As a new contractor, what am I worth?

**northernladuk** · 18 January 2012, 14:17

We are guessing, you have the chance to find out a much more accurate figure and nearly got there.

Keep an eye on the job boards and make an estimation from there. I think throwing numbers at you might not be the most useful. I got a call about an SC cleared role for a Service Delivery Manager, looked great, how much £200 pd....

Listen to what people say but don't give up trawling the job boards either.

Being your first contract you are worth much less than the guys on here with years experience. You need to be thinking about anything reasonable to get some experience under your belt. Go in for full what and you will be up against some experienced guys but agree that is not reason enough to take a really bad rate.

**fullyautomatix** · 18 January 2012, 14:27

Originally posted by cluffy View Post

I am contemplating the leap from permanent employment to contracting, and I have been fortunate to get a brace of interviews lined up for the coming weeks.

I want to go into these knowing what I'm worth, and therefore what rate I should be looking for. I've looked at a few websites that provide analysis of the average rates for different areas of the UK, but they don't allow you to tailor by experience. Also, they seem to base their averages on a fairly minimal amount of examples.

Could anyone offer their advice, or direct me to a suitable website?

Roles are for Business Analyst in Financial Services / Banking (South West UK).

As a permie I have:

4 years experience of business analysis with proven record of delivery (2 of these with the job title Business Analyst)
2 years Project Support and User Acceptance Testing experience
10 years Financial Services background in total
3/4 of the way through an ISEB Diploma

I look forward to seeing your estimates.

If you get a proper contract with a top end bank like RBS etc you can expect around the 400 pd mark easy. This is assuming that you are as good as you say you are on paper. If you get into any smaller finance company you might hit the 300 mark easy.

**The Spartan** · 18 January 2012, 14:32

It's really hard to know what you're worth when you're making the transition from permie to contractor, when I made the leap last year I decided I would pitch it around the starting rate for contract testers and that's what I got I also factored in the location and seeing as they wanted me to stay down during the week how much I needed to cover those costs and meals etc.

The way I saw it was that it's my first contract as long as I can cover my costs and make some extra money that I can put away to cover any inactivity. That was sufficient enough for me and the fact that it was 6 months not 3 greatly influenced my decision.

Look at the job boards and the rates on offer and the skills they're asking for and it may give you some idea as to what you should ask for. Bear in mind what NLUK said as there will be contractors with more experience applying for these roles as well.

**Joeman** · 18 January 2012, 15:05

as much as someone is willing to pay for the role!!!
Ask the agent what the rates are for the jobs you have interviews for.
Dont talk money with the clients during interview anyway, leave that to the agent to do once the clients express an interest in hiring you.

its in the agents interest to get good money, but since you are new to contracting, they will also be screwing you on the rate, so if the agent says 400pd, make sure they arent charging the client 600pd...

**Bexter** · 18 January 2012, 15:34

I was very much like this when I took my first contract 18 mths ago. I had no idea what rate to pitch for. I took what I thought was good, and turned out to be rubbish. But I worked hard and negotiated hard, and now I have basically doubled that rate I started on.

So just cause you start on 350 for example, doesn't mean you can't get to 450 or 500.

My advice is take what you can to get started, and then work up. Whatever you take, you will almost always be better off than being permie.

**Scrag Meister** · 18 January 2012, 15:36

What are you worth...?

Take a look at itjobswatch

Select Contract tab.

Select your area of expertise

Select where you want to work.

And see what is on offer, its a generalisation of ads, but will give you an idea.

**MrRobin** · 18 January 2012, 16:19

Many people will say an 'equivalent' hourly rate for a contractor would be a perm salary divided by 1000. I.e. £40k permie job = £40 per hour = £320 per day

I think divide by 1,200 is a bit more realistic but it depends on personal circumstances and what kind of extra benefits you were getting as an employee

**Troll** · 18 January 2012, 17:46

what am I worth

Whatever you can get away with! - seriously if you become known to the agents as a £200 - £300 @day contractor you'll find it hard to break out of that rate range

**cluffy** · 18 January 2012, 19:21

Originally posted by Joeman View Post

Ask the agent what the rates are for the jobs you have interviews for. Dont talk money with the clients during interview anyway, leave that to the agent to do once the clients express an interest in hiring you.

its in the agents interest to get good money, but since you are new to contracting, they will also be screwing you on the rate, so if the agent says 400pd, make sure they arent charging the client 600pd...

One of the clients is direct, not through an agency. Under these circumstances should I be discussing rates during the interview, or wait for them to make an offer and negotiate?

Basic stuff I know, but I don't want to make a faux pas at the first hurdle...

As a new contractor, what am I worth?