Moving from US to UK- New to contracting

[ndumbane]

Good afternoon,

I just joined the forum. I am currently in the US and work as a Test Lead for a major consulting firm (Big "5"). I have close to 9 years of testing experience with US government agencies and financial companies (i.e US Department of Treasury, State Farm Insurance...). I also have a dual citizenship (European and US) and would like to go "solo". My questions are:

- what is the status of market for tetsing professionals ?

- What are the realistic market rates in the UK ?

- How to approach the agencies ?

- Should I use an umbrella company for a start ?

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[MikeC1984]

Good afternoon,

I just joined the forum. I am currently in the US and work as a Test Lead for a major consulting firm (Big "5"). I have close to 9 years of testing experience with US government agencies and financial companies (i.e US Department of Treasury, State Farm Insurance...). I also have a dual citizenship (European and US) and would like to go "solo". My questions are:

- what is the status of market for tetsing professionals ?

- What are the realistic market rates in the UK ?

- How to approach the agencies ?

- Should I use an umbrella company for a start ?

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

This should help you a bit. This is where I was directed to on my first post

http://www.pcg.org.uk/cms/index.php?...759&Itemid=321

[chris79]

Good afternoon,

I just joined the forum. I am currently in the US and work as a Test Lead for a major consulting firm (Big "5"). I have close to 9 years of testing experience with US government agencies and financial companies (i.e US Department of Treasury, State Farm Insurance...). I also have a dual citizenship (European and US) and would like to go "solo". My questions are:

- what is the status of market for tetsing professionals ?

- What are the realistic market rates in the UK ?

- How to approach the agencies ?

- Should I use an umbrella company for a start ?

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

1. Check it for yourself, jobsite.co.uk or jobserve.co.uk (a good place to start).

2. Again, see above.

3. Again, see above.

4. Probably to begin with, although if you set up as limited company you do get tax advantages (i.e. pay less tax), but there's a bit more involved.. might be an idea to test the water first through an umbrella and if it's a long term move setup a limited.. then again the argument could be that by switching mid contracts to a limited could be seen as a tax dodge by the man in the black suit, so investigate this first.