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Contracting and interim

How do I do contract work?

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Contract and interim work is a growing market and is commonly used for covering maternity leave, sabbaticals and special projects where a specific skill and experience set is needed.

With employers nervous about recruiting people and having them on the payroll with all that this entails, it is likely that contract positions will be popular with employers for the foreseeable future.

Contract and interim work is mainly for more experienced executives who can hit the ground running and need little supervision. If you relish freedom, variety and new challenges and don’t mind uncertainty, doing contracts and interim can be a great and varied career choice.

Careers are becoming more and more fluid with individuals working full time, doing some contracts, a bit of freelance then doing another full time job.

Contract and interim work has pros and cons and isn’t for everyone:

Pros

  • Variety and new challenges
  • Can go travelling in between contracts
  • Remain separate from company politics
  • Get paid more than in full time employment
  • Experience different cultures and varied challenges
  • Useful option post redundancy to take stock and evaluate options

Cons

  • There may be periods of no work/income
  • You may be resented by full time colleagues for getting more pay
  • You may need to set up a company and register for VAT etc and submit annual accounts
  • You need to think ahead to secure your next contract
  • You may have to work away from home which can be isolating

Here’s some tips to smooth the path of doing contract/interim work.

  • Have 3-6 months of savings to cover any lean times, tax and VAT
  • Choose not to worry about where your work will come from
  • Source references and create case studies for each contract
  • Keep your CV updated
  • Register and keep in touch with specialist interim recruitment agencies
  • Plan regular time to network and market yourself, don’t leave it until your latest contract comes to an end
  • Keep your skills updated by doing courses and study and ensure that your unique selling proposition is clear, specific and relevant to current and future market needs 
  • Ensure that you get and give a good handover with each contract/project

Read how we help our clients

From employment to contracting

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/from-employment-to-contracting/

Get in touch to arrange your free 20 minute consultation: https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/contact-us/

From employment to contracting

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Tony was an experienced I.T. consultant at a career crossroads following redundancy with 10 years left to retirement. Here’s how we helped him.     

Tony was an I.T. consultant in his early 50’s with over 30 years experience, who like many other people, had been employed all his working life and was made redundant.

We helped Tony to see what was important to him – his values, what his unique skills and experience were and how marketable he was.

We shared new career options and ways of using his skills in different ways.

He launched himself as an experienced, personable business analyst/project manager who could also mentor teams and deliver workshops, providing huge value to cash strapped cautious companies wanting to realise efficiencies and have value for money from their investment.

We helped him to have both confidence and a strategy to market himself as a contractor, a wise move in the market conditions and a great way of using his vast experience and knowledge.

He secured high profile contracts including at the University of Oxford reviewing development lifecycle processes. This allowed the business systems team to provide the colleges with accurate and achieveable proposals and to manage projects in a more structured way.   

“If you feel your core skills and expertise are not fuelling your career effectively, or if you just hanker for some sort of change of direction, Rachel’s guidance is invaluable. Her course helped me to look in on myself and understand what was important and what I was capable of. She gave me the courage to change and I can thoroughly recommend it.”

Tony Shaw-Williams