Contracting vs Perm

[edison]

From the above, it appears Career means many things to many people.

Might be worth checking with the OP what his definition is before we all try to ram it down his throat....

^^ this

My "career" has involved a quite diverse range of job roles and titles in a variety of industries. The core component has been being good at business process analysis and data wrangling (the simple end, not the beardy sandle wearing end). Rather than pigeon hole a role, think about the skill set and how you can grow and develop that while selling it to an agent who has no idea what they're talking about.

I like Ladymuck's thinking. Given that many people today may need to work in some capacity to 65, 70 and even beyond, we should start thinking more in terms of a lifetime of continual learning, especially in the tech sector. Arguably it will be the single most valuable non-tech skill to have in the years to come.

[edison]

Hi,

My first post! I'm 24, relatively new to the world of work.

In my line of work i reckon i can eventually peak at £65K perm salary as a BI analyst or PMO Reporting analyst (depending on which career path i go down - currently i am a PMO Reporting Analyst)

However i'm also wondering whether it would be worth pursuing a career in the future in contracting under IR35 umbrella.

If you guys could please tell me how much my take home pay would be at £350 and £400 day rate contracts, that would be great

especially as a PMO it's only worth doing as a contractor but i need to know how much impact IR35 would have on my take home pay.

Many thanks

I think the chances of earning a £65k perm salary as a PMO Analyst are pretty remote for the foreseeable future. If you mean progressing to be a PMO Manager or Head of PMO, then that's a different story.

[Chilli]

To be honest, my thoughts have changed from my initial post in this thread. PMO isnt for me and i would like to go into Data Analysis/BI, i find that way more interesting.

How much can i expect to earn as a mid level Data Analyst/Bi Analyst?

My only worry is i'm not naturally 'technical minded' enough. Although i can interview well and im good at Excel, currently learning SQL and i'm decent at Macros VBA and i'm willing to put the time in to develop myself. I've had a look on Job websites, but i feel like the rates for perm and contracting are lower than they were before lockdown? eg. im seeing rates vary from as little as 35k perm to 65k perm.

What can i expect to earn as a perm/contractor in this field in the long term in London? Many thanks guys for your inputs.

[malvolio]

No idea on perm, but contract rates are through the floor of late so don't even think of going there..

[fiisch]

To be honest, my thoughts have changed from my initial post in this thread. PMO isnt for me and i would like to go into Data Analysis/BI, i find that way more interesting.

How much can i expect to earn as a mid level Data Analyst/Bi Analyst?

My only worry is i'm not naturally 'technical minded' enough. Although i can interview well and im good at Excel, currently learning SQL and i'm decent at Macros VBA and i'm willing to put the time in to develop myself. I've had a look on Job websites, but i feel like the rates for perm and contracting are lower than they were before lockdown? eg. im seeing rates vary from as little as 35k perm to 65k perm.

What can i expect to earn as a perm/contractor in this field in the long term in London? Many thanks guys for your inputs.

Varies slightly by industry, but insurance it's £60-70k perm, £500pd, assuming London-based.

However, outlook for contracting is pretty bleak. Based on current market conditions, I wouldn't be setting my stall out to move into a contracting role. Comparing salaries vs day rates is difficult - you have to take a lot of assumptions into account for contracting e.g.: pension, time between contracts etc.

[GhostofTarbera]

To be honest, my thoughts have changed from my initial post in this thread. PMO isnt for me and i would like to go into Data Analysis/BI, i find that way more interesting.

How much can i expect to earn as a mid level Data Analyst/Bi Analyst?

My only worry is i'm not naturally 'technical minded' enough. Although i can interview well and im good at Excel, currently learning SQL and i'm decent at Macros VBA and i'm willing to put the time in to develop myself. I've had a look on Job websites, but i feel like the rates for perm and contracting are lower than they were before lockdown? eg. im seeing rates vary from as little as 35k perm to 65k perm.

What can i expect to earn as a perm/contractor in this field in the long term in London? Many thanks guys for your inputs.

No one wants a mid level analyst in Contracting land, they want a great top notch one who can do everything they require.


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[LondonPM1]

No one wants a mid level analyst in Contracting land, they want a great top notch one who can do everything they require.


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Total nonsense. The idea that contractors are perfect and highly experienced cream de la cream is fanciful. I’ve seen so many contractors who were useless and fired end up being contractors. And I have worked 15 years in finance London

500 per day is 110k a year which after tax is 80 a year of you dividend strip and optimise the tax. That’s almost 1.5 times premie take home. And you can’t also expense your travel or nice pub lunch as a permie

These figures based on outside ir35 which let’s face it remains a grey area even 20 years after being introduced

I did contracting at 28 and my salary after tax literally doubled. Definitely try and use your youth and motivation. Forget the old farts who will tell you the world is over

[northernladuk]

Total nonsense. The idea that contractors are perfect and highly experienced cream de la cream is fanciful. I’ve seen so many contractors who were useless and fired end up being contractors. And I have worked 15 years in finance London

500 per day is 110k a year which after tax is 80 a year of you dividend strip and optimise the tax. That’s almost 1.5 times premie take home. And you can’t also expense your travel or nice pub lunch as a permie

These figures based on outside ir35 which let’s face it remains a grey area even 20 years after being introduced

I did contracting at 28 and my salary after tax literally doubled. Definitely try and use your youth and motivation. Forget the old farts who will tell you the world is over

Most of this is sadly true but the useless ones tend to get found out fairly quickly and some clients will have them out the door. The other sad thing is some clients won't which is highly frustrating for the other contractors around them. They might make that money but in short hops with plenty of bench time. It's not the basis for a good career when you don't get paid for not working.

You say you started at 28 which is true, you can. It doesn't mean it's a great place to be in. I am thinking back to the last few contractor heavy clients I've had and there were very few around that age. It's possible yes but again, it's the bottom end of the scale where you'll need a good dose of luck to be in constantly in contract. It's not a given that a 28 year old can walk in to contracting. It happens but for every 28 year old on site there will be a raft of them pipped by old/more experienced ones.

I'd also be willing to bet as the contracting market contracts exponentially in a post IR35 world the chances of young types will reduce even further due to swathes of very experienced people being available. The boom in digital and agile type roles will help but still it will be a tight market to get in to.

[PCTNN]

No one wants a mid level analyst in Contracting land, they want a great top notch one who can do everything they require.

What they want and what they get are 2 different things: they might want a top notch contractor but if they pay mid level rates, mid level is what they're going to get.

[malvolio]

Total nonsense. The idea that contractors are perfect and highly experienced cream de la cream is fanciful. I’ve seen so many contractors who were useless and fired end up being contractors. And I have worked 15 years in finance London

500 per day is 110k a year which after tax is 80 a year of you dividend strip and optimise the tax. That’s almost 1.5 times premie take home. And you can’t also expense your travel or nice pub lunch as a permie

These figures based on outside ir35 which let’s face it remains a grey area even 20 years after being introduced

I did contracting at 28 and my salary after tax literally doubled. Definitely try and use your youth and motivation. Forget the old farts who will tell you the world is over

Yeah, of course it will all work out fine and you will be one of the lucky ones. I mean, what's the worst that can happen - out of work in three months with no savings or likely income? And in a limited and shrinking market, people with minimal skills in any given field will obviously be in demand over people who know what they are doing.

It's lottery, of course it is, especially now if you've been paying attention. Us old farts are only reminding newcomers that it is as likely to go tits up as it is to work out fine. Seems some people can't cope with that approach!