Do I Start?

[sumo]

Hello all, this is my first ever post and I hope not my last based on any responses! Spent a while reading these forums and got a lot of different opinions.

I am considering starting contracting again and need a bit of advice from you seasoned lot. I am getting sick of the politics and the 'job creep' that has happened in my last two jobs and I am thinking of handing in notice on Monday (why do IBs advertise trading desk support roles as analyst developer jobs???). But first I hope some of you can answer a few questions for me:

1. My notice period will take me into the second week of December. Is it worth me do this or should I wait a month then give notice to get a contract in Jan?

2. What is the usual calculation for contract to perm comparison? I have seen hourly rate * 100 on a few posts, is this true?

3. How do you normally calculate holidays and time on the bench? I used 25 days holiday and 20 days on the bench. Is this about right? If so I am looking at about a 4% pay increase (based on a rate with my experience), accountant, other expenses assuming I am caught by IR-35 (20% outside). Seems almost better to get a higher paying perm job?

Cheers!

[SueEllen]

1. The nature of Christmas Bank Holidays means that lots of office based people have one or two weeks off and no new work gets done.

2. http://calculator.contractoruk.com/

3. Calculate working for 10 months of the year.

Personally I would see if you could get out your notice period early if a role came up now. Otherwise I would wait until the new year to hand in my notice as you might as well get paid over Christmas but still see if you had to work all your notice period if a role came up.

[Keldin]

It's difficult to start a new role (as a contractor or permie) over Christmas as there is a good chance the person you will be reporting to or who will be overseeing or providing your work will be on holiday or frantically trying to clear his intray so he can go on holiday. There is also a good chance the people with authority to hire have also buggered off for a holiday in the sun.

Personal choice if it were me and assuming notice is one month:

Get all your work up to date - projects finished off, paperowrk and handover docs done etc. Make sure everyone knows how to do your job. If they are suspicious tell them you are clearing you desk for the year end and want it all tidy for the new year and want to also make sure that people can manage over Christmas and don't need to worry about bothering you on holiday.

Start sending out CVs now for jobs on Jobserve et al and posting your CV about. Tell anyone who asks that you are available in 2 weeks when your current gig finishes.
When an ad says ASAP it's never as soon as possible, immediate and urgent don't seem to have the same meaning they once did. If someone offers you a gig and you said 2 weeks you can either push it back for another 2 after it's been offered while you work out your notice that you hand in after getting the gig or you can negotiate your notice period down to 2 weeks since you had it all up to date (see above).

After Christmas sometime in Jan (or Feb if you find the market a little slow) hand in your notice and go at it in earnest.

I have found that some gigs even though urgent stills take weeks to get to the point when you can start them.



K

[b0redom]

^
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|-- What he said. I had my contracted terminated early just before Xmas last year, and it was a nightmare trying to find work. Things really seem to pick up towards the end of January.

For me, the advantage of being a contractor is that you don't have to deal with all the politics, and other rubbish permies have to deal with - although the money is nice too ;-)

I've just been watching 360 reviews, and people trying to get excited about £500/year payrises....

[TheFaQQer]

Hi,

Either stick in the job until after Christmas, or find something now but be prepared to walk from the permie job without giving any notice / less than 4 weeks notice.

Rough rule of thumb is hourly rate * 1000 = annual salary.

(And welcome, BTW).

[BrilloPad]

welcome

[NotAllThere]

1. Definitely wait until your notice period takes you into January.
2. Daily rate ~ salary/100. So £50,000 -> £500
3. I only want to work maximum 40 weeks a year. I know how much I need to keep myself and family happy. From that I can work out my minimum daily rate. If can get more than that, then I can take more time off. This way, I don't feel like I'm losing money when I'm on holiday - I've achieved my targets. If I work more than 40 weeks for contractual/client reasons, then I'm happy to earn more.

For the past two years, I've effectively been on one contract. Last year I worked 44 weeks. This year 39. Next year, there's less work at my client, but because the rate is good, I'm planning on a 3 day week for the first quarter. This leaves me needing to find for the rest of the year a contract paying at least 85% of my current rate. Which is easily achievable with my skill set.

Financially, in a bad year, where I make only my minimum targets, I'm 20% better off than permie. In a good year, it's more like 70%. ( If I worked more weeks, at an excellent rate, that could go up to 100% or more ).

[VectraMan]

Lots of arguments about comparing permie and contractor income, but the way I see it is I get roughly double the take home pay than the supposedly equivalent hourly rate*1000 permie salary for the work that I do (and getting towards three times than the daily rate * 100).

The flip side is that you could spend half the year out of work, but then that's time off. You can't really argue that a contractor getting 26 weeks a year holiday is no better off than a permie getting 4 weeks a year holiday for the same money.

You also miss out on all the permie perks, but then I've never had a permanent job where I had any perks.

I think people like to play down how much better off we actually are.

[chicane]

You also miss out on all the permie perks, but then I've never had a permanent job where I had any perks.

Likewise - most so-called permie perks I've ever received are overrated - e.g. free fruit & sandwich at lunch (worth perhaps £400/year).

This year and next year, my gross will be around 2.5 times what I'd earn in a permie position. Admittedly, it's required evening and weekend work here and there, but then so do most permie jobs do nowadays.

[NotAllThere]

I think people like to play down how much better off we actually are.

I was calculating purely based on cash in pocket.

Cash in pocket - £130,000 (or whatever)
12 weeks holiday a year, no politics, no HR, no annual review, no career planning - priceless.