We recently received an email from a permie who is considering going contracting. He was concerned about the state of the IT Contracting market and if he should leave his current job before searching for contracts.

Reader's Question

"I would like to know if this is a good time to get into IT contracting business. I am aware of our current economy situation and several people have warned me that I should really wait until the economy is more stable."

"One other question is that, since I am currently in a permanent position, I need to give my employer a month notice before I resign, should I hand in my resignation and wait for my notice period to be over and then try to secure an IT contract or should I secure a contract first then hand in my notice? I am asking this because, I have an impression that most of contract roles are very urgent and they need engineers straight away. If I hand in my resignation before I secure a contract then obviously there is a risk of being unemployed before I find my first contract position which is not ideal for me."

Contract Eye's Reply

Thanks for your message.

I can't tell you about your specific skillset, but although the general economy seems to be slowing, there doesn't seem to be much news or anecdotal evidence to suggest that there has been a sudden slowdown in IT Contracting.

However, IT contract rates seem to have levelled off for the time being.

One of the best ways to find out how your specific skills are in demand would be to chat to some contract recruitment agencies, or search for jobs of Jobserve.

As for leaving a permanent position - one month seems very typical (some people have to wait a lot longer). There are no hard and fast rules to giving notice and whether you should leave your permanent job.

If I were you, I would test the water and speak to recruitment agencies before doing anything - to see what the market is like for your skills. Tell them that you are on a month notice - and take it from there.

If you do secure an "urgent" contract - one which needs to start within say, 2 weeks, you can still try to negotiate with your permanent employer to try to end your employment early. If the contract employer is keen on your skills, they may well be prepared to wait a little longer for you to start.

I hope this is helpful. To get more of a feel about the state of the IT contracting market, you might also want to take a look at Contractor UK's forums.

If you have a question about IT Contracting, simply email us.