Are you thinking about becoming an IT contractor? More and more people are doing it, but there’s a lot of demand, and if you’ve got the skills, it could be a very rewarding way to make use of them. These are five great reasons to give it a try.
- Work when you want
Choosing when you want to take on a contract makes it much easier to arrange work around other things in your life, from social events to holidays; and if you’re working from home or you choose jobs with flexible hours, it’s easier to fit it around day-to-day duties, such as study or care commitments. You will be in charge of your schedule, and you can decide what’s important.
- Earn more money
Because they’re hired when companies need specific kinds of help, experienced contractors are in a strong position when it comes to negotiating pay. In recognition of the fact that you won’t be working all the time, pay by the hour is higher, and if you’ve got the talent, you can do as little or as much work as you like. Even working fewer hours, you could have more money in your pocket at the end of the month.
- Pick the interesting jobs
Are you sick of all the boring tasks getting dumped on you at work? When you’re a contractor, you can pick and choose. In fact, you’re likely to be more successful if you develop a specialty, so focus on the types of work that you enjoy and know that you’ll be good at. You can add in a bit of variety as needed to keep things interesting and help you build up additional skills.
- Pay less tax
Although dealing with contractor pay can mean that there’s a lot to keep track of, there are ways to make it easy on yourself, and registering with an umbrella PAYE company means that you’ll have experts on your side. Not only can they take care of your contracts, invoices and IR35 status, but they can also arrange your tax obligations so that you’ll usually end up paying less than you would in a regular job.
- Be your own boss
Everyone who works in tech knows the special annoyance that comes from being ordered around by someone who knows less than you do. When you work as a contractor, you’ll be the one in charge, and you’ll find that you have a very different relationship with the people who hire you. Nobody will try to tell you how to do your job; instead, they’ll be grateful for your help.
With all these benefits and more, IT contracting is an excellent career option. You don’t even need advanced skills to do it – dealing with popular Microsoft IT systems and managing the technical side of ecommerce are the areas where demand is highest. Once you have a couple of recommendations, it’s easy to find people who will hire you, so what are you waiting for? It’s time to take your future into your own hands.
