Returning to perm is almost impossible

[d000hg]

I am sitting here in a B&B knowing that Mrs M has had a bad night with the 2 kids. Last night my son said to me - "Daddy, when are you coming home?"

Tough.

Bah, kids don't know they're born these days. They should be in boarding school anyway.


Oh wait, this isn't mamsnet...

[expat]

One of the problems is that, back when you started, the contract and permanent paths were not dissimilar. After a good few years as a contractor, you get to know that trade, and to get both good experience and a good reputation in it, so your rate goes up - with "seniority", so to speak. But if you step back into permie work, you tend to start again at a lower rung, and this can be unappealing.

I'm not necessarily saying it's wrong that you have to do so, you can't necessarily expect to step into the perm role that you would have had if you had spent the last 10 years in a perm career (because you didn't do that), but in your own interests you should beware of becoming a junior again; and the perm job with the same title as a senior contracting position is quite likely to be a more junior role.

Probably the thing to watch for is a chance to make profitable use of (or "leverage" if you must) your contracting experience; or if you sometimes as a contractor have a higher level of responsibility than you would normally do, jump to perm from that.

[Francko]

I am sitting here in a B&B knowing that Mrs M has had a bad night with the 2 kids. Last night my son said to me - "Daddy, when are you coming home?"

Tough.

Yes but the same would apply to a permie person working away on client premises (and yes there are many roles like that, requiring extensive travelling, especially in the top end of salary ranges).

I really cannot see the big difference between a contract and a permanent job. They both have a notice period and in both cases they keep you as long as they make a profit on you. As a matter of fact rates for contract are also quite similar to permanent salaries. We know it. They know it. Politics? That also does not depend on the permie/contract state. If you want to be into politics you can be just as well as a contractor. Performance reviews - ok you don't have that formally on paper but even as a contractor you are regularly reviewed on your performance by somebody who is not competent enough to assess that. Anyone can point me out other differences?

[The Wikir Man]

Yes but the same would apply to a permie person working away on client premises (and yes there are many roles like that, requiring extensive travelling, especially in the top end of salary ranges).

I really cannot see the big difference between a contract and a permanent job. They both have a notice period and in both cases they keep you as long as they make a profit on you. As a matter of fact rates for contract are also quite similar to permanent salaries. We know it. They know it. Politics? That also does not depend on the permie/contract state. If you want to be into politics you can be just as well as a contractor. Performance reviews - ok you don't have that formally on paper but even as a contractor you are regularly reviewed on your performance by somebody who is not competent enough to assess that. Anyone can point me out other differences?

Paid holidays.
Redundancy pay.
Sick pay.
Pension (if you are lucky).
Paid notice if terminated.

[expat]

Yes but the same would apply to a permie person working away on client premises (and yes there are many roles like that, requiring extensive travelling, especially in the top end of salary ranges).

I really cannot see the big difference between a contract and a permanent job. They both have a notice period and in both cases they keep you as long as they make a profit on you. As a matter of fact rates for contract are also quite similar to permanent salaries. We know it. They know it. Politics? That also does not depend on the permie/contract state. If you want to be into politics you can be just as well as a contractor. Performance reviews - ok you don't have that formally on paper but even as a contractor you are regularly reviewed on your performance by somebody who is not competent enough to assess that. Anyone can point me out other differences?

If you're offered a contract where you don't like the look of the weekly commute, you can always say no and look for another. If you are employed by a consulting company and they want to send you to a client site where you don't like the weekly trip, tough.

[The Wikir Man]

If you're offered a contract where you don't like the look of the weekly commute, you can always say no and look for another. If you are employed by a consulting company and they want to send you to a client site where you don't like the weekly trip, tough.

Depends on your position in the company - when I was a consultant I was in a position of relative strength. I turned down work in places that I didn't fancy, because there was always going to be another project that picked me up that I wanted to work on.

6 years as a consultant - longest bench time (after being on my first project) was about 5 weeks.

[The Wikir Man]

Paid holidays.
Redundancy pay.
Sick pay.
Pension (if you are lucky).
Paid notice if terminated.

And paid training

[Francko]

Paid holidays.
Redundancy pay.
Sick pay.
Pension (if you are lucky).
Paid notice if terminated.

Fair enough but this is included in the (not-so-big anymore) higher nominal rate you can charge as a contractor. The rate should cover all this. But covering costs does not mean making a profit obviously.

When times are good and contract rates are way above the average (as it used to be for most of us in the 2000s years and for only very few people with niche-skills nowadays) it is a no-brain decision to go for contracting, otherwise I just call it an even decision and mostly dependant on life-style choices.

[Francko]

And paid training

Have been in a permie position for 3 years. Not a single day of training for anybody in the team (unless you consider tulipy training like "work for excellence" sort of stuff).

[The Wikir Man]

Have been in a permie position for 3 years. Not a single day of training for anybody in the team (unless you consider tulipy training like "work for excellence" sort of stuff).

Just before I left my permie role, my manager sent me on a three day seminar in Amsterdam as an incentive to stay (he knew I was looking to leave). I also had three days of one-to-one training in a niche skill, ready for a new project.

That said, I'd had a few years of nothing before that. In fact, I've done more training paid for by myself than I got out of the last year or so of permiedom.