CDM

Does anyone have any insight into the pros & cons of either contracting or going permanent in the IT industry in Oz (Melbourne specifically)?

Here in the UK, permanent employees are often paid much less than contractors. Can the same be said for the IT industry in Oz?

- CDM

NickyC

Pros of contracting are just the same here as in the UK. You get a far better rate when contracting (surely the only reason people do it ). There are some other financial advantages, too depending on how you're set up.

Cons are being the first to go in lean times and not having any feeling of permanence.

CDM

Are you a contractor in Oz at the moment? If so, do you mind if I pick your brain about how things work there compared to the UK? Perhaps via a PM?

- CDM

NickyC

Sent you a PM .

CDM

Sent one back. Sorry if it's long-winded ;-)

- CDM

treefingers

hi I am IT contractor in Melbourne, been our here 6 months. As others have said its the same as in UK apart, main difference is taking advantage of the tax as I used to do back in the UK. Its more complicated here with setting up your own company.

CDM

What area of IT are you in? How easy/hard did you find it getting a contract after you arrived?

- CDM

treefingers

2nd/3rd line support come from financial background in London. Getting a job over here was easy ended up getting more job interviews then I could handle. Ended up taking a job with one of the big 4 aussie banks, hoping to go permie once my contract ends.

Obviously things are a bit different now so not sure what the current market is like.

Dorothy

No, not the only reason. I choose to work on contract rather than permanent because I enjoy the freedom of saying when and where I'll work. So far I have been very lucky to have had 2 excellent long term contracts with the WA dept of health.

Today's Friday and we're having a bar-b-q on the ward where I work, so I'll stay late and help cook. Then to make up for the extra 2 hours I'll either take a morning off work next week or perhaps save the hours and take a day off.

I can say when I'll take my vacation, not ask some boss whether I'm allowed, which is a real bonus.

discobay

I have contracted for over twenty years and I can't say that I am my own boss when it comes to choosing when I take my holidays. You are still an employee as a contractor and as such you have a reporting structure in your organisation. Some would take advantage of this and adopt a mercenary-like attitude which I have seen all too often. The independence is an advantage as is the money but it's like apples and pears; you don't get paid holidays, public holidays, sick leave, maternity leave, training, flexi-time (though this is very much organisation-dependent), parking, super, inside-info, treated as a human blah blah - you know what I mean.
Don't get me wrong I loved contracting and earnt a lot from it but it does have its pitfalls.

CDM

Just out of curiosity, why do you want to go permanent? If getting a contract is as easy as you say, wouldn't you be better off contracting?

- CDM

CDM

I've contracted for the past 12 years or so and I have to say that I agree with discobay here. In my line of work, you tend to want to get a contract and keep it, as opposed to swapping contracts every few weeks/months. You can never tell how long you'll be out of a contract so you have to take advantage of those that you land. This essentially means that you merge into an existing team of people and oftentimes have to slot into their leave schedule. In other words, you have to plan your leave along with those around you so it's not as simple as having the luxury to come and go as you please. You also have to provide continuity so taking off when you feel like it can be tantemount to biting off the hand that feeds you.

I'd say that one of the less obvious advantages to contracting is that you can completely dettach yourself from the politics of the organisation for which you are contracting. You don't have to get involved in all the various 'drives' that often come through and you don't need to worry about the organogram and who is being promoted versus who isn't. At the end of the day, you come in, do the work asked of you, get paid and go home again. OK, it may not be 'quite' so straightforward as that but it's broadly along those lines.

Here in London, if I were to 'roll' from contract to perm, my net income would go down quite drastically even though I'd be doing pretty much the same workload. I'd also be pressured hard to meet oftentimes arbitrary targets and deadlines and so on just to chase a few grand in potential bonuses at the end of the year. And worse still, those bonuses may never materialise.

Perhaps for these reasons amongst others, contractors can sometimes be viewed upon by incumbant permies as 'scum' but as I see it, permies are often treated as scum by their employers anyway. If I have to be scum, I'd rather be the better paid type.

- CDM

lynetteh

Is it difficult to get a mortgage as a contractor vs a permanent employee?

Dorothy

It wasn't for us. My husband is a permanent employee and I only do long-term contracts of 6 months or more.

LolaB

hi, I am in Perth and contracted when I was in the UK and really enjoyed. Does anyone have any recommended National contracting recruitment agencies that would cover perth? I am in training and development/business process improvement

ta!

Leah