My current positition is with a company that has a government contract that is based on time and materials. This is my first job of this type as all my other jobs were that I was paid on a salary and didn't really have to account for my time. Since what the company is paid is based on how much time I work on each task this is monitored very closely and everything must have an estimate and once the estimate is approved you can't go over that estimate without a very good reason, and rest assured you are going to get grief for going over.

From my experience so far I don't think this type of contract really serves the customer's best interest. While yes, some things come out cheaper for the customer and yes the contracting company probably makes more money this way I don't think it's the best way to run a development shop. I say this because as I work on things most of the time I'm very pressed for time to meet the estimate. Things get thrown together to make it work, even if it's not done properly because there isn't enough time to do it properly. I don't like working this way, this actually comes out more expensive for the customer in the end. I say this because things are missed and more time has to be allocated to fix what wasn't done properly the first time around because it was rushed. Now, don't preach to me that that's the cost of doing business, I understand this, nothing is free and it shouldn't be free. But, why make it where things aren't done properly because of time?

Maybe I'm being shallow or maybe not seeing the entire picture, I don't know. I do know I don't like being rushed and I don't like leaving things I see that are wrong because I don't have time to fix them, that's just the way I am. I think it reflects on me that I end up leaving something I know wasn't right/could be better/just plain broken until the next ticket is submitted, even if what was broken has probably been that way for a very long time. The problem usually comes out during testing and the customer tries to say it was working before in order to get it lumped into the existing ticket and of course we then have to show it wasn't working before (more time/more grief).

I know I'm rambling but this is just something that has really been bothering me and I'm sure it will continue to bother me. I don't like turning out sub-par applications that leave me feeling that I didn't do my best. You can only accomplish so much in 4 hours.