Until I started working in IT recruitment, I didn’t know the world of contracting existed, but I quickly realised how common it actually is. In my almost 9 years in recruitment, I’ve gotten to know the pros and cons that go along with it for the contractors themselves, and the companies that take them on.
In researching this series of articles, I spoke to various people from each side of the contract divide to get their opinions on contracting, and the highs and lows of what many see as an unstable, and sometimes stressful, career choice.
For part one of this series, I spoke to Jennifer Doyle at Contracting PLUS to get her insight.
Jennifer is manager of the Solutions Team who deal with contractors from every industry and every sector. Her team get questions from first time contractors to long time contractors, from agencies, to job seekers considering dipping their toe in the contract market for the first time.
As experts in their field, they give the facts to people considering a move to contracting and allow them to decide if it’s the right move for them. If it is, they are on hand to go through the different solutions on offer and help each contractor pick the right one for them.
Accounting companies, like Contracting PLUS, are generally the first port of call for anyone considering contracting. Let’s face it, if the money isn’t going to be better than your current salary, then it’s probably not a risk you’ll be willing to take.
You can get a good insight into the financial process of contracting; timesheets, invoicing, tax, what you can expense, and all the other fun stuff. You’ll be able to see roughly what you will come out with after tax each month, which is important to know in advance before committing to a day rate.
Jennifer talked us through the benefits of contracting, and the financial aspects of it that need to be considered.
Contracting is also attractive for Companies looking to engage top talent. Jennifer spoke about how contracting offers companies the ability to be agile, scale for projects and ensure that they are working with top talent. Contracting has been growing in popularity and, even during COVID-19, we see no signs of this trend reversing.
When the economy falters or a company goes bust, you could find yourself out of a job regardless of how you work. As a Contractor, while there’s no guarantee of the next Contract, you can create your own security. Grow your experience, hone your skillset and work with lots of companies so that your skills remain in demand. That way companies who need work done, will always need what you have to offer.
There are three things that every contractor I spoke to brought up as the primary reasons the life of contracting is for them.
The money! This was a big factor for everyone in deciding to contract in the first place and remains something that’s considered a huge benefit. When you’ve been working in permanent roles, the money in contracting can seem ridiculous and almost too good to be true. What contractors can save (or spend!) each month can far outweigh the additional benefits a permanent role would offer.
Flexibility is key for a lot of people, in particular parents of young children. You’re not constricted to 4 weeks’ holidays each year which can be invaluable. You can take extended breaks between contracts and be relatively confident you’ll find another role or, if you’re lucky, that the company you were contracting for will keep a position open for you to return to.
Not having to get involved in the “politics” of a company is a huge advantage for contractors. It allows them to get their job done and not have to worry too much about anything outside of that. This isn’t the case with every contract; ultimately the longer you stay with a company the more involved you’re likely to be, but it certainly makes things easier to begin with.
There are other positives, outside of these three obvious ones.
As a contractor, you have the luxury of moving around and, as a result, take a chance on accepting a contract that you think might not be a fit. Ultimately you know you’re only there for a certain amount of time which takes the risk of accepting something you’re unsure about out of it.
In comparison, anyone who is accepting a permanent position knows that it needs to be the right fit as they don’t want to be seen to be leaving after a short time.
The idea that a permanent role is more secure these days doesn’t necessarily hold true; as we’ve seen with COVID-19, just because you are in a permanent position doesn’t mean you’re any safer than your contracting colleague.
Nobody is living in a fantasy world and there are drawbacks to everything in the professional world, contracting is no exception.
Asked if they would look at permanent roles in the future, most said yes, but…
One contractor I spoke to had decided to go permanent for a stint for career progression; she joined a consultancy and wound up on a client site doing the same thing as she would if she were contracting, only for a lot less money. As a result, she went back contracting as soon as she got the chance.
Another did mention that when starting a family, the stability of a permanent job can be good.
Lastly, some hints and tips from the contractors I spoke to for anyone new to contracting:
On the hiring side of things, it can be unclear to some as to why managers would recruit contractors instead of permanent staff, how they go about it, and what the differences are between managing a contractor as opposed to a permanent staff member.
One person I spoke to recruited contractors when working for an outsourced provider. The reason behind this is pretty standard in the market; contracts can be won and lost at short notice and, as a result, hiring contractors for the duration of the projects with the knowledge that they can be let go if anything went wrong takes the pressure off. Another said that they were a good way of managing temporary peaks in workload. Due to the fact that they move around more often than your average permanent employee, they can be seen as having a wider breadth of experience.
Other benefits to going down the contracting route are the budgetary flexibility, the ability to scale up and down resources when needed, and the access to more specialist skill sets, like automation and security.
Cost is another aspect; despite the high day rates that contractors charge, it is still cheaper overall to hire a contractor as opposed to a permanent person when you take into account the benefits, PRSI, training etc.
In terms of day to day management, there’s not much difference to managing permanent and contract staff; it’s all down to the individual staff member. Although it can be a bit more work up front; it’s important to put a plan in place around how you plan on integrating them into your team, especially if you’re a company that doesn’t hire contractors too often. Managers are also less likely to invest time in a contractor to start with; a big reason behind hiring contractors in the first place is that they can “hit the ground running” and require less training than a permanent person might. If a contractor is struggling with work, management are less likely to invest time on personal improvement plans as opposed to what would be in place for permanent staff.
Overall, contractors are seen as a quick fix for a likely temporary problem, whereas permanent staff are a long term investment for companies.
Some hints and tips for managers hiring contractors:
And now for my two cents!
As a contract recruiter, I will always sell the benefits of contracting. The money, the flexibility, the ability to move around relatively regularly without a worry of how it will look in your CV.
But ultimately, us recruiters are going to be biased so you won’t get a fair reflection of why contracting is a good career choice. They’ll naturally want you to consider it if you’re a good candidate for their role.
If contracting is something you’re considering, definitely give it a try. Talk to us at FRS recruitment, talk to Contracting Plus, talk to colleagues or friends that are in contracting, and talk to any hiring managers you know that recruit for contractors. Get a broad picture in your mind of what it’s about and make a decision based on that; nobody can tell you if it’ll be the right move for you, so you won’t know until you try. If you go for it, and it doesn’t work out for whatever reason, you can always go back into permanent employment. The only way you’ll know for sure, is to try it!