New Contacted landed

[malvolio]

I receive training on all of my contracts as I only apply for contracts where I have 80% of the requirements and expect to learn the other 20% during the contract.I started on £500 a day a went down to zero when SAP R2 became obsolete. I restarted on on £275 after 2 years on the bench and now I am back to £450-£500 again using R3.I was an accounting temp for 18 years before becoming an IT contractor so Permanent work was not an option.

You're not receiving training, you're up-skilling to a new product set within a given area (SAP, strangely enough, isn't the world). However, unless you are paying for it you are seriously compromising your IR35 status.

We sell expertise and we all do on-the-job learning to some extent. That is not the same thing as "training". And unless the training is entirely relevant to your money-earning skillset, it is a BIK and the costs should be declared as earned income, including you billing days spent on client training.

[steve80]

Gutted lost this contract because the client wouldn't wait for my notice period !! It's a pain stuck in a perm role wanted to go contracting

[malvolio]

Gutted lost this contract because the client wouldn't wait for my notice period !! It's a pain stuck in a perm role wanted to go contracting

That's a shame, but a lesson learned. Contractors are selling flexibility and expertise, which means ready to go on short notice and hitting the ground running. As long as you have a notice period, you will be at a major disadvantage in landing a contract role. It's brutal, but you should think about leaving now if you're serious about going contracting.

[steve80]

Leave a perm role with no job to go to ? I would of thought that's a little irresponsible surely.

I've no mortgage or loans however

[stek]

Leave a perm role with no job to go to ? I would of thought that's a little irresponsible surely.

I've no mortgage or loans however

Business is about risk, if you are risk averse, don't consider contracting cos things like this happen to you more than once.....

[Angrybunny]

Leave a perm role with no job to go to ? I would of thought that's a little irresponsible surely.

I've no mortgage or loans however

I was in a perm job last year and had a 3 month notice period. I knew I wanted to go contracting but had no chance of getting one with that notice period. I quit and was out of work for 1.5 months before getting my first contract.

Haven't looked back since. If you're young(ish) and have no big commitments and your skills are in demand go for it. Worse case scenario is you can always go back to perm.

[steve80]

I'm 34 with over 15 years IT experience. I work as a Microsoft Engineer.

[Angrybunny]

I was getting phone calls every few days for opportunities. I'm 35 and a Qlikview developer / BA. It's a decision only you can make buddy.

[d000hg]

That's a shame, but a lesson learned. Contractors are selling flexibility and expertise, which means ready to go on short notice and hitting the ground running. As long as you have a notice period, you will be at a major disadvantage in landing a contract role. It's brutal, but you should think about leaving now if you're serious about going contracting.

I think taking the jump into contracting it's reasonable you wait until something comes up, since you have no warchest and with no contracting experience, have no idea how easy it would be to get a contract. It is a bit of a chicken & egg situation though.

[SpontaneousOrder]

I've never (apart from once) had a new job before quitting the old one. Not saying that that you should do that. Just saying that you should have some idea of how 'employable' you are? If i'd been single I might have been ore cautious though (although then i might not have had a mortgage so maybe not).