Did my own stint as a contractor and it was one of the best jobs I ever had. My clients would often ask for something - I would give them my opinion on how it should be done and alternatives that may be cheaper and/or better. They would then choose not to do that and pay me all those extra hours that their poor choice resulted in.
Contrast this to working for an organization. Again I offer my opinion on how it might be done and alternatives that may be cheaper and/or better which results in the same poor choices. Except now I'm stuck supporting that turd of a decision with my own personal unpaid exempt status overtime.
2008 was devastating contracting wise. Starting working for non-profits and have found it rewarding but suffers from similar problems as FTE.
On the plus side I spent a lot of time raising my son in his formative years - time for which I'm thankful. If I had stayed working at start-ups I would have missed that which I would have truly regretted.
Also the start-ups in SV became obsessed with Social Media which IMO is a total waste of electrons so I lost interest.
Contrast this to working for an organization. Again I offer my opinion on how it might be done and alternatives that may be cheaper and/or better which results in the same poor choices. Except now I'm stuck supporting that turd of a decision with my own personal unpaid exempt status overtime.
No need to feel apologetic about being smart.