What are the good things & bad things about IT CONTRACTING?
A natural step for many experienced or qualified IT professionals is to take the next step into the contracting world….
But what are the pluses & minuses of becoming an IT Contractor?
What about Tax? When will I get paid? How do I manage financially between contracts?
Some of the key questions to ask yourself first are:
- Do I have the people contacts?
- Are there some of my ex-employers I could ring up now and know they’d potentially have me back on contract?
- Can I financially go between a contract for 2-3 months?
- Would my partner want me hanging around home in the downtime?
- Do I have software or personal projects I can work on when I'm 'out of contract'?
- Am I prepared to get out & network / partner with agencies to secure my next contract?
- Am I prepared to be flexible to work on-site & from home or both?
- Am I quick to learn a new environment - both technical & company?
So what are the Pros?
***Variety of projects
***Neutral point of view / detached from the in-house politics
***Hourly or daily pay rate
***Become a Specialist
***Become a Generalist
***Gain a lot of different domain experience in a short time
***Work on cutting edge projects that demand specialist technical skills
***Claim back work / travel / tools / entertainment / expenses
What are the Cons?
***Having to stay current with latest technologies (Not really a negative for techies ;-)
***Have to learn a new environment very quickly
***Paying your own tax / engaging an accountant
***Setting up as Sole Trader or Limited Company = Only about $160NZD
***Gaps between contracts…
***Delay in payment from time of invoice
***Having to do the jobs that others don’t want to do!
***Time pressure to deliver projects can mean some demanding hours if needed
***Flexible to travel to client sites
It’s not for everyone……But the rewards are great!
If you'd like to learn more about the IT Contract recruitment market in Christchurch & types of assignments on offer, hourly rates etc having been a contractor myself for a number of years & owner of Sunstone Group Limited I'm happy to help.
Are you a Full Stack C#.Net Developer?
We're currently looking for a number of C#.Net Contract Developers for a web project in Christchurch
Please click here for more details :-)
Feel free to get in touch for a chat or a coffee now: paul@sunstonetalent.com