How did you make the permie to contractor jump?

[Paddy]

I made the move to contract work just to shut up the pimps from phoning me and pestering me to go contracting.

BTW, the clalls did not stop and I was persuaded to jump ship the first week, that was the best move ever and to a very lucrative one.

[Cliphead]

Drifted into IT after uni by doing dev jobs for small companies mostly via people I knew / word of mouth and building a reputation. After a couple of years doing that I fired off CV's to some agencies looking for a permie role, first call from an agent asked me if I'd consider a short contract which I took and never looked back after that.

[escapeUK]

My permie MD gave me the final straw on a Friday, I quit Monday. Had a month relaxing, then a catchup e-mail to a contact got me 18 months of work.

I had enough money to live for 4 years in the bank when I quit, so it didnt seem scary at all. More relieved to get out of a situation I had hated for years.

[Lockhouse]

Was permie for four years, worked my way up from junior op to systems administrator. Purse strings got pulled, all the ops left and I was put back on shift and asked to take a pay cut. Quit (threw my toys out of pram, ripped phone off wall etc).

Walked back to my desk and the phone rang "Have you ever thought if going contracting?" Went from £8000 per year to £650 per week. That was over 25 years ago.

[SimonMac]

Was not working at the time, I applied for a contract and a permie job, was offered both, took the contract and never looked back

[Mich the Tester]

Worked for a couple of consultancies for about six years, got trained up in DBA work and testing, and on my last project as a permie I was hired out to Accidenture who charged their clientco some loony rate like 1500 euros a day, paid my boss 800 euros a day and I was left with a salary of about 2500 euros a month plus travel costs and a room in one of the world's tuliptiest hotels where the bed had three legs and a cupboard collapsed on top of me during the night thanks to the vibrations from the fat trucker in the next room with his rent boy. I chatted to my Account Manager suggesting I'd found a better place to sleep that was cheaper, but there was no flexibility at all and I was told 'if you're so bloody clever go and run your own business'. So I did; I built up a network, enough savings to live for 3 months and saved up lots of holidays and as soon as the project was over I started making phone calls within my own network. Handed in resignation after a week in the office having found a contract, took all my holidays and left.

Unfortunately the very next day the turbo blew up on my car, costing me 1500 euros in repairs and car hire and the bloody washing machine gave up the ghost. I spent the first two months of contracting sleeping in one of the country's worst B&Bs and making myself sandwiches from the local Aldi, only going home at weekends. Then when the first invoice was paid I booked into the Amstel Hotel for a night, had a bloody good meal in La Rive with Lady Tester and bought her a Miele the next day, which does not break down. A month later I ordered a new car, and at the end of my contract 6 months later I had more savings than I'd ever dreamt of, a new contract on a higher rate and a lifestyle that made me feel like a millionaire.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

Those of you who have read my posts often like to have a go at me for me constant jumping ship nature.... Well here is a bit of background to it all:

-First job at telco for 18 months
-Second job at small insurance firm for just over 2 years

I tend to get bored after 6-9 months especially when there is jack all to do... I had to put up with second job due to recession and was dying to get into contracting for about a 9 months before I finally landed that first contract. Initially told client I was available immediately but then told them 3 weeks. I was starting to go insane in permie land and am so happy I left that dark world...

I am definitely much more suited to contracting as I get bored quickly with most contracts. I am starting to look for longer-term roles now though so am becoming very picky with the role...

[Mich the Tester]

I tend to get bored after 6-9 months especially when there is jack all to do... I had to put up with second job due to recession and was dying to get into contracting for about a 9 months before I finally landed that first contract. Initially told client I was available immediately but then told them 3 weeks. I was starting to go insane in permie land and am so happy I left that dark world...

I am definitely much more suited to contracting as I get bored quickly with most contracts. I am starting to look for longer-term roles now though so am becoming very picky with the role...

I'm like that. Never wanted to stick around for a long time. What really gets my goat is when some HR numpty at an agent starts suggesting that lots of short contracts is a bad thing as I don't stay somewhere for more than 6 months or so. I often have to explain politely that I like to work on a project until it's finished and then move to a 'new challenge' and that if they phone my old project managers they'll find that I stick at it until the job's done and get results. Sometimes I'd actually like to grap them by the scruff of the neck and shout in their ears 'listen I'm a f**king contractor and not a permie; I don't do this to make friends, join the Clientco Personnel Glee Club and get a cheap watch after 40 years service or get upgraded to a 2 litre Vectra and a parking space next to the HR manager, I do it for money so I can go home after work and enjoy the one and only life I've got instead of wasting it as a corporate drone, alright?'

[JohannM]

Had a perm job back home (not UK) for 8 years, went for a holiday in Aus, landed a contract unexpectedly for 4 months, 2 months travelling from the money I made, started to love contracting, went to Ireland to meet some friends before going back home, got offered a 6 week contract out of the blues, small co wanted something to go live pretty quickly, loved contracting much more, spent 3 years in Ireland, after that got offered a job in Brussels, 3 years down the road now and still going strong

[NotAllThere]

..Went from £8000 per year to £650 per week. That was over 25 years ago.

So that's about £32K? 4x increase. I only went from £20K to £60K (1995).