Get paid in money, not passion

Many companies try to sell their prospective employees on the exciting work culture and the cool problems employees get to help solve. They want you to care and feel passionate about your work because that's good for the company.

The thing is, the more a company emphasizes "passion" in their recruiting efforts, the less likely the company is to pay well.

Lots of non-profits fit the bill. They don't have much money, so they emphasize that their mission is noble and that if you work for them your work will actually matter.

That's fine, but it's mostly a lie in the federal contracting world.

You end up being jaded about your work and with less compensation if you take a job because of the coolness factor or because you think you'll make a big impact.

When you go 1099 you remove all the pretense of "passion" and get to just focus on the business benefits of your work.

Ironically, once you've shifted away from passion and impact as a reason for working, the work itself is actually more enjoyable. You might even become passionate about it.

An employer-employee relationship built on passion is an artificial one.

A prime - 1099 relationship built on mutually aligned business interests is more natural.

Get paid in money, not passion.

Want the full playbook? Check out Going 1099.