What are the pros & cons between working in London for 8 months of the year working as a contract accountant?

Question

and going home for 4 months to holiday and doing this for say 4 years or so (As can earn more in London and save enough to not work for 4 months in Australia). As opposed to working full time in the home country (Australia) constantly.
All ive got so far is that it would look bad on my CV, having a lot of short term jobs (say 3 months each) when I do eventually want to apply for a permanent position.

Answer 1

I'm unsure of the corporate dynamics in those places, but oftentimes contractors are considered Self-Employed. In four years, you may be able to list your experience similar to as follows (You'll have to choose the most appropriate terms):

Accounting Consultant 2007-2010
(brief description of specialties and typical responsibilities)
Clients include:
ABC Corporation, DEF, Incorporated, et cetera.

Further, it would be an excellent idea to maintain relationships with former clients, call them up when you are approaching an availability date and obtain letters of reference when you are completing a job.

Answer 2

When I was young I worked for a job contractor. I don't know if such a business exists in London, but basically I was one of a pool of workers (I was a draftsperson) and we were sent out on various short term jobs. (It's like Kelly Services for office workers in the US.)

This allowed me to quit my job periodically and still look like I was employed by the same company, because technically I was. My paycheck came from one company, and they kept me on their roster year-around so I was able to list them as my full-time employer for X years.

I don't know what field you work in but that might be something to look into.

Wow- I might move to London and do the same!