looking to get in to contracting

[uk contractor]

Hi

Ive about hit the top of my bracket in the perm world so thinking about contracting. I am an infrastructure consultant specializing in storage and virt, with cisco and juniper networking aswell.

Whats the market like for contract jobs in this area of specialism? i did look at job sites and there dont seem to be many at the moment TBH. I would be looking at LTD company route.

I am in nottingham but can commute to london, does London have a decent supply of contract jobs?

Thanks

Nick

Not being funny but look at this mega thread (from the end backwards) to get a flavour for how bad the market is for some of us! http://forums.contractoruk.com/busin...arket-134.html Find a role first BEFORE leaving as well but most roles which will pay well want you to be available now not wait for your perm notice to be served. Cost is a bigger factor than ever before what you do is being offered by companies which specialise in bringing Tier 2 Visa workers in on low rates & they are fully insured against any negligence so more and more companies are going this route instead of hiring IT contractors for commercially sensitive IT decisions!! Finally you need to convince someone to hire you above others with the same experience as well as contractor experience make sure your bank balance can handle periods of unemployment and if your a family man with children then discuss fully & openly with your other half because IT contracting also brings lots of financial stress its not as lucrative or easy as it was in the golden era!!

[kaiser78]

The main things to understand with contractor finances is:

1. "If it looks too good to be true" and other contractors on here aren't doing it, then do not touch with a barge pole. It doesn't matter if 10 contractors at Clientco are doing it, you want to sleep peacefully in 10 years time.

2. Know the difference between company money and your own money. DO NOT mix the two

3. Always pay your VAT on time.

Always pay all taxes on time, not just VAT.

[ladymuck]

Always pay all taxes on time, not just VAT.

Yep!

Although VAT, being more frequent, is an easy one to let slip if you're not on top of things.