Do contracts ruin your career?

[Notascooby]

I was under the impression that the OP is still in a permie job, and was considering doing a contract before returning to his career in permiedom.

Ahhh - well in that case....

You've done a year - thererfore you're bottom rung - the quickest way to jump up a level is to change job, sitting around waiting to replace your boss is usually a fruitless task.

So if you're doing a short 6 month gig, then going for another permie role, then I'd say that apart from it maybe tougher to get the next permie gig as mentioned (employer may expect you to bugger off contracting again) then it'll do no harm.

What would be quicker is to hop into permie job 2 at the higher level, get your time in and if you still fancy contracting, do it then when you can command a better rate and are more marketable.

If permie role 2 not available, by all means jump, just be prepared to find a second contract or wait a few months before getting your next job.

Best of luck.

[nomadd]

Do contracts ruin your career?

Killed mine stone-dead. I've been stuck contracting for 23 years (and counting...)

Mind you, I always preferred running my own business rather than having someone else running my career.

[The Spartan]

but maybe it's possible as say a low-level tester but not as someone to write test scripts.

Not going to happen, you'd be lucky to get a permie job with a years experience let alone a contract of any sorts

[kingcook]

Mind you, I always preferred running my own business rather than having someone else running my career.

Tried to leave rep but failed! You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to nomadd again.

[psychocandy]

1 year experience = £8/hr PC rollout/migration work

[The Spartan]

1 year experience = £8/hr PC rollout/migration work

Hardly stellar stuff is it

[diddak28]

Thank you all for you replies.
I worked 1 year in a blue chip doing functional Siebel.
I resigned recently because I was working 68hours/per week. I am pursuing the next similar role. But I want to ask this:

If i go for a 6month contract,just to make some money, and then I want to return into blue chip firms for a permanent role:

1. Maybe the dont like contractors for permenant roles? (They may think you did it once, why not repeat it after a few months?)
2. Do firms consider contracting as unemployment period?
3. If it is not to face any difficulties to get again into permanent roles, I would do it. But do HR managers dont like it if it see you were a contractor?

[stek]

And if you're sensible you'll spend some of that evening time stuck in a hotel room learning new skills.

Like the 'mirror trick' for watching porn on the PayTV from the Bathroom?

[northernladuk]

Yes it does, especially if that career is one in management.

Having gone perm twice in the last 14 years from a contract, I worked my way up into senior managment positions in both cases, before going back contracting as a 'techie'. As there aren't really senior management contracts in what I do I have to restart the clock. Attempting to apply for FT management positions when you've been contracting always makes it more difficult.

This one down to the last full stop!!

For me there are two options and one of them isn't open to the OP anyway. It depends on your outlook. Sorry to upset the techie guys but spending 20 years moving from one language to another is not a career to me. I am in management/service so a different animal so do not mean to offend.

If the OP wants to better himself and raise the ladder and this is what he terms a career he will never get this in contracting. Permie land is the place for this and even then it is not gauranteed, you have to work bloody hard with a huge chunk of luck. Yes yes yes, someone will come along and say then moved levels in contracting but this is even harder with an even bigger chunk of luck. This is the exception not the rule.

I would advise whatever the OP wants to do he has to stay in permie land for another 3-5 years to get a marketable skill before he even thinks about contracting. If he stays longer he has a better chance of a contract further up the ladder. It is then up to him when he jumps ship and start selling his skills.

With the contract market so flooded now the chance of working in one position in the hope he gets a shot at something better i.e. PM to Programme level is slim to none. There are far too many experience Programme guys around for clients to take the risk.

Stay where you are, get some skills, if you like the career ladder stay, if you want good cash for what you do now for the forseeable future jump out. No one piece of advice is correct.

For the record I did permie for 15 years climbing the ladder until I got to the position where I would have had to move in to purely political hands off management and I didn't want that so hit my ceiling. I don't regret it as I became the best I could be in the best environment. Granted a techie could command the same rate as me but that was my career choice.

[northernladuk]

Like the 'mirror trick' for watching porn on the PayTV from the Bathroom?

Will rep you when I can but this made I laugh. I thought that was just me