A Career of Two Halves

I thought that my first blog should be more of an introduction about myself and Mimax and then as I become a pro blogger I can start sharing some of my thoughts, opinions and every day experiences with you. So what drives me these days? Well, I do believe that variety can be the spice of life - a philosophy that seems to have firmly integrated itself in to my life anyway! This being my philosophy, I suppose it's not surprising that I've ended up running a 'contractor' payroll company where my clients have the variety of moving from one job to another. I often get asked how I ended up going from professional football to Mimax and there's no short and sweet answer. After retiring from football at the age of 33 (my god was that really 10 years ago?) I knew I still had lots of energy and drive that needed to be directed in the right way. I tried various different things, principally learning that some things were just not for me. A few years ago lady luck reared her head when I had a chance encounter and conversation with a guy in a bar. We chatted and he sowed the seed that was to grow and become Mimax.

I was curious to see if there was a real market for our services and did some research to back up my plan. Amongst my research I discovered that the Policy & Information team at UNISON had just published a review on temporary and contract working. It proved that there was a huge increase in temporary and contract working in the UK and that the number of agency temps, according to statistics had increased from 70,000 to 700,000 between 1992 and 2002. Although many contract workers were enjoying the flexibility of temporary and contract working the review did highlight some concerns. Temporary workers traditionally report lower levels of job satisfaction, receive less work-related training and can sometimes be less well paid than their counterparts in permanent employment. They also find it difficult to plan their financial future with heavier penalties placed on loans and mortgages and they are usually less geographically flexible and unable to have any sort of long-term career plan. The very least they need is a payroll solution to maximise their income and keep their tax affairs in order. I realised there was a job to be done and my competitive streak was quickly reignited as I set about the challenge to make Mimax a recognised brand within the industry that agencies and workers can trust. Mimax offers its contract workers a full service that includes a great payroll solution, a full financial service and even a special shopping discount club. We are continually striving to raise our level of service and support to the temporary and contract workforce. Today we are growing from strength to strength as more and more recruitment agencies recommend their contract workers to us and more contract workers recommend their colleagues to us. Recent legislation changes haven't fazed us and we have simply dealt with issues as they've arisen and kept the company pushing forward.

So, talking of changing jobs, the other question I often get asked is how it felt after playing professional football as a full time job that I adored to subsequently hanging up my boots. Looking back I have nothing other than great memories. As a youngster, once I discovered that I had a real talent for football that was it. I only wanted to do one thing and there's nothing better than being happy at work is there? Doing a job you really love and getting paid for it was incredible. How many of us can say that we really love our jobs? Probably not as many as there should be I guess. My career took me all over the world and gave me some great experiences and at the end of the day I played as long as I could. All footballers have to retire with some ailment and my time came ten years ago. Let's be honest though, I have been lucky and had one of the best 'jobs' going, so replacing that was never going to be easy. I still keep involved in football - it's in my blood and I've made the choice to do a variety of things that keep me fulfilled. Running the football agency is my seasonal job, my media work is my regular part time job and Mimax is my day job.

But that's enough about me - what about you? If you're a contractor what made you choose this type of work? Do you find that you can still find that work and life balance and do you agree with me that at least in some respects - variety really is the spice of life?!

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