Contract workers are found in every industry.

They exist in journalism, televisi on, film, advertising, marketing, publishing, government jobs, software developm ent, website design, engineering, project management, manufacturing, human resou rces -- you name it. The era of the job for life with a cushiony pension is over for many Canadians. Today, contract work poses a whole new set of challenges fo r workers, alongside the obvious benefits of not having to punch a clock or work under a demanding boss. Here is a list of some of the things you should consider before making the jump from permanent position to the growing ranks of temporary contract workers. If you want to work independently, then you'll have to create your own retiremen t plan because you won't be receiving a company pension. And with Prime Minister Stephen Harper's recent announcement that major changes to the Canada Pension P lan are underway, that retirement fund matters more now than ever before. It's s omething that concerns most contract workers deeply. 'I don't make enough for a pension,' says television contract worker Lana Gudlau gson. 'I won't be able to retire, and I'm terrified.' Career coach Marlene Delanghe says it's imperative that contract workers have sa vings in the bank. 'The challenge with a lot of contract work is you have to be doing the work whil e looking for the next gig, and that can be incredibly difficult,' she says. 'Yo u are so busy in your contract that you can't let your head up for air to look. So you have to get money set aside for those in between periods.' But Gudlaugson found that the work isn't always steady enough to save for a rain y day. 'When I work, I try to put money into savings, but when I'm not working, I have to take it out again,' says Gudlaugson. 'It's a constant struggle to stay on top of it. My home equity line of credit is my cushion.' For companies, contract workers save a lot of money. Payroll is a huge cost, wha t with benefits and pensions. For that reason alone, contract workers should be handsomely compensated. And while career counselor Marlene Delanghe believes tha t's generally the case, it also depends on the industry. The pay for contract wr iters, for example, is all over the map. Tracy Preece, a contract nurse in the private sector, says she earns more on con tract, but her hours are less predictable. As a full-time employee, the trade of f is unionized job security, but less pay once the cost of benefits is deducted. 'Each has its own merits,' she says. Adds Delanghe: 'If you go in with a particular skill set, you might get paid mor e, but it depends on the field... is there a budget?'

'I think overall it's a great option for people,' says career coach Marlene Dela nghe. 'It puts you more in the driver's seat of choosing. And that's when you se e that you have a reputation, you're known, and the calls start coming to you in stead of you having to make them.' That's the situation you find yourself in ideally, anyway. Delanghe says she has a friend who's worked as an information technology (IT) course developer for 30 years and she's never had to look for work. The work comes to her. 'She's so good at what she does the phone doesn't stop ringing.'

Once you have a reputation in your field, you can choose how much work you want to take on, and who you want to work with. If you don't like a particular job, y ou know that it's got an end date, and you'll move on. If you are passionate, you have the skills, and you know how to reach your marke t, you are a born contract worker, says Delanghe. In other words, when you aren't working, you feel guilty. 'Sometimes freelance feels like 'free to work all the time,'' says contract work er Michael Laycock. 'But as long as the work is steady, it's all good.' For the contract worker, time really is money. That's why saving is so essential . The contract worker must always be saving for a holiday, a period when there's no work, or for retirement. Unless there's a contingency fund in place, the con tract worker is going from paycheck to paycheck, and that's stressful. Contract worker can get lonely if working at home, or in an office for one. That 's why it is important to either supplement your contract work with a part-time job, such as teaching, or develop a community with others in your field, says ca reer counselor Marlene Delanghe. Delanghe herself avoids too much solitude by le cturing one day a week. 'Creating community could, in some cases, even involve competitors, and I mean t hat in a light way,' she says. 'I have a group of career trainers, and we get to gether and talk about our projects, and things we do to enhance our training, an d we just like each other and share ideas.' The guy who's been working for the last 20 years in the security of a full-time job may not realize how the job-hunt world has changed. Today's job market requires a knack for self-promotion. Career counselor Marlene Delanghe says passive and proactive promotion is required - as in, having a soc ial media and website presence (passive) as well as getting out there and doing some old-fashioned networking (proactive). 'The world changed in the time they got that job,' she says. 'Now you are a prod uct, and you have a market. You ask, 'What's your brand for that market?' It's a very stressful idea until I show them how to do it.' Brand tools include social media, your resume, your cover letter, your blog, and a LinkedIn profile -- basically everything you use to sell yourself. It's the r eason why people have to be so careful when using social media, lest they convey the wrong image. Get to know your 'digital tattoo,' says Delanghe. If you don't know what yours is, enter your name into a search engine, like Bing, and see wh at results come up. Can you put aside enough money to pay your taxes at the end of the year? Can you make that deadline without someone cracking the whip? If you don't have the dis cipline and focus to work on your own and regulate bad habits like procrastinati on, you might suck at being a contract worker. Contract work is all about self-c ontrol. That means working when your friends might be having fun on the weekend, and constantly reminding yourself that your time is your money. Writer Walt Kania runs a blog for freelancers from every industry, and he says t hat a freelancer can earn 'as much as you want to earn.' The key word, he advises, is 'want,' which is governed by an income thermostat i n the brain. If your thermostat is set at $100,000, you will therefore believe t hat anything less is 'unthinkable, intolerable or outright painful...or unaccept able to your spouse.'

Does career counselor Marlene Delanghe ever advise clients to give up on the con tract dream? 'Oh sure. There are people who are not doing well at it,' she says. 'We put them in a job search strategy, and I coach them through that process. 'They come to me because they were not good at looking for contracts or work. Th at's why they're not good contractors - they don't have those skills in their sk ill set.' If it's causing them too much stress, she'll advise them to start looking for a permanent job. 'You've got to be hard-wired for this type of work,' she says. Does career counselor Marlene Delanghe ever advise clients to give up on the con tract dream? 'Oh sure. There are people who are not doing well at it,' she says. 'We put them in a job search strategy, and I coach them through that process. 'They come to me because they were not good at looking for contracts or work. Th at's why they're not good contractors - they don't have those skills in their sk ill set.' If it's causing them too much stress, she'll advise them to start looking for a permanent job. 'You've got to be hard-wired for this type of work,' she says.