Successful Contracting

Responses like ‘Chocolate’ are among the no-nos for IT contractors asked to fess up their Achilles heel.

A guide on the first of a few age-old job interview questions that IT contractors love to hate.

A look by Computer Futures at where the money is, and will likely continue to be in 2025.

How end-clients who relied on rates to woo freelance tech talent must now tap into the importance of work-life balance.

A veteran tech contractor shares his survival tips in an IT jobs market constantly wiping the floor with your prospects.

If your reach, reposts and follower growth are all down fear not, it’s not ‘Likes’ you want; it’s engagement.

'It’s the way I tell ’em.' Make sure the stories you tell about your contracting biz are memorable for the right reasons.

An overview to the vital court proceeding which holds public bodies like HMRC to account.

Empowerment? Transformation? Both should come as standard if you’re a contractor in the market for a professional and personal 'self' boost.

Getting an adviser in your corner for court is sensible, but relying on one for your tax return without reviewing it is folly -- and potentially pricey.

SThree responds to concerns that inexperienced techies are manipulating Artificial Intelligence for their own ends.

Notice how a fifth of your time just disappears? That’ll be your fully-remote contract taking its now-proven toll.

APSCo pinpoints where chancellor Jeremy Hunt should deliver for UK IT contracting.

For clients, the value of pay rates in 2024 is often due to be fundamental to securing and retaining the best STEM contractors.

Know the HMRC hoops to jump through to register for self-employment in the UK.

The big considerations to make before, upon, and after setting your fees as a temporary technologist for another 12 months.

Successfully working as an independent techie means understanding the key differences between consultant and contractor.

Despite being designed for permies, PSCs can enjoy the scheme, especially with a steer from their accountant.

Extracts from an ad, for a techie toying with moving deeper into FS on DT skills.

Five must-haves in your RPA contracting locker, plus a sixth which requires silky smooth application.

Woe betide any IT contractor who gets comfy with them, but the following five are modern cyber-security’s new foundation.

A soft-technical skills blend is how to exploit the RPA space, much more so than a Blue Prism introductory course.

The best cloud skills to learn, hone, or provide on a contract basis -- revealed.

Up to £2,000 a day for managing what’s hit the fan? Moving from IT in FS to IT-enabled FS can indeed pay dividends.

Pay particulars for IT contractors demystified -- including covid’s legacy.

Whether you want to break into it, or move across from your current specialism, these variables and lines lead to software engineering.

Explainer on HMRC’s SDC, including three steps contractors can take to stop SDC being present.

London isn’t alone in seamlessly connecting IT contractors with temporary opportunities at telecoms companies.

A rundown of the key tests and technologies required when securing a remote desk as a contractor.

Top 10 tips for when numerous opportunities are all urging you to say yes.

Explainer on IT contractor pay, by the unit, hour, and day -- plus aggravating factors from HMRC like RTI and IR35.

Separating and balancing out the professional and personal is achievable. If not, there’s always the 'work-life merge.'

Premiums of £1,200 a day are testament to how hot the IT contractor security space is right now.

Revealed: the soft skills, competencies and characteristics which set contractors apart from their rivals.

Taking the time up front to match engagement model with the payment method you want can pay dividends later on.

Forget just being friends if you want truly professional relations which pay dividends.

The key things successful contractors do -- to not have to rely on agencies for the next opportunity.

Networking is just knowing lots of people. Fortunately for techies, it’s actually more about pro-activity, consistency and processes.

Finding a fix (not that a single one-time solution exists) stars with these six techniques, known to help business soloists like you.

Tried and tested ways to make end-clients eat out of your freelance hand.

Revealed: the non-technical competencies that can transform top techies into absolute IT heroes.

Revealed: the realities that rightly compel limited company directors to take out a tax-efficient RLP.

An explainer to the acronym contractors will invariably see at end-clients who are expanding overseas.

Understanding a historical game of cat and mouse is a good start to going unincorporated for your next contract.

Five things you can try right now to turn down that nagging feeling of overwhelm.

Successful people take intentional actions. What are yours so this year you’ll thrive, rather than just survive?

For contractors it could be a boon. For everyone else, it’s a case of waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Less obvious but still tried and tested ways to land more per hour or per day, in 2023.

Markel Tax shares its hopes for the year ahead, following 12 months of HMRC-related uncertainty for the contractor sector.

Where’s paying the most to IT contractors, and will continue offering premiums in 2023.

What next year’s technology labour market has in store for freelance contractors.

