contracting in IT

[MrMarkyMark]

We have to be nice to idiots all day long.

This is one (not the only one) of the places we can be honest. You might not like the answers you get, but they are almost always genuine answers on here (if not that polite).

The thing is people always get good, solid replies with some banter.

Yes, some of the banter can be quite close to the point.
As others have said though, our world is not an easy one.

Today, I have been dealing with idiocy on a grand scale.
I have personally saved 10 months regulatory work (cost unknown) from being throwaway, over the last couple of weeks, I got involved mid-September.
The actual business "customer" is one of the most senior people in the bank.

Point being, if you want to cut it at this game, in these economic times, you are going to have to deliver real value.
Obviously, there can be days where you do very little, but you have to switch it on big time when it counts.

[blackeye]

More money and income

You're hired!

Back in the real world, you have next to no chance bud.

[squarepeg]

The reason for my post is to make the right choice.

When you typing in forum, you don't proof read it and make it sound professional and perfect .

as long as I can get the message across to people then it is sufficient.

some people attitude stinks, why would you post if all you say is negative and useless.

No, it's not just what you say, it's also how you say it. That's life and you better learn how to communicate. If you write tickets in Jira the way you write posts on CUK, you are not going to make "more money and income".

[WTFH]

So back to the post I made at the start:
Are you from London (or currently living there)?
What area of IT do you work in?

(There are questions around the money side of things, but they can wait)

[WTFH]

yes flagged it to read tonight.

I have over 7 years of experience so classed it as IT to keep it high level

It will be tough to get contracting jobs straight out of the university

Yes, it would be tough to get a contracting job straight out of university.
Are your 7 years of "experience" actual paid full-time jobs working in IT?


In your current job how many days holiday do you get a year? What about sick pay? Is their a redundancy package?

[stranger12]

28 days

Salary between 72-80k. Full time yes in networking

Sick pay for up to 20 days or so

Pension private healthcare ....


Still if you end up with 4k and in contracting wih 7 -8 k no brainer for me

[NotAllThere]

...
Still if you end up with 4k and in contracting wih 7 -8 k no brainer for me

Go for it then.

[WTFH]

28 days

Salary between 72-80k. Full time yes in networking

Sick pay for up to 20 days or so

Pension private healthcare ....


Still if you end up with 4k and in contracting wih 7 -8 k no brainer for me

So, 28 days paid holiday. 0 days paid holiday as a contractor. You don't work, you don't get paid.
Pension? You don't have an employer to pay into one of those when you're contracting.
Private healthcare? You don't have an employer to pay into one of those when you're contracting.
Needing to have built up funds to cover you while you look for a contract (a warchest)? Not really something a permanent employee worries about.


What don't you like about your current job?
Are you happy to travel to get work?
Do you have family/SO/children/pets?

[Scruff]

@OP. You come across as a bit lazy with your spelling and grammar. Just because this is a forum, it doesn't preclude some attempt?

Gladiators never flinch at the first blow that draws blood. This is the First Rule in the Circus Maximus.

[Fronttoback]

Bonuses -With contracting you get a bonus everyday. With permiedom you have to work extra hard for it and it can get pulled for reasons outside of your control.

Picking a contract market is tricky. If you go cutting edge you really have to be at the top of your game. But you can be cross industry so there are more jobs. If you go domain specific and possibly even platform specific, you have less competition and higher rates but there are fewer jobs and you will generally deskill. There is possibly some middle ground where you do niche stuff but get to maintain a generic skillset that you can deploy if you need to- this is my game, but as time goes by I'm getting more niche and being a bit lazy on maintaining the generic stuff- but I'm 10+ years into contracting so it doesn't matter so much as for youngsters.