Making the move

[daugavpils]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to say hello. I am a permie wanting to go contracting and this site is a great place to have your questions answered ( and illusions evaporated). Have been working in IT for over 15 year, 10 of them in finances.
I am a senior infrastructure engineer in an investment bank ( not a big one though), doing mostly Wintel vpshere, powershell. Have done many migration projects, and merges,did quite a lot of storage and Linux as well, so my experience is pretty varied, making me think that my strong point would be projects that involve a lot of technologies and platforms, like data migrations and merges.
I am getting a bit tired of working in one place and getting stuck in office politics (it always bothered me ) , so my motives are change of lifestyle as well as (potentially) better financial prospects and independence. I like to challenge myself and now I am at the point in life when I want to make a move. I have been working alongside contractors and I like the idea of doing exactly what are you asked for , doing it well and thoroughly while getting valuable experience.

Now, as permie, I do have a 4 weeks notice period and reading threads here, I can see that this can be a problem. This is absolutely understandable, however I guess the client can wait in some cases ( my bank surely did wait for 6 weeks for one of the contractors). I don't have a warchest ( apart from my overdraft of 4k ) and I used all my holidays this year. So, realistically, I should save and wait until March ( bonus time, yay!) and then try to use my holidays to reduce the notice period ( HR permitting).

At the same time , what happens if I do find something? I have put my CV on a Jobserve and among normal white noise of agent calls, got couple of JDs from clients. As expected, agent really does not want to wait 4 weeks so I don't think those go ahead.

But what happens if client is ready to wait and I quit my job? Is there any kind of guarantee whatsoever like contract signed and then waiting period commencing? I can easily see that client or agent can drop me during those 4 weeks if someone else comes up.

Please feel free to shatter my illusions!

[oracleslave]

I am getting a bit tired of working in one place and getting stuck in office politics (it always bothered me )

Well, first of all let me say good luck with the planned move. I don't know what the market is like for your skillset but other than the seeming never ending turmoil in the banking / finance sector I don't see why you shouldn't give it a go.

One word of caution from me would be around politics. I don't think you ever really escape this, be you contract or permanent. The definition of conflict is 2 people in the same county i.e. it is a result of human nature and exists everywhere. Work on delivering what you've been brought in to do and work on your relationships with those you come into contact with in an ethical fashion and in most cases you'll be ok.

Is there any kind of guarantee whatsoever like contract signed and then waiting period commencing? I can easily see that client or agent can drop me during those 4 weeks if someone else comes up.

Short answer is no. Them's the breaks in this game in my view

[daugavpils]

Thank you oracleslave,

Sorry I chose the wrong words. By office politics I rather call the company politics, methods, people and rules.There are several things that I would like to see improved and changed in my current working place but this is not going to happen and I am stuck with them for as long as I stay with the company. Being able to change places sounds less secure but better for my mental state.
I am looking for positions in the City and it seems that market is not that bad at the moment for permanent positions. Not sure how it correlates with the contracting world.
I will keep on applying and see what is on offer - if client will be ready to wait I will make up my mind there and then. If nothing happens until February , that's fine too.

[gables]

You do hear of stories of clients waiting notice periods of say 4 weeks, I never achieved that when I first went contracting, which was in 1993 with a very current and in demand skillset and a very much reduced contracting pool, so how people do it now I don't know.

I ended up handing in my notice which basically gave me 5 weeks to find a contract, which was good in that I had a definite start date. The phones went quiet for a couple of weeks and I shat myself, but after that it went good and started a contract no break.

BTW I had no savings which was quite focusing :-)

[paulieA]

I have very similar, almost identical experience to the OP. I have just secured my first contract (6 months), large bank. They have been prepared to wait for 6 weeks for me. Granted they are an ex employer who know me.

I am still a little anxious at making the jump, I know the work is there. Could be years of it and it is close to home but I fear being out on my ass after a few months and being out in the cold after leaving my cosy permie public sector role.

Contract is with me but unsigned... Knowing all the changes going through with IR35 ect would you make the leap???

[northernladuk]

I have very similar, almost identical experience to the OP. I have just secured my first contract (6 months), large bank. They have been prepared to wait for 6 weeks for me. Granted they are an ex employer who know me.

