What to do?...what to do? :/

[Scrag Meister]

stay where you are and get nice and skilled up...simples! There really is nothing to think about here I believe

WOS

[Svalbaard]

What a pile of carp most of you peddle.

Do it. If you don't then you'll still be here asking this same question in 2 years time. You'll be a bit more skilled up with a few more pretty certificates maybe, but in the end it won't count for much over hard won experience. The sooner you have a contract under your belt the more you will be employable on that experience, than on paperwork - and never again will have to wait for your notice period to expire before you can commit.

There will never be an ideal time to go contracting, but once you do you will wonder what all of the fuss was about. Sure, you may be worried about the economy - most of us are, but none of the other posters on this forum know the future any more than you or I do.

Do it quickly. Forget the Ltd. route and go umbrella for the first year or so so you can focus entirely on the contract itself, and also so you can realise all of your earnings on a monthly basis rather than playing accountancy games with IR35 worries, on account corporation tax, dividends and such like. Buy some related books - you can claim them back as legitimate expenses and read, read, read.

Below £400 PD I can't really see that going Ltd. is worth the effort - but that's just my 15 years as a contractor speaking.

Good luck.

[Saddo]

Saddo is talking rubbish about a topic that's been done to death. What the agent charges the end client is not relevant. You agree a rate with the agent that you're happy with

Actually you are quoting me slightly out of context, but your assumed apology is accepted on the grounds that on this occasion I probably didn't express myself as well as I might have done.

The inference I intended to give was along the lines of having agreed a rate of 'X' with the agent, which you are happy to turn up for. If after the event you then discover that there was rather a lot more than 'X' on the table and you accepted low (so that the agent creams off the top), that can cause some consternation for you. I'm not suggesting that you should be particularly bothered about what fee the agent actually charges because that's between the agent and the client, only that if it is substantial and you find out about it later it can be somewhat demotivating. Potentially good at renewal time though.

[Saddo]

There will never be an ideal time to go contracting

It can be helpful if you can swing redundancy though, so that's more ideal than resigning might be. Taking the plunge for the first time when you might not have that first contract lined up is helped if you've got a war chest.

[Svalbaard]

It can be helpful if you can swing redundancy though, so that's more ideal than resigning might be. Taking the plunge for the first time when you might not have that first contract lined up is helped if you've got a war chest.

Agree with your reply. However the initial post on the thread was primarily concerning skill set so I'd kind of credited its author with having thought through the financial implications.

Cheers.