IT Contracting

[Rote 8]

Apologies in advance. This topic is way of the theme of this forum but it is clear to me that a great many of the contributors work within IT and many are actually contractors.

It would appear that contracting fits in well with being a wannabee as it provides a good source of funds and also gives flexibility with regard to work commitments so that ATPL exams, Hour Building in the US, flying courses etc can all be fitted around the contract.

My questions are - Is this a fair assesment or in reality is it neccesary to continually contract to make ends meet (IR35 etc) and also any tips on getting that first contract. Is IR35 making it no longer worthwhile or are the costs being passed on to the clients?

Should I give it a crack, currently an OO Reqts Analyst & Designer (But bored of it).

Thanks all

[ickle black box]

You need good IT skills in a certain area, and a good cv. You then have to find a contract / job. Do NOT give up an existing job to do this, unless you have several years of experience, and are good at what you do. Then check out the current positions available, apply and see what response you get. Getting contracts can be a real pain in the ar*e. Too much time spent waiting for the final phone call, which never seems to come. They also normally want you to start within a few days, so you have to be unemployed at the time. After waiting a month to get the contract, you earn a lot for 3 months, and are then unemployed looking for work again. It can work out well, and you can earn contract rates for years, but you can also spend months earning nothing, and getting very frustrated.

check out www.jobserve.com (http://www.jobserve.com)

ickle

[E-Fizz]

Rote 8, your post says you are an analyst/designer. When you refer to 'OO' are you meaning 'Object Oriented' and if so are you a programmer? If you are, contracting will be right up your street. There is a huge demand for programmers and the rates are exceptional. If you're not then as ickle says, depending on your field, you could wait a while for the first call. IR35 seems to be a strange beast, many agencies have found ways to make it work for the consultant but this usually involves rather daunting wording of your contract. I would suggest looking at Jobserve.com and then cold calling some agencies to ask how they deal with IR35. Depending on where you're at in your flight training, contracting could work very well for you - it is a short term fix if you have a cash flow problem. Over greater periods I think it's swings and roundabouts though. You have to balance the financial security a permanent job gives you and your flight training against the costs of running your own company in very strange tax times... Depending on the market, you might only generate invoices for six months in the financial year! However, £30/hour on a 40 hour week for six months is approx £28,800. Taking off all of your costs and remembering that you're below the £28,000 limit for 40% inland revenue, you could still earn a pretty good years salary in this period (more if you're a programmer). As I say I don't know where you are in your training but if contracting fits in with your timescales I would give it serious consideration. Anything to get us to the front end of the a/c more quickly!

[no sponsor]

Rates of between £450 - £900 per day if you are in Telecommunications software development.

[gimpboy]

Best way for me was to specialise in an area. Sounds limiting, but agencies are often looking for specialists to come in for 6 months, sort out a problem and go - thats how I find it.
As the others say, you really need to be unemployed and ready to go if you are to land a contract - a tricky choice if you are perm. with lots of overheads.

Ask your IT dept what they expect from a contractor without sounding too suss!!
Then ask yourself if you have the required skill level. As with anything, the first few contracts will need you to blag a bit - never say you don't know how to do something - 'No' is not a word in the contractors dictionary, rather.....

ummm, thats an interesting idea, let me check some other examples and get back to you!!!

:)

[scroggs]

This is an unusual topic, and quite interesting, but not strictly in the Wannabes sphere. I'm transferring it to the Computers and Internet issues forum, where I think you may find a wider audience for this field.
scroggs

[CrashDive]

Been there, done that, got the tee-shirt !

So, and in no particular order (accept for the very first of these)......

Never ever forget to put the money that you will owe the taxman aside - i.e. don't go and spend it on your Instrument Rating, or some such (like I did) !!!!

Now it might sound weird, but you can end-up being a victim of your own success, i.e. having job offers coming out of your ears, and in this event a degree of integrity is always a good thing to maintain.

Similarly, try to make time for your family (which is an area where I too really need to take some of my own advice). With their support you can work all the hours that god sends, but if 'her in doors' starts to get p!ssed off with you working 14 hours a day and having no time for her, or the kids, then you will rue the day when she rebels against you !

It's often said in contracting that you should try to avoid saying that you don't know how to do something, however you do owe it to both yourself and your client (employer) to deliver what was asked (and paid) for - i.e. be very careful not to over sell yourself.

Don't let your success with IT get in the way of your flying aspirations - the longer you leave it ,the harder it becomes to break into aviation.

Just like flying, you should endeavour to maintain your IT/systems skills in tip top condition - i.e. should be you ever lose your license (e.g. stuff up a medical) you can always go back to this much-in-demand job.

Just like many other business's, airlines too are desperately short on solid IT skills and imho this is a good selling point on your CV. Indeed, and almost as proof, yours truly is due to become the IT/Systems Manager at British World Airlines, whilst also flying the B737 for them from LGW, i.e. veritably the best of both worlds !

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CrashDive

Administrator to The Professional Pilots RUmour NEtwork

May you live in interesting times !

[SLF 999]

IR35 can be overcome (well once the inland Revenue understand it), but another good agency is www.search.co.uk (http://www.search.co.uk) who have lots of experience.
One thing is get a good accountant, who will give you advice and possibly even set up an parent company for you (but this limits IR35). It can cost a little more but it can be well worth it.

[Pilot Paul]

Only one message for anyone thinking of contracting - join the Professional Contractors Group (PCG). Here you will get more advice on how to contract in a post-IR35 world than from anywhere else (13,000 members can be a terrific asset).

URL is http://www.pcgroup.org.uk

Otherwise, I can only agree with other sentiments here - IT contracting is a great way to fund your flying aspirations... I currently have PPL/IMC/Night/ATPL Theory, and start CPL in June - as an "oldie" (38), with wife, 2 kids and a mortgage, I couldn't have afforded to do it without the flexibility and potential earnings of contracting. If all goes to plan, then within a couple of years I should be returning to the ranks of the permanent employee (other than of my own company, of course), but the only computer I expect to use is the FMC on the flight deck of my nice shiny 737 (I can dream...)!!!! After that, who knows, I gather there is a contract pilot market....!

Best of luck,

Paul