Reasons You're Not Contracting Yet

JOB SECURITY WORRIES

A lot of people in my various groups and elsewhere cite having worries over "job security" and concerns about "short-term contracts" as reasons they're not contracting yet

Do you REALLY have that much job security in your current role?

Trust me - if the wind changes and your company needs to save MONEY then make no mistake, they will get rid of you one way or the other, I've seen it happen many times before

And if you DO think you have massive job security, is that because you're not being PAID what you're truly WORTH in the the open market? Ask yourself that question as honestly as you're able

If you ARE being paid well then I'm happy for you, just make sure you really are, and your definition of "paid well" isn't clouded by your own myopia???

And what's the definition of a "short-term" contract?

Most contracts I know are 3 months or 6 months initially - note the word INITIALLY - so you have no idea how long a contract will be until it ends (unless it's made crystal clear from the onset it's only a 6m gig in total)

So why would you stop yourself going contracting based on the blind FEAR of future contracts only lasting 3 or 6 months?

Most contracts over the past few years for me have lasted between 1-3 YEARS - enough time for me to get the job done (or try to), and then think about my next exciting challenge

And all the time you could be earning ￡500/day

That's ￡10,000 per month

So if you're earning ￡50,000 in your "perm" job, you could get yourself a contract for 6 months @ 500/day, earn MORE money than the perm job in HALF the time, take 6 months off to do all the things in life you WANT to do but currently don't have the TIME for

Can you see it yet?

So many of us carry on like mindless drones (no offence, I did it too), working to make someone else rich, dying a slow death, bored out of our minds

A great quote one of my mentors said really resonates with me when I type this...

The definition of Hell is getting to meet the man you could have been

Boom!

If you're STUCK in a perm job, waiting for that pay rise, waiting for that bonus, waiting for the right TIME to go contracting, then my advice to you is to MAKE it happen

Don't wait for life to throw you a right hook like it did for me when I was lied to by my boss, or when my Dad died for example...

Life's too short - it's a cliche but it's true

You WILL be dead in the ground one day, that's certain

Make IT count

Choose the IT Contracting life

Check out my video training course on becoming an IT Contractor HERE

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About the Author:

David Gerrish has been an IT Contractor since 1996, working all over the UK, Europe and further afield in locations such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.

Dave's IT Contracting Academy Facebook & LinkedIn groups have thousands of contractors and aspiring contractors as members, making them invaluable communities for freelance IT professionals seeking advice, support and to network with one another.