Disaster First Contract

[jmo21]

This is great news for contractors! If permie start to leave, contractors become more and more indispensable meaning you can ask for a higher rate when it's renewal time. Things are looking promising; that warchest will be healthy very soon.

This.

Chaos is GREAT for contractors.

And I'm not suggesting I\we try to create that chaos btw.

[PerfectStorm]

This.

Chaos is GREAT for contractors.

And I'm not suggesting I\we try to create that chaos btw.

You certainly don't start kicking up a fuss about projects overrunning...

[jayn200]

Lots of times companies hire contractors to save failing projects... when that happens quite often a lot of people at the company are already quite frustrated sometimes angry even so it's not always the best environment to go into. Not sure if that was the case or not for you but just saying it's common experience to get hired into a hostile environment. If that really bothers you then contracting might not be the best thing for you.

[billybiro]

This.

Chaos is GREAT for contractors.

And I'm not suggesting I\we try to create that chaos btw.

Absolutely.

[northernladuk]

Absolutely.

LOL that's a good one. Not seen that before. We've a small consultancy in at the moment who are pulling my clients pants down. It's the watch analogy down to the letter. Absolutely zero added value for the client and it's very frustrating to see but they seem to be happy with all the powerpoints of the progress (of which they add nothing) so trying to wind my neck in and carry on.

[psychocandy]

Probably not what you want to hear, and not directly related to your question but £350 is a pretty low rate for someone who was earning £60k - probably a good idea to research what you should be charging.

yeh thought that too.... Should be looking £500+

[psychocandy]

Now I know some will disagree.... Yeh all for the do your best and if it burns then its not your fault.
BUT, personally, I hate all the tulipe that goes with this sort of thing. I'd much rather earn less on a decent gig than put with lots of hostility and bad feeling.

I had a gig years ago now. First two weeks massive red tape to even get my access sorted. I'm sure we've all been there. I attended a load of meetings (this was pre-covid) but didnt even know who half the people were. All the meetings seemed full of peed off people.....

I didnt have a line manager and the PM was not interested. I'd spent most of the day trying to get info from people, and it went in circles. I tried but was losing the will to live.

The final straw was when one of the senior permies complained that "I wasnt adding anything". Jeez. 2 weeks and no-one could be arsed to sort my access. I just knew at this point it was a dead donkey.

I did plan to stay and then just not renew but its soul destroying doing something like this. Its not for me. I ended up leaving a few weeks early and was happy to get out of there to be honest.

[ladymuck]

Now I know some will disagree.... Yeh all for the do your best and if it burns then its not your fault.
BUT, personally, I hate all the tulipe that goes with this sort of thing. I'd much rather earn less on a decent gig than put with lots of hostility and bad feeling.

I had a gig years ago now. First two weeks massive red tape to even get my access sorted. I'm sure we've all been there. I attended a load of meetings (this was pre-covid) but didnt even know who half the people were. All the meetings seemed full of peed off people.....

I didnt have a line manager and the PM was not interested. I'd spent most of the day trying to get info from people, and it went in circles. I tried but was losing the will to live.

The final straw was when one of the senior permies complained that "I wasnt adding anything". Jeez. 2 weeks and no-one could be arsed to sort my access. I just knew at this point it was a dead donkey.

I did plan to stay and then just not renew but its soul destroying doing something like this. Its not for me. I ended up leaving a few weeks early and was happy to get out of there to be honest.

Wow! There was actually a bit of sense in there

Agree that life is too short to stick a crap job, whether it's perm or contract.

[psychocandy]

Wow! There was actually a bit of sense in there

Agree that life is too short to stick a crap job, whether it's perm or contract.

It was a bit of an eye-opener for me to be honest at the time.... I'd never experienced anything like that before and I just never understood how someone could be like that.

It was obvious from the start that some sort of internal politics was in play and I got caught in it. It stressed me out massively at the time and I was worried they were going to can me. Got into arguments with this guy when I shouldnt have.

I'm wary of it now. Had it again to a lesser degree a few months after this (different client) but I approached it differently. I just thought "oh well, if you want to play games this is out of my control, but I'll just keep on billing as much as I can". I just let it all wash over me and refused to be dragged into it.

[hungry_hog]

Sounds tough.

Been in this position before with a terrible project fraught with politics. I did a calculation of how much war chest I had (making some compromises like selling a car) - it came to 6 months.
Made a calculated decision to quit the role, was out for couple months (in a poor market over Summer hols) and went back to an old client.

With the market way it is I would be tempted to bail in your situation. Maybe dip your toe in the market and get a feel for how it is looking.
Health and mental health come first, don't listen to the "smile and keep invoicing" mantra.