Contracting in Canary Wharf

[EmmyB]

Hi - I'm new on here and new to Contracting. Can I get some advise on contracting at Canary Wharf at HSBC or any other of the banks?

What's it like and what kind of pay can I expect? How do they treat contractors?

TIA

[uk contractor]

Avoid HSBC they are on a massive drive to save £120m from their IT budget which means wherever possible contractors will not see out the term of their contracts & or be paid well below the market rates wherever possible.

As for the rest unless you have a particular set of skills (indemand/niche/uncommon skillset) expect to compete with lots of highly experience contractors which means rates are dropping & everyone in the financial services sector is tightening their budgets & or hiring fewer contractors & going more with outsourcers or management consultants who get the same rate they would pay an experienced contractor but pass a fraction of that onto the contractor they hire instead of the bank hiring you on a higher rate.

Try another sector the financial services goldrush is ending due to globalisation & budget slashing for IT projects. Also it goes without saying you will need to pass police & credit vetting checks as well as provide lots of personal financial statements top as the background checks most now insist on (these can take up to 2 months for basic checks 6 months if you require DV or SC clearance) have to be passed before your allowed onsite so you will not earn anything from the contract until the background checks are all passed.

[northernladuk]

Hi - I'm new on here and new to Contracting. Can I get some advise on contracting at Canary Wharf at HSBC or any other of the banks?

What's it like and what kind of pay can I expect? How do they treat contractors?

TIA

You'll get paid about 11k a year. HTH.

And it's bloody advice you are after!!!!!

[northernladuk]

And how do they treat contractors??

http://www.egos.co.uk/contract-breakers.htm

[BrilloPad]

Try another sector the financial services goldrush is ending due to globalisation & budget slashing for IT projects. Also it goes without saying you will need to pass police & credit vetting checks as well as provide lots of personal financial statements top as the background checks most now insist on (these can take up to 2 months for basic checks 6 months if you require DV or SC clearance) have to be passed before your allowed onsite so you will not earn anything from the contract until the background checks are all passed.

I have to agree with this. I am at the wharf. I have niche skills. But it gets tougher and tougher.

Of course, every project is different. I work for a nice bank where most people are lovely. On my project its like the muppet show.

And I was at Goldmine sucks - instead of being asked to work longer I was asked to cut my hours.

I hope for a renewal in 7 weeks - and that 2017 will be better.

[cosmos]

Also it goes without saying you will need to pass police & credit vetting checks as well as provide lots of personal financial statements top as the background checks most now insist on (these can take up to 2 months for basic checks 6 months if you require DV or SC clearance) have to be passed before your allowed onsite so you will not earn anything from the contract until the background checks are all passed.

Having recently gone through both DS and then SC Clearance, it took nothing like the length of time you state. In my case it was 1-week and 3-weeks respectively

[northernladuk]

Having recently gone through both DS and then SC Clearance, it took nothing like the length of time you state. In my case it was 1-week and 3-weeks respectively

It took you 1 week to go through DV clearance??!??!

[BrilloPad]

Having recently gone through both DS and then SC Clearance, it took nothing like the length of time you state. In my case it was 1-week and 3-weeks respectively

To get current gig took 6 weeks from offer to starting. I was told 6pm night before I was due to start.....

[uk contractor]

Having recently gone through both DS and then SC Clearance, it took nothing like the length of time you state. In my case it was 1-week and 3-weeks respectively

Sorry I do not believe you DV takes a long time (up to 6months) as does SC (up to 3 months). CRB does not take long its the most basic check sometimes they ask for it then let you start anyway as they cannot afford to wait or do it in the background after you have started did you get a certificate?

[sal]

It's a bit of a mute point, if you are new to contracting you can hardly be picky about the client you are going to work for. That being said there is no single answer to your question as conditions vary wildly between departments in the same bank. Then that's one of the beauties of contracting - if you don't like the environment you are free to leave on a much shorter notice than a permie.