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Why you started Contracting!

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    Why you started Contracting!

    After speaking to quite a few ‘newbie’ contactors like myself – quite a few started after being made redundant like myself

    I was made redundant September 2005 and thought I would give it a go. It was the best thing ever – got my first gig 2 weeks later and my next 3 contacts have been back to back, so far only had 2 weeks on the bench. All the permies ask about contracting not being secure – well after being redundant you realize no job is secure!

    I am concerned about not always finding work, but while it is out there I will carry on.

    How about everyone else?

    Why did you start contacting and how long?
    Just call me Matron - Too many handbags

    #2
    Welllllll I was a freelancer for ages and ages and then one day someone said I was a contractor. Don't quite know when things changed, but it was about the same time thousands of agencies all appeared, before that the clients just used to call me up and ask me to do some work for them. Now they go to an agency, get some planks, and then, some months later, phone me up to fix the resulting disaster. Can't see how the second method is better, but it must be, because there're now very large companies that supply the planks.
    Insanity: repeating the same actions, but expecting different results.
    threadeds website, and here's my blog.

    Comment


      #3
      I'm a newb - not even a year old

      I got a new permie job at the end of last year and realised it was one of the worst moves I could ever have made. Before that I'd always got a lot of calls for contract roles but never been abke to get round the permie notice period.

      So after I moved to this aweful permie job I made full use of my one week notice period have been gainfully providing the services of my Ltd company since and just been extended until March with a very strong possibility of another extension until June.

      Had two 3 month gigs then came back to the first client when they asked me back.
      "Is someone you don't like allowed to say something you don't like? If that is the case then we have free speech."- Elon Musk

      Comment


        #4
        Management incompetence in all the companies I have ever seen. That is why I work as a contractor. You can work as an employee and spend your working life being frustrated by it or you can work as a contractor spending your working life taking advantage of it.

        For as long as there are stupid and incompetent people in management roles I will be there to take their companies money.

        Comment


          #5
          I started contracting because:

          a) When I was a permie I realized that people in IT were awkward, especially IT managers who seemed to treat bullying staff as a sport - slamming their fist on your desk/verbal abuse/lies about work given to you at the interview etc, the itch to just stand up and leave was immense; yet as a permie you couldn't do that without a legit excuse and no job to go to - the next employer would question why you left in such a manner and why you were out of work having been in a permie job previously. In short if its a contract and its unbearable you can cut it after 2-3 months and walk with no job to go to and no questions asked on your next gig.

          b) During my permie stint in banks I experienced poor bonus or zero bonus levels being a non IT manager and so did all my colleagues. Bonuses were a myth for permie developers / support guys .. it all went to management no matter how hard you worked. One of the agencies main selling points for banks was the "tremendous 40% bonuses they paid out to IT staff who perform above expectations", no one who actually did the work got more than 15% ever, it was a lie, the bonuses were all reserved for management.

          c) I don't believe in pension schemes and almost all permie places subscribe to them, I would rather invest my extra money in my own way - see Robert Maxwell.

          d) I never received a single days training in 7 years worth of IT permie jobs.

          e) I never subscribed to the idea about being "part of a company" and "belonging" and the "social aspect of work". I once worked in a very trendy / young IT company and the people there were all selfish / greedy / nightmarish
          - I once called up a colleague of mine whom I'd sat next to for 3 years and I thought we had parted friends when I left the company, I called him just over a year after I had left when he had moved on also and the first thing he said to me in a seriously aggressive voice was "And what do you want ?".
          The dismay at people's behaviour in IT has made me deeply cynical about the social aspect of work so I never look for it as a selling point it IT jobs.

          f) being forced to change IT jobs from contract to contract makes you more able to cope with new unfamiliar systems and you tend to be able to learn faster; I was stagnant on the same old code and systems in permie land for years.

