Ok, a LOT of us aren't. Of the rest who like to 'work smart', working for a 'hard worker' makes their intelligence moot - if the boss is on the job, you better be. :)

I wish I ran a company, and needed someone like you. I'd hire you in a second, and pay you very well - if you can steadily increase the amount of stuff that gets done consistently and correctly (scripts don't f*ck off on the job) and you can keep figuring out how to save time and money via automation, I guarantee you would have a job as long as you could keep maintaining the code to 'get stuff done'. That kind of working is, IMHO, what quality IT service is about. You are not lazy, you're smart.

Careful generalizing on consultants - I am one, and we frequently see jobs bid along unrealistic time and budget constraints to just get the work, with no involvement by the people selling the work. This may not be the case at a smaller place, but at medium to large firms where Partners or Directors negotiate the Statement of Work, and whose tech skills are often woefully out of date, it is in my experience pretty common. Result: incredible pressure on engagement managers and seniors to get the job done on time and within budget - with failure to do so directly impacting your promotions and salary. The result - 'eating' hours and burnout. Yes, your every hour is billable, but you cannot always bill all your hours and get the job done without getting yourself fired for blowing the budget. Refuse to eat hours and work stupid overtime on a consistent basis? That's okay, they'll let you go and replace you with a 23-year-old straight from college who is willing to work 18 hour days for 3-4 months. No exaggeration on that - I saw it happen. Fortunately, it is usually not THAT bad.