Advice on whether to stick with contract role or to take permanent role

[SussexSeagull]

Similar to @northernladuk I am of the opinion you should take your permanent career as far as you can then consider cashing in contracting.

We do live in interesting times at the moment and while Contractors are currently feeling the squeeze we have historically been the outriders of bad times because we are the easiest to get rid of and not replace (although on the upside we are quite easy to get in when an upturn happens).

Are you prepared for potentially sitting at home for several months watching your money whittle down? Can you cope with seeing opportunities slow down a trickle and having to stand out among several hundred applicants when one does appear? I am painting a dark picture but a lot of people have had this experience, some at the moment.

[fiisch]

I had the same dilemma in reverse at a similar time of life.... Was in a cushy local perm role, but wanted to relocate and buy a bigger property to be in a nicer area, better schools etc. for my family.

Returned to contracting, bought the big house, but have the commute and the uncertainty that comes with it. Saw it as a (big) gamble, and some days (yesterday thanks to the chaos at Euston for example) I miss my daughter's bedtime and dream of a cushy perm role closer to home. Unfortunately, the nature of what I do means London working is almost an inevitability, and industry is quite backward in it's thinking so WFH options seem to be more limited than in other industries.

I can't say whether I made the right choice or not just yet - I think it depends on your attitude to risk, and what drives you first and foremost in your career. For me, have always been a risk taker and money is a big motivator. That said, am looking to reduce outgoings so the option for permanent working and potentially roles closer to home are a viable in the future....

[northernladuk]

I think that's one of the main reasons I'm contemplating the perm role, whilst the contract role is as a BA it has no relevance to the agile/digital BA role perm role. So on my CV recruiters will see that I've taken a break for a year or more and done something different.

A little saying in contracting might be useful here. You are only as good as your last gig. That's as far as an agent will usually read. If that last gig does not exactly match the one you are going for then you'll get dropped. There will be plenty that do.

Once you've got his interest he'll look back to see if you've got years doing the same one. If you don't it's likely the next person will.

There is no crossover in contracting really.

[Bonaqua]

Risks:
1. You hate the perm job and can only stomach it for six months.
2. You take the perm job and six months later they've lost a lot of money because of Brexit or something else and they let you go.
3. You stay with the contract and can't get another one when it is done, and there's no perm jobs available because everyone went perm to avoid IR35.
4. You stay with the contract, you get ruled inside IR35, and you end up having to pay IR35 taxes for the whole life of the contract.
5. You stay with the contract and they lose money (Brexit or something else) and they let you go just after the perm job gets filled.
6. You stay with the contract and get stuck at the level you are at, and always regret that you never took the chance to upgrade your skills. The chance never comes along again, and you can't afford it anyway, because you've committed yourself to a bigger property, so you can't drop into a permie role.

There's other risks (getting stuck having to travel to your next contract when you have a young family?) but that's a good sampling. You think through the other risks, every one you can think of, the likelihood of each one, and how much they matter to you / will hurt you. Then, you list all the potential benefits, the likelihood of each one, and how much they matter to you.

If something is very unlikely but very bad, it doesn't matter as much as something that is likely but bad, but it might matter more than something that is very likely but you really don't care much about. So you just have to weight things based on both the probability and the value/importance of both the risks and the benefits.

Then, you make a decision, and don't look back. If something doesn't go the way you thought, well, you considered, you made the best decision you knew at the time, you live with it.

This is really basic decision-making. No one can tell you what is most important to you, nor can any of us assess the risks you are facing and the benefits you'll achieve. You're going to have to assess them all yourself. The most we could maybe do is point out possible benefits or drawbacks but we can't possibly know likelihood or impact. If someone tells you to go one way or another they are advising based on their values, circumstances, and experiences, not on yours. They might advise you what would be the best way for you to go but it's luck if they do.

Yes, appreciate what you are saying although I do find it useful to hear other people's thoughts, especially those who have more experience than me. Will give listing and rating the risks/benefits task a go. Thanks.

[Bonaqua]

Similar to @northernladuk I am of the opinion you should take your permanent career as far as you can then consider cashing in contracting.

We do live in interesting times at the moment and while Contractors are currently feeling the squeeze we have historically been the outriders of bad times because we are the easiest to get rid of and not replace (although on the upside we are quite easy to get in when an upturn happens).

Are you prepared for potentially sitting at home for several months watching your money whittle down? Can you cope with seeing opportunities slow down a trickle and having to stand out among several hundred applicants when one does appear? I am painting a dark picture but a lot of people have had this experience, some at the moment.

It did take me 5 months to find the contract role and then the perm role came along soon after, so I can see that the market isn't great at the moment - in the past it so would take around half the time to find a new role, but then I come from a perm background.

[Bonaqua]

A little saying in contracting might be useful here. You are only as good as your last gig. That's as far as an agent will usually read. If that last gig does not exactly match the one you are going for then you'll get dropped. There will be plenty that do.

Once you've got his interest he'll look back to see if you've got years doing the same one. If you don't it's likely the next person will.

There is no crossover in contracting really.

Yes, a recruiter advised that he only looks at the last 4 to 5 years and as you say the last role is the most important.