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Perm vs Contract? You decide

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    Perm vs Contract? You decide

    So having moved to the dark side a few years ago and finding myself back on the bench! (BTW, if you do go perm and find yourself in a very good job, don't make the decision to quit and go and work with your ex-VP elsewhere without getting a signed ******* contract in place first!!!!)

    Anyway.

    I've been applying for specific contracts, mostly in the £350-£500 range and I'm shortlisted on a few, with an offer of £350 for a 3 monther and a perm role which is the rough equivalent.

    I'm finding that I am no longer weighing up the pro's and con's based on money only. For example. healthcare, holidays, sick, shares, pension schemes are swaying that for me. Of course, you can calculate all of these anyway through your own Ltd on a contract versus contract basis, but it's still not that which is making me decide on roles.

    As a perm in my role, I'm the boss, I set the agendas and roadmaps, have huge autonomy. I find myself settling into the culture, the politics etc, where as a contractor someone else sets the work, the focus, the roadmap. I may PM it or develop it, but it's still someones elses vision & strategy. Yeh, I may decide when I can quit and in my minds eye I think I'm the boss, but I'm not really.

    So it's on that basis I'm looking for perm. Perm for me is managerial, vision & strategy with longterm career growth, contracting is technical, short-term, finite with a rocky career(very rare to see old contractors except in engineering).

    So for me I think perm is going to be the best. Any contracts will be a short-term blip.

    Anyone else have opinions on Perm vs Contract?
    What happens in General, stays in General.
    You know what they say about assumptions!

    #2
    Originally posted by MarillionFan View Post
    Perm vs Contract? You decide
    Blah........Blah.......Blah........Blah.......Blah ........Blah.......Blah........Blah.......Blah.... ....Blah.......Blah........Blah.......Blah........ Blah.......
    Thanks. I will.

    Comment


      #3
      Someone else's vision & strategy? Give me a break. Most places I work want computers, big shiny ones with lots of lights, or small brooding ones without even a visible 'on' button. Further than that, they're more than a bit stuck.

      Sheet, one place I was helping out their marketing by preventing them blowing a wad on TV adverts aimed at people who couldn't even buy their product if they wanted.

      Vision and strategy? I sometimes wonder what would happen if they lost that note that reminds them to keep breathing.

      Perm? I'd rather stick needles in my eyes.
      Insanity: repeating the same actions, but expecting different results.
      threadeds website, and here's my blog.

      Comment


        #4
        Actually - I do understand what you mean. I'm looking for the right opportunity too. However, I don't think I'll get that from going permie. What I really want is to be calling far more of the shots. At the moment I'm thinking of setting up a software development outsourcing company in UK/China. Very early days but far more exciting than my day job. May all fall over in a big wobbly heap!

        This is my plan A - contracting is my plan B. Permie doesn't even get a look in.
        Loopy Loo

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by MarillionFan View Post
          Anyone else have opinions on Perm vs Contract?
          Permyism is fine if you like being part of the company career shennanigans.

          It's also OK if you want to look back in five years time and realise that those years of your life are merged together without much to distinguish one from the other.

          It should be easier to get contracts rather than permy work as you pass 55 and drift into your sixties. Ageism happens, but not so much for a short-term contractor who has no strings attached.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by MarillionFan View Post
            Perm for me is managerial, vision & strategy with longterm career growth, contracting is technical, short-term, finite with a rocky career(very rare to see old contractors except in engineering).

            It depends on how you view the IT industry in the UK long term. With perm you are trading money now for perceived security.
            On the other hand I view both contract and perm as finite and subject to some degree of ageism, therefore it makes sense to earn as much money as possible in the next 5 years so you are less dependent on a high income in later years.
            If you are a permie and end up on the scrap heap through redundancy in your late 40s/early 50s and still have a whacking great mortgage to pay that sounds like a risky strategy.

            If you have paid the house off, have a decent pension pot, the perm job has a high salary, a better role and it's in a good location then go for it.
            Then again if you have achieved the above you might prefer to stay contracting and only work 6 months of the year - that sounds even better to me.
            Last edited by GreenerGrass; 7 February 2010, 10:16.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Drewster View Post
              Quote:
              Originally Posted by MarillionFan
              Perm vs Contract? You decide
              Blah........Blah.......Blah........Blah.......Blah ........Blah.......Blah........Blah.......Blah.... ....Blah.......Blah........Blah.......Blah........ Blah.......

              Thanks. I will.

              Are you Welsh ? Oh sorry, Blah.
              ______________________
              Don't get mad...get even...

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by kaiser78 View Post
                Are you Welsh ? Oh sorry, Blah.
                He's actually a Chinese over-the-shoulder-boulder-holder stock controller.
                My all-time favourite Dilbert cartoon, this is: BTW, a Dumpster is a brand of skip, I think.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by MarillionFan View Post
                  Yeh, I may decide when I can quit and in my minds eye I think I'm the boss, but I'm not really.
                  I think this illusion persists today in many contractors .......... yeah Im free, Im my own boss, I set the agenda.

                  No you don't. For most people, you still go to work at 9, leave at 6 and still get handed stuff from the boss to do.

                  There are very few jobs on jobserve that say 'Come in whenever you want, set your own hours, dictate to the team your vision of the companies vision .......'

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                    #10
                    Indecisive as well as under-skilled? Go permie.

                    Comment

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