Originally posted by BrowneIssue
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Learn what an apostrophe is and when to use it. It will make your written work more credible and professional.
"tester"
"a tiny web site company that does not actually sell anything but at least it's a good name on the CV"
Don't big up your employer, big up yourself. That's free sales advice there.
"A contractor at the next desk winds me up perpetually with fiction regarding their rate, just to upset me, and I choose to believe them"
in your opinion, although your colleague is offering additional benefits to the employer, such as the ability to clear off with no compensation at short notice, no HR overheads, etc.
money is always appealing
Go to the PCG web site and give them an email address so you can download their Guide to Contracting. It will answer all your questions. If, however, you cannot find it without being given the link, you are not ready to go contracting.
Downsizing at my permie job and I took a contract to pay the bills. I have never again been shortlisted for a permie role (once a contractor, always a dodgy untrustworthy rogue) so have had to carry on contracting ever since.
Not in reality, no. Some people in a more senior position can get flexible working, but if you don't put in the effort, you're out. For tester roles, you do a day's work every day.
Absolutely. London, or on the bench, usually.
If you are good at selling, yes. But the agents are very, very good at it. And if you go higher than their second choice, the second choice gets the gig.
Do you want to be PAYE for the agency, ltd company or some other route?
No. No.
That is up to you.
Heartache. Government lies. A furkin' great tax bill when it came in.
Don't then. Next?
Don't then. Next?
Not from me, you won't. In my 13 years contracting, I have recently spent nine months on the bench and in the last downturn sent nearly two years on the bench. We are entering a downturn. Contractors are disposed of before permies. There ain't any reassurance to be had.
Unless...
If you know in your heart of hearts that you are good, damned good
and
you are willing to relocate or travel long distances or live away from home
and
you are willing to give up the benefits of permiedom (legal protection, a personnel officer, line management support, teamwork, sick pay, training, holiday pay, ...)
and
you have six months income sitting in the bank
and
you can work day after day on a client site never saying a bad word about the organisation, management, the work or your colleagues to anyone
and
won't get upset when you find the contractor next to you gets 1.5 times what you get
and
won't get upset when the client says "the project is cancelled; clear your desk"
and
feel you can negotiate with slimy recruitment agents for some jam on your bread and butter
and
fancy learning about indemnity insurance, PAYE, corporation tax, company secretary legal obligations, directorships and all the rest of the administrative overhead
then you might be ready for contracting.
Then you already know what route to go if contracting is what you want to do. Which it isn't. You just want more money.
I'll give you a clue. They are web sites. They are on the web. There are special, magical ways of finding web sites on the web. Can you guess what one might be?
If not, you're not ready to work for yourself.
use the online salary checking sites (you find them) to see what the salary range is for your kind of work given your skill set and qualifications (you do have the ISEB testing certificates, of course). Decide what your skill level is. Work out what you think you are worth. Tell your employer your findings. See what they say. You may get a rise. If not, offer to do overtime.
Try applying for contract roles and see if you get interviews. That will tell you if you are in demand.
Then go to the interviews. See if you get offered roles. If so, see what rates they offer. That will tell you what you are worth.
You do not need to accept these offers. But if you start getting them, then look seriously into contracting.
If, however, you don't get any offers or interviews, you will have saved yourself a lot of unnecessary work and research.
Or you might get a brilliant offer... you won't know until you try for yourself...
"tester"
"a tiny web site company that does not actually sell anything but at least it's a good name on the CV"
Don't big up your employer, big up yourself. That's free sales advice there.
"A contractor at the next desk winds me up perpetually with fiction regarding their rate, just to upset me, and I choose to believe them"
in your opinion, although your colleague is offering additional benefits to the employer, such as the ability to clear off with no compensation at short notice, no HR overheads, etc.
money is always appealing
Go to the PCG web site and give them an email address so you can download their Guide to Contracting. It will answer all your questions. If, however, you cannot find it without being given the link, you are not ready to go contracting.
Downsizing at my permie job and I took a contract to pay the bills. I have never again been shortlisted for a permie role (once a contractor, always a dodgy untrustworthy rogue) so have had to carry on contracting ever since.
Not in reality, no. Some people in a more senior position can get flexible working, but if you don't put in the effort, you're out. For tester roles, you do a day's work every day.
Absolutely. London, or on the bench, usually.
If you are good at selling, yes. But the agents are very, very good at it. And if you go higher than their second choice, the second choice gets the gig.
Do you want to be PAYE for the agency, ltd company or some other route?
No. No.
That is up to you.
Heartache. Government lies. A furkin' great tax bill when it came in.
Don't then. Next?
Don't then. Next?
Not from me, you won't. In my 13 years contracting, I have recently spent nine months on the bench and in the last downturn sent nearly two years on the bench. We are entering a downturn. Contractors are disposed of before permies. There ain't any reassurance to be had.
Unless...
If you know in your heart of hearts that you are good, damned good
and
you are willing to relocate or travel long distances or live away from home
and
you are willing to give up the benefits of permiedom (legal protection, a personnel officer, line management support, teamwork, sick pay, training, holiday pay, ...)
and
you have six months income sitting in the bank
and
you can work day after day on a client site never saying a bad word about the organisation, management, the work or your colleagues to anyone
and
won't get upset when you find the contractor next to you gets 1.5 times what you get
and
won't get upset when the client says "the project is cancelled; clear your desk"
and
feel you can negotiate with slimy recruitment agents for some jam on your bread and butter
and
fancy learning about indemnity insurance, PAYE, corporation tax, company secretary legal obligations, directorships and all the rest of the administrative overhead
then you might be ready for contracting.
Then you already know what route to go if contracting is what you want to do. Which it isn't. You just want more money.
I'll give you a clue. They are web sites. They are on the web. There are special, magical ways of finding web sites on the web. Can you guess what one might be?
If not, you're not ready to work for yourself.
use the online salary checking sites (you find them) to see what the salary range is for your kind of work given your skill set and qualifications (you do have the ISEB testing certificates, of course). Decide what your skill level is. Work out what you think you are worth. Tell your employer your findings. See what they say. You may get a rise. If not, offer to do overtime.
Try applying for contract roles and see if you get interviews. That will tell you if you are in demand.
Then go to the interviews. See if you get offered roles. If so, see what rates they offer. That will tell you what you are worth.
You do not need to accept these offers. But if you start getting them, then look seriously into contracting.
If, however, you don't get any offers or interviews, you will have saved yourself a lot of unnecessary work and research.
Or you might get a brilliant offer... you won't know until you try for yourself...
what a way to shoot a guy down. but thankyou for your tough love regime.
Well, i really should of done my homework eh. thanks for mocking me people
it's
You've no idea how proud that statement made me!
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