Reply to: Starting a new contract - checklist

[psychocandy]

Yeh. My first ever contract years ago they waited a month for me to hand notice in to permie job. Probably wouldnt happen these days...

But then didnt even get contract reviewed etc. This was all pre-IR35.

[kevpuk]

At the risk of going against the grain here, I actually started looking and interviewing whilst still in my last permie role - with a 4-week notice period. My experiences were that some many agents figured this would be a problem....and I generally never heard back, some agencies were open to possibilities....and I never heard back but I did twice get to interview.
Now, the first gig was really not actually that much of a match for what I wanted to do, and - although I did not get the gig - my permie-dom notice was not an issue. The second interview was arguably my perfect gig, and I went in with the Agent and Client on the premise of 'I know it is a 4-week wait, but I will show I am worth it'.....which included a skills assessment and interview.....and they subsequently offered, and I accepted.

Happy all round

(Not sure if it is worth noting that both companies are large/multinational)

I guess the message from all that was the notice period/greenness to contracting was quite likely an issue for most of the gigs that I threw my hat into the ring for, but it is also possible for all things to align and the right gig find the right body et al.

[malvolio]

Malv - Im surprised at you. Are you suggesting the OP shouldnt bother getting the contract reviewed?

Also, I think he said 3 days notice not 3 weeks.

No, I'm saying he can't expect the world and his wife to wait for him to get everything done in permie slowtime. B&C will cycle a review in less than a day for a fee, as will several other suppliers, for example. And can you think of an agent that would put forward a candidate still holding down a permie role, no matter what promised notice period is on the table, when he's bound to have other available options?

It's merely meant as a dash of cold water to remind the OP he's in a different world wth different priorities.

[malvolio]

Can they type a URL without f**king it up ??

I did say they were real experts. In vino typo...

[psychocandy]

One minor detail....

Why do you think someone wanting a temporary resource will wait 2-3 weeks while you -a first time contractor with no history - faff around and serve your notice period? Or that the agency will be delighted to wait while you send them back an amended contract they will have no intention of agreeing to? The offer will be withdrawn by about Day 3: Day 1 if they find you're still in a job..

Interview one Monday, start the next one. That's your timeframe. Plan accordingly.

HTH

Malv - Im surprised at you. Are you suggesting the OP shouldnt bother getting the contract reviewed?

Also, I think he said 3 days notice not 3 weeks.

[TestMangler]

And get over to www.pg.org.uk, download their Guide to Freelancing and start reading. Everything you are asking is in there, written by real experts (ones even better than me... )

Can they type a URL without f**king it up ??

[NibblyPig]

I wish you would try the search option. Everything any newbie to contracting wants to know, and more importantly, 1000's of posts on what he doesn't know he needs to know is there.

Try reading through them and get an idea what is a contentious issue and what is we all seem to agree on. Find the bits we cannot agree and the ones we are as one. It is pretty obvious from posts.

Just starting threads to chat away is not really doing good research and allowing you to learn and make your own mind up. Remember, as a contractor you are by yourself, no hand hold, no HR, no line manager and on top of that you are also legally responsible for your finances. Time to step up rather than just making idle chit chat about nothing in particular.

Do all that and then come back with a specific question.

I have been using the search option, but I haven't had any success with it. If you'd like to give me an example search with some specific results, I will gladly eat my words and apologise, but honestly, my other search was about CVs and the search engine won't let me type CV in (try it!), and my other question was quite specific. Believe me, I've spent the past two days trawling through the forums doing a variety of searches, and I wouldn't have asked if I could find what I wanted to know elsewhere.

I don't want to piss anyone off, I just had a couple of noob questions. Plus, with a happy checklist, future noobs will see this post, which I hope is a frequently asked question ("What's the process when I find a contract?"), and my quite obvious question will stop them from giving you the infuriating task of having to click my questions, read them, and have a go. So we both win. Chums?


Thanks cojak. Seems some people take more risks than others. I will probably have no choice about the contract wording, but I'll just try to conduct myself in a way that is compliant with being outside of IR35, get insurance, and do the best I can.

[malvolio]

And get over to www.pg.org.uk, download their Guide to Freelancing and start reading. Everything you are asking is in there, written by real experts (ones even better than me... )

[northernladuk]

I have my contract and working practices outside of IR35 and consider my company a proper business.

I perform due diligence on my clients and expect them to do the same to me. How others work is of no concern of mine.

There are so many suckers out there HMRC will have a grand old time with them.

Totally this. I mean, what if they decide to come up with some stupid questions to try and sort the chaff from the wheat and then go after the easy targets... oh.. hang on

Just because some people can't run their business properly should be no concern of yours, run yours properly and keep yourself safe.

[cojak]

Hah. Based on what I know, every contractor I've spoken to in real life either has no idea what IR35 is, or is just ignoring it and hoping that by keeping their contracts "fairly short" (under 18 months) that they'll never have to worry about it. (No, they don't have insurance against it either).

I'm trying to get a feel for what people on this forum are doing. I'm currently leaning towards will call you a sucker for not getting a contract review whilst simultaneously simply ignoring IR35, but I am really trying to ascertain the truth

I have my contract and working practices outside of IR35 and consider my company a proper business.

I perform due diligence on my clients and expect them to do the same to me. How others work is of no concern of mine.

There are so many suckers out there HMRC will have a grand old time with them.

[northernladuk]

I wish you would try the search option. Everything any newbie to contracting wants to know, and more importantly, 1000's of posts on what he doesn't know he needs to know is there.

Try reading through them and get an idea what is a contentious issue and what is we all seem to agree on. Find the bits we cannot agree and the ones we are as one. It is pretty obvious from posts.

Just starting threads to chat away is not really doing good research and allowing you to learn and make your own mind up. Remember, as a contractor you are by yourself, no hand hold, no HR, no line manager and on top of that you are also legally responsible for your finances. Time to step up rather than just making idle chit chat about nothing in particular.

Do all that and then come back with a specific question.

[oversteer]

Ultimately 7 days notice is better than most permies who will have a month.

QDOS will turn around a contract pretty quickly.

Apply for jobs, get interviews then worry about it.

[NibblyPig]

Hah. Based on what I know, every contractor I've spoken to in real life either has no idea what IR35 is, or is just ignoring it and hoping that by keeping their contracts "fairly short" (under 18 months) that they'll never have to worry about it. (No, they don't have insurance against it either).

I'm trying to get a feel for what people on this forum are doing. I'm currently leaning towards will call you a sucker for not getting a contract review whilst simultaneously simply ignoring IR35, but I am really trying to ascertain the truth

[malvolio]

That makes perfect sense, but half the forum is saying you must get IR35 reviews, you mustn't start without a contract etc. but on the other hand I'm hearing, you have to start (no time for a review) you can't change your contract (the agency won't let you) and you need to quit your job before even seeing the contract for it to work.

This is very stressful and confusing!

If it wasn't, everyone would be doing it. Welcome to our world.

[NibblyPig]

One minor detail....

Why do you think someone wanting a temporary resource will wait 2-3 weeks while you -a first time contractor with no history - faff around and serve your notice period? Or that the agency will be delighted to wait while you send them back an amended contract they will have no intention of agreeing to? The offer will be withdrawn by about Day 3: Day 1 if they find you're still in a job..

Interview one Monday, start the next one. That's your timeframe. Plan accordingly.

HTH

That makes perfect sense, but half the forum is saying you must get IR35 reviews, you mustn't start without a contract etc. but on the other hand I'm hearing, you have to start (no time for a review) you can't change your contract (the agency won't let you) and you need to quit your job before even seeing the contract for it to work.

This is very stressful and confusing!