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Contracting straight out of uni. Is it doable? v2

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    #21
    5K is barely working capital. If you get a contract paid monthly from invoice date that is basically 2 months on zero income with travel, accommodation and food to add on.

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      #22
      Originally posted by cannon999 View Post
      - How long does it usually take to get paid after the start of the contract? i.e. if I start on 1st of June, when should I expect to get paid into my personal bank account (not the company one).
      You can pay yourself on 2nd June as long as the company has the financing to do this. The question you need to consider is how does the company get that money - it could be a directors loan, it could be alternative finance, invoice factoring, waiting for the invoice to clear.... But you can get payment into your personal account on day one really.

      Originally posted by cannon999 View Post
      - War chest. I have 5k I am willing to risk on this - is that enough?
      How long can you live for on £5k? If it's a week then no, if it's a year then yes. But nobody here knows the answer apart from you.

      Originally posted by cannon999 View Post
      - Where do I live? Assuming I get a contract somewhere far away - is it possible to get accommodation where you pay monthly? I.e. if my contract gets canned one month in - I don't want to be stuck with a 6 month lease.
      We don't know where you live (apart from GCHQ - they know). If you are only ever living in temporary accommodation then consider your expenses and what you can claim.

      Originally posted by cannon999 View Post
      - How difficult is it to sort myself out with an accountant? How much should I expect to pay for one?
      It's not. Between £30 and £150 a month depending on what you want them to do and how often you want them to do it.

      Originally posted by cannon999 View Post
      - IR35. Scary. How difficult is it to avoid getting caught under it? If I market myself as a company (i.e. have my own website, business email, etc - should I be worried about it?)
      None of the things you mention have any impact on IR35. Yes, you should be worried.

      Originally posted by cannon999 View Post
      I have read a lot of information on these forums which probably cover the above questions but I would like to hear people who speak from experience.
      Not really grasped this idea of what a forum is, have you?
      Best Forum Advisor 2014
      Work in the public sector? You can read my FAQ here
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        #23
        I can only speak for engineering, but I have never seen fresh meat out of uni go into contracting.

        You have zero credibility and life experience. You are an apprentice, having just taken off your L plates.
        http://www.cih.org/news-article/disp...housing_market

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          #24
          OP stick to perm you have close to zero chance of landing a decent contract. The market is full of people who have way more experience, technical expertise, checkable track records, & extensive commercial experience. Stick to perm for at least 5-7 more years then see if contracting is still viable. Right now its fading fast unless you have rocket scientist level coding ability AND an Oxbridge background your just another cv database backstop battling against coding gurus who tick all the boxes. Read these to get a feel for how bad the marketplace is for many contractors:
          http://forums.contractoruk.com/busin...market-86.html
          http://forums.contractoruk.com/busin...l-jobs-go.html

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            #25
            I would personally get a Permanent role for a decade then think again (assuming there is a contracting industry in a decade!).

            That said, I have seen a couple of contract jobs (and I have no problem describing them as jobs) specifying recent graduates for sub £100 a day.

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              #26
              Originally posted by SussexSeagull View Post
              I would personally get a Permanent role for a decade then think again (assuming there is a contracting industry in a decade!).

              That said, I have seen a couple of contract jobs (and I have no problem describing them as jobs) specifying recent graduates for sub £100 a day.
              With no training in different roles within IT and the chance to expand your skill set so you can earn more in 5 years.
              "You’re just a bad memory who doesn’t know when to go away" JR

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                #27
                Originally posted by cannon999 View Post
                - How long does it usually take to get paid after the start of the contract? i.e. if I start on 1st of June, when should I expect to get paid into my personal bank account (not the company one).
                - War chest. I have 5k I am willing to risk on this - is that enough?
                - Where do I live? Assuming I get a contract somewhere far away - is it possible to get accommodation where you pay monthly? I.e. if my contract gets canned one month in - I don't want to be stuck with a 6 month lease.
                - How difficult is it to sort myself out with an accountant? How much should I expect to pay for one?
                - IR35. Scary. How difficult is it to avoid getting caught under it? If I market myself as a company (i.e. have my own website, business email, etc - should I be worried about it?)
                - Any general advice would be appreciated
                A lot of that is the "easy" stuff or pretty basic.

                I have no doubt a really smart developer with your experience could pick up a contract, and make a go of it, however, as the congregation have pointed out, there are a lot of things that can get in the way.

                1) lack of experience - no matter how good you think you are, there are 2 obstacles. Hiring Manager, and agent (more actually, the other candidates too)

                Agent is actually the biggest one. No matter how good you are, no matter how good your CV is, agents need to cut the list of candidates to submit as they receive so many. And low number of years experience gives them little to go on. Even if you get past them (maybe it is a low paying contract as others say), you still need to get picked by the hiring manager for interview. Low paying contracts do not necessarily mean they are willing to give a go to a low experience person on first contract. Quite the opposite, it just means they are tight with their money/ don't have much, and STILL want someone with provable number of years exp.

                2) Current market - because of the IR35 public sector situation, there may well be a lot of experienced contractors leaving the PS flooding the market. (now this could be a pro as well for you, you might find it easy to get into PS, but there is a good chance it will be IR35 caught and lower paid than the equivalent type of role in the private sector)

                Give it a shot (don't quit job yet though), get your CV out there, and apply for everything that fits, regardless of advertised rates. See how many call backs/interviews you get.

                You might surprise us all!

                But you might surprise yourself too, and find it tough going.

                Regardless, good luck!

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                  #28
                  Originally posted by stek View Post
                  £400/500 a day up North! First contract too!
                  My first proper contract up North (I won't talk about the first real 3 month'er that went wrong) morphed into £ 450 a day role that I sat in for 2.5 years. That was back in 2004. Sadly, even today's best rates are only around that mark (.NET developer roles). Most are considerably less so I doubt a rookie is going to walk into one of the top paying roles.

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                    #29
                    Originally posted by cannon999 View Post
                    Hi guys,

                    Following the advice from the previous thread I decided to stick to perm for a year, which I have done. I'm a pretty bright .NET software developer with a very good CV. I have some pretty niche skills which could land me 400-500/d contract up north.

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                      #30
                      Jesus wept

                      Polishing a turd near you!!

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