| Adding my two cents. I have been a contractor for almost 3 years now. My personal opinion: - Contracting pays a lot more than a perm role. - You do not deal with politics, which is a major plus for me. - You do not hear about you not getting your promised y% bonus because company did not do x% business. - You are not worried about 'changing the world', the way you would in a startup. - working 4-6 years your asses off at a startup may be equivalent to working as a contractor for that time. That is a big may be, your skills, confidence, market everything plays a big role. - Always get a good accountant, go for ltd company, enroll your wife and PAY YOUR TAXES! - I started when i had about a month's savings, and it worked out well. - Day rates depend on your skill set. 350 is the minimum i guess for any role, max is your imagination! 800? 1000? but getting 500-550 should be the target at least. - Getting a contract is tricky: use linkedin, recruiters, friends and whatever else. All are necessary. I would not worry too much about a recruiter getting a cut as long as i get what i had asked for. - Get a contract before quitting your perm role. Mostly companies looking for a contractor wait for 2 weeks, if you are good and your skills are in demand they would wait for 3-4 weeks. - Always plan your vacation at times when everyone else is on holiday. December/January and April are good times. - HMRC website is good enough to register a company, 15 pounds and 20-30 mins. - Getting 450 a day is always better than siting idle waiting for that 550-600 a day contract. - There is lot of competition, be prepared for that. - Prepared for some level of stress (specially when you are out of work), it is still worth it. - Do not worry too much about your utilization in a contract, it is the client's worry. You are paid for your skills and not your time. Do put reasonable time, but that is not the criteria you were hired with. - 'Doing/Completing my time' is a BS. I have had several contracts and none of the clients ever had problems with my timings. And i am particularly bad at working normal hours. Sometimes i get at work at 10 and leave at 5. At times i work whole nights. - Recruiters are lairs, don't give too much info. Ask for a job spec and day rate before giving any info. I would help you, after you get me a contract! - Send your CV to all who asks for it. Keeps you in the market. - You will not necessarily get a higher day rate if you went directly with a client. Your day rate depends on your skills and negotiating skills only. If you do not ask for a good day rate, chances are, you wont get it. - Sometimes, leave it on Luck. We can be the smartest asses on the planet, but at times need luck. Hope this helps. |
- don't trust agents - don't trust agents One more thing: - don't trust agents
If you find a half-honest one work with them as much as you can. They'll still try and screw you over but they might decide to be straight once in a while.
I don't blame them in a way - the competition is fierce and matching client and contractor for happy outcomes is hard. But too many of them are willing to try and renegotiate your rate down after an offer is made - 'they like you, but not at your original rate' - 99/100 this is a ruse to keep some pounds in their pocket. Learn to be firm with agents.
Find out who makes the decisions on hiring and who has budget within a company and get to know them personally. They're the ones signing your pay.
I contracted for nearly 10 years in a variety of places. It's a great life but you do have to keep an eye on your career as your skill set might start to get old, and it's hard to move onto the next thing because you don't get the chance to practice it. But I have friends who have been doing it for 20 years now, and they have made a great life out of it.