Last Updated on 2 September 2025 by rachelbarford
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I talk to many people who have enjoyed the interim workstyle. They like the excitement of working in a new situation every three to nine months. The challenge of sorting things out and learning new things suits them. It can be a great kicker to your mid-career. But very often, I am talking to them because they realise that it won’t make their future work.
1. Being an interim no longer makes financial sense
Although, as an interim you were getting a premium day rate, all that did was cover the fact that, like most interims, you’re only working two thirds of the year. Now various tax changes mean that you’ve moved from being a director drawing dividends and charging expenses to pre-tax earnings, to somebody who’s on PAYE paying expenses out of post-tax earning. You’re giving your money to the agency, to the umbrella company providing the PAYE shelter and a lot more of your money to HMRC.
You were doing very well compared to my corporate peers. But now you’re in a situation where it’s actually very difficult for you to get the income and benefits that you had in permanent full-time salaried professional employment.
2. As I’ve got older, the gap between interim assignments seems to be getting longer
Like many, when you first started out, you were working from job to job and struggling to find the holiday that you wanted. Now, when one job comes to an end you’re sitting on the bench for a longer and longer, scrabbling around for the right kind of role, at the right kind of level with the right kind of rate. You may be faced with accepting work which doesn’t really value your experience, and certainly doesn’t reflect the income that I need.
3. I do not want to be travelling away from home as often or for as long
When you first took on an interim role, you enjoyed the chance to work in different parts of the country and even abroad. You were happy with a 3-4-5 lifestyle—three nights away, four days on the client site, and working from home on the fifth day. With lockdown, however, all the rules changed. Now, it’s becoming increasingly clear that you’ll need to work more on-site. You don’t want to travel away from home as often or for as long as you used to.
4. I don’t feel I’m developing anymore
As a temporary measure, you are valued for what you can do right now. You need to be ‘oven ready’ to jump straight into the heat of the situation where you’ll aim to make a significant impact. Increasingly, you are pigeonholed by the agencies you rely on and have very few opportunities to learn new things, develop new skills, and grow professionally.
5. I no longer want to work in crisis situations
Most interims are brought into an organisation when there’s a gap in the management structure of the organisation. Sometimes it’s covering maternity leave. Too often, it’s because there’s a role that is ambiguous, undefined, and you are brought in to sort out a mess. Although earlier in your interim career, that could be very exciting and interesting, now you are tired of sorting out other people’s messes. Particularly when the reward for success is that you get sacked because you’ve created a job simple enough for somebody else to do. You know they will be the true beneficiaries of all your hard work.
6. I’m not enjoying the corporate environment
To some extent, as an interim, you are protected from internal politics. You are a step removed from the daily political wrangling. Everyone knows you won’t be there permanently.
People want you to succeed, but inevitably, you’re there to make waves and challenge the status quo. That means you’ll face corporate politics. Many I speak to have reached a point where they no longer care about corporate politics. They’re tired of fighting them and wish to make a difference elsewhere.
7. I want to work part-time
In practice, as the interim, you are working part-time. But part-time is not three or four days a week. Part-time is seven or eight months a year. You’re either fully on or fully off.
There are very few chances for you to work part-time because you tend to be brought into a crisis environment. They want you full-time (and probably you will work overtime). When I’ve spoken to interim workers who sign up for contracts of three or four days a week, they often find it ends up stretching into full-time, but they are only paid part-time.
8. I want to have a future working life that will go beyond my interim workstyle
Because interim roles are seen as demanding and because you rely on agencies to offer you work, it is more and more difficult for you to find new roles as you get beyond 55.
Most agencies aim to place candidates they believe the client prefers. Research indicates that most hiring managers favour people under 55. It becomes increasingly challenging to secure interim roles as you approach your late fifties and beyond.
9. I thought being an interim was working for myself but it feels like being employed.
In a sense, as an interim, you are working for yourself because you are a freelancer. However, you actually have very little control over how you do your job and how you build your future. It’s all mediated through an agency and your interim employer. To truly work for yourself, you need to be able to choose your hours, select your clients, define your proposition, and not rely on expensive intermediaries who ultimately control your every move.
10. I want to have a less demanding role
Most of the interims that I talked to recognise that stepping into an interim role is demanding.
It requires energy, commitment, and long hours, whether you are paid daily or hourly. Most interims are paid daily without any overtime pay. You might end up working extra hours to sort out issues you’ve been brought in to address. You may be ready to return to a 37½-hour week to spend time with your family, pursue other interests, or become a trustee, school governor, or volunteer.
And two bonus reasons:
I want to work for smaller organisations
Smaller organisations, whether businesses or charities, are less likely to recruit interim managers into significant and important roles. They may hire consultants. They might bring in advisors. Otherwise, they prefer to have people in long-term positions. If you’re seeking the variety, stimulation, interest, and dynamism of working in small or medium-sized businesses, then it is very difficult to find senior professional interim roles.
I’ve got to a stage where I want to re-evaluate all my working options
You have taken the first step from permanent employment into interim roles. Now, you are ready to explore all the other possibilities out there. As an interim, it’s very challenging to develop an alternative workstyle without relinquishing the interim role. You find yourself on a rollercoaster ride between full-time work and full-time job searching. It’s difficult to create space for other opportunities. Being an interim no longer suffices for you, and you’re prepared to explore what other options exist.
Conclusions
Becoming an interim can often provide a valuable short-term career solution when you seek a break from the corporate employment ladder. However, if you find that interim roles no longer meet your needs, then consider the advantages of a Portfolio Executive work style at PortfolioExecutive.biz.
Charles McLachlan is the founder of FuturePerfect and on a mission to transform the future of work and business. The Portfolio Executive programme is a new initiative to help executives build a sustainable and impactful second-half-career. Creating an alternative future takes imagination, design, organisation and many other thinking skills. Charles is happy to lend them to you.