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
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From employment to contracting
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