Top tips from SThree on what end-users should consider before taking contractors on.

Agency boss shares some oft-overlooked tips for staying, securing and leaving.

What Hays recommends end-clients say, write, and specify to get freelance techies to bite.

What organisations should look at and where, to decide who they need; permies or freelancers.

Revealed: how non-permanent specialists have the edge over their full-time staff counterparts.

Listed: the advantages and disadvantages of taking on contractors.

A trio of ‘don'ts’ for freelance techies to remember -- even if your skills are hot.

Recruiter tricks revealed and contractor tips given -- by a veteran tech agent who knows how to get you the maximum.

Mental Health Awareness Week 2022: what taking care of yourself – while searching for your next opportunity -- should look like as a contract professional.

A breakdown of the NICs floor going up in July, by which time rates will have gone in the same direction.

Revealed: the best paying freelance technology opportunities in the UK today.

Legal tips for PSCs puzzled by the material risks of the Optionis hack, including if suing is an option.

Just like vintage Stella, you need to be ‘Reassuringly Expensive’ to command top whack.

How much you’ll fork out, and on what, if moving from perm to contract for the very first time.

Overview of sole trading versus limited company working, through the lens of IR35 reform.

Six development gigs you can land right now, plus a preview of what’s next on skills, rates and IR35.

HMRC has extended the deadlines for late filing and payment penalties in wake of the covid-19 pandemic.

It’s often PSCs that prep for a new tax year, but it’s umbrellas who risk heavy April showers if they don’t doublecheck now.

Brollies and agencies are letting down contractors five-fold on a document with only 10 pay 'must-haves.'

What an SA302 is and when contractors might need it from their accountant or HMRC.

With a new IR35 in force, and brolly regulation fated, the models to go contracting contain more ‘nuts and bolts’ than ever before.

A lawyer’s advisory on what ContractorUK readers can do, check and ask, when their information is in the hands of hackers.

Find out how agencies can take the hassle out of your contract search. 

Free documents that you can use to help keep Right to Work checks digital forever.

‘No simple answer to this simple question, just as judges in cases like Uber are finding out.’

An overview of the tax most misunderstood by umbrella and limited company contractors.

2020 had many unexpected disasters, from a pandemic that wreaked havoc in nearly every country in the world to massive cyber breaches.  

Even if you don’t identify as a ‘digital trader,’ you too probably need to process these new UK-EU rules.

Understanding umbrellas is key to unlocking an increasingly popular way to contract now and from April.

Covid-19 saw priorities shift. But KID could see agencies on the block, as it’s now an in-force requirement.

Check. Map. Choose. And other advice to keep your clients and your contractor company data-savvy.  

As banks ban PSCs, it’s time to explore how else to contract. Fortunately, the options aren’t that limited.

Staying overnight as a contractor? Read the review of a consultant whose had more meals away than he can remember.

Exercising your maternity or paternity rights as an umbrella or limited company worker.

Cases like Uber, Deliveroo and Pimlico are only the start of paid leave changing.

'Don't be afraid' and other recommendations to help get your client to pay on time.

Step-by-step guide for contractors on managing business disputes effectively.

Spot the mis-match, and other tips for taking on a new supplier or client.

Top 10 considerations for one-person companies who take on the self-employed.

Tips on how to avoid burning your fingers, this Shrove Tuesday and beyond.

In an ideal world, a contractor’s skills would be the only thing they were judged on. The harsh reality is that how you look is just as important as your CV.

'Ideal Contractor' checklist: You're not just about technical skills.

Trudging in to same imagination-stunting corporation day in day out for years on end not float your boat? Then contracting could be for you.

More pay? In theory, yes, but all things considered, the difference in take home pay may not be so marked, but there are lots of other benefits - including side-stepping office politics.

Variety is the spice of life: changing roles blows the dust from neglected corners of your brain and enliven dodgy patches of the CV.

Motivated by money? Certainly ... among other things.

The IT Coach offers an 'un-ostrich-like' strategy for uncertain times.

Contractors can compete by working faster, smarter and by paying attention to clients' problems.

Last in line for everything and the difficulties of being an 'outsider'.

'Take the money and run' doesn't always compensate for the downsides.

Beyond the financial rewards, we explore what motivates a freelance to do their utmost for a client.

The insult 'money grabbing blaggers' has been said of them, but there is honour among contractors.

Few contractors make the positive decision to go long-term. It just happens.

Being a quality contractor is all about meeting your client's expectations.

Contractors warned that sweet success does not depend on sugar-coated titles.