{"id":12053,"date":"2023-07-27T10:32:22","date_gmt":"2023-07-27T10:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=12053"},"modified":"2023-07-27T10:32:24","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T10:32:24","slug":"six-questions-to-ask-yourself-before-moving-into-it-contracting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2023\/07\/27\/six-questions-to-ask-yourself-before-moving-into-it-contracting\/","title":{"rendered":"SIX QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE MOVING INTO IT CONTRACTING"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Are you thinking about leaving your permanent role and starting a career in IT contracting? If so, this can be an incredibly exciting prospect, which will no doubt benefit your long-term career. You won\u2019t be stuck doing the same thing day in, day out, and you\u2019ll have variety in your job roles, where you work and the people you meet.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, how do you know if you\u2019ve really got what it takes to forge a successful career in IT contracting? Will you be able to cope with the uncertainty, take on the challenge and thrive in this new career path? Asking yourself the below six questions will help you decide whether life as an IT contractor is for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

1. AM I GOOD AT BEING MY OWN BOSS?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Being your own boss sounds great, doesn\u2019t it? Especially if you\u2019re currently in a job you don\u2019t like or you\u2019re working for someone who is a poor manager. It\u2019s easy to get lost in fantasizing about being able to take days off whenever you like and do what you want, when you want, while money auto-magically pops into your bank account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when you actually take the plunge and reality sets in, you\u2019ll find that there\u2019s a whole lot to organize, from marketing yourself to paying yourself. The freedom and autonomy IT contracting brings can also be difficult for some to adapt to. So, ask yourself honestly, do you have the determination, focus and perseverance required to succeed as an IT contractor?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. HOW ORGANIZED AND DISCIPLINED AM I?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s important to understand that contracting can be very much like running your own business. You\u2019ll have regular admin tasks to do, that you probably won\u2019t have ever had to deal with in your permanent job, from preparing your accounts to paying taxes. You might want to form your own limited company, or register as self-employed \u2013 either way, there will be paperwork that you must manage and deadlines for tax returns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an IT contractor, it will also be your responsibility to ensure you have a consistent pipeline of work and are always thinking one step ahead. Towards the end of each contract, it\u2019s a good idea to update your CV and LinkedIn profile when the skills and experience gained are still fresh in your mind and file all your receipts and expenses to keep your accounts up to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. HOW ADAPTABLE AM I?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As an IT contractor, each and every project, sometimes each and every day, will be different and you will constantly get pushed outside your comfort zone. This can be hugely motivating, not to mention great for your CV. However, you must be confident in your ability to adapt to change well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You must also be able to deal with different systems, tools and procedures as you move from project to project and company to company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. HOW DO I FEEL ABOUT NOT BEING A CONSISTENT MEMBER OF A TEAM?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While this can be a hard concept for some, especially if you\u2019ve come from a long-term permanent role with a tight-knit team, the benefit of contracting is that you will avoid office politics and gossip. In addition \u2013 if you find you don\u2019t get on with someone, or you find the contract manager difficult to deal with, you just have to remember that this is temporary and soon enough you\u2019ll never have to deal with them again- if you don\u2019t want to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, along your way, you will also meet and forge great relationships with other IT contractors. These contacts may well turn out to be useful sources in the future, particularly in terms of recommendations for new projects and securing work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. WILL I BE COMMITTED TO BEING PROACTIVE IN FINDING NEW PROJECTS?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Part and parcel of successful IT contracting is maintaining your network and building relationships. You\u2019ll need to be proactive in searching for your next project; marketing yourself and your brand, networking, following up and managing all of that while working at your current role. It\u2019s also important that you maintain regular and open communication with your Hays recruitment consultant, as well as being great at building rapport with past and current clients, in case opportunities arise in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. HOW GOOD AM I AT SELLING MYSELF?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In between each IT contract, you will need to attend interviews to secure your next project. One of the benefits of IT contracting is that over time, you will start to build a rich and varied CV. However, it\u2019s still important that you have the skills and ability to succeed in an interview and feel comfortable and confident in an interview situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After you ask yourself these questions, it can also be helpful to talk candidly with your IT contracting friends about their experiences – this will give you a full and realistic picture of what it is like to do this as a career. Ask them to be honest and tell you if they would recommend you explore this career path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: Hays Consulting <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good Journalism Requires Money<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Help us reach more people with your donations<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We accept your donations to help us reach more people<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donate: Bank Name: Opay<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Account Number: 8149838007<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Account Name: Asukwo Archibong<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PayPal: ikpa@yahoo.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are you thinking about leaving your permanent role and starting a career in IT contracting? If so, this can be an incredibly exciting prospect, which will no doubt benefit your long-term career. You won\u2019t be stuck doing the same thing day in, day out, and you\u2019ll have variety in your job roles, where you work […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,4,5,8,18,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-featured","category-international","category-jobs","category-lifestyle","category-naija-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image-20.png?fit=1277%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12053"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12055,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12053\/revisions\/12055"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}