Any tips & tricks on how to overlap a new contract on a lengthy notice period?

[BritishLad88]

Hi all,

It's been a while I've been here mainly because I had to leave the contracting space during the tough covid years and switch to a perm job due to needs.

Now that I want and ready to go back to doing gigs, it's been a while so i'm definitely rusty for sure.

My current employment has a what i consider a lengthy notice period of 3 months (some people might say that's standard these days but hey, not debating that here). I haven't thrown in yet and haven't secured a new gig again yet.

But was wondering anyone has any tips or tricks to advise on how to go about making this switch back based on my circumstances ?
Considering I don't want to hand in my notice first as I want to maintain some regular income coming in. And the fact most contracts definitely require immediate or asap starts.

I've read a lot of old posts about overlapping (even about overlapping multiple gigs) so was wondering if that's the only other options viable...

[hobnob]

Your best chance would be something like this:
You got the contract role - can you start in 4 months? - Contractor UK Bulletin Board

Aside from that, it's worth checking your employment contract. Are you allowed to do a second job? Do you need to notify them? E.g. you might need to opt out of the working time regulations if you'd then be working more than 48 hours per week (between both roles).

From a practical point of view, if your current job and the (hypothetical) contract are both 9-5 office jobs then it won't be physically possible to do both at once. I don't know about your permie role, but there's a trend towards contracts requiring (some) time in an office rather than being fully remote. Putting that another way, if you restrict yourself to fully remote contracts then you'll be narrowing your options even more.

If I was in your shoes, I'd talk to your current employer and explain the situation. Maybe they'd be willing to agree a compromise, e.g. you give them a 3 month head start for recruitment, handover, etc. and then you have a rolling 1 month notice period (on both sides).

[sreed]

It might not be ideal but if you want to minimise the risk of no income, I would look for a PAYE FTC contract with a big co. as a way to transition from permie land to proper contracting. More likely to have a long lead-in period and less likely to fall through the week before you start.

But if you’re confident in being able to land a contract, and aren’t living paycheque to paycheque, I’d just resign and then get cracking.

Overlapping contracts may work but only if your notice period is light on work/responsibilities and both roles are remote. Even then, 3 months is a long time to juggle that and you’ll probably need a reference from the current employer so might be a non starter.

[northernladuk]

It's not great out here at the moment. Even the very experienced people are struggling to land end to end gigs at the moment. In the last 12 months I've had a 4 week and 2 week stint and that last one would be extending to 6 weeks on the bench if I hadn't got the most recent one as there was nothing out there. If you are OK in the perm job I'd seriously think about staying there for the moment. The notice period, difficulty in securing a gig and then chances of end to end gig makes it a difficult situation.

I'd say hand in notice and be ready to to start looking a few weeks before notice ends but as I say it's never been more risky. Chances of overlapping gigs IMO are nil.

[willendure]

Its a very risky time to quit and hope a contract comes up. I tried for a contract recently that I thought was a great match to my skills and experience but struggled to even get noticed by the decision makers who were flooded with hundreds of CVs. So if you do quit, expect to be out of work for a full year, possibly more. I have been looking for a new contract over the last 2 years, and have managed to get a gran total of 2 interviews in that time!

[WTFH]

Quick question: what is it about your current role that you dislike?

Follow up question: what is the current company like in terms of gardening leave? I know of many large organisations where the 3 month period is about being fair/reasonable to the employee if they are being sacked, and applying the same standard to those who quit. The company may put people on gardening leave as soon as the decision is made. That's one of those things where you need to understand how your company works. But if you start the process and then a contract falls through, you may find the company are not interested in holding on to you.

[sreed]

Its a very risky time to quit and hope a contract comes up. I tried for a contract recently that I thought was a great match to my skills and experience but struggled to even get noticed by the decision makers who were flooded with hundreds of CVs. So if you do quit, expect to be out of work for a full year, possibly more. I have been looking for a new contract over the last 2 years, and have managed to get a gran total of 2 interviews in that time!

willendure Just curious, what have you been doing during the 2 years - permie or already on a long-running contract?

[edison]

It might not be ideal but if you want to minimise the risk of no income, I would look for a PAYE FTC contract with a big co. as a way to transition from permie land to proper contracting. More likely to have a long lead-in period and less likely to fall through the week before you start.

But if you’re confident in being able to land a contract, and aren’t living paycheque to paycheque, I’d just resign and then get cracking.

Overlapping contracts may work but only if your notice period is light on work/responsibilities and both roles are remote. Even then, 3 months is a long time to juggle that and you’ll probably need a reference from the current employer so might be a non starter.

A FTC is not a bad shout in this case.

You don't know how your employer might take your resignation. I resigned from a well paid perm job over a decade ago to go contracting. I didn't have anything lined up, in fact I had barely started looking. But the market was different then.

My boss and his boss were put out by it and wouldn't negotiate on my 3 months notice. I ended up working the whole period and hated almost every day and this was a firm that I had enjoyed working at.

As others have said, quitting a perm job to go contracting is quite a high risk strategy. Worst case, you could find your new contract canned before you even start.

It really all depends on your financial position and attitude to risk. Also bear in mind that in 3 months time, school summer holidays will be approaching and the market will almost certainly quieten down over July and August.

[northernladuk]

Its a very risky time to quit and hope a contract comes up. I tried for a contract recently that I thought was a great match to my skills and experience but struggled to even get noticed by the decision makers who were flooded with hundreds of CVs. So if you do quit, expect to be out of work for a full year, possibly more. I have been looking for a new contract over the last 2 years, and have managed to get a gran total of 2 interviews in that time!

If you can't get a gig in a year you shouldn't be looking at contracting at all. That's chancing it, not running a successful business.

[SussexSeagull]

I know nothing of your skillset or sector but a lot of people are struggling at the moment to find contracts so unless you have done your research I would think long and hard before jumping ship.