Reply to: Investment Banking: Quit Perm -> Contract?

[Ruse]

£60-65k is a midrange salary for an IB but a mid-to-senior range salary for everybody else. The problem with going contracting and then wanting to go back to being a permie is that employers have different perceptions of the 2 groups i.e. that contractors are technically astute whereas permies are better at teamworking. A contractor who goes back to being a permie may well be viewed as somebody whose no longer at the top of his game and won't fit in and/or is only going back for the short term to re-skill.
Obviously for some positions, employers are desperate enough to overlook this and that will let you back in to re-skill but you'll be more limited in your choice of employers than you previously were.

WHS And after you have been contracting for a number of years and have reached a certain age threshold it is harder again to get considered for permanent roles if you want to go back to the security or permiedom.

[mace]

I dont agree with this at all. From my point of view if you are young and on a mediocre salary then I d say the risk of contracting is not as high as people might have you believe.

I m starting out for the first time and left a 65K perm salary with all the extras to do a contract.

If it all blows up I am pretty confident I could get a similar job to the one I left at 60-65K.

In my opinion it is worth the risk.

Now if I was on a 100k perm, doing something very niche, had a wife and kids that would be a different story

£60-65k is a midrange salary for an IB but a mid-to-senior range salary for everybody else. The problem with going contracting and then wanting to go back to being a permie is that employers have different perceptions of the 2 groups i.e. that contractors are technically astute whereas permies are better at teamworking. A contractor who goes back to being a permie may well be viewed as somebody whose no longer at the top of his game and won't fit in and/or is only going back for the short term to re-skill.
Obviously for some positions, employers are desperate enough to overlook this and that will let you back in to re-skill but you'll be more limited in your choice of employers than you previously were.

[BrilloPad]

Your implication being that 65K perm is in the "mediocre" range?

Hmmmm....maybe I need to look at this Investment Banking lark in more detail.

Dont do it. There is a reason so much money is involved.

[BlasterBates]

Don't quit until you have an offer. Now lets say your notice period did become a problem, at least you know that you can get a contract, and just angle another one. Generally though 1 months notice is not a problem. I'm a contractor, and I always look for contracts before my current contract has ended. Sometimes you find they'll take several weeks maybe more before they deicide on someone, 2 weeks here or there won't make a difference. Don't resign though until your very confident you are going to walk into something.

[Bright Spark]

contracting is more a lifestyle choice where you plan to work for a while
and then take long breaks, also your aim is to build up a network of clients
so then you can either get other contacts or sub contractors to do the work.

anybody benchmarking contractor rates with permie salary is comparing
apples with oranges.

[LazyFan]

Spot on SteveMcadden1. I am on 40k salary(banking) and in really bad situation with absolute no savings. Also have to train/teach incompetent guys (on top of heavy workload) who get paid more than me for some reason.

I am desperately trying to get back to contracting again.Could you please tell me how did you manage notice period requirements (4 weeks ) ?Recruiters always prefer someone who is available immediately.

This should be possible.
All you do is have 2 weeks holiday saved up. Then you only have to work 2 weeks right? Well at almost all places and this should include any Bank, you can take unpaid leave of 1 week or at least be able to buy back a week.

This leaves 1 weeks notice. Most clients will stretch to 1 week. And thus as you can see, you can walk out of your permi job in 1 week. This is why some nasty banks brought in the 3 month notice periods.

Until they worked out they would have to pay 3 months when they wanted to get rid of someone

[contractTopermie]

Spot on SteveMcadden1. I am on 40k salary(banking) and in really bad situation with absolute no savings. Also have to train/teach incompetent guys (on top of heavy workload) who get paid more than me for some reason.

I am desperately trying to get back to contracting again.Could you please tell me how did you manage notice period requirements (4 weeks ) ?Recruiters always prefer someone who is available immediately.

[SteveMcadden1]

Your implication being that 65K perm is in the "mediocre" range?

Hmmmm....maybe I need to look at this Investment Banking lark in more detail.

Take out tax and student loans and you get 3300 at the end of the month which is 40K a year.

By contracting on 400 a day and not taking out any salary I can take home 70K...

And I also realise that 400 per day is not great but its a foot in the door and next year I ll push for 450

[EddieNambulous]

I dont agree with this at all. From my point of view if you are young and on a mediocre salary then I d say the risk of contracting is not as high as people might have you believe.

I m starting out for the first time and left a 65K perm salary

Your implication being that 65K perm is in the "mediocre" range?

Hmmmm....maybe I need to look at this Investment Banking lark in more detail.

[SteveMcadden1]

Hang on in there until you are thrown out; don't jump.

I dont agree with this at all. From my point of view if you are young and on a mediocre salary then I d say the risk of contracting is not as high as people might have you believe.

I m starting out for the first time and left a 65K perm salary with all the extras to do a contract.

If it all blows up I am pretty confident I could get a similar job to the one I left at 60-65K.

In my opinion it is worth the risk.

Now if I was on a 100k perm, doing something very niche, had a wife and kids that would be a different story

[HairyArsedBloke]

Hang on in there until you are thrown out; don't jump.

[kaiser78]

Anyone thinking of leaving a good permi job to go contracting in the current state of the market needs their head examined

Agree to a point and only to a point - it is especially hard to get the 1st contract, obviously given the current market, but also due to the switching of mindsets from perm to contract, perception to potential clients, notice periods etc etc (check other posts on this site).

Why I say to a point - if you have stand out CV with USPs (see my post yesterday) that really stand out, there is no reason why to not give contracting a go - but DO bear in mind you could be looking for 2 weeks, 2 months, 6 months etc (who knows), so make sure that the money tree in your backgarden is in full bloom...

It depends on how big a risk you want to take compared to your needs or desires to move to the other side. Do however, follow what your gut instinct tells you to do. Best of luck.

[Fred Bloggs]

Anyone thinking of leaving a good permi job to go contracting in the current state of the market needs their head examined

I agree.

[Not So Wise]

Anyone thinking of leaving a good permi job to go contracting in the current state of the market needs their head examined

[BrilloPad]

Do you have a contract offer on the table at the moment?