Perm->Contract - How to handle notice period

[BrilloPad]

Contracting is not like being in business, it IS being in business.

Everyone agrees with that. Except HMRC.....

[Tindog]

I think your best bet is probably to save up some cash, hand in your notice, and start looking once done.

I was only on a months notice period and struggled to find anyone willing to give me a look-in (granted I'm BI insurance not BA or testing, may be different for you). A week before my final day interest picked up a lot.

[LondonManc]

I wouldn't recommend what you're doing, based on the stories of the testers on here over the last few years. Generic testing is dying - the likes of sussexseagull have shown that you have to be a multi-tasking test manager cum techie these days due to the offshoring. They'd rather pay less and accept that it's not going to be done properly. Anecdotes of it costing even less because of these failings are not uncommon either.

Stick at the perm market - contracting is getting more and more painful. The number of contractors that I know who now have one eye on the perm market is growing by the week, myself included.

Consultancy may be a better option for you, where you get the variety and involvement but without the stress, hassle and uncertainty of contracting?

[mattfx]

The number of contractors that I know who now have one eye on the perm market is growing by the week, myself included.

I only got into the contracting market this year, and I already have my eyes on the perm market again.. Not because I dislike it, but from what everyone has been saying about HMRC and IR35 blanket changes, i'm feeling a bit dubious about how much longer the market can last in its current state.

[LondonManc]

I only got into the contracting market this year, and I already have my eyes on the perm market again.. Not because I dislike it, but from what everyone has been saying about HMRC and IR35 blanket changes, i'm feeling a bit dubious about how much longer the market can last in its current state.

Correct. There's little value in coming home with an extra 5k a year for the hassle involved compared to having a relatively stable 70k a year permie job and its perks.

[tarbera]

normally yes

Apart from royally pissing off his current employer, you mean?

Don't we call out contractors who do this kind of "bail-early" thing?

having seen several permies recently walked out the door recently with 20 years+ in the company, not allowed to return to their desks (apart from one chap who had a porn collection to collect) it depends, I have never left a contract early

References these days are

Position
start date, End date

anything else leaves the issuing company in hot water, so they dont these days

[fiisch]

Thanks all - I know the right thing to do, but similarly I am frustrated that the job is not what it was promised (i.e.: I have been left to rot without sufficient work to keep me busy). This, on what is a very busy programme, is bizarre, but the project team is a mixture of people running around like headless chickens being impossibly busy, too busy to train up or instruct the remainder who scratch around like hungry chickens desperately trying to fill their time!!

Financially, I am currently on £60k a year with no commute costs. I leave for work at 7am each morning, have time for a morning gym/swim, and am home eating dinner with my family before 6. On that score, I really can have no complaints.

Proposed contracting role is in the region of £350-400 a day, so once pension; annual leave and periods out of work considered, I don't think it'd be a significant bump. However, I do think I'd find the job more stimulating.

Interview bumped until tomorrow, which is never a good sign. Will see what they say, but be honest re.: notice. Suspect they will pass, but I need to focus in the New Year. If no change by May, hand my notice in ready to take advantage of the post-summer surge of contracts....

[LondonManc]

Thanks all - I know the right thing to do, but similarly I am frustrated that the job is not what it was promised (i.e.: I have been left to rot without sufficient work to keep me busy). This, on what is a very busy programme, is bizarre, but the project team is a mixture of people running around like headless chickens being impossibly busy, too busy to train up or instruct the remainder who scratch around like hungry chickens desperately trying to fill their time!!

Financially, I am currently on £60k a year with no commute costs. I leave for work at 7am each morning, have time for a morning gym/swim, and am home eating dinner with my family before 6. On that score, I really can have no complaints.

Proposed contracting role is in the region of £350-400 a day, so once pension; annual leave and periods out of work considered, I don't think it'd be a significant bump. However, I do think I'd find the job more stimulating.

Interview bumped until tomorrow, which is never a good sign. Will see what they say, but be honest re.: notice. Suspect they will pass, but I need to focus in the New Year. If no change by May, hand my notice in ready to take advantage of the post-summer surge of contracts....

Surge in contracts? Hehe.

If you're on 60k a year and have an easy day, why risk putting yourself into a temporary situation that you may not like? Not only that, you'll find the second contract harder to find, especially if there's no "friend of a friend" to find it. Also, what as, a tester or BA?

[MrMarkyMark]

having seen several permies recently walked out the door recently with 20 years+ in the company, not allowed to return to their desks (apart from one chap who had a porn collection to collect) it depends, I have never left a contract early

References these days are

Position
start date, End date

anything else leaves the issuing company in hot water, so they dont these days

Largely true, unless some chunt you previously knew sticks his oar in.
Although I was blatantly told this in the Client Co 2nd interview, it was not "official", but "official" does not count for jack, in those circumstances.

I didn't leave that particular contract early either.

Seeing him around the first couple of times and not going ahead and punching him out was difficult

[northernladyuk]

Hello, first post on these forums!

I have worked as a Business Analyst for the last five years in the insurance industry, more recently specialising in the IT side. I joined my current role in January - originally applied as a permanent staff member, but due to resourcing constraints I ended up joining as a contractor, so I fell into the contracting gig by accident.

After six months, the company persuaded me to switch to permanent - I had a young baby at home, and the job is - almost literally - on my doorstep. Being a contractor, it meant that I managed to negotiate a fairly lucrative wage as a permanent member of staff, however I am bored senseless. The project is incredibly busy, but I seem to have been marginalised, and am not asked to do a great deal. I am growing wearisome of being proactive and seeking out work, and the promise of development (a key reason for accepting the perm role) has not been fulfilled.

Being permanent and now completed probation, I am subject to a three month notice period. Via my network, I have a telephone interview for a contract role in testing which I am hopeful of securing. I don't have a great deal of information on the role, but I suspect three months will be unacceptable to the new job.

How do I best go about approaching the subject of my notice if/when asked during the interview? Is it a case that when/if I decide to take the plunge, I will need to hand my notice in and then hope to secure a role nearing the expiry of my notice?

My motivation for moving is largely about job satisfaction - financially, once you take into account pension, holiday etc., the move would not be especially lucrative, but currently I feel like I'm treading water and, still being in my early 30s, I am ambitious and hungry to learn. Has anyone else been in a similar position? What did you do?

Get the contract. Tell your employer you are bored and you would like to drastically shorten your notice. Take it from there.