Keep rubbish permanant job or take good contract job?

kksweety

Hey,

I currently work doing research for a company. I got the job straight out of uni so am on a c**p wage. But the job is mine for as long as I want it.

I got a call about another job, doing similar to what I do now but the nice parts of it. It's +10k on what I earn now, but it's guarenteed for 6months and it might carry on to the end of 2013. This second job is for a massive company, that everybody knows.... so it might give me a better chance of getting a better job afterwards....

any ideas on what I should do?

Cheers
KK

scheming_gypsy

I'm biased and say contract everytime; unless it's an IT contract, if it is you should keep your perm and send me details of the contract role

koloko

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relic

Depends what financial situation you are in!

If you're single (or a partner earning) and renting, then go for it!

smileylondongal

relic wrote: »

Depends what financial situation you are in!

If you're single (or a partner earning) and renting, then go for it!

I agree, if you've come out of uni and been working there for a long time, then this will be expected by future recruiters, however if you have other commitments then I'd suggest hanging on to it and seeing if you can haggle on salary or job description.

Owain_Moneysaver

Your current job may be 'yours for as long as you want it' but how secure is that employment really? Depends on the job / employer / sector but big employers can go bust and even the public sector is not secure with whole departments/quangos getting slashed or axed.

Also if you are in a dead-end job for too long you will find it hard to ever move on as employers will think you lack initiative and ambition.

On the other hand there is a lot to be said for 'better the devil you know' especially if you have a mortgage to pay and mouths to feed. Your new job would give you £5k extra over six months. How long would it take to find another job and could you survive if the contract wasn't continued?

kksweety

I'm not at all tied down financially. I live with my partner in rented apt. I am really very tempted to go for the new contract position. The company I work for now is world wide and we are the only research place so I can't see me losing my job anytime soon really. I work in Science, degree is in microbiology but am working doing more chemical/material science work. The new job is basically electron microscopy which I love. I'm also allergic with what I work with now so always go home blotchy and itching...

I think I want to do it and thinking about it, what I've wrote is me trying to justify it to myself.

InsideInsurance

The take home pay COULD increase significantly..... with very basic and slightly optimistic calculations as an employee on £30,000 you could get take home £433 a week but £40,000 as a contractor could be £680 for each week you work.

Of cause the end of that sentence is very important, you only get paid for each day you do. Fall sick, get hit by a bus, go on holiday and you receive nothing at all. You have a B2B contract so even if you stayed there for 20 years they could still get rid of you without having to give justification with only minimal notice (often 2 weeks). Your also providing a professional service where if you dont get the job done properly you'll be required to make up the shortfall at your own expenses (ie no pay)

an9i77

Personally I'd go for the job you really want, although less stable it will give you experience in the area you want which will push your career down the trajectory you're after. Can you pay the price of having less stability in exchange for this though? Do you have some savings, or can you live frugally whilst on the contract in case it ends after six months and you are unemployed for a bit? Are you geographicallly mobile so you can chase other contracts around the country rather than be restricted to one area? Do you want the job badly enough to risk maybe having to do that if it /when it ends?

Slinky

Sometimes you just have to take a chance in life. I got peed off with an employer and handed in my notice without a job to go to. I temped for a bit then got a permanent job which was right up my street and where they wanted somebody to start really quickly which I was in a position to do. That job led to some experience and chance situations that ended up with me meeting my now husband, and later in setting up my own business. Neither of these things would have happened if I'd stuck with the safe option of staying with the original employer.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

Mistral001

You need to enquire into whether this contract job will give you the training and experience you need so early in your career.

It might come down to a choice between money now or good career prospects later.

I am not sure whether contract work counts much as experience - at least good experience - with employers.

On the up side this other firm might get you mingling with more people in the industry as it seems to be a bigger firm than the one you are with at the minute. Also, it is always a good idea to start with a bigger firm and then move to smaller firms later as it is difficult to do it the other way about.