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Dipping my toes in IT Contracting

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    #21
    Originally posted by mattfx View Post
    Oh, I did do it right? Thanks SE

    I must admit when I see their DD go out each month I do shudder ever so slightly, especially when others speak of monthly fees in the region of £90-110.

    What's happened then? Why the sudden mass exodus of staff?
    I left earlier this year. It was my 3rd accountant in SJD. He’d made some basic mistakes. The mistakes weren’t a big issue mind as I spotted them.
    I left for 3 reasons.
    1) Cost
    2) FreeAgent
    3) I was on the bench so a convenient time to move as I could focus on what was needed.

    Without all 3 of those reasons I’d probably have stayed. I save over £40 a month and life is easier.
    See You Next Tuesday

    Comment


      #22
      Originally posted by Lance View Post
      I left earlier this year. It was my 3rd accountant in SJD. He’d made some basic mistakes. The mistakes weren’t a big issue mind as I spotted them.
      I left for 3 reasons.
      1) Cost
      2) FreeAgent
      3) I was on the bench so a convenient time to move as I could focus on what was needed.

      Without all 3 of those reasons I’d probably have stayed. I save over £40 a month and life is easier.
      Would you mind PM'ing me the mistakes he'd made if you don't want to air them in the open forum? Curious as to what they were and if I or my accountant has made them!

      Comment


        #23
        Originally posted by mattfx View Post
        Would you mind PM'ing me the mistakes he'd made if you don't want to air them in the open forum? Curious as to what they were and if I or my accountant has made them!
        It's up to you to understand what he's doing and go through your accounts with a fine toothed comb. Question anything you don't understand. You can't check them using a tick list. You've got to understand them. You sign them at the end of the day so you are ultimately responsible.
        'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

        Comment


          #24
          As far as I am aware NLUK I do in the most part understand; I do however always try and learn from other peoples mistakes rather than make my own in the first place where possible

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            #25
            Many thanks for your responses. To answer some of the questions. The reason I'm looking at contracting is a combination of family life becoming a lot more settled financially and that I'm looking for more variety in my work. I currently work for a large company so I see people becoming pigeon-holed and a little stale. I feel I'm good at my job and want to earn as much as I can while it still interests me and there are contracts available.

            I will most likely be looking at an umbrella company for my first contract but I'll see what works best for me a few months in. I have been doing a lot of reading on setting up my own company but I think I'll need to spend some time with an accountant before I'm ready for that.

            I have a little bit of a warchest built up already but this is where my the vast majority of my first few months of contract payments will go.

            I like the idea of keeping a few annual leave days to cut down the notice time and the LinkenIn suggestion. I had not thought of that but I have written a few articles that may work well there.

            Is there a rule of thumb for working out your daily rate? Generally speaking most recruiters are offering SQL DBA work at £350-£450 a day which I think sounds fair but I just wanted an impartial view.

            Comment


              #26
              Originally posted by LAPORTS123 View Post
              ...

              Is there a rule of thumb for working out your daily rate? Generally speaking most recruiters are offering SQL DBA work at £350-£450 a day which I think sounds fair but I just wanted an impartial view.
              There's a link somewhere on the CUK site that takes you to rate info (on a mobile so it's a faff to check). Another way is to work out all of your monthly outgoings and double it. Multiply by 12 (annual total) then divide by 275 to reach a daily rate. The double is to earn an extra days bills for every day worked. The 275 is the assumption that you'll spend three months out of work,not earning. Then compare that to what the market is offering for your skillset (what you can demonstrate you can do, not stuff you reckon you could pick up).

              Comment


                #27
                Why divide by 275?
                There are only a max of 260 working days anyway.
                If you want to calculate based on 3 months not working, surely 275 should be 195

                Comment


                  #28
                  Originally posted by LAPORTS123 View Post
                  Hi All,
                  It's my first post so I thought I'd say hello and pick your brains.

                  I've been interested in contracting for quite some time now but stuck with permie rolls due to the need for a regular wage (mortgage/kids). I'm about ready to jump but found myself hesitating recently. I'd be interested in how forum members made the transition to contracting and how they find it compared to permanent roles.

                  I'd also like to hear what any of the IT folks think the UK/Ireland contracting market will look like over the next few years. I'm SQL Server DBA in it's various versions for around 7/8 years now. I'm pretty confident I can get a 6 / 12 month contract relatively quickly but I'm not sure about longer than that.

                  Thanks
                  Ignore the usual idiots on here who want to try and make themselves look clever by pulling you for a couple of grammar mistakes.

                  If you have kids, how young are they? If you go contracting, you'll likely have to work away from home and if your kids are young, you may find working away and missing them tough to deal with.

                  So, you need to be sure where you stand with working away and young kids. Im not up on your market but you need to research it yourself ie how many contract roles within an hour's drive of home etc, how many roles being advertised, your rate expectation compared to what's actually being paid?

                  All things to consider.

                  Comment


                    #29
                    Originally posted by washed up contractor View Post
                    Ignore the usual idiots on here who want to try and make themselves look clever by pulling you for a couple of grammar mistakes.

                    If you have kids, how young are they? If you go contracting, you'll likely have to work away from home and if your kids are young, you may find working away and missing them tough to deal with.

                    So, you need to be sure where you stand with working away and young kids. Im not up on your market but you need to research it yourself ie how many contract roles within an hour's drive of home etc, how many roles being advertised, your rate expectation compared to what's actually being paid?

                    All things to consider.
                    And consider how long it would take for you to earn what you do as a permie by contracting. If it takes a 6 month or less contract to get the same take home as a year permie. Maybe that 6 month contractor working away 4 days a week sounds good. 6 months at home with the kids is a nice idea huh.

                    Lots of possibilities. I have young kids (2 and 3) and contracting was the best thing I ever did for them.

                    Comment


                      #30
                      Originally posted by l35kee View Post
                      And consider how long it would take for you to earn what you do as a permie by contracting. If it takes a 6 month or less contract to get the same take home as a year permie. Maybe that 6 month contractor working away 4 days a week sounds good. 6 months at home with the kids is a nice idea huh.

                      Lots of possibilities. I have young kids (2 and 3) and contracting was the best thing I ever did for them.
                      One thing you are ignoring is many (not all) people expand their outgoings to match their income.

                      So if he's earning 2x then he may end up having to work most of the year due to the change in lifestyle.
                      "You’re just a bad memory who doesn’t know when to go away" JR

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