Reply to: taking long breaks

[theroyale]

Hi,

I was wondering what peoples experiences have been if they've tried contracting for say 6 months a year and having 6 months off .. I'm now in my 50s, mortgage paid off, pension (sipp) ok, and currently enough savings to last a year on the bench without having to sell any assets so financially I should be ok .. unless I did go without work for over a year! If I did work for 6 months that would last me another 6 months now so theoretically I would be able to be on the bench for 18 months from finishing a contract.

If anyone has done this how did they find their prospective clients responded to large gaps - I've only spoken to one person who did this and he said he had quite negative experiences/feedback when trying to get new contracts - practical or a pie in the sky pre-retirement idea (figure 3 years to go before I retire)?

thanks
Slogger

Year 7 contracting, had about 3.5 years of that off work in total, by choice.

Last 1.5 years roughly as follows: 4 months on, 5 months off, 1 month on, 2 months off, 2 months on this spring, now off for the 2-3 summer months.

I only put year-dates on my CV, not months of start and finish. Generally I'm not asked by agencies about gaps except for "when did you finish last contract". Answer is usually (and truthfully) "been doing some travelling since last finish".

I don't have highly niche skills but my skillset has been in demand for a while (SQL/BI/DWH dev/architecture). In fact I think the non-specialism helps as I'm in line for loads of roles instead of just a handful.

So of course its possible, without getting too worried about it. I've learned that the biggest thing is to sound confident about my lifestyle choice when talking to the salesmen (as well as the client if it comes to it - but they usually have more pressing things to quiz me on rather than my time away from work).

There have been other recent threads about this too if you do a little search.

[washed up contractor]

Of course you can take long 'breaks' either voluntarily or enforced bench time. Ive known contractors benched for 1 or 2 years (there's 1 well known poster on here who's recently secured a new contract after 2 years bench time).

A friend of mine was benched for 12 months. Another I know left contracting completely to start another venture, didnt work out and got a new contract after over two and a half years out.

Agents are reporting more frequent and larger gaps on cvs. You might not walk into as high a profile role as you left if you're out for 12 months or more and might have to accept a lower rate. But, it is not impossible.

[SueEllen]

How do you ensure that?

You can't but you can try by aiming at companies who tend to give long term contracts and asking relevant questions at interview.

[northernladuk]

PS: My advice after a long break is you should ensure that you get a long-term contract.

How do you ensure that?

[Bee]

I put a note on my CV regarding the sabbatical period, only a few agencies asked about it.

PS: My advice after a long break is you should ensure that you get a long-term contract.

[Bee]

Bee, not asking for specifics but just wondering why you where off for 2 years, was it for a certain reason, family reason etc or was it just you wanted a few years off to chill as what you did can effect peoples opinions and make it easier or harder to get back into work after it.

Did anyone ask when you went to interviews?

I put a note on my CV regarding the sabbatical period, only a few agencies asked about it.

[curtis]

Bee, not asking for specifics but just wondering why you where off for 2 years, was it for a certain reason, family reason etc or was it just you wanted a few years off to chill as what you did can effect peoples opinions and make it easier or harder to get back into work after it.

Did anyone ask when you went to interviews?

[Bee]

Unless people specifically say they are aboard due to the site being called "Contractor UK" then all information on agencies, finance, law etc will be only relevant to the UK. Even in the UK we have 3 legal jurisdictions and so things that are relevant in England and Wales may be different in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Oh and the final bit of my post wasn't an insult it is relevant for all posts on the site whether the poster is an accountant or some other professional.

Here we go again, what this have to do with taking long brakes?
You will always get mixed opinions, it's hard for you to understand because you are a closed-minded person.

Returning to the marked after a long break it dependents on your skill set and your flexibility, among others, and the experiences shared here will be always vague.

Obsolete discussions like this make this forum boring and dead.

[SueEllen]

Here we go again!!!
I'm not going to spend my Latin explaining all over again.
Keep your closed mentality only in the UK market.

Good luck!

Unless people specifically say they are aboard due to the site being called "Contractor UK" then all information on agencies, finance, law etc will be only relevant to the UK. Even in the UK we have 3 legal jurisdictions and so things that are relevant in England and Wales may be different in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Oh and the final bit of my post wasn't an insult it is relevant for all posts on the site whether the poster is an accountant or some other professional.

[Bee]

Indeed but they should be able to assume what they are reading relates to the UK.

Assuming was always your and Suellen's problem in every thread.

If you are a contractor, you increase your opportunities if you travel outside of your own country, studying other markets even dough sometimes could be difficult. If you have a business, you should know this better. Ask your accountant.

[Bee]

Some of your random statements actually count as advice.

Though people get what they pay for on this site.

Here we go again!!!
I'm not going to spend my Latin explaining all over again.
Keep your closed mentality only in the UK market.

Good luck!

[northernladuk]

Some of your random statements actually count as advice.

Though people get what they pay for on this site.

Indeed but they should be able to assume what they are reading relates to the UK.

[SueEllen]

What advice?

Some of your random statements actually count as advice.

Though people get what they pay for on this site.

[Bee]

So pretty useless feedback on a UK site. Might be worth pointing out you aren't in the UK when giving advice like this?

What advice?

[northernladuk]

The European Union. Oh, wait...

So pretty useless feedback on a UK site. Might be worth pointing out you aren't in the UK when giving advice like this?