          g) I saw many "sudden death" situations for permie IT staff in companies either through redundancies or through trumped up/ fabricated disciplinary charges due to "poor performance"; I was once sat at a 2nd stage disciplinary meeting with a co worker / his manager and HR; they blamed him for lack of output, my co worker argued that his manager had never managed someone in that role before nor did he understand the system or even the tools that were being used, he plucked out some simple sample code and asked the manager to explain it there and then ... he couldn't. My co workers argument was that his new manager could understand the detail of his work (or even the broader picture) therefore he could not manage or judge him properly and was frustrated and it was a personal issue, they just talked him down - he was the only person on that project and they had difficulty replacing him after he left as they didn't know what questions to ask in interviews apparently. In short .. there is no loyalty or job security so why pretend that there is, go contract instead.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by eliquant View Post
            I started contracting because:

            a) When I was a permie I realized that people in IT were awkward, especially IT managers who seemed to treat bullying staff as a sport - slamming their fist on your desk/verbal abuse/lies about work given to you at the interview etc, the itch to just stand up and leave was immense; yet as a permie you couldn't do that without a legit excuse and no job to go to - the next employer would question why you left in such a manner and why you were out of work having been in a permie job previously. In short if its a contract and its unbearable you can cut it after 2-3 months and walk with no job to go to and no questions asked on your next gig.

            b) During my permie stint in banks I experienced poor bonus or zero bonus levels being a non IT manager and so did all my colleagues. Bonuses were a myth for permie developers / support guys .. it all went to management no matter how hard you worked. One of the agencies main selling points for banks was the "tremendous 40% bonuses they paid out to IT staff who perform above expectations", no one who actually did the work got more than 15% ever, it was a lie, the bonuses were all reserved for management.

            c) I don't believe in pension schemes and almost all permie places subscribe to them, I would rather invest my extra money in my own way - see Robert Maxwell.

            d) I never received a single days training in 7 years worth of IT permie jobs.

            e) I never subscribed to the idea about being "part of a company" and "belonging" and the "social aspect of work". I once worked in a very trendy / young IT company and the people there were all selfish / greedy / nightmarish
            - I once called up a colleague of mine whom I'd sat next to for 3 years and I thought we had parted friends when I left the company, I called him just over a year after I had left when he had moved on also and the first thing he said to me in a seriously aggressive voice was "And what do you want ?".
            The dismay at people's behaviour in IT has made me deeply cynical about the social aspect of work so I never look for it as a selling point it IT jobs.

            f) being forced to change IT jobs from contract to contract makes you more able to cope with new unfamiliar systems and you tend to be able to learn faster; I was stagnant on the same old code and systems in permie land for years.

            g) I saw many "sudden death" situations for permie IT staff in companies either through redundancies or through trumped up/ fabricated disciplinary charges due to "poor performance"; I was once sat at a 2nd stage disciplinary meeting with a co worker / his manager and HR; they blamed him for lack of output, my co worker argued that his manager had never managed someone in that role before nor did he understand the system or even the tools that were being used, he plucked out some simple sample code and asked the manager to explain it there and then ... he couldn't. My co workers argument was that his new manager could understand the detail of his work (or even the broader picture) therefore he could not manage or judge him properly and was frustrated and it was a personal issue, they just talked him down - he was the only person on that project and they had difficulty replacing him after he left as they didn't know what questions to ask in interviews apparently. In short .. there is no loyalty or job security so why pretend that there is, go contract instead.
            You are Denny and I claim my 5 quid.

            Comment


              #7
              I have been contracting now for over 19 years. It was initially for the money - but now its just because banks take the p**s out of permies.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by AtW View Post
                You are Denny and I claim my 5 quid.
                Well you can give that fiver back, AtW. I am the real Denny.

                [I am capable of writing a short post, particularly after two glasses of festive Sherry]

                I have always been a temp or freelance. The last permie role I had was back in the early 80s. I can't imagine ever being permie again. I got made redundant from my permie job but got a reasonable payoff.

                Some of you newbies have been lucky to make such comparisons with permiedom. Freelancing is not always what it is cracked up to be either - not being paid for some work, being terminated for no good reason and so on. I've been through that. but not often thankfully. But then, we are talking over 20 years of flexi work not a newbie to it, like you are. So it's not all wine and roses. But, on the whole, there are benefits to be had if you can weather am economic downturn. I've had some interesting projects to work on. The best thing for me is not being constrained by managerial judgement on how far you can go or what work you need to take on. Plus there is the life and work balance which isn't always there if you are permie.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Denny View Post
                  Well you can give that fiver back, AtW. I am the real Denny.
                  Darn!

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I was never a company man, and never will be. The thought of being stuck in the same place for half my life taking orders etc. fills me with dread.

                    I also don't buy into the idea of a 'career'. While it's attributable to some things, like medicine, for most people the career construct is, in fact, a risky trap as is the wider idea of selling your labour.

                    Comment

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