Really need advice for next steps! ££ Recruiters & professionals help please

[Susu49]

I'm an IT project manager and can't decide whether to switch from being an employee to contractor.

I decided a while back I'd move into contracting for the freedom it affords and the ability to charge higher rates. Re freedom, its not just the flexibility for personal reasons but also to boost experience with different companies.

(I know the financial perks are less than they used to be but I'm looking to earn as much as I can in the short to medium term)

I'm based in the South East and expect to have London based clients even if I don't work in London myself (but this is likely).

But , the average day rates for IT project managers seem to be about £500 which seems low. As a f/t employee I'd expect to be earning at least £50k (possibly more?) although it seems to be that the researchable earnings figures come up low compared to what people are actually paid

Can anyone advise through experience salary expectations of a mid-level IT project manager in London/SE please?

I don't feel I can ask recruiters I speak to in real life but think like a lot of women I've undersold myself in the past. Looking online, I've gone from certain about becoming a contractor to sooo confused!!

500pd, 255 working days in a year...say you only work a minimum of 200 days...that's still £100k before tax etc.
Make a list of all the perks of being an employee eg pension, sick pay, stability. And the negatives, eg lack of flexibility etc. Now do the same for being a contractor.
Also consider:

• your skills
• could you find contracts easily with your skills and experience
• do you have enough savings in case you can't find a contract?

God, that's embarrassing! You're right - last time I attempt salary research at 3.30am while overthinking!

I was just going to point out you have your figures wrong!

Don't forget though:
No sick pay
No paid leave/holiday
No maternity/paternity/parental leave (only govt statutory, and that's so tiny)
No pension contributions from employer
No bonuses
No share options
No job security
Often put on the 'boring' projects/grunt work
Colleagues often dont invest in friendships/relationship with you as you'll move on
Etc
Etc
Plus you'll need to organise your tax and NI payments, tax returns, etc.

You need to find out if the 500 per day is inside IR35 or outside - then use a contractor calculator to see what you'd actually be taking home.

If it’s outside IR35 then it’s worth it.
We were recently sent an offer for DH of £600 per day inside IR35 and the calculations the agency provided took it down to £350 per day after deductions when it would be around £450 outside.
He won’t work inside and luckily has managed to find contracts that aren’t
Of course £350 a day is a good amount of money but it’s not the headline rate so you need to be aware of that

Ah is it generally quite difficult to get a contract outside ir35 these days?

I thought it would be as simple as being engaged for a specific project or programme but am I being incredibly naive about this??

It’s not impossible but a lot of companies err on the side of caution and state it’s inside even if it probably isn’t
I have one at the moment that according to all the checks is outside and the client can’t tell me why it’s inside other than “all our contracts are now”. Public Sector and Banks all seem to only have inside contracts but so do some others
If it’s a one off then an Umbrella company might be best as otherwise you have to set up a company, get insurance etc etc.
I think they are variable and have heard some horror stories but I’ve never used one so dont really know