IT Contractor Jobs

In recent years, the market saw demand for contractors jump again, as confidence in the IT sector grew at its highest level since the dot.com boom.

Also due to the IT skill shortages in the UK, highly qualified IT contractors will often demand a high premium. Where as IT contractor jobs used to be something many workers fell into due to necessity, it is often now a preference of many.

The benefits of being an IT contractor are as follows:

• More money – daily rates (excluding benefits) are usually higher than that of permanent staff
• Freedom – Contractors have greater flexibility and are able to plan their work/life balance to suit
• Variety and experience – Contracting often gives a greater variety of experience in different sectors and areas that otherwise would not have been possible
• Tax benefits – Contractors who take professional advice can also greatly increase tehir take home pay.

However there are also some disadvantages – primarily no real job security, no individual long term commitment and thus uncertainty.  Additionally often contractors may not have access to the company benefits that permanent employees are offered e.g. bonuses, company cars etc

A large number of IT contractor jobs are likely to be required though for a long time yet and are still the preferred route for many large companies embarking on significant long-term IT projects.

Confidence amongst contractors remains high, with a recent survey indicating that many are expecting premium pay rises of 10%. Some of the current hottest IT skills for IT contractor jobs include: Java, J2EE, VB.Net, C#, LAMP Technologies and Data-warehousing. Of course there is always as a strong demand for Oracle and SAP

If you have the right experience and skills and personal attributes – then there are many exciting and worthwhile job opportunities currently available. For all the latest job opportunities and a comprehensive list of vacancies, search for all the latest IT contractor jobs with Technojobs.

Furthermore, we hope the following information below will be of use to you:

ContractorUK Guide to Contracting – comprehensive first timers guide to Contracting. Click here to view (PDF)

Financially, you will need to fully understand how you can maximise how much pay you take home, thus reducing the amount of tax that you pay as a Contractor.  There are primarily two options for your income and tax management:

Working through your own limited company

It is very important to stress that these must be genuine, one person limited companies and not a 'scheme' dreamed up by what are nothing more than marketing organisations.

The first things you, the contractor will need to do are form a limited company and open a business bank account (your accountant will help you with this). The director controls invoicing, the company bank account and decides on how much to pay themselves, which is made up of a combination of salary and dividends.

The limited company's contract can either be with the end client or the agency and the company can claim as tax free expenses: travel and subsistence, hardware and software, training, professional subscriptions, business telephone, accountancy fees plus any other business costs.

For a more detailed review click here to download your FREE step-by-step guide to contracting

Working through an Umbrella Company:

This is where you essentially become an employee of the umbrella company. You submit time-sheets to the umbrella who will in turn, invoice the end client (or agency) for the work done by you. You will then be paid as a PAYE employee less the umbrella fee.

You will usually be allowed to claim some basic expenses, however be cautious of umbrella companies advertising 'special' dispensations or expense policies 'approved by' the Inland Revenue, that claim to allow expense claims without the need to produce receipts. The Inland Revenue have made it clear that they intend to challenge any company considered to be actively encouraging tax avoidance through fraudulent expense claims.

Finally, IT Contractors will often need to consider Insurance Cover such as potentially professional indemnity or business liability.   Hiscox insurance offer packages tailored to IT Contractors through TechnoJobs. Click here for a quote.