Going from permie to contract at the same company?

[oraclesmith]

What you've got to do is leave with a good relationship still intact between you and the company. Give them contact details and let it be known that you'll be more than happy to help them out if they get in a fix, for discount rates, and leave it at that.

And yes, you will be resented by the permanent staff, but then you have to be super-professional and (a) never ever reveal your rate or talk about how great being a contractor is (b) act like an external consultant (c) never let them give you staff benefits like canteen lunches etc.

[ContractIn]

What you've got to do is leave with a good relationship still intact between you and the company. Give them contact details and let it be known that you'll be more than happy to help them out if they get in a fix, for discount rates, and leave it at that.

And yes, you will be resented by the permanent staff, but then you have to be super-professional and (a) never ever reveal your rate or talk about how great being a contractor is (b) act like an external consultant (c) never let them give you staff benefits like canteen lunches etc.

Excellent advice...

I am in a very similar situation. I was in fact made redundant over two years ago, and went straight into contracting, I am now back at employer who made me redundent (in a different department) on a 12 month contract which is due to be renewed for a further 6 months.

You must be better than before, treat it as a professional services engagement, maintain the up most professionalism, get in that litlle bit eailier and leave that little bit later; and never comment on your rates

[XLMonkey]

...and obviously the most important contract is the first one.

nope, the most important contract is the second one - that's when you stop being an opportunist and start thinking of yourself as a contractor first and foremost, rather than just someone who spotted an opportunity for a fast buck.

but seriously... I have left an employer and then been contracted back to them, but it has to be very sensitively handled and is risky. The key for me was
- to make clear (and mean it) that I was leaving anyway. Regardless of whether they offered me a contract I wasn't going to stay as an employee.
- make clear that it wasn't about me not liking them, it was about me wanting to work for myself (sounds wa*ky, but you know what I mean)
- having options: good idea to have found other contract work to go for.