How did you do this year?

[PCTNN]

Usually would start this thread later on in the year, but given I'm done for 2020, here it is.

How has your 2020 been so far? How many days have you invoiced/are you on track to invoice? More or less than you were expecting? What went well and what went bad?

I've wrapped up 2020 early, finished my contract last Friday and given the poor market conditions I'm taking the rest of the year off.

Overall happy with how it went, having invoiced 208 days.

What went well: I managed to secure an extension when wave 1 of the pandemic was at its peak, which led to me to stuffing my warchest enough to make me face 2021 with a positive outlook.

What went bad: professionally speaking, this last contract has been the worst of my career. Boring work, never seen so much waste, never seen so much incompetence. I had been warned about rbs/natwest and holy cow were they right. Hadn't it been for covid, I never would have stayed 10 months.

[BigDataPro]

Billing average went down by around 30-40% but with free time my skillset has improved a lot. I am actually happier in spite of not having enough work. I know, it's insane, I am Crazy

[vwdan]

How did you do this year?

Can't even come close to trying to count days but in terms of basic invoicing last year I made 2.5x what I've made this year. Which is about right - I've been "lucky" in that I've ad-hoc work ticking over so no huge CV gaps, but it has been incredibly quiet. In May I moved us to our "minimum spend" model and I've still drawn slightly more out of the company than I made, so dipped into the warchest. Warchest depleted by just under 10%.

What went well:

Got involved in some stuff that is exceptional CV fodder. Perhaps even too much as it seems to be scaring some people off, but either way it was a cracking opportunity. Unfortunately not sustainable for a variety of reasons, but it feels great to drop it on my CV.

Finally got around to doing some of the Azure exam track - so that was good.

Hopefully I'm going to end on a high, though, as I've got a few things spinning that look very likely to come off. Ironically, having had such a crap year I might be letting a few people down!

What went bad:

Everything else. Long periods of absolutely nothing, no interviews, no agency calls, zilch. "Failed" an interview for the first time ever, so that was absolutely gutting - but there's a Pt 2 to that story for another time.

[BackupBoy]

Two-month gap from end-Feb. Fully engaged since. Current contract runs until end-Dec. Extension expected.

[WTFH]

How did you do this year?
Worked throughout.

What went well:
Improved work/life balance. Took 2 projects live remotely, did a lot of gardening, redecorated some of the house.

What went bad:
Moderating an internet forum.
Was hoping to get back to BA gold and Hilton diamond by the summer.
Didn't sell the house.
Big birthday cancelled (holiday, etc)

[Paralytic]

I've not added things up, but both of our scheduled family holidays were cancelled this year due to Covid so I just kept billing apart from a couple of days off - so will probably end up with the my billing days ever. Contract renewed into next year.

[filthy1980]

terrible start to the year with no contract and down to my last few K

started one at the end of Feb 135% down from previous rate (but beggars cant be choosers)

3 weeks in and it was WFH, but thankfully have stayed in contract and managed to build some funds, can't really forward any downtime though, need to keep billing

[Lance]

How did you do this year?
Started the year with three clients.
Down to two once 'rona kicked off
Down to one two weeks ago as contract came to an end.
SOW submitted to that client for small project. Signed off. Expect to be doing that till the end of the year.

What went well:
Invoicing.
3 migrations.
Finally everyone realising that I've been right for 20+ years with the home-working is the future mantra.
Foreign travel paid for by the client.
Making £3k using Avios + companion voucher to buy business class flights and charging the customer the full price for premium economy.

What went bad:
Cancelled skiing in April.
Cancelled skiing in December.
Accountant forgetting to hassle me about P11d so deadline missed.
Watched Titans (that's 24 hours of my life I'll never get back).

[Paralytic]

started one at the end of Feb 135% down from previous rate

Wow, and I thought it was bad when one person said they were offered 60% less than their previous rate! How do you transfer funds to the client?

[BigLadFromBeeston666]

How did you do this year?
On course to bill 248 days by the end of the year.
6 days of holiday (must do better here).
Changed sectors from FS to Gov.

What went well:
Haven't had a break in contracts for over two years now.
Picked up some ad hoc consultancy work on top of my day-to-day.
Enough in the war chest to pay the usual £50k when the new financial year starts, which takes a lot of pressure off.
Mortgage paid off on March 1st.

What went bad:
Day rate went from £850 to £550. No sign of getting that high again.
Felt burnt out at times.
Unsociable working hours in the summer months - 12 hour days.