going contractor

[marcoloco]

Hi guys,

Sorry if you have heard the questions over and over again, I have read most of the information supplied in www.contractoruk.com, but still have some newbie questions.

First of all, my situation is following : I came to UK 5 months ago and found a .NET programming job through gumtree.com portal (I previosly had 4years programming experience in Estonia). But now with the project ending soon, I have started to think about next steps and considering jumping into contractor world.
So the magic question : Which is the best way to actually find a contract? I have seen www.jobserve.co.uk portal with lots of contracts, is it wise just to send cv to all of those (I should probably leave financial sector out?) or would it be a overkill and wiser is to contact agencies directly and ask them to call me when something suitable is available. Can anybody recommend some good .NET agency (I have best experience in c# programming, Commerce Server & BizTalk) ?
I remember 5 months ago when I was also sending CVs out, couple of agencies said that I should work with them only and not to send my CV to any other agency or to any job offer. Should I trust these agencies?!

And what about rates? I checked http://www.contractoruk.com/market_stats/index.html, but hourly rate 24 and then daily rate 400 doesn't make much sense. (24 * 8 is near 200 and way below 400). Do I understand correctly the daily rates are very high because of the financial sector jobs, which need special financial experience? What is the average rate for c# programmer in London when financial sector jobs left out?

And finally the taxes. I am thinking about working through my Estonian company, because there is no "IR35"-rules there and it's normal to take profit out as dividends even if you are the only worker in the company. Does agencies agree to sign contract with Estonian company or should I invoice through UK Company and then let Estonian company invoice my UK Company?

Marko

[Rebecca Loos]

1) www.jobserve.co.uk is a good source of contracts. It works for me.
2) you can send your CV to as many agencies as you like. Hell, you can even send your CV to several rec cons in the same agency and they probably won't exchange it! Don't worry about over exposure. Do not limit yourself to agencies that want to restrict you. They are NOT an agent in the sense of a sports star's agent, or an actor/model/musician's agent. They are just the channel through which you'll get ONE contract and through which you'll get paid for that one job. Chances are that for your next contract, you'll use another agency. Unless you get a renewal of course, in which case it's likely you'll go through the same agency.

3) rates: hourly of 24 does not match daily of 400, you're spot on. A day is usually 8 hours when calculating equivalents. Not sure what the .net rates are, but for a £24/hr, yes it wouldn't be more than £200 a day. Rates are higher in London, and higher in investment banking and other niche markets. Dunno what the average is tho'

4) Estonian company: doubt you can use it. Agencies are not keen on paying out invoices to foreign companies. They'll probably claim that to comply with money laundering legislation, they have to pay a UK-registered company, that it makes things simpler etc. I can't see many agencies agreeing to pay your Estonian LTD. They are even funny about paying money to Channel Islands / Isle of Man - registered companies, and usually if you operate through a Channel Island based company, you have to have a Mainland UK-based subsidiary. My uneducated guess would be that it will be the same with a Estonia-registered company.

So yes you could invoice from a UK company, and then your UK company could pay your Estonian company. I would check with an accountant the pitfalls and details of that approach tho', as I am sure there's chances of obstacles along the way... but I think it can work.

[BlasterBates]

Rebecca does have a point, if you are you new to the game or perhaps your skill set is not up to date then you have to behave a bit like a "slag" throwing yourself at all and sundry. However as you improve you will indeed become like a famous footballer or actor, known within the industry and sort after, dictating your own conditions.

..now where's that long list of agencies I had this morining.

[Rebecca Loos]

I envy you BB if you have reached that stage! After a few years in my industry, I know a few people and might be able to blag the odd contract from that, but I wouldn't rely on it..... yet. How many years have you had to work in your industry of choice before your profile is enough to get you the gigs?

[BlasterBates]

it was a joke beccs.



deary me