Headhunted for new job, but it's contracting...

[b0redom]

@PeterB, you only need to become VAT registered if your TURNOVER is greater than the prevailing threshold, which is currently £68,000 per year.

[peterb]

True, but if you are contracting with another VAT registered company, you may need (or it may be advantageous) to register for VAT, evenn though turnover is less than the threshold - but perhaps I was a little ambiguous! (And of course if you are registered for VAT, you can claim back the VAT on any purchases made by your company for business use)

[Blitzen]

I'd say do the interview, get the offer and then lay your cards out on the table with your current employer saying that you want a pay rise or you're moving elsewhere..

Is the 90 day non-negotiable?

But TBH at the end of the day Happiness > Money... And Security may = Happiness...

If one of my employees did that to me, i would show them door.
Any employer worth their salt these days does not get held to ransom.

There are ALOT of good people out there at the moment, that through no fault of their own ended up the the dole queue. Any number of them would step straight into your job.

[Saracen]

....

How would you use this for leverage in your current position?

Firstly, be very cautious about that, especially at the moment.

My golden rule would be to never, EVER bluff about leaving. The reason is that unless you are absolutely indispensable, you have just marked your cards with your employer. If they think you're unsettled and looking to leave, they'll likely start looking to replace you, and/or train someone up to step in. All you do is weaken your own position, aqnd alert your employer to your dissatisfaction.

Of course, if you have a firm, rock-solid offer that you are quite prepared to accept if your firn don;t induce you not to, then that's different. But then, it's not a bluff.

So .... before you use this as a lever, make up your own mind about whether you are absolutely prepared to take this offer if you don;t get what you want from your current employer.

That brings me on to contracting.

I agree with much of what's been said so far, though not necessarily about the conclusions.

So my first point is to consider whether the "career prospects when the hiring freeze lifts" is genuine, or bait? Never, ever doubt that many firms, including large ones, will say what they need to say to solve a current problems, and dump you without a month's hesitation when it suits them.

I have known firms a use a rolling contract as a kind of probationary period when they are genuinely looking or long-term staff. It happens. I've also known them recruit people this way to staff up a project where the long term prospects for the contract aren't clear, perhaps because their client is running a pilot and may or may not go ahead with a larger rollout. I've worked on contracts in exactly that scenario, the different being that I knew that was the scenario when taking the contract.

And I've also known firms use the "jam in the future" bait as an inducement to solve a short-term problem where they knew full well, from day one, that there was no long-term future ... but they won't tell the mugs they recruit that. In exactly the same way, be very cautious about a salary deal that offer £x thousand now "and a review in 6 months if performance permits". It might materialise, but it equally well might be that it was just an inducement because the manager recruiting knew full well that he was unlikely to be able to fulfil that expectation. I was gullible enough, long ago, to have fallen for that. Just once.

So, my firm advice is to treat this as an offer of a three month contract, with the possibility it'll roll over, or lead to a career. But take it, if you do, based on the assumption that none of that will materialise and that in three months, you'll b looking for another contract, or an other job.


Make no mistake, contracting can have it's advantages. For a start, it generally pays well, but that's because it has to, and for the reasons people have already given, like lack of security, and probably little or no holiday/sick pay, etc. So be careful to work out what your getting on a like-for-like basis. But it can pay very well. Very well indeed.

So what do you do if you're out of work in three months? Do you have a family to support? Kids? Do you have mortgage payments to meet? If so, does your other half have an income you could all survive on, for a period, if you're unable to find another contract straight away? And so on. And, of course, how hard do you think finding another job or contract would be? And that is why I said at the start to be very wary at the moment. All the likelihood is that unemployment is going up, and that public sector cutbacks could flood the market with people looking for work, and some may well be suitable for contracting, and do that if they can't get permanent work.

So, the killer question is whether you are right for the contracting life? If you have no commitments, or enough reserves to absorb a period out of work, or if you're sure your skillset is such that you can get another contract without much effort, then perhaps it's a temptation worth thinking about.

And the contracting life does have it's appeals. You get far more versatility in picking what to do, and doing all sorts of different things, in different places, with different people. You might well have the option to work 6 months on contract and spend the other 6 months travelling, or writing the great urban novel you've been contemplating for years, or trying your hand at painting or doing a thatching course, or whatever.

You get more versatility with expenses, you get much more control over running your own life and you certainly have the chance to live a very different style of life. But with opportunity comes risk and a different set of demands and pressures. Contracting can be very rewarding, both financially and otherwise, but it is usually no easy option, and it requires a certain kind of person.

If you think you're that kind of person, and if your circumstances are such that you can afford to risk being out of work, and perhaps finidng it hard toi get back in, then fine, go for it if you think it's right. But if the inly reason ytou're thinking about this is the money, or dissatisfaction where you are, or boredom or itchy feet, then don;t touch it with a bargepole. Look for a better job by all means, but (IMHO) do not be tempted by a short-term perhaps rolling contract that might have career prospects. Winning the lottery might solve your life problems, but don;t hold your breath waiting for it.

So, in my view, assume this is for three months and then you're looking for something else. If you're prepared to take it on that basis, then fine. And if you take it and it does genuinely roll, or turn into a career move, then better still. But it's best to take it assuming it won't than to take it hoping it will and be disappointed, or really messed up, when it doesn't.

Assume the worst and hope for better, not the other way round.

[Bugbait]

How would you use this for leverage in your current position?

I wouldn't. If you want more money for your existing job then use your performance to justify it. If you don't like your current job then leave. Or, if you intend to leave, use that fact to try to leverage an increase in salary knowing that if they decline then you will walk anyway.

Contracting and being a permanent is like apples and oranges. If you want to be a contractor for all the good and bad then try it out. Don't use a "possible" contract to leverage anything for your current, permanent position.

For what it's worth I'm a contractor and wouldn't consider a permanent position unless it paid notably more than what I make now, for reasons beyond the purely financial.