For those with experience and knowledge of
the IT industry, England
is a real land of opportunity.
Working as an employee for an English
company certainly does pay well, but the real rewards come from
"consulting". Consulting (also
known as "Contracting") is working on short term contracts as a self
employed expert.
By approaching work in England from
this point of view it is possible to increase your income by 200-300% for doing
the same job.
So why aren't all the English IT experts
contracting? Well, one of the often
voiced downsides to this style of work is to be away from home. To a native Englishman this can be a major
issue. As a foreign national working
away from home, you are doing this anyway, so why not get paid for it?
Contracting
"Self employed" may sound like
you have your own business, and that is one way to approach working as a
consultant. However, this can cause
problems with work permits and visa. The
solution is to use an umbrella company.
Umbrella companies employ you as a
traditional employee, but in reality act as accountants who pay you the money
earned through consulting and handle your expenses.
You should set up an account with an
umbrella company before you even start applying for contracts as agents will
not be keen to hire you if you need to sort this out. There are a lot of things that need paying
attention to while choosing an umbrella company.
Being Your Own Boss
Being a self employed consultant may sound
glamorous and the idea of being your own boss is a dream many of us share.
The opposite is true!
As consultants usually sit outside of a
company's hierarchy it can seem like everyone and no one is your boss.
After working on a few separate contracts
all your previous boss(es) can contact you again for small pieces of
work and so it seems you never leave a boss behind, just gain new ones.
The only real freedom consultants have
which others do not is being able to leave any bad job at short notice.
Finding Work
It is easy to find contracts, though maybe
not so easy to be hired!
All the contracts you could ever want are
posted on one of a few jobs websites. In
fact, every job I have applied for has been through jobserve.com, there are a
few more worth a look but it is usually the same jobs appearing on all of them.
It is simply a case of searching on your
skill set and sending your resume for the jobs which are the best fit.
If the agent calls you, your résumé has
impressed them enough that they are interested in putting you forward.
The agent will have an informal chat and if
all goes well, will recommend you for an
interview with the client.
Agents
Agents are a necessary evil when working as
a consultant. I have written about this
at length previously, but to give a summary here:
Agents are not your friends they are only
interested in their commission and will do anything to get it.
Be polite to them, but do not be fooled by
their friendly act.
Finding New Work
When your current contract has two weeks
left until it is completed, it is time to start searching for your next
contract.
The first step should always be to ask your
current employer if they are going to extend your contract. Just because it is a short term assignment
does not mean that it will not last for years!
If your employer does not need your
expertise or you want to move on to another assignment, it is just a case of
repeating the steps outlined in the "Finding Work" section.
Be sure to update your resume with as much
detail about your last contract as you can.
Summary
The wealth is there to be earned but there
are rules to this new game which can trip up the unwary.
With a little forethought and planning, it
is possible to gain the rewards.