War chests

[oracleslave]

Don't all contractors live in a multi-million pound mansion?

I claim I do...when I'm talking to permies.

Nomadd

I am a permie

HTH.

[zamzummim]

Am a bit curious, do people on the bench actually not do any work? During the last downturn I was on the bench for 3 months (i.e. out of a contract, but not out of work) within a couple of weeks I started applying for any old job just to keep me floating, mostly I got office temp work etc, that brought in about £1000 a month, yes not great, yes its a joke, but it minimized the need to touch the war chest, as well as providing an opportunity to stay busy and not get too depressed about the work situation.
So why don't you guys go and work anywhere, cafe/shops/car wash etc, you'll be surprised, you may enjoy it.

[dropcliffsnotbombs]

So why don't you guys go and work anywhere, cafe/shops/car wash etc, you'll be surprised, you may enjoy it.

I never go straight from one contract to another and in the time off inbetween I usually spend some time travelling and also helping out on the family farm. Nothing like a complete change from being stuck in an office. And the animals are far more civilised than my usual colleagues

[Turion]

So why don't you guys go and work anywhere, cafe/shops/car wash etc, you'll be surprised, you may enjoy it.

Because you are thinking like a rank low paid amateur temp ITer. Why would a 500+ day IT Pro work in a cafe for the min wage? He will already have a decent buffer to prevent this humiliation.

Benched, he will spend a portion of the day focusing to obtain a job at the required rate and status. If one aims low - you stay low. A good confident consultant always aims high. At a minimum he will stay level with the market. Fall back, take a lesser skilled role for fast relief, or worse a totally unrelated unskilled role and he will undo years of progress. The ones that do this , never deserved to be up there in the first place.

The rest of the day, you should be contactable, but otherwise doing things useful to yourself and family. Don't doss around. Bench time counts - make it count towards your future.

[chris79]

Excellent joke chris, I really enjoyed it. To think I might have missed it without the handy hint as well. Ta muchly

Sorry, I was bored with nothing better to do.

[zamzummim]

Because you are thinking like a rank low paid amateur temp ITer. Why would a 500+ day IT Pro work in a cafe for the min wage? He will already have a decent buffer to prevent this humiliation.

Benched, he will spend a portion of the day focusing to obtain a job at the required rate and status. If one aims low - you stay low. A good confident consultant always aims high. At a minimum he will stay level with the market. Fall back, take a lesser skilled role for fast relief, or worse a totally unrelated unskilled role and he will undo years of progress. The ones that do this , never deserved to be up there in the first place.

The rest of the day, you should be contactable, but otherwise doing things useful to yourself and family. Don't doss around. Bench time counts - make it count towards your future.

Have we been reading the same thread? people here are saying they have been benched for many months, others have no money in the war chest and about to be benched, so the option is to move and get any job that pays the bills or get into debt!!

You can always have an evening job ( e.g bar work ) this would allow you to dedicate much of your day towards reading / training (as if the ones who are benched can afford training ) heck, I know a uni kid who works as a part time waiter at wagamama and brings in minimum £1700 a month.

[nomadd]

Am a bit curious, do people on the bench actually not do any work?

Yes and no.

I always take a 3 month break between contracts, mainly to get myself fit. It's not that I'm unfit - BMI is about 23/24 - but I get a LOT more exercise in when I'm off contract. I also feel a lot better mentally after a complete break.

I spend the mornings learning new IT skills, in the hope that one day they will pay for themselves! Sounds daft in the current market, I know, but it's always worked for me before in the last 20 years I've been contracting. I spend the evenings learning stuff outside of IT and just socialising.

I've got cheap rent and no dependents, so I guess my situation is different to many. The company warchest will keep me going for a while yet, so I'm just going to relax and enjoy myself.

After working my backside off on two contracts in particular that spanned over 9 years (!), I learnt a long ago that there's more to life than work or money, no matter what they are paying you. I've already had one close shave with a near nervous breakdown, and I'm not looking to plough straight into a second.

Nomadd

[MPwannadecentincome]

WHS, PMs @ 200p/d??

I have seen some ads for PMs in London for 250-300 pd - maybe some lower ads outside of London.

Well you and that other PM nunce are benched, as are zillions of other PMs and PM wannabees. To be a PM is easy. 1 week Prince2 course and some bull on the CV fixes it. And these wannabees will take 200/day just to get experience. Either things need to pick up quickly or you face many futile months trying to get 450/day, before caving in to a insult level rate just to keep your head above the water.

Caving in to an insult level rate will not keep head above water.

Rates have come down, what was advertised at 500+ last year is now around 400.

Perm rates have come down too.

If trend is down on a long term basis then time to reskill or emigrate.

[ThomasSoerensen]

So, you're sending your mother back out on to the streets? And doing a sideline in having her on an adult website? Shame on you!

Still, don't forget to post a linky once the site is up. I'm always up for a bit of MILF.

Nomadd

spot on!

You are a treasure.

[cojak]

Am a bit curious, do people on the bench actually not do any work? During the last downturn I was on the bench for 3 months (i.e. out of a contract, but not out of work) within a couple of weeks I started applying for any old job just to keep me floating, mostly I got office temp work etc, that brought in about £1000 a month, yes not great, yes its a joke, but it minimized the need to touch the war chest, as well as providing an opportunity to stay busy and not get too depressed about the work situation.
So why don't you guys go and work anywhere, cafe/shops/car wash etc, you'll be surprised, you may enjoy it.

WSS

I would do a bit of temping too....

(hiya Zam - long time no post! )