IT Contracting

[[DOD]Asprilla]

I have seen a couple of people say in past threads about day rates above 750, but I have never seen any of them listed on job sites. Is it just unadvertised positions? Word of mouth?

Generally unadvertised or direct roles, where you go in and bill directly without an agent. I know that my agent is invoicing £675 a day for me.

Could also be that they have renewed on a regular basis and have consequently increased their rate each time.

I should also imagine that the people in these roles have some rare skills in financial services; I know a few guys who write automated trading software for a hedge fund who are raking it in.

 

[voodooflux]

I'd take the jobs you see advertised on sites with a pinch of salt. I've never got one that I've applied for and I don't know anyone who has either.

These 'roles' are generally used by agents to get CVs into their system so they can tell clients that they have a huge database of potential candidates.

I think that can be the case for many, many roles advertised via jobsites, but such dummy postings can usually be spotted (the genuine roles tend to have more detail, more specific locations, etc.) Both times I've gone from a permanent position to a contract position I've picked up the contract role from Jobserve.

The Contractor UK Forum can be a useful resource if you have questions.

 

[voodooflux]

How have you all gotten to this point?

Sorry, Im only 18 atm,but I dont know what to do...Im interested in IT - how did you all start?? Do you all have degrees??

Personally I went from Uni to a couple of permanent jobs, rising through the ranks to the verge of management, then decided to go contracting so I could remain technical whilst increasing my income.

While I was contracting I did take another permanent role at one stage - it was very close to home which was ideal as we'd started a family. Once things settled down I returned to contracting.

One lad I worked with recently went contracting 18 months out of university. He made the transition very easily, but had the benefit of hanging around with a load of us contractors who gave him sound advice

 

[Haircut]

Well, that didn't seem to take long!

Had an interview for a contract role this morning and it seems they want to take me on.
Don't have a formal concrete offer at the moment, but they're progressing things through HR on their side at the moment.
Fingers crossed things will go OK from here!

Looks to be interesting work and it's a 5 mile drive from home, which will make a nice change after commuting to central London on the train for the last 2.5 years.

 

[Ev0]

That's the thing I liked about contracting, you could walk in off the street for an 'interview' (which was more like a chat), straight to the point, then walking out being ready to start the next week.

I'll more than likely start again next year, just need to get more out of this perm job first

 

[Morba]

Looks to be interesting work and it's a 5 mile drive from home, which will make a nice change after commuting to central London on the train for the last 2.5 years.

Nice one
where you gonna be working?

 

[spoonz]

I'm a Project Manager in IT and employ a particular consultant on £750 a day, he is probably one of the top five in the world at what he does though. He has built a reputation and is helped by lots of numpties diluting the market.

Neither of us use agencies, its all contacts and word of mouth TBH.

Stay in contact with everyone you ever work with, even ifs an email once a year. You will be suprised what comes out of the blue.