How to switch to self-employed contracting

Many people choose to become independent contractors after developing their skills and experience in permanent roles. Everyone has different circumstances and personal reasons for becoming self-employed, but common benefits include potentially higher pay, the chance to work with a wider variety of clients, a more flexible schedule, or swapping office politics and commuting for greater control over how you perform your job.

Working on a contract basis means you’ll generally be hired for a set period of time, or to work on a specific project. After which you’re free to move onto your next client, allowing you to build your professional network, gain new skills, and avoid getting stuck in the same routine for years. 

Building your reputation and business could evolve into taking on staff to work for you, or being able to take on fewer contracts for higher rates each year, allowing more time off between client engagements.

While your actual work tasks may still be familiar, becoming self-employed is a new, and sometimes challenging, experience. Whether you choose to work through a recruitment agency or umbrella company, you’ll be responsible for your business and career.

Some of the areas we’ve covered in our dedicated guide on how to prepare for self-employment include useful questions to consider before making the jump from a permanent role, along with building up some savings to cover initial quiet periods and expenses when you’re starting up, and understanding your tax liabilities.

One useful way to discover whether independent contracting matches your expectation is to take on small projects around your current job. This will let you experience the reality of working for yourself without the risk of missing mortgage and rent payments if it doesn’t pay off immediately. And it helps you to identify your strengths and weaknesses. Just make sure you declare any additional income as part of your Self Assessment Tax Return.

You should also try and speak to existing self-employed contractors about their experiences and the challenges they faced. There’s a wealth of relevant knowledge within the IPSE Community, including on the IPSE forums, for example. In addition to getting advice from experienced contractors who may be currently working in the same industry sectors, it’s possible you might be able to find one or two people who are willing to mentor you on a more regular basis.

The two ways to find work as a self-employed contractor will be either working directly with clients, or being sourced via a recruitment agency.

If you have already established a network of contacts through previous employment, then it’s important to let them know you’re becoming self-employed and will be actively looking for work. This might be most effective in-person or via a catch up phone call, but it’s also useful to update your profile on any social media and career websites, such as LinkedIn. Just be prepared for an influx of messages from recruitment agencies.

You may also get valuable leads from attending networking events, speaking to other self-employed professionals in related fields, and using a business website and social media to promote your services. You can find more tips and help in our article explaining how to find freelance clients.

Contract work is often available through both general online job boards and listings, and specialist industry services, such as CW Jobs or IT Job Board for IT roles or Just Engineers for all kinds of engineering projects.