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Recent content by ddaft
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State of the current London IT Contract Market?
Looks like BAML have finally followed suit with a 10% cut: The seemingly outrageous pre- Christmas email allegedly sent ... | Job news & advice | eFinancialCareers- ddaft
- Post #26
- Forum: Business / Contracts
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State of the current London IT Contract Market?
I found ML ok at St Pauls in terms of hours but this is very dependent on the team/project. Now they have moved the majority of IT over to the old BOA building in the wharf but left the trading floors over at St Pauls I heard that a lot of developers don't see users anymore and morale is low...- ddaft
- Post #19
- Forum: Business / Contracts
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Final stage, what to expect?
As others have said, with HR there is a very good chance of the 'would you ever consider going perm' question coming up. They (and some PMs) like the idea that you may be open to conversion one day so I've always said to them that I would never rule it out in the future but happy contracting at...- ddaft
- Post #11
- Forum: Business / Contracts
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State of Contract Market in London
I think perm is even worse. Projects if they are very lucky can get exception signoff from high up for a contractor but much harder to justify a perm at the moment especially whilst most firms are in various stages of plotting layoffs.- ddaft
- Post #12
- Forum: Business / Contracts
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State of Contract Market in London
The guys I know that have landed stuff recently have done it direct with onsite recruiters at banks rather than through agencies (although often they are outsourced hays/resource solutions etc anyway though). With so few roles around they can probably afford to cut out the agents at the moment...- ddaft
- Post #7
- Forum: Business / Contracts
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Torrenting
I use vuze client with peerblock running in the background. Search using isohunt as people generally rate downloads so you can normally tell which ones are fake. For movies search for 'jaybob' and to a lesser extent 'axxo'. -
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At what point do I consider... Perm?
It is pretty dire but there is still some movement here and there especially if the roles relate to regulatory work. If you do go perm make sure you don't get stuck with a long notice period which banks seem to be trying on these days as you will find it tricky to move back. Ideal would be perm...- ddaft
- Post #3
- Forum: Business / Contracts
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State of Contract Market in London
There are bits and pieces around but it's not great. I do know people who are still landing offers at banks but there is a lot more competition as fewer roles. Should hopefully pick up in the new year providing economic armageddon doesn't strike!- ddaft
- Post #4
- Forum: Business / Contracts
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Fastest route to new Limited Company with an operational current account.
As others have said hsbc is a good choice. Might be best to make an appointment first with a business advisor/manager to avoid disappointment as bog standard cust services don't always know how it's done though. Should get account number same day though which should help.- ddaft
- Post #9
- Forum: Accounting / Legal
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new tax code issued with T at end
I had one in the last tax year and my tax return sailed through if that makes you feel any safer :-) I gave HMRC a call a few months back and told them that I wasnt expecting to be over the threshold this tax year and they adjusted it pretty quickly and i'm back on an 'L' code again now.- ddaft
- Post #7
- Forum: Accounting / Legal
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new tax code issued with T at end
I think one scenario the T is used is when you fall under the recent over 100k personal allowance reduction rule.- ddaft
- Post #4
- Forum: Accounting / Legal
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Whats your longest period on bench?
1. 8 weeks 2. Short holiday followed by skills brush up and then hit the job boards/agencies 3. Spent some quality time with family 4. Rate rise/going perm standoff with client at end of contract- ddaft
- Post #3
- Forum: Business / Contracts
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One job by two agencies
I think a lot depends on the industry/location/market. In finance in London the PSL will often comprise of 10+ agencies up to all sorts of games such as candidate blocking so you have to stick up for yourself to avoid being caught in the crossfire. In markets where there is less agency...- ddaft
- Post #14
- Forum: Business / Contracts
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One job by two agencies
If you don't trust agent a then there is no real harm in letting agent b put you forward. The worst that could happen is that you would be put forward by both. Most agents would make out this is disastrous as this would look bad to the client but in reality HR would just let the first one...- ddaft
- Post #2
- Forum: Business / Contracts
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couple of questions - expenses, bank account and taxes :-)
From my experiences with sjd one of the first things they will do is setup a call with you to go through all these kinds of questions which is very useful. Things like whether you should take salary when moving from perm part way through the tax year, vat/flat rate scheme, share allocations etc...- ddaft
- Post #9
- Forum: Business / Contracts
