How to get out of contracting?

[scooterscot]

I'd go to the green hills of Munnar and write and write about my interests... explore my ideas.

[Doggy Styles]

Permiedom is what awaits the ex-contractor.

You get a steady wage every month, free pension contributions, and you haven't got to worry about IR35, S660, or any of that sh*t.

You don't have to pay for training, or business insurance, or an accountant.

You might get a car, private health insurance, and membership of the local gym.

You get paid time off if you aren't well (or just fancy a day off), five or six weeks paid holiday a year, and a few grand in your pocket if they make you redundant.

You get paid days off if it snows, paid weeks off if your wife has a baby, and paid months off if your back develops a bit of an ache due to having to sit at a computer a work.

You don't have the stress of chasing work every few months, or even do much work, and you'll turn into Wilmslow.

So, what do you reckon?

[singhr]

You wont get many tips here, all the successful escapees no long post here.

[rootsnall]

Permiedom is what awaits the ex-contractor.

You get a steady wage every month, free pension contributions, and you haven't got to worry about IR35, S660, or any of that sh*t.

You don't have to pay for training, or business insurance, or an accountant.

You might get a car, private health insurance, and membership of the local gym.

You get paid time off if you aren't well (or just fancy a day off), five or six weeks paid holiday a year, and a few grand in your pocket if they make you redundant.

You get paid days off if it snows, paid weeks off if your wife has a baby, and paid months off if your back develops a bit of an ache due to having to sit at a computer a work.

You don't have the stress of chasing work every few months, or even do much work, and you'll turn into Wilmslow.

So, what do you reckon?

Yes, but you've got to turn up and do this tulip week in and week out.

[ratewhore]

Permiedom is what awaits the ex-contractor.

Only those with no imagination...

[stingman123]

Take a break, preferbly a long one, try to enjoy the fruits of your labour and appreciate all the benchwarmers waiting for a chance.

[Mich the Tester]

Permiedom is what awaits the ex-contractor.

You get a steady wage every month, free pension contributions, and you haven't got to worry about IR35, S660, or any of that sh*t.

You don't have to pay for training, or business insurance, or an accountant.

You might get a car, private health insurance, and membership of the local gym.

You get paid time off if you aren't well (or just fancy a day off), five or six weeks paid holiday a year, and a few grand in your pocket if they make you redundant.

You get paid days off if it snows, paid weeks off if your wife has a baby, and paid months off if your back develops a bit of an ache due to having to sit at a computer a work.

You don't have the stress of chasing work every few months, or even do much work, and you'll turn into Wilmslow.

So, what do you reckon?

Shall we make an appointment for your annual HR appraisal Mr DS? We’d like you to fill in this form first just to see how you feel you’re matching up to your KPIs and which areas you’d like to discuss with us; in your own time please.

[EternalOptimist]

We dont mean to be judgemental Mr Styles, but you were overheard this morning asking for a black coffee. We pride ourselves on being a non-discriminatory organisation and would like you to sign this form agreeing not to use hurtful and racist terms in the future

and stop staring at the birds in HR, its sexist and could be construed as harrassment

[Mich the Tester]

Dear Mr Styles

We at YouremployerCo are committed to encouraging diversity in our workplaces as a means to developing synergies in our integrated human productivity systems. Our Human Resources department have drawn up a set of KPIs for your team to meet. Unfortunately your team has not achieved the KPIs for ethnic diversity, despite several warnings, and now it has become a priority for Management to take action so as to ensure greater diversity going forward. It has become industry standard practice to realign supplier and employee relationships to ensure the continual improvement of processes, and to this end your team’s responsibilities are to be phased out and transferred to our offshore suppliers, B Shawadiwadi and Co Inc.

Due to this development we shall no longer be requiring your services and your employment will be terminated within 4 weeks. In the mean time, we trust that you shall continue executing your duties in a positive and professional manner, always putting our customers first.

Due to the large number of terminations this month we request that all employees bring suitable boxes from home so as to tidy up personal possessions at short notice and avoid unnecessary delays in our customer facing processes.

Kind Regards

A N Amoral-Shytte MBA
Director of Human Resources

[BlackenedBiker]

All work is contract based it is just some contracts have a non-defined end date.

With this in mind please allow me to share my experience with contract burn-out.

I got married 20 months ago. In the 2 years prior to the big day I worked my socks off. I had 12 days off (inc. Christmas). I chose this workload, as I wanted to pay off as much of my mortgage as possible before we got married. Whatismore I had to pay for a 2 month tours of the southern hemisphere and half of a wedding.

I put myself under a lot of pressure.

After the wedding I would have happily become a llama farmer in Wales. Anything but IT contracting I was burnt out, and I blamed IT contracting for my state of mind.

In the end I took a 3 month sabbatical to consider my options. I allowed myself to get bored/interested in out of work activities. I allowed myself to miss being involved in project work.

Since that time I have loved contracting again. I am working towards becoming a pucker business and I relish my work and doing as well as I can. However, I also make sure I am in balance, I work out, I get involved in my hobbies outside of work. This ensures that I am energised to work.

So my prescription is give yourself a break, avail yourself of the benefits of contract work and be kind to yourself and your family.

Obviously, this should be based on your financial ability to do so. If you are not financially able to give yourself a holiday then either you are not good with money or you are not undertaking contracts with sufficient remuneration to justify the effort. If the latter is the case then you really must question whether IT contracting is the career route for you.

HTH and good luck