IT Jobs - Contracting

[MarkJ]

Hi, I'm looking for a new IT job and have been considering contracting instead of being permanent. Does anyone do this on here? Is it worth it, or too much of a risk?

I've had a look at a few sites mentioning the pros & cons and I quite like the idea of it, but not sure if I'm thinking the grass is greener or not.

[Minty]

I am not one but work with plenty. It really depends on your financial position and only you will know if it is right for you.

BUT.

There are people here that came on a 6 month contract 10 years ago.
So get the right gig and you could be laughing.
____________________
My fingers smell of your mum.

[Taught2BCauti...]

I have been contracting in IT for nearly 20 years now, and there's not a massive difference in the long run.

I have had a couple of 'permanent' positions during this time, but for various reasons, they didn't work out, so I can say that I have recent experience of both.

Most agencies (and direct clients) insist that you either form a Limited Company, or operate through an 'Umbrella Company, so you will need to decide what works best for you.

Also check the latest HMRC rules (like IR35), as you can incur additional tax liabilities if a contract extends beyond a certain length of time (2 years at the moment, I believe).

If you are going to register your CV on agency websites, you can still tick the boxes for 'Contract' and 'Permanent' work, and see what turns up.
____________________
Honda Varadero XL125(V8)
www.TheFutureIsHere.eu

[Rogerborg]

It's not the tax-free bonanza that it used to be, but demand is rocketing at the moment and if you're in a position to be ruthless and say "Show me the money," then you could do well out of it.

Do the sums though. If you need to move around then factor in sunk rent versus paying down a mortgage, and the tangible benefits of paid holidays, healthcare, pensions and such that you'll get as a permie working for a big company that can negotiate decent benefits. I'm on about 33 days, private healthed out the wazoo with no "existing condition" exclusions, 70% long term sick pay (go on, quadraspazz me), 10x salary life cover, and 10% employer contributions into my pension. A contractor would still be left with more in their pocket after paying for those benefits, but not as much as you might imagine by just looking at the headline pay numbers.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Taught2BCauti...]

Also, a lot of those juicy 'Permanent' jobs don't start dishing out holiday and sickness entitlements, healthcare and insurance benefits, etc, until you have been with them for 12 months to 5 years, whereas some 'Contract' positions don't even last that long.

You will hardly ever find the exact same vacancy offered with a choice of permanent or contract terms, so read the small print and do your sums.

You might find This Website useful, at least it will help you to know what questions you need to be asking.
____________________
Honda Varadero XL125(V8)
www.TheFutureIsHere.eu

[FlightRisk]

[Rogerborg]

Finance and web services. In Glasgow you've got J P Morgan, CGI and Skyscanner (off the top of my head) all looking to recruit several hundred techies, each. Their demand for graduates in particular far outstrips the numbers available.

You'll want Java, Javascript / TypeScript and whatever's hot in open source at the moment: Hadoop, Elastic Search, Logstash, that sort of jazz.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[MarkJ]

Round here programming and Linux jobs seem to be the order of the day. Annoyingly for me networking jobs seem to have gone the opposite direction

[duhawkz]

[Taught2BCauti...]

T-SQL, SAP, Microsoft BI Stack, and PHP Front-End Dev's around here
____________________
Honda Varadero XL125(V8)
www.TheFutureIsHere.eu

[Rogerborg]

[FlightRisk]

[Rogerborg]

Python's pretty hot at the moment. Perl's now the red headed stepchild locked in the basement.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike