Have you got what it takes to be a contractor

Whilst many people thrive on the freedom and flexibility that contracting offers, others find they don’t have the discipline and organizational skills that they need to go it alone. Many successful employees find that once removed from the secure embrace of a large company where they were told what to do, things aren’t quite so easy. This article will look at some of those downsides and the barriers they present to potential contractors and highlight how the truly determined can overcome any potential problems that might come along.
Read the full article at http://hamiltonbradbury.co.uk/contracting/is-it-for-you/

Transcript

1. yourmail@business.com What it takes to be a Contractor
2. www.hamiltonbradbury.co.uk hello@hamiltonbradbury.co.uk Overview - whats covered For many people who have made the leap into contracting already the advantages of the contracting working style massively outweigh the disadvantages and it can be hard to understand why everyone isn’t doing the same thing. But there’s no security in contracting So what happens if I can’t find any contracts? Will I Have The Right Skills? 30
3. www.yourwebsite.com yourmail@business.com For people who are yet to make the leap one of the things that give them pause for thought is that when they leave their companies behind they also leave the security of their monthly paycheck. Not only that, they also leave behind company pensions and pension contributions, company holidays and any extra benefits such as health or dental, company cars or gym memberships. However for most this is the reason they do it. Make The Right Decision Most contractors are people who are sick of being told what to do and what projects to work on and who are fed up with the direction their career is heading. For these people contracting is the ideal solution. They see the way the world is going – there are no such things as jobs for life anymore – and think that they would rather rely on their own skills and determination than a company run by other people. For many contractors the flexibility and freedom of contracting allows them to ensure that no one ever derails their career. They are in charge and they can put measures in place to build their own security. How? By taking advantage of the extra pay that comes with contracting and putting some aside every month for those rainy days. By choosing their own individual contractor pensions (an excellent tax break for contractors incidentally) and health plans, contractor mortgages and other contractor oriented financial products. And by ensuring that there are few, if any rainy days: But there’s no security in contracting… The idea of being out there on their own is both the biggest draw and the biggest barrier to contracting. 1
4. www.yourwebsite.com yourmail@business.com Clearly if a contractor can’t find contracts then his/her contracting career isn’t going to last long. But most contractors find a way to ensure that they always have contracts lined up. And these days, provided a contractor has the required experience and skills there are more than enough jobs to go around as companies move increasingly to outsourcing certain jobs to temporary and contract staff. And if a potential contractor is having any doubts about the amount of work that is out there, all they need do is spend some time online browsing through the thousands of job boards and job sites offering a wide range of jobs across every industry – and the specific job sites targeted at each contracting sector. Make The Right Decision So what happens if I can’t find any contracts? 1
5. www.yourwebsite.com yourmail@business.com Some contractors will look at contracting as a suitable career only for those people with a specifically niche skill and to a certain degree they would be right. Most contractors, or successful ones at least, do have particular niche skills that are clear-cut and in- demand and they therefore can charge a premium to companies for those services. They will normally be something that they did particularly well for their previous employer and want to concentrate on and which they therefore want to transfer into the contracting market. Make The Right Decision Will I Have The Right Skills? 1 That is the standard model and it is true, it is possible not to be suited to contracting because of a lack of niche skills. However it is not always the case. There are hundreds upon hundreds of contracts out there for contractors who are good organizers or project managers, who have experience of managing capacity or who are able to slot into a firm for a few months because staff have gone on sick leave or maternity leave. Indeed if a contractor has experience of serious project management (on say, large scale IT projects) then they will find themselves constantly in demand. And at the other end of the scale it is also possible to be too niche for contracting. It might be that a contractor’s niche skills are redundant anywhere else but their previous place of employment. This could be because they worked on outdated computer code or an old legacy system which is all but extinct elsewhere. But even in such cases it is easy for employees who feel their skills might not be in massive demand in the contracting world to retrain before they make the leap. All it takes is some research as to the point where current skills and passions intersect with what the market is looking for.
6. www.yourwebsite.com yourmail@business.com Thanks Hamilton Bradbury The Foundry, 156 Blackfriars Road London, SE1 8EN United Kingdom Phone: 0800 808 5427 Contact Us