My first contract

**stek** · 11 June 2013, 05:12

Unlikely unless skill set is very niche.

**Mich the Tester** · 11 June 2013, 07:40

Originally posted by stek View Post

Unlikely unless skill set is very niche.

WHS

This might sound harsh, but if you're scared of leaving a job to go contracting then you need to ask yourself if you're ready for contracting. How are you going to feel when you start a contract, thinking you've got 6 months work and then after a couple of weeks the budget's pulled and you're out on your arse? Or when clientco or agent goes bust and you don't get paid? That kind of thing happens to contractors from time to time. Think hard about it first, and if you decide to take the plunge then do it (with a few months salary saved up), hand in your notice and find a contract, but anyway; I'm a tester too, and at the moment there are plenty of people available and nobody's going to wait for you unless you're very specialised indeed or you have a great track record built up at a number of different clients.

**kevpuk** · 11 June 2013, 07:52

Generally, what they said ^^

Then again, my first contract waited 4 weeks for me to leave permie~dom.....but most gigs I had shot for wouldn't wait for me, so I was kinda lucky as well as having the exact skillset that my current Client was looking for

**Scrag Meister** · 11 June 2013, 08:28

I haven't found it an issue, they usually take a while getting the paperwork together anyway.

Went to my 2nd contract with a 4 week notice period and also my current one too, even when I was immediately available for my 1st contract the client took 3 weeks to sort it all out..

Most sensible clients will be willing to wait for the right person, assuming that the project merits it.

Mine have always been minimum 6 months.

**BolshieBastard** · 11 June 2013, 08:51

Originally posted by ChrisButt View Post

Hi All,

I've made the decision to step away from permanent work and become a UAT/Systems Tester contractor.
My problem is that I do not want to leave my current job until I have a contract job in place but I need to give 4 weeks notice in my existing role.
Is it at all possible that a company/agency may advertise a contract where it doesn't require an immediate start?
Thanks in advance for any help.

Unless you live in \ near London or Edinburgh \ Glasgow, the contract test market is carp right now and has been since January. Lots of companies who would be looking to take on contractors are instead recruiting permies. I've just had a call about a well known gambling company looking to take on 10 permanent test analysts. On Friday, there was a similar advert for a bank in Glasgow wanting 10 permanent test analysts. Last year, these would have been contract roles.

IMO, you've chosen the wrong time to jump to contracting as even season campaigners with excellent cv's (if I may say so myself!) are finding the market to be very tough.

When I made the change from perm to contract years ago, my first client was prepared to wait during my notice period. I very much doubt clients will wait 4 weeks \ a month now. That's if you can find someone taking on contractors.

**cherhill** · 11 June 2013, 09:07

I think you would be crazy to go contracting right now. I have been contracting for 15 years in testing and have never known it so tough. There are roles about but there are also a lot of people applying for these roles. So it's highly unlikely anybody will wait 4 weeks for you when there are lots of people readily available. This is of course unless you have a niche skill but for testers there aren't really any niche skills IMHO. Automation testers, penetration testers are still in demand though. What are your skills?

**psychocandy** · 11 June 2013, 09:14

My first ever contract - late 90s they waited the month for me.

Don't think it'll happen these days. As for canning the permie job and jumping - deffo ring twitcher that one.

This time round I waited for redundancies and took VR so at least I had a half tidy wedge to keep me going for a bit in case I couldn't get anything. (and I sort of knew I'd be down for redundancy anyway and it was more for VR).

My first contract