Whether to be a contractor or a direct employee is one of those great questions of the modern employment marketplace. There are pluses and minuses on both sides of the question and the real answer depends upon your own desires, what it is that you as an individual want out of life. Your recruitment consultant at Talisman can help guide you through the check lists and for employers the client director can aid in the decision about whether to look for employees or contractors but here's a rough guide.

As a contractor you will have a great deal of freedom in the workplace. Most contracts are short-term so,if, for example, you find yourself working somewhere you find uncongenial (or even difficult to commute to!) then you know that this is going to be a short times problem. On the other hand most contracts are indeed short-term so that while doing one such you need to be constantly looking ahead for the next. While it's wonderful to know that you can take a few weeks off between contracts if you should so with it's another thing to find that you have to take a few weeks off because you haven't landed another contract.

Employees are on the other side of the same questions of course. There is greater security in being an employee, unless you're very unlucky there is security in being upon the payroll. Then again, if you find something uncongenial about where you are then the task of uprooting yourself and moving somewhere else is similarly more difficult.

One thing about contracting is that while the headline amounts of money look very good they are to a large extent so to make up for the things that are not offered as part of the package. No company car, no company contributions to a pension pot (all of your pension has to come out of that invoiced income!) and possibly worst of all the headache of dealing with Gordon Brown's near insane IR 35 tax regulations (seriously, it's not that bad with a decent accountant: but do remember that you will need one, your payments will be gross, tax inclusive).

The contractor/employee question, the divide between those who thrive under one system or the other is really between those who value security more than freedom with its associated risks. There's nothing wrong with being one side or another of this divide, it's just the way people are. If this is a question that you want more information on it's very much worth your while talking to your Talisman recruitment consultant. They'll be able to outline the detailed differences for you, the pros and cons of each arrangement.