Rates. Are they higher than a decade ago!

[NickFitz]

A lot more people are able to deliver technology these days and things are getting a lot easier e.g. .NET 4.0, SSAS, SSIS, TFS, Visual Studio etc. We are just another cog in the machine and we are becoming worth less.

Ah yes, technologies that make things simple for the lazy.

If you choose to carve out a career on the low road, you shouldn't be overly surprised if it gets a bit crowded.

Try to develop some expertise beyond using a few wizards and some APIs that shield you from any need to understand what you're doing; real knowledge will always be in demand.

[Iron Condor]

House prices have quadrupled over the last 12 years.

I know a contractor in 1997 who bought a 400K place in london, on his almost 100K a year contactor rate.

That place is worth around £1.8 million today.

He currently bills 130K.. no way he could afford to buy that place today.. not even close..


Contracting in the UK is way past its heyday.. people coming in now have no idea how good it was..

[RichardCranium]

Ten years ago I was on my highest rate ever, £80 per day more than I am on now.

[GreenerGrass]

House prices have quadrupled over the last 12 years.

I know a contractor in 1997 who bought a 400K place in london, on his almost 100K a year contactor rate.

That place is worth around £1.8 million today.

He currently bills 130K.. no way he could afford to buy that place today.. not even close..


Contracting in the UK is way past its heyday.. people coming in now have no idea how good it was..

Totally. It's still a very good living when you consider a contractor earning 100k pa or more is in the TOP 1% of earners in the country, and yet it still takes ages to pay off a mortgage on a fairly modest house in London or the south east (or the south west for that matter).
The generation of potential FTBers in their 20s and early 30s now are in for a real struggle, a shift in living standards through wage stagnation is only going to continue through globalisation.

[Julius Caesar]

House prices have quadrupled over the last 12 years.

I know a contractor in 1997 who bought a 400K place in london, on his almost 100K a year contactor rate.

That place is worth around £1.8 million today.

He currently bills 130K.. no way he could afford to buy that place today.. not even close..


Contracting in the UK is way past its heydayf**ked .. people coming in now have no idea how good it was..

FTFY

[Spacecadet]

Yeah I guess it kind of does. A lot more people are able to deliver technology these days and things are getting a lot easier e.g. .NET 4.0, SSAS, SSIS, TFS, Visual Studio etc. We are just another cog in the machine and we are becoming worth less.

I would not say that things are getting easier. Its getting easier to deliver the results quicker. But the knowledge of "how things work" and "how things need to work to make them useful in the realworld" is still required to make the technology actually work.

Any noddy can knock up a working SSIS package or SSAS cube but it takes experience and knowledge of what they actually do and how everything fits together under the pretty GUI skin to make something that is robust and adaptable within the business environment.

[sasguru]

Ah yes, technologies that make things simple for the lazy.

If you choose to carve out a career on the low road, you shouldn't be overly surprised if it gets a bit crowded.

Try to develop some expertise beyond using a few wizards and some APIs that shield you from any need to understand what you're doing; real knowledge will always be in demand.

WHS.
Or in business-speak low barriers to entry means every numpty and his dog can join in, thus lowering rates.
There's plenty of money for the truly skilled.

[cupidstunt]

WHS.
Or in business-speak low barriers to entry means every numpty and his dog can join in, thus lowering rates.
There's plenty of money for the truly skilled.

Regardless of the barriers to entry if Bob Shawadiwadi says he can do it thick middle managers are giving him the work. What is it you do again?

[DS23]

Try to develop some expertise beyond using a few wizards and some APIs that shield you from any need to understand what you're doing; real knowledge will always be in demand.

....it takes experience and knowledge of what they actually do and how everything fits together under the pretty GUI skin to make something that is robust and adaptable within the business environment.

wts.

my rate is not that much better than it was 7 years ago but then i'm in the double whammy of recession and new skillset. i predict a jump in rate to equal or better my best ever rate on the next contract as i prove my transition from the old to the new.

i remember having an argument with someone on this board years ago about the need to plan ahead. some prefer to let tulip happen - i say you should prepare for it.

assuming they have been created you should regularly revisit your long term business plans to make sure that you can achieve your goals - such as developing the expertise and experience that nf and sc mention.

[sasguru]

What is it you do again?

Strategising.