Stay permie or take a 3 month contract?

[twocontract]

If you need to ask this question you have already answered it.

[mudskipper]

What's your notice period? If it's a month, then there's a big problem that you could hand in your notice, client/agent decides they can get someone in sooner, and the contract role disappears. You end up with no job and no contract. We see distressed threads about it quite frequently. If you can't afford to be out of work it's a huge risk.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=si...ffer+withdrawn

[Old Greg]

Family situation is important as well. I moved to contracting with no savings but also no kids. Now that I've got kids, I would be a lot more careful.

Also, I had an employer who was happy for me to give two days notice, as they were going through a round of redundancies.

[kal]

This.

You should not look at contracts as an alternative. You either jump in or stay out. Unless you have your head and finances ready you need to leave contracting alone. The work setting up and understanding how to run a company alone won't be worth it for one gig.

I left a permie role after 5 years for a 3 month contract, they didn't renew as i had finished my remit in those 12 weeks (reviewing, performance tuning and production monitoring of a web app in trouble ), finished up and moved onto the next contract, agree that you either become a contractor or you don't, if you have to think about it and are worried about a 3 month role from a security perspective then I would stay perm (especially right now).

[Scrag Meister]

6 month was my minimum contract when I jumped from permie to contract, it lasted 3 years, at 12 months each.

Do you have a decent war chest to tide you over if things go wrong?

[Mich the Tester]

If you're employed by a consultancy and getting a salary without being on a project then I would say wait for the moment; one of two things will likely happen. Either they'll fire you because they have no work for you, in which case you get paid off and you have some money to get started, and you can start from unemployment benefit. OR, they'll find a project for you, and you can then save up a warchest to start contracting. I'd advise saving up at least 3 months salary so you can cover a month finding work, then cover the payment terms which are often 30 days after invoicing. Of course, you could work under an umbrella company and probably shorten that, but others can advise better on that.

Don't worry too much about whether they'll renew as that's largely outside your control as long as you do a decent job. Some do if you are valuable to them, some don't even if you're brilliant.

While you're employed at the insultancy, screw as much training out of them as possible and stick every tool you use on your CV.

[pimpmycode]

If you're employed by a consultancy and getting a salary without being on a project then I would say wait for the moment; one of two things will likely happen. Either they'll fire you because they have no work for you, in which case you get paid off and you have some money to get started, and you can start from unemployment benefit. OR, they'll find a project for you, and you can then save up a warchest to start contracting. I'd advise saving up at least 3 months salary so you can cover a month finding work, then cover the payment terms which are often 30 days after invoicing. Of course, you could work under an umbrella company and probably shorten that, but others can advise better on that.

Don't worry too much about whether they'll renew as that's largely outside your control as long as you do a decent job. Some do if you are valuable to them, some don't even if you're brilliant.

While you're employed at the insultancy, screw as much training out of them as possible and stick every tool you use on your CV.

Solid advice Mich, thank you.

Look inside your heart.

Heart? What is this heart you speak of?

This.

You should not look at contracts as an alternative. You either jump in or stay out. Unless you have your head and finances ready you need to leave contracting alone. The work setting up and understanding how to run a company alone won't be worth it for one gig.

Thanks, this is true. My mindset from permie to independent is the biggest thing i need to change. I definitely want to contract long term, not just one gig. Finance wise i have 3 months in my warchest, four at the end of this month. My notice period now is 1 week, after September it changes to 1 month, hence me considering this now.

[BlasterBates]

Good that you have an offer. On the whole the market is tripe so a single 3 monther doesn´t strike me as being particularly attractive. Having done my sums I would say these days permie is pretty good considering what´s on offer. If you contract you don´t get paid holiday and often you end up with travelling expenses. If you do have travelling expenses it often isn´t worth it given the rates on offer.

I think one month notice is OK, for the contracts I´ve done one month would have been fine. You can probably save up a week or two holiday which would enable you to bulldoze your way out in two or three weeks.

Yeah sure there are contracts that need you tomorrow but there are plenty that don´t.

[warrenboon]

My view is that permanent & contracting are more or less fundamentally different work/income models. Being dissatisfied with your present gig (whether permanent or contract) is not necessarily a reason to consider switching. I would suggest taking a step back and considering whether in principle you want to contract. If you do, then decide whether the contract you have are looking at is attractive enough, or you want to wait for a better one. If you decide on balance that you don’t want to contract, then look for another permanent role.

[northernladuk]

My view is that permanent & contracting are more or less fundamentally different work/income models. Being dissatisfied with your present gig (whether permanent or contract) is not necessarily a reason to consider switching. I would suggest taking a step back and considering whether in principle you want to contract. If you do, then decide whether the contract you have are looking at is attractive enough, or you want to wait for a better one. If you decide on balance that you don’t want to contract, then look for another permanent role.

How can something be more or less fundamentally different?