The Day Today

I have the week off from work and have new things to think about. The more I looked into contracting the more interested I became, however there seems little point in setting up a company as practically the same benefits are available if you become a ‘flexible employee’ through an umbrella company. This path would probably be temporary, but there appear to be a few contracts out there that deal with 2nd/3rd line support, and systems/server/network administration.

The other path that has now presented itself is a permanent role in Tampa, Florida. This is where my department’s function will continue within the company (the aquisition of a company in FL resulted in the redundancy of the UK staff). I would be supporting the application as I have been, as well as several other applications. Of course this is tempting, especially if they sort out the visas but there are a few hesitations.

Could I move so far away from friends and family?
Okay so it’s not Australia, and many of my friends have already said they’d love to visit but this is possibly the hardest part of my decision.

Would I have the same cost of living?
What I mean here is will my pay be relative to my pay in the UK, or will it be more/less?

Do I still want to work for the same company?
I have to decide if I want a completely clean break or if I am happy to work for the same company. In the last year we have experienced several cut-backs, or maybe this new location will have more autonomy? Also, if I leave I get redundancy (severance) pay that I was already planning to spend on a Macbook Pro and put the remainder towards property in the UK.

I have asked some of these question of our Human Resources team, and am currently considering during this for a trial period (not sure how long that trial will be). If things weren’t to work out I may still be entitled to my redundancy money.

Thanks for reading. Happy Holidays!

This is the big thing I’ve had in mind recently. I will soon be made redundant from my job and need to find something new. This year I have been for a few interviews (both before finding out about the redundancy and since) and have been offered two jobs, both of which I turned down for different reasons.

As the redundancy applied to an entire department I have seen people leaving already and one of these turned to contracting and started his own company. This has an appeal to me, even though I don’t specialise in application development as he does. I have now started to look into contracts that involve systems engineering, application support, helpdesk support, et cetera, and there appear to be a fair number out there.

This isn’t about making more money - although I’d be disappointed if I made less - it’s about variety and independance. I have almost come to the decision that I will try this path as there’s practically nothing to lose. If it doesn’t work I simply go back to a permanent job.

Today I started my research into contracting, and there’s plenty to read. I’m starting with ITContractor.com as there seems to be some good advice there. I’m also keen to hear your thoughts/advice either as a comment to this entry or send me an e-mail. If I do go ahead with this then you can expect me to write about the whole process.

Finally, if I start my own company then I’ll need a company name. I’ve had a few suggestions but nothing that’s really grabbed me so if you want to help me out there then that’d be great.