Unsure if and when to leave current permanent job and return to temping/contracting?

[TheFaQQer]

Is that the sound of the three billy goats Gruff approaching?

[cojak]

One question no-one has asked...

Do you have enough savings to see you through 6 months of no contract*? You'll need enough for mortgage bills, utility house bills, food, any pensions you're paying yourself and extraneous such as car HP, mobile phone etc.

(I have a feeling that I know what the answer will be... )

*Note to Newbies - that's what we mean by a warchest...

[TheFaQQer]

One question no-one has asked...

Do you have enough savings to see you through 6 months of no contract*? You'll need enough for mortgage bills, utility house bills, food, any pensions you're paying yourself and extraneous such as car HP, mobile phone etc.

(I have a feeling that I know what the answer will be... )

*Note to Newbies - that's what we mean by a warchest...

These days, I'd change that to 9 - 12 months of no contract. Better to be safe than sorry

[BolshieBastard]

Hi everyone

I’m going through a phase of thinking would I be better off/more satisfied if I quit my current permanent job and returned to temping/contracting.

For years and years I was temping/contracting while aiming to get this permanent career. During the 18 months I’ve been in this permanent job I’ve sometimes thought that I don’t like how I feel “less of my own boss” than I did when temping/contracting. And it especially winds me up when colleagues who have no more authority than me, think just being older/old-school entitles them to have authority.

When in my first proper contracting role a few years ago, when it was coming to an end I remember other contractors in their late 20’s /early 30’s saying no way could they stand returning to permanent employment instead of being self-employed.....Now I think I know why.

I still find my current job reasonably interesting and I think it stretches me to the right extent in terms of complexity and I’m having the best social life I’ve had to date.

But when it comes to work, I’m driven by money and during the last year I’ve turned down many contract opportunities to earn 3 x as much as I’m earning now and the contracts paying 3 x more would require nowhere near as much effort. The idea of making myself richer instead of a company richer inspires me. And I’m confident that the routes to finding friends that I learnt when relocating for this job would result in me building as good a social life back in my original city.

The things I’m most nervous about are:

I’d feel bad/embarrassed when leaving.

Before I got this job, many companies (correctly I suppose) started rejecting my applications for permanent jobs on the grounds that up to that point I had been temping/contracting and so didn’t think I would commit to them (even though I explained that the reason I was temping/contracting for so long was because I was holding out for the particular career that I was applying for and had lots of evidence of this). The company I’m with now we’re obviously persuaded by the evidence.

So if in 5 years time I wanted to return to permanent employment, maybe because by then I have a family so want more certainty, then would I stand no chance of getting a permanent job because of this business of commitment? By then I think I would be happy to accept dead end admin jobs for a stress free life, as opposed to being specific/highly ambitious, so maybe it would be easier to secure a permanent job than I found it to be offered my current job.

For those of you that have done temping/contracting for 5 – 10 years, is it a big problem having loads of different jobs on your CV, not in terms of space/pages (I’m sure there’s a way round that), but in terms of does it look really bad being through so many jobs?


Thanks for reading this long post and for any advice.

Jack in your permie job asap. The market is booming.

[Halcyon]

stick to permie

You should definitely stick to the security of a permanent role in the current market, not worth jumping ship to join... sorry, who did you say was offering the contract...?

[MaryPoppins]

[QUOTE=northernladuk;1009475]
Contracting is a small world. Your past WILL catch up with you as well.
QUOTE]

Hate to agree with him but this is very true!

It's a VERY small world.

You could find yourself, for example, peeing a fellow contractor off* in one role, then years later finding yourself hoping that same contractor doesn't reply honestly when asked about you by a prospective hiring manager.

*Yup, me in this example. Yes, I did reply honestly. No, the knob didn't get the gig.

[TheFaQQer]

It's a VERY small world.

You could find yourself, for example, peeing a fellow contractor off* in one role, then years later finding yourself hoping that same contractor doesn't reply honestly when asked about you by a prospective hiring manager.

*Yup, me in this example. Yes, I did reply honestly. No, the knob didn't get the gig.

WSS - been there, done that, stuck the knife in (subtly):

"Any of you ever worked with X before?"
"Yeah - he's a nice bloke"
"What's he like technically?"
"Like I said - he's a nice bloke"
"Enough said"

[northernladuk]

Hate to agree with him but this is very true!

WHOOOHOOO!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! OMG WTF GET IN THERE!!!!

Like all my crimbo's have come at once!!

[stingman123]

Take the contract, no wait stay where you are.....


Take it!!! live it up.....


Actually stay where you are, you are only a month away from ever being sacked....

Take the contract.....smile smugly at yer mates


Stay! - imagine that pension plan jusy lying there and no annual leave or performance reviews!

Take it..sod the warchest! it'll never happen to you

Stay where you are....it's nice and warm

[Soled73]

Take the contract, no wait stay where you are.....


Take it!!! live it up.....


Actually stay where you are, you are only a month away from ever being sacked....

Take the contract.....smile smugly at yer mates


Stay! - imagine that pension plan jusy lying there and no annual leave or performance reviews!

Take it..sod the warchest! it'll never happen to you

Stay where you are....it's nice and warm