Your first contract

[administrator]

Fixed! Cheers for reporting, too busy looking at the budget stuff

[expat]

When I got my first contract in 1977 I wondered how long this would last. In the 1980s we thought it was on its way out, though some optimists thought there might be another 10 years in it.

Is here another 10 years in it?

[jmo21]

Which is hopefully where this one will end up.

where?

[NotAllThere]

1996 - £24 an hour, All-in-one (VAX VMS) development. Left a crap permie job at Crapita, of £22K a year.

[I just need to test it]

1997. I went from a perm 33K to 500 + expenses in Bavaria.

The expenses included as much German beer as I could quaff. And after lunch each day the extremely affable project manager would demand to know how much I'd spent then press a few Deutschmarks into my hand. It was a good life.

[MarillionFan]

1997. 28k with a company car as a technical account manager.
Had a spat with my boss the day I came back from holiday. I'd been so stressed before, was about to lose my driving license for drink driving (2 pints of Stella FFS!), had been arrested for getting in a punch up in a bar the week before that and life was unravelling.

Threw my car keys across the room, told him to **** it and walked out to nothing. Most liberating experience ever.

A few weeks later they had to call me back. One of my clients insisted I finish a project they were in the middle of and my former company had to rehire me as a contractor as only I knew how to do it. I hit them for 500 quid a day, including travelling and meeting times and at th beginning of the summer I had paid off my student loans and had 10k savings. I took off the summer, best summer of my life and at the end I got my first proper contract at post office for 225. Never looked back.

[BrilloPad]

I lent Billy 50p. He would not pay it back. So I gave Fred 5p to get it back for me.

[psychocandy]

1997. £35 an hour. Left permie job £22K plus nice company car.

Actually picked up spanking new car at mdnight march 1st and drove to new contract next day.

Did contract for year. Mgr was a complete arse - worse person I've ever worked for. Bullying etc.

Ended up making me ill (long story) - never do that again.

[Lockhouse]

1987. Went from £7200 per year to £600 per week working in Hemel Hempstead at Honeywell Bull. Down the pub every lunchtime, V12 Jag, first BTL on the go; those were the days.

[DimPrawn]

2001 I think, went from £55K permie to £80/hr

My first rate and my best rate! Downhill ever since.