Contracting – Experiences of Being a Specialist-For-Hire

​Earlier this year, Protagion asked to hear your experiences of contracting and interim roles. We are particularly interested to learn why you choose these flexible, time-bound and often project-related opportunities, mostly available when employers want a specialist skillset to do work they feel is not part of business-as-usual (BAU). We also wanted to gain insight into whether you move between these roles and permanent positions, and how these roles fit into your past and envisaged career path. This article shares your experiences, including what you like best about contracting and interim work, and what you don’t like. We hope that it is a useful resource to others considering these roles.

The contracting mindset
Versus other markets I’ve experience of, contracting is significant in the United Kingdom, especially within the actuarial, IT and change / programme management functions. When I first arrived in the UK (post financial crisis) from South Africa where permanent roles were far more common, the distinction was immediately apparent, and it gave the office environment a different feel. Contractors made up a sizeable proportion of a number of teams I engaged with, explaining the influence of this "contracting mindset" - I was particularly struck by how employers themselves pushed for more contractors "for more flexibility" across a wide range of projects taking place, possibly driven by ongoing regulatory change. It worried me that companies weren’t developing their permanent staff to take on these new project opportunities, arguing that they didn’t wish to "disturb BAU".

Experiences as a hiring manager
As a hiring manager with department budget responsibility, I’d previously experienced working with contractors from one side only, and remember being surprised about the year-after-year costs of contractors within our team as well as on projects we sponsored. My personal view was that it was much better to have permanent, committed staff, who we would train and develop to add value over a multi-year (planned) horizon than a constantly changing rota of people dipping in and out. I particularly recall one conversation with an expert in the company’s secretarial team about my frustrations… She confessed that she loved contracting roles herself, and wished she could go back to being a 'specialist-for-hire'. I realised that the situation was far more nuanced than I’d assumed until then, but it didn’t stop me, tongue-in-cheek, nicknaming her 'mercenary' from then on.

Over my years in the UK, I also had staff members in my teams choosing to leave their permanent roles to take up contracts elsewhere, which encouraged me to reflect on the relationship between employers and employees, and how attractive our development opportunities were, for example. I hadn’t realised too how much contracting rates can fluctuate over time, having a significant impact on contractors – see one professional’s perspective on this under "Drawbacks" below.

​Another practical example of the "contracting mindset" is the difference in attitude between one of the managers in my team, and one of my bosses: she felt that team activities like strategy days and teambuilding sessions were for permanent (BAU) people only, because contractors were paid a day-rate for specific output, and that we shouldn’t pay them for discussing the three-year business plans. He vehemently disagreed, saying that everyone in the office should celebrate together, as we all played a role in the team delivery and office environment. To me, the distinction about who should be involved in debating the future strategy depended on who would be there to deliver that strategy e.g. if it was a three-month contract, I could see little value (for the company and the individual) in taking time to participate in something not affecting them – not to mention the competitive considerations. If, however, the likely outcome was that the contract would extend long-term, then they should be part of crafting that future.

And now, supporting Protagion members who are contractors has given us additional insight into your hopes and dreams. The remainder of this article shares your views (both members and other contributors to the article) on contracting and interim positions. 

Reasons for becoming a contractor
Your reasons for initially stepping into the contracting world were amazingly varied:

• To try something different "and see what it would be like" or "try to use my skills in a different setting [after my] previous permanent role finished"
• To get to work for different companies
• Necessity: after redundancy, the right permanent role wasn’t available, but a contract role that suited your skill set came up, and it allowed you to pay the bills
• Time & breathing space to find a great permanent role: as an interesting permanent role wasn’t available (internally with your existing employer or externally) you used interim roles to keep up-to-date with industry developments while looking for a permanent position
• Earnings: "the interim market pays well for specific skills for a specified amount of time"
• More control and ability to be your own boss e.g. life as a management consultant required significant travel and less autonomy about the types of projects you worked on and location you were required at, so moving to contracting shifted the choices to you
• Nature of the work, including:
  • Desire to have defined deliverables
  • "No work politics"
  • Consulting had required a big focus on selling (and convincing clients to upgrade to a more expensive option), while your preference was for a quicker, "good enough" solution
• Flexibility, including the ability to spend more time with young children e.g. working around the school holidays
• Unplanned: "I’d moved out of consulting and was in between jobs when I was approached to do a short contract"

Your approaches to contracting
Many of you enjoy the flexibility and variety afforded by contracting, with some "serial contractors" (possibly with breaks in between) and others who change between contracts and permanent roles over time. 

