An IT contractor provides specialist services and skills to organisations on a temporary or project-by-project basis. Rather than being employed full-time and salaried, contractors are usually self-employed professionals, sometimes working through an agency.
They are highly valuable commodities in the sector for their knowledge and experience.
They fill a range of roles including cyber security contract jobs which focus on ensuring security and protection for an organisation’s digital assets and information; software development with skills in designing, developing, and maintaining software applications; and data analysis or data science to extract insights, build predictive models, perform statistical analysis while helping to make data-driven decisions.
There are a good number of reasons why full-time professionals look at moving to contracting in the IT industry.
We’ve picked out 5 of the top benefits to help you be informed before making the decision whether contracting is the right route for you.
1. Remuneration
IT contractors can expect to enjoy a greater degree of financial flexibility in their work.
Often, contractors can negotiate their contracts to reflect their specialised IT skills, experience, and workload. As rates are paid on an hourly or daily basis for their services, earnings can grow to a higher level than a full-time salaried employee in the same period of time.
By negotiating long-term contracts or working on multiple shorter-term projects at a time, the earning potential for contractors is therefore extremely attractive.
Although they may not enjoy such benefits as holidays and paid time off, contractors in the IT industry can work remotely and claim business expenses as tax deductions can also create significant savings.
2. Schedule Flexibility
After moving from permanent to contract work, scheduling can also become more flexible.
This depends on the type of environment and how their IT infrastructure is organised, but contractors will often have more control over their work hours, whether that’s in the office or working remotely.
This extra layer of flexibility can help improve a work-life balance, while also giving them the opportunity to work on multiple lucrative contracts at a time (if agreed with employers!).
The often-shorter-term nature of these contracts means that IT contractors can take up other work, travel, or family opportunities in between commitments.
3. Experience Gained
Working as a contractor also comes with important opportunities to develop new skills, contacts, and experience.
This is especially prevalent in the IT industry, where technologies and processes are evolving quickly across a multitude of disciplines.
While of course, you can still develop your skills in a more traditional full-time role, contracting exposes you to different ways of working across a range of projects.
There’s also the benefit of collaborating with different IT teams and professionals. This of course comes down to which projects an IT contractor might choose, but this approach can develop skills in several areas or focus on a specific niche that allows them to become sought-after specialists, whether that’s in Cyber Security, Data Management or Software Development.
4. Project Dynamics
With more technical skills under their belt, contractors can work on a variety of projects with various clients and requirements.
Many companies appreciate the unique value of contractors who can use the most advanced technologies and understand the latest trends.
These multifaceted projects help to create a proven track record while advancing the development of in demand skills and familiarity with specialist technologies. By making the most of their employment flexibility, contractors can prioritise building a portfolio that demonstrates these sought-after abilities.
5. Network Building
As we know, building an impressive professional network is an important string to any professional’s bow.
Working with different organisations at differing experience levels means connecting with industry leaders, accessing networks of similarly specialised contractors, and demonstrating value directly to important clients.
This also allows those contracting in IT to gain insight and perspective from professionals in a wide range of roles and industries, fostering long-term, collaborative relationships, and creating an impressive referral network that ensures their value can be demonstrated.
Your IT Recruitment experts
If making the move from a permanent role to contracting in IT sounds like a good move for you, get in touch with the expert IT team at Advantage Resourcing today to find out more.
We have 40 years of experience and are ready to help start the next chapter of your professional IT journey.
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