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What is contracting?

Like temping work, contractors are usually employed on a fixed term basis and paid daily or weekly. IT contracting is particularly popular, where specific skills are required for the delivery of projects.

What are the benefits of contracting?

Contracting shares many of the benefits of temping, such as increased flexibility and the opportunity to develop new skills. Some of the key benefits of contracting are detailed below:

Pay conditions

In certain fields, for example in IT, contracting is paid significantly more than permanent roles in the same field – in some cases two or three times as much.

Contracting also generally has the benefit of weekly rather than monthly pay, meaning you receive more regular payments for your work.

Flexible working

Permanent jobs generally only offer workers between four and five weeks holiday each year. In contrast, due to the flexible nature of contract work, contractors are able to benefit from extended holidays, as well as more flexible holiday periods (e.g. short notice holidays at the end of a project).

Varied working environments

Contract work is often project-based, meaning that it lasts for a finite period of time before the contractor moves on to their next assignment.

This means that contract workers can engage with a range of different working environments, cultures and styles, by working in a number of companies.

This variety of experience can provide you with constant stimulation at work, as well as being indispensable experience for your future career.

Greater control over how you work

Contracting, by its very nature, lets you decide the sort of work and projects you’d like to be involved in. In addition, it also allows you to be flexible about how you’re employed, with many agencies allowing you to work via a limited company, an umbrella company or directly through the agency.

Other things to consider

So, you’ve heard the benefits of contracting, but what are the drawbacks? Potential disadvantages include the following:

Relocation

Contractors with specific skills are likely to find that the locations of appropriate job openings may vary. For this reason, you may have to be flexible about where you work, either by commuting long distances or potentially relocating entirely.

Breaks between assignments

Whilst contract work offers the opportunity for flexible working and extended holidays, there is the potential drawback of unplanned work breaks between assignments.

As contractors are not paid when they are not working, breaks between projects are clearly undesirable.

Limited career progression

As contractors often work on one-off projects, they may find that there is little room for continuity in their work and so career progression.

Whilst this can be offset by training yourself up, and building on previous experience, you may still be disadvantaged compared to permanent workers in terms of progress up the career ladder.

Lack of training

As contractors work on finite projects, employers are often unwilling to provide training during projects. As a consequence, you may find that you have to organise your own training part-time out of work, or even take a break between assignments to gain new skills and qualifications.