I am still a little anxious at making the jump, I know the work is there. Could be years of it and it is close to home but I fear being out on my ass after a few months and being out in the cold after leaving my cosy permie public sector role.

Contract is with me but unsigned... Knowing all the changes going through with IR35 ect would you make the leap???

How long since you worked with them? Going back to you old employer isn't an instant IR35 fail but the details of the circumstances can make it a little risky.

You are right to worry. Never assume you have anything beyond the contract in hand and even then there is still the possibility of you getting canned, rate cut and so on. If you get overly worried about what happens after the contract you are in ends then I'd say contracting isn't for you. Some apprehension is normal but if working close to home in long gigs is what you are after then you could be sadly disappointed. The second gig is the hardest one to get I am told as well.

Jumping or not is purely your decision but you don't give anywhere near enough information for us to help. If I was in a decent paying gig with opportunities then I wouldn't be leaving it lightly at the moment. Many long term contractors will be picking the cushy permie gigs over the next year so there will definitely be a transition away from contracting in the short term future. If you've only got 4 or 5 year experience is also going to put you at the back of a very long queue as well.

If you are in a really badly paying gig that you just can't stand any more or have 10's of years experience in your field and relish the opportunity of being a master of your own destiny then go for it.

[paulieA]

Details are:-
15 years experience
2.5 years away from the bank
Was in a BAU role in the bank, Contract is long term project (Obviously aware that it means nothing and wind can change at anytime). But it is in the same team.
Initial contract is a 6 months
I have some savings so could survive if they canned me in the first month and there is high chance for returning to my current role.
Outside IR35 even with Pension provision I double my current take home and some, inside with pension not so good but still better.
Market looks pretty good for my current skills where I am.

Downside are that I could deskill a bit on the project if I stick it out too long.

I do enjoy my current job but I have the hit the top of my band and no more cash money will be forth coming.

So do I sit back and scratch my balls in my current role, roll the dice and try and earn some proper cash.. I don't know!!

[stek]

Details are:-
15 years experience
2.5 years away from the bank
Was in a BAU role in the bank, Contract is long term project (Obviously aware that it means nothing and wind can change at anytime). But it is in the same team.
Initial contract is a 6 months
I have some savings so could survive if they canned me in the first month and there is high chance for returning to my current role.
Outside IR35 even with Pension provision I double my current take home and some, inside with pension not so good but still better.
Market looks pretty good for my current skills where I am.

Downside are that I could deskill a bit on the project if I stick it out too long.

I do enjoy my current job but I have the hit the top of my band and no more cash money will be forth coming.

So do I sit back and scratch my balls in my current role, roll the dice and try and earn some proper cash.. I don't know!!

Remember if you are serious about contracting it's important to build a war chest, and only take as salary/dividends at the optimum amount, which may very well mean you are actually drawing less compared to your perm earnings......

[paulieA]

Understood, the plan is too build some cash reserves for 2-3 years before settling back to a cosy warm permie role. I have no intention of living it up on my tax money.

This whole son of IR35 thing worries me though and idea of fighting a load of contractors for permie roles in the next year is unappealing. Although if contracting does die and everyone scurries for cover in the permie world then who fills the contract roles that still need doing. The amount of work isn't changing just the nature of paying for it. So surely the number roles will remain the same just switch from being contract to permie? Or am I just being naive here?

[BolshieBastard]

When I left permiedom, my first client waited the 4 weeks \ one month notice I had to serve, that was back in 1997 though.

You never escape company \ office politics being a contractor. It just gets less or takes a different path.

I'd seriously advise anyone thinking of going contracting right now to wait to see how the proposed expenses and direction control & supervision changes come into force.

These may make it seem not worth financially the jump to contracting by the time you factor in bench time and accountancy costs etc.

Many people I know who think about contracting only consider the increased money. They never think about bench time, difficulty picking up the 2nd and subsequent contracts, the likely longer commute but most important, having to live out of a suitcase away from home.

If you're single or have no kids, that's not a big deal maybe but if you do have young kids, that can be tough especially for them.

Just my opinions though.