Are there many young contractors?

[Joe1978]

I'm 30 this year....

ditto and just about to step into contracting

[Peter Loew]

I''ve just turned 29, went contracting at the end of 27. Main motivational factor was seeing my charge out rate that my then permie company was charging me out for.

My life changed since.

[Jason]

I think Dow Jones has hit the nail firmly on the head.

Clients expect soft skills and a broad background, backed up with lots of experience. This gives them a feel good factor. I have dealt with many people in the past who look great on paper, are actually fantastic at writing code, but don't have a clue on how to interact with people. (I call them back offfice boys).

This is why in general contractors tend to be 30+. There are of course exeptions to this, but the industry in general is ageist in funny ways.

For permie positions there is a bias towards younger people, in contract positions it seems to be the other way around.

[El_Diablo]

35 plus is usually a good indication of the candidate having been around for a while.

Thus bringing with them, the soft skills and the relevant technical skills.

[Moose423956]

I thought you were going to tell us how old you are.

[oracleslave]

I think Dow Jones has hit the nail firmly on the head.

Clients expect soft skills and a broad background, backed up with lots of experience. This gives them a feel good factor. I have dealt with many people in the past who look great on paper, are actually fantastic at writing code, but don't have a clue on how to interact with people. (I call them back offfice boys).

This is why in general contractors tend to be 30+. There are of course exeptions to this, but the industry in general is ageist in funny ways.

For permie positions there is a bias towards younger people, in contract positions it seems to be the other way around.

So are you saying a propellor-head coder can develop a personality over time?

[Peter Loew]

I think Dow Jones has hit the nail firmly on the head.

Clients expect soft skills and a broad background, backed up with lots of experience. This gives them a feel good factor. I have dealt with many people in the past who look great on paper, are actually fantastic at writing code, but don't have a clue on how to interact with people. (I call them back offfice boys).

This is why in general contractors tend to be 30+. There are of course exeptions to this, but the industry in general is ageist in funny ways.

For permie positions there is a bias towards younger people, in contract positions it seems to be the other way around.

It depends on your background. I have a diverse background in different consultancies and have worked in all sorts of different roles, finally settling in PM.

A person with such a background is favored over a person who may have all the letters after his name but has worked as a permie in one or two regular companies all his life.

That said, most of my contractor friends are 30+, except the ones from Aussie land of course!

P

[TheFaQQer]

So are you saying a propellor-head coder can develop a personality over time?

When I joined Oracle, my training was with some product developers as well as consultants.

On the last (incedibly alcohol fuelled) night, one of the product developer geeks started an arguement with my boss about whether personality was important in consulting or not. The following extract was the end of the argument

Geek: Well, if that's your c***ing argument, you might as well f*** off to c***ing Microsoft then.
Manager: I think you've proved my point.

[oracleslave]

When I joined Oracle, my training was with some product developers as well as consultants.

On the last (incedibly alcohol fuelled) night, one of the product developer geeks started an arguement with my boss about whether personality was important in consulting or not. The following extract was the end of the argument

Geek: Well, if that's your c***ing argument, you might as well f*** off to c***ing Microsoft then.
Manager: I think you've proved my point.

[hyperD]

I was 33 when I started although I could have started a few years earlier. At that time it was a broad mix of good skilled contractors, some with good attitudes, some with bad and a few years later before the crash in 2002, a surprising amount of freeloaders.

Nowadays, being older and less motivated learning the latest new techno-fads, I rely more on my soft skills and experience relating to clients and doing a solid job, than getting excited about the wonders of the latest technology.

When I left contracting 4 years ago it was quite a tight market but now I'm B2B and its just cash flow, changing pension rules, savings and stupid business tax increases that concern me most now.