IT Contracting - anyone here do it?

[essayer]

2012, although I just remortgaged with the same broker and on a similar basis.
Halifax and other lenders will work out affordability based on a day rate. Have a look for some PH mortgage brokers or try ContractorMoney
You won't be able to access all the decent deals though (HSBC say you must have 3 yrs accounts for example)

[Dr Jekyll]

Suppose you use an umbrella company? Presumably they just regard you as a normal PAYE employee (he says hopefully).

[DanielJames]

Wow, thanks for all the replies all.

Since not being at work I've not been on PH as much but just read through the replies and I'm dead cert on getting into it now!

I've registered with a few companies of which I've dealt with before, Modis, Certes and Morson. Anyone have any other recommendations?

I don't really want to go to London for the living costs, I heard the other day that Leeds was the IT capital of the UK now anyway (don't quote me on that!) But I am seeing a lot of jobs in Leeds, which is an easy commute for me.

[Gaspode]

DanielJames said:

Wow, thanks for all the replies all.

Since not being at work I've not been on PH as much but just read through the replies and I'm dead cert on getting into it now!

I've registered with a few companies of which I've dealt with before, Modis, Certes and Morson. Anyone have any other recommendations?

I don't really want to go to London for the living costs, I heard the other day that Leeds was the IT capital of the UK now anyway (don't quote me on that!) But I am seeing a lot of jobs in Leeds, which is an easy commute for me.

Best of luck! As for agencies, I've been with LA International for a few years now, they specialise in security-cleared personnel, I have no complaints about them.

[ewenm]

Experis (nee Elan) deal with a lot of the contractor roles offered by IBM.

[Dog Star]

Gaspode said:

Best of luck! As for agencies, I've been with LA International for a few years now, they specialise in security-cleared personnel, I have no complaints about them.

Haha! I remember working for them back in... 1993? ... and the recruiter (Canadian?) chap called Scott took me and a mate (who didn't even work for him) out for a night. We ended up in a place called Caspers - it was novel back in the day as each table had a telephone on it with which you could call other tables esp if they had nice girls on them.

Anyway Scott passed out at the table and by the time he woke up we'd done £746 on his tab on cocktails on his company Visa. Good effort, I thought - that'd be a top drinking session these days, let alone 21 years ago).

[theboss]

DanielJames said:

I heard the other day that Leeds was the IT capital of the UK now anyway (don't quote me on that!)

Obviously IT is a broad industry covering all sectors, but at least in my line of work (Infrastructure) it's London all the way, followed by surrounding technology hotbeds such as the M3/M4 corridors.

If I were to go for something outside London, in the private sector, it would more than likely be Edinburgh, followed by Manchester/Leeds/Bristol in equal measure.

Leeds has certainly developed respectably as a commercial centre, but its no IT capital in any measure I can think of.

Oddly Birmingham punches well below its weight in terms of IT opportunities - I have lived in the Midlands for 7 years, contracting for most of that, and tend to work *everywhere else* in the country.

[DanielJames]

Update:

After 5 weeks of doing not a lot, I've managed to get myself a contract. It's local too, and the pay is better than I thought!

Now, Umbrella companies. Can anyone recommend an good online one to use?

[IT1GTR]

DanielJames said:

Update:

After 5 weeks of doing not a lot, I've managed to get myself a contract. It's local too, and the pay is better than I thought!

Now, Umbrella companies. Can anyone recommend an good online one to use?

Congratulations on the contract!!


Cant be much help on the Umbrella Company front as I have gone down the Ltd route myself, good luck in your new role anyway!!

[Kapenta]

http://www.contractoruk.com is a good place to start when looking for Contractor Advice.

[oilslick]

DanielJames said:

Update:

After 5 weeks of doing not a lot, I've managed to get myself a contract. It's local too, and the pay is better than I thought!

Now, Umbrella companies. Can anyone recommend an good online one to use?

Used http://www.contractorumbrella.com for a couple of years before I set up a Ltd company and I'd definitely recommend if you're going down the umbrella route. You get an assigned client manager and all payments are same day. Pretty much everything is done online and it was around 10 minutes a week admin for me.

I'd strongly recommend not using any of these 'Tax Compliant' solutions offering 85%+ take home - there are an awful lot of people in a whole world of hurt right now after HMRC have caught up with them.

[TheAngryDog]

I've taken a new role on to learn more of the infrastructure side. Doing a SCOM course next month as well, then various MS certs to back up new found knowledge. In a year I will be looking at contracts based back down London way.

[Pit Pony]

DanielJames said:

Update:

After 5 weeks of doing not a lot, I've managed to get myself a contract. It's local too, and the pay is better than I thought!

Now, Umbrella companies. Can anyone recommend an good online one to use?

GO LTD.

[Dr Jekyll]

Pit Pony said:

GO LTD.

If you can't avoid IR35, how much point though?

[pespro]

Hi all,

I'm 26 and currently looking to further my IT career from its current situation.
For the last two years i have worked contracts doing IT support. Before that i was at the same company for two years doing IT support.
My last job was Windows 7 roll out engineer, so basically upgrading Windows XP to Windows 7.

