Looking to go Contracting

**MrMark** · 17 September 2009, 12:04

Yes, resign and go contracting. It's a great life and you'll make a lot of money.

**DimPrawn** · 17 September 2009, 12:07

And no tax to pay to boot!

**TroubleAtMill** · 17 September 2009, 12:17

After reading the articles on the top-right-hand side of this page, write down an plan of action and we'll critique it for you.

And watch some gladiator movies.

**sasguru** · 17 September 2009, 12:19

FFS. Can't you inferior sockpuppet creators not come up with something new? How many posts are we going to get from "newbies" who want to go contracting in the biggest recession since the second world war?

The first law of sockpuppets is that they have to be credible.

**Fred Bloggs** · 17 September 2009, 12:19

No need to worry about market conditions or experience or thousands of other benched contractors. Just resign and fill your boots with tax free cash and expenses. HTH.

**sweetandsour** · 17 September 2009, 12:21

Originally posted by NorthWestPerm2Contr View Post

Hi All

This is the first time I use this forum and I would appreciate any advice concerning my situation.

I have around 4 years experience in Mainly SQL Server Database development. I have always liked the idea of contracting but have never been able to. Initially due to lack of experience, now due to market conditions and the worry of if I could find a job were I to resign from my current perm role (as I cant find a contract while in perm due to notice period).

Do I need a lot more experience before I can go contracting?
Would it be wise to resign anytime soon and start looking for contract jobs?
How do I enter the contracting market? Can I stay perm and look for one in the meantime?

All advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all

Do I need a lot more experience before I can go contracting?

That depends on the market. When there are a large number of candidates and not many roles then only the candidates with a decent amount of experience will get a look in, but if the supply of candidates is tight then there is no problem.

Ten years ago you could get a well paid IT contract just by having experience sitting at a desk next to someone who had written some macros in an Excel spreadsheet. I know one bloke who was sent to Singapore, provided with accommodation and paid £1,000 per day for writing some VB macros in MS Word documents. Those were the days.

Would it be wise to resign anytime soon and start looking for contract jobs?

You will have to be available at a moment's notice so that usually means resigning first, unless you have an unusually short notice period or you want to go down the instant dismissal route by grabbing the boobs of the Operations Director's PA.

How do I enter the contracting market? Can I stay perm and look for one in the meantime?

Best way is to put a copy of your CV on the recruitment sites such as Jobserve and Monster.

HTH

**NorthWestPerm2Contr** · 17 September 2009, 12:43

Thanks for your reply sweetandsour.

So no I ask, would it be wise for me to resign now and start looking or should I wait another year or so for things to pick up? The thing that worries me is that I have applied for lots of perm roles and got nowhere, is the contracting market not a lot worse?

**Andy2** · 17 September 2009, 12:45

Jump in ,the water is lovely

**Jeebo72** · 17 September 2009, 12:53

You’d be impinging in my area of expertise and I like the lucrative lifestyle contracting affords so the less competition the better, so no!

4 years is more than enough, but there’s a million SQL Server “experts” out there … so it’s up to you. Can you convince that you are better than them at interview? If so go for it. £400 a day is way better than any permie contract …

Looking to go Contracting