What's my rate???

[lje]

Good luck - hope everything works out.

[tommyc]

hmmm..

Looking at my contract now it appears I might be out of IR35 after all.

I am expected to provide my services for 20 days of each month..

There is a section titled "Independent contractor status" which states that my relationship with the client is that of independent contractor not employee. And also "other activites" which states that I am allowed to conduct business and provide my services to whoever I like provided it does not breach any of my obligations under the agreement with client or is involved in a business that is in competition with them..

Maybe I should give my old accountant a call..

[escapeUK]

hmmm..

Looking at my contract now it appears I might be out of IR35 after all.

I am expected to provide my services for 20 days of each month..

There is a section titled "Independent contractor status" which states that my relationship with the client is that of independent contractor not employee. And also "other activites" which states that I am allowed to conduct business and provide my services to whoever I like provided it does not breach any of my obligations under the agreement with client or is involved in a business that is in competition with them..

Maybe I should give my old accountant a call..

Isnt it nice finding a client with their brain engaged? Good luck in your new role.

[tommyc]

thanks.

I just remembered, I haven't worked in the UK yet this tax year, and since April is only just over 4 weeks away I can get my first pay packet tax free regardless of IR35!

[tommyc]

work work work..

Bit of a shock having to concentrate behind a desk and a computer again, but I'm getting the hang of it. Trouble is I'm having to mostly use a language that I've never coded in before so the first day was frustrating as I spent most of the time trying to get my head around the design of the half finished code I'd been given to finish off and doing experiments to understand the datatypes and coding environment. Now I'm getting up to speed I'm getting more productive though.

Would be torn between the hack something together quickly so they can see results and be impressed or spend more time doing a thorough more efficient / tidy code job that may not be noticed / appreciated dilemna... Unfortunately think my manager wants tidy efficient code and quickly so don't have much choice other than to work my tits off to ensure the contract gets extended.

Part of me also wishes I could build on the skills I already have rather than having to start from scratch in a different language (which according to ITjobswatch is about 3x less in demand than my VBA skills) but beggars can't be choosers.. at least I've got money coming in I guess. There's a web project coming up so I may try and lobby to work in java or ASP.net for that so at least I'm adding something a bit more mainstream to my CV

[cybersquatter]

work work work..

Bit of a shock having to concentrate behind a desk and a computer again, but I'm getting the hang of it. Trouble is I'm having to mostly use a language that I've never coded in before so the first day was frustrating as I spent most of the time trying to get my head around the design of the half finished code I'd been given to finish off and doing experiments to understand the datatypes and coding environment. Now I'm getting up to speed I'm getting more productive though.

Would be torn between the hack something together quickly so they can see results and be impressed or spend more time doing a thorough more efficient / tidy code job that may not be noticed / appreciated dilemna... Unfortunately think my manager wants tidy efficient code and quickly so don't have much choice other than to work my tits off to ensure the contract gets extended.

Part of me also wishes I could build on the skills I already have rather than having to start from scratch in a different language (which according to ITjobswatch is about 3x less in demand than my VBA skills) but beggars can't be choosers.. at least I've got money coming in I guess. There's a web project coming up so I may try and lobby to work in java or ASP.net for that so at least I'm adding something a bit more mainstream to my CV

Most PMs don't know good code from bad, so I think there lies your answer.

Elegant code is a luxury few organisations can afford these days.

[RichardCranium]

Unfortunately think my manager wants tidy efficient code and quickly

Are you gifted? "Efficient and tidy code but written quickly". Only gifted programmers can do all three at once. Are they paying you Gifted Programmer Rates? No. Then bollocks to 'em. Programming is a creative art, not an engineering principle. You can't throw up a quick and dirty software system and expect it to work.

And if they want tidy, they can wait. What is this? Python? Your dissertation?

And anyway, unless you are working on real time systems, does 'efficient' really matter any more? Once the decision has been made to run the application on a windows platform, your code efficiency is irrelevant. So blame the crap db design, or their crap choice of compiler, or crap DBAs, or their choice of language, or crap architecture, or crap desktops, or whinging users. If they're using cheap open source rubbish, it should have been industry-strength proprietary instead. If they're using bloated proprietary rubbish, it should have been efficient, peer-reviewed, open source instead.

so don't have much choice other than to work my tits off to ensure the contract gets extended.

Sod that. That's permie thinking.

Head down, gob shut, keep producing working code without stupid bugs in it. That's what most organisations expect of programmers.

[TheFaQQer]

Elegant code is a luxury few organisations can afford these days.

And that's precisely the reason that the off-shore market is booming - if the client wanted something good, they would pay someone good to do it. Sadly, they don't seem to these days.

[nomadd]

If they're using cheap open source rubbish, it should have been industry-strength proprietary instead.

Welcome to 1984, RC.

My current solution - just gone live - is a real-time FX system. Every single piece of it is based on open-source technology. And that also includes the OS (Linux) that it's running on.

My last system - again, based largely on open-source tools and technology - was a 14 million user customer self-service financial web based system. That system went live 6 months ago, and has received numerous industry awards (I know, as the permie PM keeps sending the details to me via email!)

The permie in the office on my current gig has just come back from the latest "Open Source Symposium" in London. I asked if I could look at all the "paperwork" he brought back with him. I'd say 90% of those in attendance were Banks/Financial; all were heavy users of open-source technology, and their roadmaps going forward were based upon it. A quick scan of Jobserve shows 90%+ of the roles in my line of work - Java - require the latest open-source tools as well to be on your cv.

You may not like/agree with open-source, but as a contractor, I know which side my bread is buttered. Going rates on Jobserve for open-source architects/designers/developers in banking are £500-£800 per day. That's too much money for me to ignore!

[memyselfandi]

Are you gifted? "Efficient and tidy code but written quickly". Only gifted programmers can do all three at once.

Sounds like a job for Bob Shawadiwadi to me.