u/elliomitch

The fact I can’t drive my performance diesel in London is a crime against humanity

Hi all, I’m a fairly fresh-faced consultant looking for some advice as I’ve literally no idea where to start.

I’m working on a public sector project in the UK. Quite a basic resource augmentation role, filling in a gap that they can’t fill. I really like the client, and they really like me, but a move into the civil service is financially unviable for me.

My company has frozen my pay for the last two years, and I’m getting pressure from my internal management team to roll off of the project to “get better visibility”. The account is owned by a different part of the business and I’ve explored moving to that part of the business and apparently it’s a flat no. But, they can’t roll me off yet as no one else wants to do the role. So my pay and career is going completely nowhere until client can fill the role twice over. Feeling pretty stagnant at the moment.

Client has suggested that I could go freelance and cut out the middleman, and potentially secure the role for a longer period because I could be cheaper than anyone else. Realistically tho it’s probably not going to be more than 6 months - but I could certainly carve out room for another role.

Does anyone have any experience with this for UK public sector, share any downsides (other than the loss of security in salary), and give me any advice on what I should think about next?

Thanks!