Looking to go Contracting

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

I assume most if not all of you are being sarcastic about the contracting market?

Is that a definite no for the time being then?

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

Jeebo:

I would be happy with £200/day for the next few years, the issue I have is I don't know if it is possible to get a contract while I am in a perm role, I have been trying for 1 year with no success. Is that because the market is dead or because of the month's notice I need to give?

And If i resign what are the chances I will actually find a role in 1 -2 months?

Thanks

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

Also how do I go about finding a contract?

I have been searching on CWJobs and theITJobBoard got over a year with 0 success on contracts, maybe thats due to notice period?

[singhr]

Come down to London, stand on London Bridge with a sign saying 'SQL Server Database Developer for hire' and I guarantee you will be in a highly paid gig by lunchtime

[sweetandsour]

I assume most if not all of you are being sarcastic about the contracting market?

Is that a definite no for the time being then?

You are right, we are all being sarcastic.

If you are safely in a permie job at the moment you might not have noticed that the country has been in the midst of a severe recession for the last year. The effect of this has been that companies are avoiding as many costs as they can so vast numbers of non-essential IT projects have been put on hold.

As a result there is a much higher number than usual of IT workers (contractors and permies) who are not working at the moment and you are competing against all of those, who are able to start immediately, so your notice period would be a problem.

Things won't stay like this for ever but how long can you last with no income? There is another thread on here at the moment asking about the numbers who have been out for three months or more.

Also how do I go about finding a contract?

I have been searching on CWJobs and theITJobBoard got over a year with 0 success on contracts, maybe thats due to notice period?

When you say you've been searching on the jobs boards with no success do you mean that your searches have returned no results? It might pay to change the search criteria you use.

You must have had some conversations with recruitment agents - what was the feedback?

Very few companies will wait for a contractor to start - unless they have very niche skills and you don't seem to.

So unless you can engineer the safety-blanket of a redundancy payment or career break or long holiday from your permie employer to make yourself available immediately then you have to resign without a contract to go to (I did).

If you can't handle that level of uncertainty about your income then you are probably not going to cope with the realities of moving from contract to contract and this will not be the life for you.

[chris79]

1. Do I need a lot more experience before I can go contracting?
2. Would it be wise to resign anytime soon and start looking for contract jobs?
3. How do I enter the contracting market? Can I stay perm and look for one in the meantime?

1. No, contracting is available to anyone, although at a junior level it may be more referred to as 'temping'.. (i.e. filling a space rather than seeking in specialist skills).

2. Yep, get your notice in ASAP, the faster you do this, the faster you can be a contractor.

3. No, you need to quit your job before you are allowed to log into Jobserve. That's the golden rule of contracting I'm afraid..

[RichardCranium]

I have been searching on CWJobs and theITJobBoard got over a year with 0 success on contracts

If I resign what are the chances I will actually find a role in 1 -2 months?

The answer is in the question.

[EddieNambulous]

I have always liked the idea of contracting but have never been able to.

Lots of permies that I come across like the idea of contracting. They see these contractors come in, get paids loads of cash in a short amount of time and then disappear.

They don't realize what a tough, unstable, uncertain lifestyle choice it is - especially these days with this current recession. The rewards are big but so are the risks.

You haven't been very clear about why you want to go contracting.

[cs#]

any sane person would tell you to keep your perm right now....

you need a lot of luck out there these days, you'll get bored searching, you'll revalue what you left, you'll lose motivation, you'll pull your hair.... get the picture?

but I'm not a sane person, so jump out, be brave and you'll stumble somewhere sooner or later, maybe you endup in a new industry, shaping the "future", setup a recruitment agency!

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

Thanks all for your advice, it is much appreciated and has given me plenty to think about.

The best piece of advice I have seen was on another forum:

1) Tell agencies you are available immediatley
2) See if you can get any interviews and maybe an offer or two
3) If I do then either reject those and resign from my job with the hope of getting some more or force my way out (i dont know if thats a good idea).

I was also told to tell any agency that my company was not recruiting to fill my place so as to avoid them trying to jump in. I got a call today and that was the first thing they asked lol.

Does that sound like a good plan of action guys?