new to contracting, what daily rate should i go for

[Scoobos]

What rate can you get?

And that's the key!

Also, take it from me - don't think because you're on 550 one contract, you'll be on it the next. It's a balancing act. I've gone from 300 pd to 250, to 150 (300 Aus Dollar) to 300 to 550 to 210 , etc etc.

Personally, I chose contracting for a lifestyle change, not a financial one - and I'm actually with Mal in that I believe you can be worse off as a contractor in some cases. New contractors and clients alike all too often look at daily as "close to take home, because there's less tax to pay" oooh no. (Maybe someone wants to suggest I've got a rubbish accountant , but I don't think this is the case)

50K + expenses from an employer can work out more than 55k + expenses when you're own business is footing them.

I'm no pro just my 2 cents.

[BigTime]

The rule of thumb (or least it used to be) is n£/hour or nk/year to compare contract rates with perm salary. I know these don't add up to the same amount but it managed my expectations starting out.

[scooby]

What rate can you get?

WNLUKS.

What no one has asked is what skills you have. Helpdesk, you wont get £500pd, PM outside of London, you wont get £500 (UNLESS very lucky AND very good).

I was on £55k + the usual crap and am happy on £400pd as I dont travel and I do see my family lots. Swings and round-abouts, but i have just done a 6mth in London on £500 but after expenses it really wasn't that much better!

[oscarose]

More a case of what you can get, not what you want.

HTH

[The Spartan]

Amen to that

[dynamicsaxcontractor]

More a case of what you can get, not what you want.

HTH

Thats normally the same isnt it

[oscarose]

Thats normally the same isnt it

Always be grateful for what you have.

[lukemg]

Presuming this is a wind-up, but if not, it's easy enough to test the market, get on the job boards, look at rates offered, send out a few CV's (claim to be very available even if not or you wont get a sniff). You will soon find out if you have anything to sell and how much its worth.
Make sure you can sell it at interview too, forget potential, you can do it day one or blag well enough to get by.
Then all you have to do is the job itself well enough to get it extended and fit in with everyone (forget any other reasons, I have never had one end at first renewal, takes a bit longer till I am found out and bounced....)
THEN, all you have to do is find the next job and stash enough to cover the gaps (I was benched for 5 months a few years back, avg 38 weeks in work/pa over 6 years).
There is a reason why most people do this after they have been made redundant or existing job is horrendous, you need nothing to lose to make it the best option ! For me - first spell was redundancy, second was a horrendous perm job.
So - Good Luck with all that but it really starts with a contract, get one and the rest is details....

[SupremeSpod]

Always be grateful for what you have.

A bird in the hand craps on your wrist.

[doomage]

Contractor Market Rates - IT Contract Hourly Rates - what does the panel think about these figures?

There are none listed for over £500 pd, granted these are the top 10 in each category.

Also, there is quite a discrepancy between daily and hourly rates. Average hourly rate for a PM is £30 ph, but the daily rate average is £450 pd - or a 15 hour day (ha!).

So really there are 2 markets (at least) - hourly & daily. Daily, imho, is favoured by bigger institutions looking for experienced guys in high value skillsets, so the usual calculation of yearly salary / 1000 can apply.

Although the majority of posters on CUK seem to fit this category, there is a big market of simple hourly rate 'resource filling roles'. I left a £60k job some years ago, got back into coding, and am not ashamed to say I have (only!) got between £35 & £40 per hour. That is simply the market rate for my skillset, I'm one of the last guys around still contracting with it.

And I'm happy as we're still better off financially than when I was perm; but I have not been benched and not had many holidays. And it's been a bit seat of the pants stuff, a couple of months on the bench and we're fecked, until recently.

The key to not being benched in a tough market is getting extensions; this reflects a basic business principle which is the key to success is not getting sales but getting repeat sales.