Visitors can check out the Forum FAQ by clicking this link. You have to register before you can post: click the REGISTER link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. View our Forum Privacy Policy.
Want to receive the latest contracting news and advice straight to your inbox? Sign up to the ContractorUK newsletter here. Every sign up will also be entered into a draw to WIN £100 Amazon vouchers!
I assume you imply that anywhere north of the m25 is a different universe? We aint all that different you know.... then again have you seen the walking dead in that universe they call the underground or tube or something like that?
Oh and my first day as a contractor was wierd. It definitley feels different to a permie job in many ways and I can see why it aint for everybody....
My perspective is also Northern (and my search is nationwide) - I just don't recognise your upbeat assessment of the market for technical roles.
Nobody is saying it is amazing but looking around other threads there are a fair few people saying the market is way better than 2nd half of 2008 and that there are many more opportunities around.
Oh and my first day as a contractor was wierd. It definitley feels different to a permie job in many ways and I can see why it aint for everybody....
Part of that is the sense of freedom: although you may still go to an office for a certain number of hours each working day, you do so because you choose to do so, not because you are ordered to do so. You are there working under a contract that you entered into of your own free will for the sake of carrying on your business, rather than from the craven fear of unemployment that haunts the darkest corners of the permy mind
Another notable aspect of contracting is that you aren't there because they needed an employee: you are there because they needed somebody to do something they couldn't do themselves. You, yes you, are the expert who will Get Things Done
It's similar to being the gunslinger in a Western who rides into town, sorts things out, then tips the brim of his hat and rides quietly out again through the chaparral. "Who was that masked man?" the permies whisper to each other as you ride into the sunset.
"And why did he wear a mask? This is Penketh, FFS."
Well, you get the idea
Last edited by NickFitz; 11 February 2010, 04:36.
Reason: Can't spell "chaparral", apparently :(
Part of that is the sense of freedom: although you may still go to an office for a certain number of hours each working day, you do so because you choose to do so, not because you are ordered to do so. You are there working under a contract that you entered into of your own free will for the sake of carrying on your business, rather than from the craven fear of unemployment that haunts the darkest corners of the permy mind
Really? I reckon most people enter contracting and employment contracts under their own free will for the same reason - they need the money!
And while a piece of paper may say you are under no obligation to do anything, I doubt most clients would sit there and take it as a contractor just doesn't turn up some days, or refuses to do tasks they're asked to do.
How many contractors really work this way, rather than blustering about it online while actually turning up 9-5.30 each day and doing whatever they ask you to.
The ideals and legalities may be very different, and I'm sure some manage t make it work, but I would claim most contractors don't generally act in a way which would get them in trouble as a permie, for all the CUK bravado. The client is paying for you to do what they want, ultimately
Comment