New to London Contracts!

[maxedvolume]

Hi all,

Newbie here! Just wondering if anyone could give me a heads up on what kind of day rate I should be going for?
I've been developing ASP.NET C# MVC in Australia for 7 yrs in various permanent positions looking for first contract here in London. But no ones giving me a decent answer how much I should aim for.

Any ideas??

[DigitalUser]

Hi all,

Newbie here! Just wondering if anyone could give me a heads up on what kind of day rate I should be going for?
I've been developing ASP.NET C# MVC in Australia for 7 yrs in various permanent positions looking for first contract here in London. But no ones giving me a decent answer how much I should aim for.

Any ideas??

C# Contracts, Contractor Rates for C# Skills

[maxedvolume]

Seems like a lot of people on this forum are north of £450-£500/day especially in London - The job board seems a little under expectation. For someone with 7yrs of perm experience new to contracting - you would expect above figures yeah?

The reason for this post is that I'm trying to figure out if a recruiter can smell a freshie and takes a bigger cut whilst billing out to the clients at same rate as other contractors in the company.

As a first timer, is it reasonable to say start at around £300 and try for £400 next contract, and work my way unto £500 for the 3rd contract maybe? Or is it realistic to expect the 'market rate' on first contract?

Are these 450-500/day contracts only by words of mouth? feels to me job boards are there to lure in fresh contractors...

any thoughts?

[cojak]

What people say they earn and what they actually earn may not be the same.

Itjobswatch is a reasonable indicator of contract rates.

[SpontaneousOrder]

Last time I looked, .net paid lower than a Java equivalent.
It depends on what the nature of your experience is though.

[robpow]

Market rate is such an abused word,
ultimately it's a supply-and-demand situation with an agent in the middle who might be loyal to the client, to you or to himself only. Not totally unlike estate agents I suppose.

In my field, infrastructure engineering, I've had offers from 450 - 575pd, a fairly large span. The best is to start getting job specs/offers from agents and bite when you get something you're happy with.

Matt

[Bluenose]

As a first timer, is it reasonable to say start at around £300 and try for £400 next contract, and work my way unto £500 for the 3rd contract maybe? Or is it realistic to expect the 'market rate' on first contract?

Are these 450-500/day contracts only by words of mouth? feels to me job boards are there to lure in fresh contractors...

any thoughts?

Judging by some of the ghetto rates I have been offered these past three weeks while I have been actively looking for work, I am also surprised at some of the rates stated around these parts so - don't be fooled as some people here have 20 years experience, maybe some with more.

That said, I found new work straight away and got a 10% rate increase, a sure sign of a healthy market after 4 years of very tough conditions.

I would start applying at the upper end of the rate spectrum and see if you get calls back from agents, you will soon find your place in the market, everyone has one.

Treat jobserve like a speed dating agency, you will only bag one in a 100 and most of the adverts are fake. The ones that look too good to be true 9.9/10 are.

[TheFaQQer]

Treat jobserve like a speed dating agency, you will only bag one in a 100 and most of the adverts are fake. The ones that look too good to be true 9.9/10 are.

I don't have a record of the number of applications I've ever made through Jobserve, but just short of 50% of my contracts have been found that way.

[maxedvolume]

Also what do you say to recruiters that ask you what rate you're on currently? They don't need to know this info do they? Seems to me that they're trying to work out their margin by under cutting me to the client on the contract they're trying to sell me.

[northernladuk]

Also what do you say to recruiters that ask you what rate you're on currently? They don't need to know this info do they? Seems to me that they're trying to work out their margin by under cutting me to the client on the contract they're trying to sell me.

You are playing a game with sales people that work on commission and do this day in day out. Of course they are going to use every trick in the book to increase their take home. It's your job to do exactly the same for yourself so you have to play the agent at his own game. If you are daft enough to say something too low you will of course get fleeced which many new contractors often do.

The best way to play agents is to understand them. If you can't and have to ask a forum they are going to eat you alive.

They could of course just be making sure they are not wasting your time. If you say you want £500 and the gig is for £200 max then they could be trying to save themselves and you some time and ending the discussion there.

Start high and negotiate down.