Table Of ContentConsidering Computer Contracting;»
Considering Computer Contractingil
MICHAEL PowELL
~1 Routledge
~~ Taylor&FrancisGroup
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published by Butterworth-Heinemann
This edition published 2011 by Routledge
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711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
©Michael Powell1999
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TRADEMARKS/REGISTERED TRADEMARKS
Computer hardware and software brand names mentioned in this book are protected
by their respective trademarks and are acknowledged.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 0 7506 3851 6
Contents
1 Introduction 1
2 Who uses contractors and why? 9
2.1 Why do companies take on contract staff? 9
2.2 What sort of companies use contractors? 23
2.3 What skills and skill levels do they require? 27
2.4 Teleworking 28
3 What it takes to become a contract worker 3 3
3.1 Introduction 33
3.2 Motivations behind becoming a contractor 34
3.3 Experience 38
3.4 Need for flexibility 40
3.5 Interview techniques 41
3.6 Self-sufficiency 42
3.7 Sick pay 43
3.8 Holiday pay 44
3.9 Contracting versus full-time employment 45
4 Forming your own company 4 9
4.1 Introduction 49
4.2 Two methods of being self-employed 50
4.3 Limited liability companies 53
4.4 How to acquire your company 55
4.5 Who's who within the company 57
4.6 Miscellaneous matters 59
4.7 Consortia of contractors 60
5 How to find your first contract 6 1
5.1 Introduction 61
5.2 One approach to contract hunting 61
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_C_o_nl_e_n_t_s _______________________________________ __
5.3 Sources 64
5.4 How to find the right agency 68
5.5 Dealing with agencies 74
5.6 The interviews 77
5.7 References 79
5.8 Contracts 80
5.9 Other ways to sell your skills 87
6 Finance 89
6.1 Introduction 89
6.2 Preparation 90
6.3 Government bodies 91
6.4 Finding your accountant 92
6.5 Running your accounts 95
6.6 Accounting systems 99
6.7 Taxation and payments 100
6.8 Self-assessment 113
6.9 Claiming expenses against tax 114
6.1 0 Where to put your money 124
6.11 Contingency planning 130
6.12 Insurance brokers 134
6.13 Credit control 135
6.14 Dealing with disaster 136
7 Updating your skills 141
7.1 Introduction 141
7.2 Self-training 144
7.3 Formal courses 150
7.4 Microsoft qualifications 150
7.5 Lying about ability 151
---------------------------------------C~o~n~t~e=nt=s ~
8 Current outlook for contract staff 153
8.1 Introduction 153
8.2 Skills needed 156
8.3 Rates 159
8.4 The future 162
8.5 The future of contracting 165
9 Contracting away from home 167
9.1 Introduction 167
9.2 Lifestyle changes 168
9.3 Children 170
9.4 Finding work 171
9.5 Housing 173
9.6 What do you take with you? 176
9.7 Taxation 178
9.8 Checklist 181
10 After contracting 183
10 .1 Introduction 183
10 .2 Returning to full-time work 183
10.3 Consultancy 184
10 .4 Using your company 186
10 .5 Retirement 187
1 1 Conclusion 189
Index 191
About the Author
Michael Powell has worked in the computer industry since leaving
Oxford University in 1970. After some years working his way through
programming and systems analysis jobs, he became a contractor in 197 5,
before returning to full-time employment in the software industry,
working for a number of software companies. He returned to contracting
again in 1984 and continues to work as a freelance consultant. He has
written a number of packages for clients, and for his own company,
which have enjoyed considerable success in their marketplaces. He is
fortunate enough to be able to work almost entirely from his office at
home in a converted Cotswold farmhouse.
He combines contracting with freelance writing. However, his real love
is opera singing, and contracting provides him with the right environment
to enjoy this. He is a semi-professional tenor who has performed over
30 operatic roles.
He is very happily married with two grown up children of his own and
two step-children. His ambition for them is that they will provide for his
and his wife's old age in the fashion to which they would like to become
accustomed.
Acknowledgement
I would like to make a special acknowledgement to Catherine Fear -
my copy editor-who really contributed a lot of valuable ideas. Thank
you very much for all your input. Much appreciated. M.P.
Introduction
1
The computer industry - or more accurately the data processing
industry-has become mature. Its effects are felt throughout society,
and its terminology has entered into the language. The growth has
been meteoric, perhaps as great as any since the Industrial
Revolution. To service this new industry, a whole range of new skills
has been created. Forty years ago there were no programmers, data
processing systems analysts, or other computer staff in commercial
employment. Even fifteen years ago, the PC was only just beginning
to make itself felt, and nobody but the most optimistic would have
forecast its impact on all areas oflife. Now computing staff represent
a sizeable and growing proportion of the workforce. The growth of
the Internet and the use of e-mail represent another revolution -
introducing a completely new set of media.
The effects of this growth on staffing have been immense. It has
never been possible to find enough qualified personnel in this
industry. Even the recessions in the industry in 1972, 1981 and the
early 1990s were only relative compared to the rest of the economy.
The 1990s have seen so much change that, even though some
computer jobs have been lost, many more have been created. In
many ways, the IT industry has led others out of recession. Because
of this, demand for skills is sky-rocketing. In reality, there have been
never really been problems for properly skilled staff. Moreover, the
industry is still growing, and all projections for the future jobs market
point to an unending need for staff. My only concern is that one
day I will wake up and discover that nobody does anything except
computing- and the whole of society will do a virtual oozlum bird.
Staff growth is also fuelled by the continuing changes in technology.
In 1995, Microsoft was cool about the Internet. By 1997, it was
completely turned around and every Microsoft product had been
changed to interface with it. In version 5 of their C++ compiler,
0
I Introduction
suddenly the Help files were using HTML instead of their own
proprietary interface. In fact, this change was rather ill-thought-out
because the HTML files were far worse cross-referenced and indexed
than the normal Help files. The Internet has created the need for
more and more staff-those experienced in Windows programming,
those who understand HTML, Java, and ActiveX controls - not to
mention Web page designers and creative artists to take maximum
advantage of the new technology. Now, the latest cool stuff is the
Intranet - which seems to be almost as important as the Internet,
because it is seen as capable of "empowering" everybody within an
organisation.
As the century draws to a close, an ominous problem has created a
need for programming skills which had been thought completely
obsolete. The "Millennium bug" -which, untreated, will cause many
older systems to fail at the start of the twenty-first century - has
been estimated to need as many programmers as the whole current
population of skilled staff. Those programmers will need to know
older, batch languages like COBOL and PL/L Because of this, older
programmers are being brought out of retirement and employed -
some at up to £1,000 per day- to address the problem.
The other opportunity which is already creating jobs is the possible
introduction of European Monetary Union (EMU). This is already
- in 1998 - exercising the banks, because, if it is introduced, they
will need to cater for it even if the UK does not adopt it immediately.
It's pretty farcical, considering the state of the economies of the
main protagonists - but all the analyses point to its being as big a
potential problem for IT departments as the Millennium bug. The
reasons for this are twofold. Firstly, though this might seem a trivial
problem, few, if any, keyboards and fonts yet support the Euro
symbol. Converting them will be a major cost. Secondly, and more
important, systems which deal with monetary amounts will need to
be adapted to operate in two currencies. This is not a problem for
systems already handling foreign currency amounts, but domestic
systems will almost certainly need to be adapted to cope. Some
