Contracting vs Permanent

[grep]

I have been in apermanent position for my entire life, but my last few roles have usually lasted around 2 years. I currently have some job offers at around 75k with some good companies at lower than average working hours and some contracts available at around £460-£500PD, this is the north of the UK.

I have no kids, my girlfriend works and we are both fairly financially sound.

Simply put what are peoples thoughts on contracting vs permanent work ? And would it be silly to turn down a good role at 75k for a contracting rate?

[ladymuck]

Why do you want to go into contracting? What's the pull/push that is making you think this is something you want to do?

[northernladuk]

You've given us very little to go on. You've mentioned the money but nothing about your skills that you will be delivering to which market and so on. Surely if you are thinking of jacking it all in and going contracting you ought to be giving some thought to what skills you have and how you are going to be selling them rather than just the money.

You will have to prepare to travel a lot if you are in the North. It's not the hotbed of contracting. I'm also in the north believe it or not and I have had to stay away for gigs to be able to keep going.

Contracts available does not equate to being able to secure them but you've given us no information on this.

Even though you've not told us anything about your career situation I would be struggling to leave 75k gigs to go contracting. Don't be fooled by the rates. You'll only end up with 60-70% of that in your pocket so don't get all giddy about 450 a day rates. Without a lot of further information the 75k gig is still looking very attractive.

Remember as well this is a personal choice. We can guide you but the decision is up to you at the end of the day.

[dogz111]

I've just taken this step. I've moved from a decent salary with one of the big 4 consultancies to taking the plunge and looking for contract opportunities. I've currently got 2 lined up which I'm deciding between. One is Manchester based, so I could sleep in my own bed at night and the other is London based on a much bigger rate but with more expenses and the inconvenience of train travel and staying in hotels

The first thing I would say is that you need to be available quickly. If you are on 3 or 6 months notice, like I was, you won't land a contract as companies won't wait that long as a contractor fills an immediate need. I resigned, took a bit of time with the family and then hit the job market hard. I landed something with 4 weeks and should start in the next week or so

The main reason(s) I chose to go contracting are that my skills are in demand, I like variety, the financial consideration but primarily I wanted to be my own boss and set my own direction

Hope that helps

[valleycom]

£75K is a good money especially for your part of the world, although maybe not as don't know what you do.

What I would say is the gap between contracting and permanent is getting narrower all the time. Money wise contracting is not so lucrative anymore especially with IR35 in place.


Again without knowing your skills it's hard to advise. I have been contracting 20 years and am in testing, the rates have been stagnant for years and as I say there are a lot of god paying permie roles nowadays.


I would never advise anyhow now to get into contracting unless you have some niche skills and can make a lot of money as there really isn't much benefits anymore to it. If it's not about money and you want variation then it's still better to be contracting.

[oliverson]

I have been in apermanent position for my entire life, but my last few roles have usually lasted around 2 years. I currently have some job offers at around 75k with some good companies at lower than average working hours and some contracts available at around £460-£500PD, this is the north of the UK.

I have no kids, my girlfriend works and we are both fairly financially sound.

Simply put what are peoples thoughts on contracting vs permanent work ? And would it be silly to turn down a good role at 75k for a contracting rate?

Much as I'm rapidly falling out with contracting, I'd rather eat my own excrement than take a permie role.

[1manshow]

Not enough information really. I would factor the type of work/company you are in and the type of work you'd like to do in the future or there might be high demand of. I mean if the contract for example is in something quite niche, that would put me off unless I thought it was going to take off and that there will be many jobs coming with that offering. Certain industries are also more valuable on your CV (e.g. it'd be more impressive to be working on quant trading algorithm software for a hedge fund vs website dev for some pub franchise).