another permie to contractor situation

[HairyArsedBloke]

<mode idiot="off">
Contracting is not for you. The 'benefits' you list, and hence clearly important to you, will all be gone or cost the proverbial arm and a leg to provide as a contractor.
</mode>

Ah, now back to normal.

Bob, do you ........

[SueEllen]

I am new to contracting but here is something that just hit me pretty hard:
ill for a couple of days + easter bank holiday = loss of £1000.

Thinking about Easter the wrong way.

It's time you can't work so take a holiday and have fun.

[The Wikir Man]

Thinking about Easter the wrong way.

It's time you can't work so take a holiday and have fun.

WSS - as soon as you start thinking about a day off as lost revenue, it's a slippery slope. Relax, spend time enjoying yourself.

Someone has / used to have a signature that said something like "no-one ever says on their death bed that they had spent more time in the office" (I have sigs switched off these days). IIRC, TheFAQ had six weeks off unpaid through illness a while back (it's in TPD somewhere - no doubt NickFitz can provide the link). That's a LOT of lost money if you count the days off as lost opportunities to earn.

[The Wikir Man]

However (just to contradict myself) - there is nothing wrong with reminding permies that if February 29th falls in the week, it's a day that they work for free while you get paid for it.

Always goes down a treat.

[d000hg]

Thinking about Easter the wrong way.

It's time you can't work so take a holiday and have fun.

Bloody disguised employee, having your working hours dictated

[SueEllen]

Bloody disguised employee, having your working hours dictated

Actually I did some paid work today.

Though I'm quite happy to have time off.

You may as well have time off when you are young and healthy. There is no point having it off when you are old and ill/got dementia.

[Unicorn]

Misread original post.

[Unicorn]

Typical

Must read posts properly before replying

[lukemg]

Presuming this is an April fool windup, if not, you are dreaming ! Support is deadmeat and anything that isn't outsourced yet, will be soon. You need to start thinking about your next step immediately, I would suggest in the same place you are now. You appear to have no valuable skills currently, basic support contracting has turned into the kind of temping roles which pay less than equivalent perm roles (which have just been around for years and pay an out-of-date rate). I am not guessing, I was in your boat 6 years ago and it was sinking then !

[bob the bob]

Presuming this is an April fool windup, if not, you are dreaming ! Support is deadmeat and anything that isn't outsourced yet, will be soon. You need to start thinking about your next step immediately, I would suggest in the same place you are now. You appear to have no valuable skills currently, basic support contracting has turned into the kind of temping roles which pay less than equivalent perm roles (which have just been around for years and pay an out-of-date rate). I am not guessing, I was in your boat 6 years ago and it was sinking then !

2 years later, still in 3rd line Support. Still thinking about contracting. Just got a lower-than-inflation payrise.

That past post about no market skills hurts.
I am MCSA 2003, MCITP 2008, MCSA 2012 certified, VMware Certified Professional, Citrix Certified Administrator, all with 5+ years experience.
I have decent experience with vSphere, Citrix, Cisco networking and firewalls, Check Point Firewalls, McAffee IPS\IDS, Exchange, SQL server, etc etc.