Unpaid overtime is for permies!!
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swings and roundabouts.Originally posted by WetBehindTheEars
you're a contractor and will move from job to job. sometimes the work will be as you describe and sometimes it won't. depends on so many different factors, like what who you are, what you do, the culture of the client, whether a systems integrator is managing the project etc.
when you are living out of a suitcase working normal hours can just mean more time in the hotel bar. sounds fine but you end up drinking profits and putting on weight. working the hours off can makes sense. quite a few of us work long hours to gain a day (i work 5 days in 4) - maybe some of contractors around you are doing this?
"fitting in" is vital as a contractor (unless you are very niche/exclusive and can paint your own picture) and is absolutely crucial on your first and second jobs. whatever the culture you need to convert to it. sometimes it will be tough and sometimes a doddle. stick it out - the next one might be peachy.
it is probably not just the hours it is the uncertainty about job security, payments, colleague relationships and just being a contractor. it feels different doesn't it? you will get used to it and when you feel more comfortable in your contracting skin you will find you have the strength to not let them walk all over you. when you start thinking about your work in terms of your business (i assume you are ltd) then it will change.
i have rarely found fellow contractors scheming and stabbing in order to get renewals. we might jockey for a particular piece of work or squeeze information out of each other - that's as fas as it goes. it seems to me you are still thinking permie - the job will end sooner or later and then you get another one.Comment
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Sound advice DS23.
<qoute>It is probably not just the hours it is the uncertainty about job security, payments, colleague relationships and just being a contractor.</quote>
Yeah, spot on. I think I'm still having doubts about whether I did the right thing going contract. I talked myself out of it lots of times before I actually went for it.
Job security is my biggest fear. Finding that next contract on the right rate and in the right location. Was talking to one of the other contractors here and he said that some of the Senior Management can be ruthless if you get on the wrong side of them or screw something up. They sound a bit like Alan Sugar wanabees - your fired! Apparently on-the-spot sackings have happened, although I have not witnessed any to be fair, it might just be gossip.
I'm also a bit worried about this IR35 crap. I've formed my own Ltd company and put myself outside IR35 but I don't understand it all to be honest. I figured no employment rights, no sick pay, no pension, no holiday pay, looking for work every 3\6 months - doesn't sound like a regular employee to me.
Last question - for now - how close to the end of a contract is the right time to start looking for the next gig? Does 1 month sound about right?Comment
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He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.
Benjamin Franklin
US author, diplomat, inventor, physicist, politician, printer and Freemason(1706 - 1790)Comment
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Always difficult to tell. I typically start around a month before the end but, as I am a PM, getting the time to look whilst still on contract is hard. Jobs go so quickly that its no good doing the search in the evenings either (even without family committments)!!Originally posted by WetBehindTheEars
I agree it is tough making the transition from permie to contractor. Stick with it and reap the rewards and flexibility. I have been doing it for 3 years now and I still get nervous when looking for new work but I am confident it will get easier - or my attititude to it all will be more relaxed.
There a whole string of benefits to balance the downside. I can't list them all but one of them is the flexibility. I ended a contract in May and it wasn't extended. My wife and I decided to go off on holiday and spent nearly 5 weeks travelling round the US and Canada!!
Try getting a permie line manager to let you do that!! 
Stick with it!!
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Something about that statement deffinatley doesnt add up!Originally posted by Mustang
The Mods stole my post count!Comment
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Ditto that dude!Originally posted by Devlin 
Do what thou wiltComment
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I work in the North West. Plenty of jobs in Midlands/Leeds but none are really commutable (M6/M62 can be nightmares to use). My current client has just cut the contractors by 50% on the project I am on. The people staying didn't put in anymore hours than me. Sometimes they definitely put in less then the required 40 hours per week. I have been consistently busy while they sat around with not much to do but it was me that was let go.Originally posted by WetBehindTheEars
At the end of the day how a PM decides who to keep and who to bin is just random (or I upset someone). If I am on the bench to long then the missus will have to just lump the fact that I shall have to work away from home during the week. It certainly would make my life less stressful knowing that I would have more choice and less downtime. Saying all that though I have not had a break for the last 14 months and am looking for to some R&R.
Too close for missiles, I'm switching to guns.Comment
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eh? something wrong here... this has never happened before! must have had a rare moment of lucidity. normal service will be resumed soon enough no doubt.Originally posted by WetBehindTheEarsComment
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Silly thing to say. I have over 25 years in IT and I still learn something new each day.Originally posted by WetBehindTheEars
My main contract is for 1000 hours from now to the end of the year and to work when I want.“Brexit is having a wee in the middle of the room at a house party because nobody is talking to you, and then complaining about the smell.”Comment
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