Trumped to a PHP contract by cheapskate who accepted £80 per day!

[thunderlizard]

£80/d

That's similar to how I got into contracting. It was MS Access and it was £6.25 for 4 hours a day, 4 days a week (yes, £100/week! but it supplemented the student grant nicely). PAYE, except it wasn't because I never reached the starting threshold.

All my previous attempts had, quite rightly, fallen flat on their face because I had zilch experience. Eventually I found a customer whose requirements and budget were so Mickey-Mouse® that they didn't mind me being completely unproductive for the first couple of weeks while I worked out the difference between a Form and a Report. Mainly, my face fitted and at that end of the market, competence can be far down the list of requirements.

Of course with that 3-monther under my belt, I was up to the dizzy heights of £15/hour.

[dinker]

£80 will seem like untold riches soon. Had a brickie round the other day to do some work, told him "It`s £6 an hour, take it or leave it". He took it.

[PM-Junkie]

£80 will seem like untold riches soon. Had a brickie round the other day to do some work, told him "It`s £6 an hour, take it or leave it". He took it.

Ai, 'appen as likely we'll be livin' on gravel and sleepin' in a cardboad box soon.

[PAH]

Ai, 'appen as likely we'll be livin' on gravel and sleepin' in a cardboad box soon.

You could be right. Seriously. If the low rates and lack of work doesn't do it, the governmin's unrealistic climate targets will achieve the same. Soon we won't be allowed (or will be taxed handsomely) to use electricity, gas, or produce any form of greenhouse gas. So no farting either, unless you pay.

The only unknown is how soon or later this will become reality.

[gingerjedi]

Market forces at work I'm afraid... it happened on the support side a while back though this does seem extreme!

I found myself turning my nose up at rates that I considered too low but someone was doing the work and 4 months on the bench was a humbling experience, the really sad thing is I can’t see it getting any better with so many people wanting to get into the market.

[d000hg]

That's one problem with PHP. In common with VB6, it attracts many people who aren't proper developers but can blunder their way to create a simple app or website which works, but is absolutely unmaintanable and collapses if more than one person tries to use it.
The guy who got it could easy be a kid who writes websites for friends and family members... at £80/day he probably didn't have to prove much in the way of skills/experience.

[gingerjedi]

That's one problem with PHP. In common with VB6, it attracts many people who aren't proper developers but can blunder their way to create a simple app or website which works, but is absolutely unmaintanable and collapses if more than one person tries to use it.
The guy who got it could easy be a kid who writes websites for friends and family members... at £80/day he probably didn't have to prove much in the way of skills/experience.

I know nothing about PHP but if I was learning and a contract came up offering £80 per day I'd assume they were happy to take on a 'noob' who was learning the ropes. I wonder if the clent knows this or do they think they got a bargain??

[Paddy]

I think £80 is below minimum wage taking into account sickness, holidays, insurance and employers contributions. If he is going thru an umbrella Co it will be illegal at that rate. Please name and shame the agent and client.

[SantaClaus]

£80 a day is shocking

I was earning that sum when I was a student 20 years ago and doing desktop publishing temp assignments.

[tim123]

sounds like a FOB Indian who got rights to work in the UK or a European

I can't see how anyone else could afford to even take a role like that.

The same way people can afford to work for minimum wage in Tesco.

Please stop pretending that it's impossible to live off 20 grand a year. About half the population manage to do so, so it must be posible.

tim