Are you an IT professional and wonder if a career as an IT Contractor could be for you? Read the blog below from our specialist IT Contract Recruitment Consultant, Orla Fitzsimons, and it will hopefully answer a lot of your reservations!
Stigma be gone!
Gone are the days where IT candidates consulted because they couldn’t secure a good permanent role. Also gone, are the days when the rest of the IT team looked suspiciously and resentfully at the Consultant siloed in the corner. Consultants are now respected. Consultants are a recognised need. You are respected for the expertise you bring to a project or team; you help carry the extra weight alongside the permanent team (who have been asking for the resource for a little too long!); and for the revenue you ultimately SAVE our clients by helping to achieve the deliverables on time. At VANRATH we know our clients are excited to benefit from a Consultant with a excellent reputation and a wealth of experience. Also remember that if you then decide to move back into permanent employment, no door is ever closed to a candidate that has spent years up-skilling in a technology market that changes at lightning speed.
The Money
Let’s be serious and let’s state the obvious (even if some people feel embarrassed to admit it) - consulting is a very lucrative career! You’re earning a decent, but possibly not exceptional salary, and you know you’re worth more considering your sought after skill-set. But perhaps there isn’t an opportunity with your current employer (or any other permanent employer) to really get what you deserve. Good candidates can double and sometimes triple their overall income in comparison to the permanent salary they were on. Consultants are also taxed less, so not only does your income increase, but so does your take-home pay. Win, win!
Talented but frustrated
Often talented permanent candidates who come to VANRATH are frustrated with their current situation. You’re a skilled developer, you’re on a decent salary, and the work may even be good.... nothing much to complain about, right? Except there is...you’re bored. Permanent candidates can often get stuck within a particular technology stack or role. You may even feel under pressure to go down a route, like management, that you’re not that interested in. Sure it’s great experience but you’re a techie at heart. A problem solver. An innovator. You actually miss being hands on with new and exciting technology. Being a Consultant means you get to pick and choose what domain you work in, what you work on and for how long. It’s ever changing and never boring!
The End Game
Consulting offers flexibility like no other job. At VANRATH, we know the motivations for permanent staff to move into consulting can vary, but interestingly it’s the End Game that can really swing it. You have the peace of mind of getting to that nest egg a lot quicker, supporting your family with relative ease or finally buy that summer home in France. But you can also use it as a lucrative stepping stone to your own start-up. That ever evolving tech idea you’ve had for a long time but never had the resources to get it off the ground. Consulting finally offers you the capital you need to bring your idea to fruition. Being exposed to different tech companies from start-ups to established, over a reasonably short period of time, can also give you the business insight and acumen to really make it happen.
But what about IR35?
Firstly...let’s all take a long, deep, calming breath. IR35 is not new. It’s already been introduced into the Public Sector and the IR35 Reform will be extended to the private sector in April 2020. IT companies are heavily reliant on IT Consultants and it’s in everyone best interest to ensure that consultants and clients are compliant and protected. Which is why VANRATH will be announcing some practical and workable solutions very soon...
For further information on opportunities available with the IT Contract market in NI, contact our specialist consultants Orla Fitzsimons on orla.fitzsimons@vanrath.com or call 02890 330 250.
