Advice for a beginner; contract offered but no idea if its good?!

[SueEllen]

Good point; just to add more to the mix. I've managed to get this far with the process via a contact within the business, i.e. via recommendation. I've met the team multiple times and gotten to know the people I'll be working with. I have an insane worth ethic and travel a lot; they already know this, so just not sure why I'm being offered something so low, could be my naivety towards the beginning of the salary discussion.

There you have it - you are talking about salary.

[northernladuk]

The reason you are getting a take it or leave it is because it's your first contract.

The agency is taking a risk with you and so is the client. (Have a search on here for people who have left contracts or complain about travel etc.)

When you have more experience you will simply tell the agency not to bother discussing further due to the rate. They then may come back to you with an increased rate or find someone else.

and to add to this how much do you think you are worth to the client bearing in mind your comment below?

Also, I don't have much experience in what I'll be doing (yet), but I'm a faster learning and motivated to pick it up, just want to make sure I'm being sold this for the right price!

This doesn't earn money. This is a dead loss at the beginning so can't expect a good rate. In contracting you do not get chance to learn and pick it up, the idea of getting you in is you are an expert in your field so can hit the ground running. If you have got yourself a contract with little experience I would either consider yourself very lucky or be very worried.

[odm]

Is the contract within the same company? If so you will fall foul of IR35 and have none of the benefits of contracting.

Not within the company I'm at at the moment, but within the same company where my contact works, who recommended me.

[odm]

[QUOTE=northernladuk;1380013]and to add to this how much do you think you are worth to the client bearing in mind your comment below?



This doesn't earn money. This is a dead loss at the beginning so can't expect a good rate. In contracting you do not get chance to learn and pick it up, the idea of getting you in is you are an expert in your field so can hit the ground running. If you have got yourself a contract with little experience I would either consider yourself very lucky or be very worried.[/QUOTE]

Where I'm at now, my day rate is approx £1500/day; granted, I don't see much of that (I'm only 22).

I am worried, not sure if they're taking me for a ride, of this is the ceiling, or if there's another motive that I haven't yet picked up on.

[redgiant]

Where I'm at now, my day rate is approx £1500/day; granted, I don't see much of that (I'm only 22).

I am worried, not sure if they're taking me for a ride, of this is the ceiling, or if there's another motive that I haven't yet picked up on.

£1500 p/d is what the consultancy charges the client and for a junior consultant (given your age) that is very high. Still if they can charge you out at that rate and get you billable then something is going right for them as I won't pay that amount!

As a comparison pre-recession IBM were charging the government around £1000 p/d for experienced IT consultants and £1500-2000 p/d for director/partner level.

[ChimpMaster]

22 and earning over £30k? I would stick with that if I were you, especially given the deteriorating state of the economy.

It's not worth jumping for £200/day because, personally, I don't think the risk/reward scenario is attractive enough. You could be out of work at any time in a contract, and you may not learn enough to make the jump into your next contract. Even if you got 11 months at that rate, it's only just over £45k, and you have no paid holiday, pension, sick days etc etc.

Be warned too, that if you start on £200 then at renewal time you'll be lucky if they give you much more. You'll have to jump to another contract to get the bigger rate increases. But again, you don't have much experience...yet.

Get a few years' experience under your belt, ride out the recession in your permie job, and then come out contracting at a more senior level. In the City, rates around £500/day are probably the norm; as a BA or PM you could probably command £700 quite easily in London. But - you need to be experienced in what you're sell.

[SueEllen]

22

That explains the low rate more than anything else.

While ageism is illegal people do pay you on your years of experience.

[odm]

£1500 p/d is what the consultancy charges the client and for a junior consultant (given your age) that is very high. Still if they can charge you out at that rate and get you billable then something is going right for them as I won't pay that amount!

As a comparison pre-recession IBM were charging the government around £1000 p/d for experienced IT consultants and £1500-2000 p/d for director/partner level.

No idea how its all calculated in the big picture. That's as low as it gets for the place I'm at now anyway, it's only upwards in terms of rates. Either way, its not what I'm paid, just what I'm charged out at.

[Wanderer]

Thanks for this. Well I'm currently on £30k+ in my permie role, plus my benefits are those you'd find at a Big4 firm. Not too experienced with negotiations; tried it and it came across as 'take it or leave it' - is this normal? I'd feel really stupid if I asked for higher, risked it, and didn't get it; I'd essentially be left with nothing

If you ask for a crazy rate then one day you just might get it. I know it's worked for me and I've managed to get contract rates that left me shaking my head in disbelief when I realised what I'd done. If you don't ask then you ain't gonna get it so harden up. The only way to learn is by doing it.

Tell the agent you want £300 or no deal. Don't be afraid to let an opportunity go - and with your permie job to fall back on you can afford to be picky and you aren't "left with nothing".

If you can't do some hard negotiation when you are safe in a permie job then you have no chance when you are on the bench unemployed between contracts.

[odm]

If you ask for a crazy rate then one day you just might get it. I know it's worked for me and I've managed to get contract rates that left me shaking my head in disbelief when I realised what I'd done. If you don't ask then you ain't gonna get it so harden up. The only way to learn is by doing it.

Tell the agent you want £300 or no deal. Don't be afraid to let an opportunity go - and with your permie job to fall back on you can afford to be picky and you aren't "left with nothing".

If you can't do some hard negotiation when you are safe in a permie job then you have no chance when you are on the bench unemployed between contracts.

When you say 'agent', are you under the assumption that I'm negotiating through a recruitment agency? Again, could be due to my lack of experience, but the person I'm negotiating with works for the company who'll give me a job (although they might themselves be contracted in from an external company).