In the last two roles my pay was around £20 an hour.
The thing is, i'm 26 and think its about time i settle down for a career and work my way up through a company. In addition the gaps in contracts can be 6 months, although i have money to last.
I'm not really sure what to do next, getting £20 an hour for support is a good wage and the support i did mainly for the NHS meant a lot of travelling and i hardly spent any time in the office, which was good as i prefer doing different things each day.

My real problem is i dont know what i want to get into IT wise. The only area i can think of is IT security, i know there is high demand for people with skills in this sector. But after looking around it seems without a Computer Science degree, there isn't much chance of learning the skills needed without this degree as a foundation. There are courses such as CCNA Security but without that degree it seems pointless.

I have a degree in Computing Networks. I didnt really enjoy it, it was boring, however i think if i became a network engineer it would be a lot more hands on than the Uni course was. But with no jobs doing network engineer etc i might struggle getting a job doing this.

So just looking for advice really on where to go next and if i should continue contracting. If anyone has IT security experience and could tell me their career progression that would be great.

[oilslick]

Dr Jekyll said:

If you can't avoid IR35, how much point though?

There are a couple of advantages to running a ltd - you keep control of your money and aren't reliant upon a third party to give it to you once they've received it from the agency/client you're working through (it has been known for umbrella companies to go under taking contractors' cash with them). Second, you can use the flat rate VAT scheme (assuming your billing is under the threshold) which could save you a few quid.

However, whether it's worth the additional hassle of working through a Ltd if you're working on a contract inside IR35 is debatable. Personally I'd choose an umbrella wisely and save myself the hassle.

[oilslick]

pespro said:

Hi all,

I'm 26 and currently looking to further my IT career from its current situation.
For the last two years i have worked contracts doing IT support. Before that i was at the same company for two years doing IT support.
My last job was Windows 7 roll out engineer, so basically upgrading Windows XP to Windows 7.

In the last two roles my pay was around £20 an hour.
The thing is, i'm 26 and think its about time i settle down for a career and work my way up through a company. In addition the gaps in contracts can be 6 months, although i have money to last.
I'm not really sure what to do next, getting £20 an hour for support is a good wage and the support i did mainly for the NHS meant a lot of travelling and i hardly spent any time in the office, which was good as i prefer doing different things each day.

My real problem is i dont know what i want to get into IT wise. The only area i can think of is IT security, i know there is high demand for people with skills in this sector. But after looking around it seems without a Computer Science degree, there isn't much chance of learning the skills needed without this degree as a foundation. There are courses such as CCNA Security but without that degree it seems pointless.

I have a degree in Computing Networks. I didnt really enjoy it, it was boring, however i think if i became a network engineer it would be a lot more hands on than the Uni course was. But with no jobs doing network engineer etc i might struggle getting a job doing this.

So just looking for advice really on where to go next and if i should continue contracting. If anyone has IT security experience and could tell me their career progression that would be great.

I'm not in IT Security, but I can give you the viewpoint of someone who's worked in IT for around 15 years in both contract and permanent QA roles.

If you're wanting to transition into a new area, you may be better off taking the hit cash-wise and trying for a permanent role that will offer you some training.

Companies generally want contractors who can hit the ground running, and without any experience on your CV you're pretty much pissing in the wind applying for contracts you don't have any demonstrable skills in.

A permanent role will give you a chance to build up your skill set and will give you something to put on your CV if you decide to go contracting again in the future.

[DanielJames]

I've gone with Nasa consulting for the Umbrella. Recommended by an old friend. Start the contract tomorrow, can't wait!

[bga]

pespro said:

The only area i can think of is IT security, i know there is high demand for people with skills in this sector. But after looking around it seems without a Computer Science degree, there isn't much chance of learning the skills needed without this degree as a foundation. There are courses such as CCNA Security but without that degree it seems pointless.

So just looking for advice really on where to go next and if i should continue contracting. If anyone has IT security experience and could tell me their career progression that would be great.

I agree with oilslick - taking a perm role to learn a new field is a good bet. I worked for Big4, then to a specialist consultancy and finally started a business with a mate.

On the ITSec side, a degree in CS will be useful for some stuff (pen testing for example) but there are other areas like governance, application security, assurance where it's definitely not a prerequisite. My business focuses on application security, controls & GRC. Only one of our team has a CS background, although most are fairly technical. CISSP is the defacto qualification but isn't worth much without experience.

[The GMan]

NormalWisdom said:

I personally don't hold with this "contractor sickie" thing. I will not go into the office with colds/flu or anything that can be spread to co-workers. It is utterly selfish and ultimately could result in significant loss of production. I admit to doing it last year (was my first week in a new contract), within a week, 6 of the 8 in the office we shared were ill, I was not particularly popular.

I don't go in if I have a hangover never mind being sick.

I've been contracting for years, usually through contacts and not agencies. I take time off when and if I need it, and as long as the client is OK with it (never had an issue).