Your approaches match your reasons for contracting. Some intend to perform interim work until they find suitable permanent roles or are now accepting a permanent role at the same organisation they were contracting with (as they "value the (relative) security [a permanent role] provides and benefits package"). They’ve tended to do fewer different contracts / interim roles, usually 1-3 of differing lengths and extensions. One commented: "I prefer to only look for new roles, interim or permanent, towards the very end of my contracts so I weigh up what opportunities are out there at those times. My 3 interim roles have provided very different experiences which I've enjoyed so it may be a little harder to move back to to a permanent role." Another said "I wouldn’t describe myself a serial contractor, I’ve only ever had three. I’ll take a permanent role when money gets tight."

Others move from contracting to permanent and back again, adjusting as circumstances change. One described his experience as: "I've done 2 contracts, both for almost 2 years with permanent jobs in between them both. Each time I contracted, it was because it gave me a useful temporary role utilising my acquired skills. I was definitely more picky about my permanent roles as they had to offer career progression and the chance to operate in an area that I hadn't worked in before to offer learning experience."

The third main grouping is professionals who have done multiple different contracts (10+) at the same organisation over a long time period (5+ years).

The next type is those who’ve become adept at contracting over many years, changing organisations or projects regularly. Your experiences covered 5 to 12 different organisations each, over 5 to 14 years. One explained: "I like the change and learning new industries / businesses". Another described her breadth of contracts with "[I’ve had] contracts ranging from 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months and my longest 4 years. I have often had a number of renewals within the same organisation."

​The remaining category is those who make the change to contracting later in their careers, after multiple decades in permanent roles. These individuals value the additional time off that contracting allows (saying, for example, that permanent roles allowed "no more than 3 weeks off at any time over the entire period"). They also cite (renewed) job interest from seeing different perspectives. One person described his experiences: "over 5 years [since leaving permanent work] I’ve worked about 36 months on four assignments for just two companies, with contracts varying in length from 1 to 18 months".

Best aspects
We asked you what you particularly enjoy about contracting or interim roles, and (unsurprisingly) your answers echoed some of the reasons contracting appealed to you originally. In your own words:

• Variety
  • "Doing different projects at different organisations, so you do learn a lot. You may not necessarily get this variety of work as a permanent employee."
  • "Variety in both the tasks you do and people you meet. You also get to see how different companies work" and "Seeing how different companies do things differently (in fact, the great majority do them the same)"
    
  • "Contracting work may provide a variety of different types of work experiences. I've worked at a consultancy, one of the largest life companies and I'm currently at a bank. It provides a great opportunity to work with different people on a variety of projects."
  • "Another positive aspect is the variety of work and different environments which is often a challenge and always interesting. Meeting new people and making many new friends over the years stands out as a real positive too. I enjoy helping and mentoring and as I have gained more experience and new skills I am able to pass this learning on wherever I go which is rewarding."
  • "Variety of work that you can get involved in and the people that you work with. I've been very lucky that, in my contracting roles, the teams were filled with energy and delivery focused."
  • "Learning new skills"

• Control & Flexibility
  • "Ability to choose - be it client, location, project, day rate, holiday etc"
  • "Being my own boss"
  • "Flexibility to have time off"
  • "One of the best aspects was being able to work flexibly when you have children and being there for them when they need you. This isn't always an easy balance and some contracts did take me away from home during the week, but I then managed some home working which worked well overall."
• Pay & Financial Rewards
  • "The money is great"
  • "Financial rewards are also a positive together with now being able to use the flexible working to travel and take more holidays."
  • "The pay is higher than a permanent role, but partly offset by no benefits or leave - so you pay for pension, healthcare and days off directly." The differential between permanent pay and contracting pay is also affected by ongoing tax changes. 
• Clear definition of responsibilities
  • "There is usually a very clear idea of what needs to be delivered and by when so it is much easier to manage the workload."
  • "[Being] given specific focused pieces of work, liked being a 'hired gun' - i.e. go ahead and do XYZ."
• Lower involvement in office rituals
  • "The best elements of contracting are not having to do appraisals and set objectives. If they like you and have the budget, you are renewed, if not you leave."
  • "No performance / bonus discussions!"
  • "Not getting involved in office politics."
  • "Can avoid office politics as well as (often) the need to get involved in staff management, appraisals etc!"
• Sense of personal contribution
  • "The ability to work on a project, close it off and move to the next piece [of work] provides a sense of achievement which is sometimes difficult to see with BAU work"
  • "Because you have specialist knowledge, being good at a job and respected."
• Confidence to speak out
  • "You can also view things in a different light, offering a new perspective, not constrained by having been in the firm for a long time or afraid to speak out. Ultimately you can easily walk away from the role. I don't think many actually would, but it can give you that sense of freedom to be more creative in your approach and thinking."

