I recently attended an interview for a contract where I was asked the following questions:
- Would I start at 9am every day, so that everyone starts at the same time?
- Would I be prepared to attend internal team meetings and be involved in team activities?
- Would I be willing to mentor junior members of staff and check their work?
- Would I be happy working in a role with constantly changing priorities and workload?
In my current contract (which is 1.5 months from ending, with a small possibility of extension), I'm not really required or asked to do any of those things. I have some flexibility in my hours and work remotely once per week, I only attend meetings with the external client I deliver work to, I have no line management responsibility and I'm not asked to get involved in the work of 'junior' staff, and work on a brief-based system to complete work for an external client rather than picking up X, Y, Z as it crops up. Despite that, I still think (from what I've read) that my current contract would be on dodgy ground where IR35 is concerned… so I still work via an umbrella company.
I was hoping to start a ltd company for my next contract, but the contract I interviewed for would seem to be firmly inside IR35. I don't want to go ltd if my contracts are going to be inside IR35. The agency told me that they word the contract "very carefully", but am I right in thinking that it's the working practices rather than what's in the contract that is ultimately important?
I haven't been asked those questions in other interviews (for contracts) and would assume they were asked because the company had taken on contractors before who had subsequently refused to do those things. How would you have responded to those questions and would it influence your decision on whether or not to accept an offer?
- Would I start at 9am every day, so that everyone starts at the same time?
- Would I be prepared to attend internal team meetings and be involved in team activities?
- Would I be willing to mentor junior members of staff and check their work?
- Would I be happy working in a role with constantly changing priorities and workload?
In my current contract (which is 1.5 months from ending, with a small possibility of extension), I'm not really required or asked to do any of those things. I have some flexibility in my hours and work remotely once per week, I only attend meetings with the external client I deliver work to, I have no line management responsibility and I'm not asked to get involved in the work of 'junior' staff, and work on a brief-based system to complete work for an external client rather than picking up X, Y, Z as it crops up. Despite that, I still think (from what I've read) that my current contract would be on dodgy ground where IR35 is concerned… so I still work via an umbrella company.
I was hoping to start a ltd company for my next contract, but the contract I interviewed for would seem to be firmly inside IR35. I don't want to go ltd if my contracts are going to be inside IR35. The agency told me that they word the contract "very carefully", but am I right in thinking that it's the working practices rather than what's in the contract that is ultimately important?
I haven't been asked those questions in other interviews (for contracts) and would assume they were asked because the company had taken on contractors before who had subsequently refused to do those things. How would you have responded to those questions and would it influence your decision on whether or not to accept an offer?
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