Becoming a permie take 3
Thought I would throw my keys into the bowl on the going permie debate and see if you guys can help me make the right choice. Here's my situation...
Only been contracting for just over 12 months and all at the same client who really want me to stay on as a permie. Before this contract I'd been at the same place (permie) for 6 years and had to get out as I was so fed up of office politics and basically just wanted to get back to coding (I'm a C#/web dev at heart).
Really landed on my feet with this contract, direct with a great local company through my network of colleagues. Initially was just supposed to be a 3 monther but 12 months on and I'm still here, and will be until end of July as things stand. Don't think it'll stretch any further as they've now put the permie role on the table so I think come July it'll be make or break.
The company is a great place to work: low stress, interesting work, great people (including a few ex-colleagues who've managed to land permie jobs here on my recommendation) and it's 15 minutes drive from home. Permie role would be basically what I'm doing now but I think there's scope for me to carve out a role of my choosing as they really want me to stay so I think they'd be pretty flexible in that regard. Salary offering is well above the local average and basically as good as I'm ever likely to get doing this job in the local area (it's circa £50k + pension + healthcare etc.) and I've only just turned 30 last year
The dilemma:
a) Part of me feels like I've not given contracting enough of a chance, and as I've only been at the one client I can't really say I've got a true experience from it and whether it would work for me long term.
b) I've got a plan B (lol who doesn't...) that's earning me about £850pcm and this is pretty much guaranteed for the next 2 years (it's a fixed service agreement). Obviously as a contractor I just lump this into my earnings and draw on it as needed, but as a permie I'd instantly become a higher rate tax payer again, so there's a question of how to manage this income in the most tax efficient way. (Yes I know, ask my accountant, but is it likely I can just keep it in the bank and extract it at some later point in one lump sum with a minimal tax hit?)
c) Although the permie salary is great, it's still about £1k less in my pocket each month, but obviously that's not accounting for possibly being out of work come August plus the other 'benefits' of permiedom like paid holidays etc. so perhaps that figure is a bit misleading.
I guess the million dollar question is, given the apparent state of the market (which I've yet to really battle with), does it make sense to grab this permie role while it's there, sit on it for a couple of years while plan B hopefully builds up and either go back contracting later or ideally move to plan B full time (yes we can all dream
...).
Other thing is I'm hoping to move house this year and although I've now got 1 years accounts, I'm thinking a new mortgage might be easier if I've got a perm role right now. Also I've got a fair bit in the warchest already (been pretty strict on saving) so if I do take the perm role this cash could be extracted and either put into the house move or kept as savings etc.
Sorry that's a lot to digest, but I guess I'm interested to see what other contractors might do in my position. Answers on a postcard please...
Only been contracting for just over 12 months and all at the same client who really want me to stay on as a permie. Before this contract I'd been at the same place (permie) for 6 years and had to get out as I was so fed up of office politics and basically just wanted to get back to coding (I'm a C#/web dev at heart).
Really landed on my feet with this contract, direct with a great local company through my network of colleagues. Initially was just supposed to be a 3 monther but 12 months on and I'm still here, and will be until end of July as things stand. Don't think it'll stretch any further as they've now put the permie role on the table so I think come July it'll be make or break.
The company is a great place to work: low stress, interesting work, great people (including a few ex-colleagues who've managed to land permie jobs here on my recommendation) and it's 15 minutes drive from home. Permie role would be basically what I'm doing now but I think there's scope for me to carve out a role of my choosing as they really want me to stay so I think they'd be pretty flexible in that regard. Salary offering is well above the local average and basically as good as I'm ever likely to get doing this job in the local area (it's circa £50k + pension + healthcare etc.) and I've only just turned 30 last year
The dilemma:
a) Part of me feels like I've not given contracting enough of a chance, and as I've only been at the one client I can't really say I've got a true experience from it and whether it would work for me long term.
b) I've got a plan B (lol who doesn't...) that's earning me about £850pcm and this is pretty much guaranteed for the next 2 years (it's a fixed service agreement). Obviously as a contractor I just lump this into my earnings and draw on it as needed, but as a permie I'd instantly become a higher rate tax payer again, so there's a question of how to manage this income in the most tax efficient way. (Yes I know, ask my accountant, but is it likely I can just keep it in the bank and extract it at some later point in one lump sum with a minimal tax hit?)
c) Although the permie salary is great, it's still about £1k less in my pocket each month, but obviously that's not accounting for possibly being out of work come August plus the other 'benefits' of permiedom like paid holidays etc. so perhaps that figure is a bit misleading.
I guess the million dollar question is, given the apparent state of the market (which I've yet to really battle with), does it make sense to grab this permie role while it's there, sit on it for a couple of years while plan B hopefully builds up and either go back contracting later or ideally move to plan B full time (yes we can all dream
...).Other thing is I'm hoping to move house this year and although I've now got 1 years accounts, I'm thinking a new mortgage might be easier if I've got a perm role right now. Also I've got a fair bit in the warchest already (been pretty strict on saving) so if I do take the perm role this cash could be extracted and either put into the house move or kept as savings etc.
Sorry that's a lot to digest, but I guess I'm interested to see what other contractors might do in my position. Answers on a postcard please...
...) but I know I'm good at what I do, plus I have the people skills to interview well and get on with people which is why I was confident that I could make it as a contractor if I wanted. This company have pretty much soaked up all the best talent in the local area (it's a pretty small world around here) so it would be a good place to set up roots for a while - they've grown considerably in the past 12 months and have a very profitable business which is why they pay so well.
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