Reply to: Perm/Contractor which job is easier to get?

[unixman]

Are contract jobs, much more difficult to get than perms?

I find that *near to your home* contracts are harder to get than permanent jobs.

[SueEllen]

Also, for contract work, what is the usual process? Is it:

There is no usual process.

Some companies like to get their monies worth so will interview everyone under the sun who is available. Then take months to get back to their chosen candidate and find they are not available.

Some companies will hold the interviews like a permanent job.

Some companies will just interview you on the phone or over skype.

Some companies will expect you to turn up to a face-to-face and interview you.

Some companies will interview you within an hour of submitting your CV, while others will take months to get round to interviewing you so in the mean time you have taken and completed another contract.

Some companies interviews will just be a chat while others will consist of a panel of interviewers asking obscure technical questions to make themselves feel good.

Some contracts you will find through mates or just being in the right place at the right time. Others agents will phone you up for and rarely you will apply for something that is actually live.

[DannyF1966]

Are contract jobs, much more difficult to get than perms?

To get back to the OP's question for a moment, in my experience (what little there is of it), contract roles have been easier to get than permanent jobs. A couple of years ago I was facing redundancy, applied for lots of permie jobs, got a few interviews, second interviews in two or three cases, and got rejected for all of them. A couple of weeks before the company actually closed down I got a call from an agency asking if I'd consider a contract role. At that point I'd have considered anything so I said yes. Had the interview, got the gig, 3-month contract ended up getting extended for a year. When that one finished I put my CV out again and managed to land another role straight away. That role (my current one) has been extended a few times as well.

So as far as I'm concerned contracts are easier to land than permie jobs. I think partly because the client might consider it more of an "easy come easy go" thing and if it doesn't work out they can get rid of you very easily, although I may be completely wrong there.

Of course, there's nothing stopping you applying for a contract and taking it from there. I used an umbrella company for my first contract as I wasn't sure how long it would last, and set up my own Ltd when my second contract started.

Hope this helps

[northernladuk]

I do appreciate where you're coming form, and you're right - there are a scary number of contractors who barely know they're contracting. At the same time, though, it does bug me, because I'm sure many of do refer to our current project as a job and I really don't think there's anything inherently wrong with that.

Maybe we just need to highlight that it's not a job in the traditional permie sense!

To be fair I never use the term if I can help it. Causes confusion when talking to anyone else outside the contracting circle as well. I got a new job. Ohhh given up contracting? Oh FFS..

[vwdan]

Agree with this. The reason I make the point is because I am thinking about the OP and not the seasoned lot. We know the difference so it's not you lot I'm aiming the comment at. There are many new posters that don't understand the subtle differences and will plod on thinking they have a job with a manager as they did in perm land. A re-think of their situation is needed and getting little things like this right early on will avoid many issues moving forward. Same when we point out to posters that the money in the business account is not their money.

I do appreciate where you're coming form, and you're right - there are a scary number of contractors who barely know they're contracting. At the same time, though, it does bug me, because I'm sure many of do refer to our current project as a job and I really don't think there's anything inherently wrong with that.

Maybe we just need to highlight that it's not a job in the traditional permie sense!

[northernladuk]

Absolute bollocks.

Agree with this. The reason I make the point is because I am thinking about the OP and not the seasoned lot. We know the difference so it's not you lot I'm aiming the comment at. There are many new posters that don't understand the subtle differences and will plod on thinking they have a job with a manager as they did in perm land. A re-think of their situation is needed and getting little things like this right early on will avoid many issues moving forward. Same when we point out to posters that the money in the business account is not their money.

[vwdan]

Job = IR35 in contracting terms. That is why.

Absolute bollocks.

[kaiser78]

I don't get the obsession that forum has with banging on this drum. "Job" is used in so many professions to mean so many different things that trying to lambaste people for using it here is just daft.

Speak to your plumber and he may tell you he's got a big job on for the council.
A Response Police Officer will find himself attending numerous blue light jobs during the day, same as paramedic.

I was going to say that I see job as being perfectly synonymous for a project, but the OED have beaten me to it:

http://i.imgur.com/fCa1bec.png

job - definition of job in English from the Oxford dictionary

Job = IR35 in contracting terms. That is why.

[vwdan]

Before "someone" jumps in - it's not a contract "job". It's a project, or a role, or a gig - but it's not a job. Jobs are for permies.

I don't get the obsession that forum has with banging on this drum. "Job" is used in so many professions to mean so many different things that trying to lambaste people for using it here is just daft.

Speak to your plumber and he may tell you he's got a big job on for the council.
A Response Police Officer will find himself attending numerous blue light jobs during the day, same as paramedic.

I was going to say that I see job as being perfectly synonymous for a project, but the OED have beaten me to it:

http://i.imgur.com/fCa1bec.png

job - definition of job in English from the Oxford dictionary

[northernladuk]

I got paid around £50k as a permie and now I get paid £11k as a contractor

[kaiser78]

Before "someone" jumps in - it's not a contract "job". It's a project, or a role, or a gig - but it's not a job. Jobs are for permies.

Agree - and to OP, most of us don't move to contracting just for the higher pay...

[AMH]

might be higher pay, but you won't get paid if you are sick, on holiday, have to go to a funeral, etc.
Then you have to pay your business taxes, your accountant, liability & indemnity insurances, etc. before you even think of about wages.

[TheFaQQer]

Phone Interview with pimp

This implies that the agent knows what they are talking about - generally they won't be in a position to interview you. They may check you have the right skills (not that they really know that), chat about where you have worked (and milk you for information / references), and barter you down to the lowest acceptable rate they can get away with paying.

But it's not really an interview.

[TheFaQQer]

Before "someone" jumps in - it's not a contract "job". It's a project, or a role, or a gig - but it's not a job. Jobs are for permies.

[cojak]

Welcome!

You'll find a lot of answers to your questions within the CUK website.

On the right you'll find CUK Navigation. >>>>>>>>>

Look down and you'll come to the First Timers section. Have a read through there.

Umbrella or Ltd? Look here: Setting up your company - Ltd or Umbrella?

Basic expenses questions answered here: Contractor Expenses - How to claim Travel and other expenses via Limited Company or Umbrella

Then pay particular attention to IR35.

And here are the rules when using company credit cards: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/payerti/exb/a-z/c/cards.htm

If you go into the Accounting/Legal forum you'll discover the thread Basic advice when running your own contractor business.

Guide to Contracts also has some good articles.

And finally - accountant recommendations - Ta-da!

Happy reading!