One summarised his exposure to both contracting and permanent roles with: "I personally have enjoyed both... Like any job, it heavily depends on the culture and the team in which you work. The variety and challenge of the work is also a big factor. I have been lucky in that the roles I've had provided interesting work, in businesses with good culture and enjoyable colleagues."

Drawbacks
One of the biggest drawbacks of contracting / interim roles is a direct result of the variety and flexibility they offer: uncertainty. This was described in a number of ways: 

• "Not knowing when or where your next job is. Hard to enjoy your time off between contracts when you're always applying for jobs."
• "Contracts can be terminated at very short notice" and "contract extensions were sometimes done on the last day of my contract" [which sadly seems to be quite common]
• "There [is] always a risk of not having work and income"
• "Limited job security, so every 3 to 6 months you have to start canvassing for renewal/seek other opportunities"

One actuary explained the uncertainty around the "demand for services e.g. Solvency II, IFRS17, and economic crashes [do] cause cycles. Modelling systems come and go so if your one falls from favour, your skills become less valuable or worthless". He added that "[if] a big employer... ceases taking on contractors, the market floods and rates drop" and "the supply side also varies, if a large company like EY/KPMG/PWC makes their workers redundant and they try contracting, the market has over supply and rates drop".

Because the hiring companies are located in a multitude of places, contractors find they need to travel to where the work is / be flexible on location to find the right role at the right salary level. "Working away from home" was highlighted as a drawback, although some like the travel opportunities provided by contracts in Europe, for example. One said that he has a limited range of locations that he is prepared to work in which significantly limits the interim opportunities available to him. Another commented that he found it difficult staying away overnight for three nights a week over a year-and-a-half when his young daughter really missed him.

Two practicalities were also mentioned: "the large amount of paperwork involved to keep on top of time sheets, invoicing, receipts etc" and the additional costs which go along with contracting (e.g. business running expenses). One person remarked: "[these] can make you wonder if you do actually take home more money as a contractor."

Another major category of downsides was the risk of the work you are best suited to not being available to contractors. One contractor warned: "You need to carefully consider how you like to work and what the role entails. Some roles require you to work alone on something very specific for a period of time with little interaction with the rest of the immediate team or organisation. This may suit some people but I don't enjoy working like this." Another reflected that "you don't have a lot of control of the type of work that comes your way; but you can choose which ones you apply to". Others commented on the difficulty in finding senior roles and/or management positions:

• "Opportunities for senior roles are not always there, even given our background, training and education. Contractors can be seen as a means to an end… get the job done and then move us on, which is fair given permanent staff need career progression more. I always feel sad when I move on from a company and whilst I know this comes with the type of role I have it isn't easy sometimes when strong ties and bonds with people have been formed; this is a big issue for me personally."
• "Most contract roles won't allow you to exercise skill to manage a large team, and most actuarial contractors tend to operate in a specialised area, so the teams tend to be small. Managing a project is very different from holding management responsibility for a team - the closest contract to this is a temporary secondment role. Depending on personal preference, this can be a pro or a con."

A number of contractors highlighted the importance of taking responsibility for your own career, learning and growth, with one saying: "If you're not consciously managing your own development you may find yourself slipping relative to your peers."

The final category of drawbacks was related to perceptions of contractors and distinctions between contractors and permanent staff. The comments (and advice) here included: 

• "Some people at some organisations view contractors as cowboys or treat them as second class citizens which can be frustrating"
• "Some companies differentiate between contractors and permanent staff and we often don't get to hear important news; I would say largely this is changing however."
• "[It is difficult] not always having the inside track on how corporate decisions are taken and what everyone’s hot buttons are - certainly not when only on relatively short-term contracts"
• ​"Depending on the work environment and the familiarity of the firm with having contractors on site, there is sometimes a permie vs contractor mentality that rears its head every now and then. Key is to ensure you demonstrate a team player attitude, continuously deliver and provide specialist expertise to overcome any of these objections."

What’s next
Our follow-up article in this series will cover advice and suggestions from contractors on how they’ve managed their careers, and their reflections on the ultimate value to their careers of their contracting experiences. Please look out for it in 2018. If you’d like to add your thoughts to that article, please make contact with us. 

Once again, thanks to all of you who kindly shared your views with us for this article. We appreciate your time and input. This time, almost all of you preferred to remain anonymous, with only those in the Change / Programme Management and Marketing/Proposition sectors more adventurous – a special thanks to Mel Gardiner, Phil Oxenham, and Gavin Erasmus. Whether this is because actuarial and IT contractors tend to prefer to keep their heads down, who knows… We found it particularly interesting to consider the differences between those who opt for Executive Assistant roles and those who opt for contracting/interim roles… Let us know if you have your own theories about this too!