Starting anew

[ukblokester]

Hello All,
I have a couple of questions that most of the people starting afresh would have in these times. I am currently employed in a giant internet company but honestly i am tired of the rat race and want to set out on m own and do work as a contractor.
My only problem is at the moment that any consultant that i have spoken to in these times have said that the market is really bad and there are far too many people competing for a single good contract so its best to stick to your perm job till the conditions improve.
on the other hand i have a full time job offer of around 50k ish, now that is tempting however i am not sure which way to go, coz if i take up the job offer i would have to stick around atleast for a year (not because of any employment contract but just clear conscience thing).

i would really love to hear your suggestions and which way should i go, as it turns out, if i need to do contracting, i will really have to quit my full time job (have savings to lsat a few months 2-3) and then look for a contract.

would be awesome to hear your views/suggestions.
thanks a ton in advance.

[NotAllThere]

1. Now is a bad time to go contracting
2. You must quit your job before looking for a contract
3. Start adopting the contracting mindset now - take the permie job at £50K, and resign as soon as/if the market starts to rise.

[oracleslave]

Some random thoughts:

1) I agree with others that now is not a good time to pack in the permie role on a whim. Having said that you don't mention what skills you have so it could work out.

2) I don't think you have enough savings

3) Contractors don't have a conscience about hanging around for a year. That mindset is all wrong

4) There isn't really enough info in your post to give you meaningful advice either way imo.

5) Good luck

[moorfield]

Stick with your perm job, come back this time next year!

[TheRefactornator]

Only once you have a contract offer, a signed contract and your bum is on the seat can you be sure you're (sort of) safe in current market conditions..even then don't be surprised if your client drops you with little notice or attempts to hijack your rate once you're in.

Dropping your perm role and then starting to look for a nice contract gig is not an option I'd recommend at the moment.

[TykeMerc]

Some random thoughts:

1) I agree with others that now is not a good time to pack in the permie role on a whim. Having said that you don't mention what skills you have so it could work out.

2) I don't think you have enough savings (2-3 months is far too little, in the current market less than 12 months would be a bad idea)

3) Contractors don't have a conscience about hanging around for a year. That mindset is all wrong

4) There isn't really enough info in your post to give you meaningful advice either way imo.

5) Good luck

WHS

[Jaws]

I agree with regard to the amount of savings. I had about 3-4 months worth when I left my permie role and even though I secured a contract in my last week I managed to spend almost all of it before I got my first invoice paid (due to company setup fees/insurance/accountant/2 week delay in contract start and 31 day payment waiting period).

[ukblokester]

wow thanks a lot guys for your replies. my skill sets are php/frontend skills (html/css/javascript) and frameworks like symfony, yui, jquery etc.

i have savings to last me 2-3 months but i guess that doesn't sound sufficient reading other threads. i am based in London. if there is any other information that i can provide to help you help me, please let me know.

thanks once again for all your quick replies, i posted this right before i was about to leave for work. i personally would feel a little guilty about leaving before a year but you are right, companies can screw you over due to bad decisions at the top so if you take a decision for your personal gain why not!

[gdm]

I switched from a permie role last year and I will admit I did not have enough savings to handle a significant break between roles.

Only thing I would suggest is look at the market in your particular skillset and see what ranges of rates you see, then compare that against your own salary. If you could earn more when you factor in at least 3 mo. of downtime per year, then make the move to contracting.

Sure, the market is bad now, and rates are dropping, but the simple fact is there are a good amounts of roles out there to be had.

[Not So Wise]

wow thanks a lot guys for your replies. my skill sets are php/frontend skills (html/css/javascript) and frameworks like symfony, yui, jquery etc.

To be 100% honest unless your commercial experience in those skill sets are "god like" (aka major high profile projects, pref in finance or gambling) I would not go contracting at all (double so under todays general market conditions)

Contracting rates for php and related have been in general well below par for years (to many outsourcers undercutting the market) and once you take into account the various extras you get by being permi you will be hard pushed to match the 50k offer you already have via contracting and with a lot more risk attached