Reply to: Switch to perm or ride the dying wave

[Pherlopolus]

Apply for gigs in the Public Sector. There will be plenty hitting boards soon and there will be little competition. Sorted.

That's my fall back plan

[Nayab]

Apply for gigs in the Public Sector. There will be plenty hitting boards soon and there will be little competition. Sorted.

Many thanks. I will be on the prowl.

[Nayab]

Currently working at Uber with IT ambitions

No. Not at all. Death Before Dishonour.

I am just getting to the point where I want to get on with issuing my next lot of invoices. I want to get a faster motorcycle next year.

[northernladuk]

Talking of which, I am currently trying to find someone that wants me to use my MCSE. Pointers appreciated. The agents in London appear to be posting fake jobs.

Apply for gigs in the Public Sector. There will be plenty hitting boards soon and there will be little competition. Sorted.

[MrMarkyMark]

I find myself in a very minority situation. No mortgage/rent to pay. No debts. All my bills are paid. If none of these were in place, I would probably have remained as a permie somewhere. As a contractor, I just want to go somewhere, do a good job for the duration, enhance my reputation and then get paid. Because of my personal circumstances, I can afford to even undercut the "overseas cheap labour".

Talking of which, I am currently trying to find someone that wants me to use my MCSE. Pointers appreciated. The agents in London appear to be posting fake jobs.

Currently working at Uber with IT ambitions

[Nayab]

If you are good you don't need to do this. Why sell yourself short just because of your situation?



You don't say.

Of course I would rather get what the job is worth. If nothing else, it maintains the market for my peers, and I would hope that my peers return the consideration.

[northernladuk]

Because of my personal circumstances, I can afford to even undercut the "overseas cheap labour".

If you are good you don't need to do this. Why sell yourself short just because of your situation?

The agents in London appear to be posting fake jobs.

You don't say.

[Nayab]

I find myself in a very minority situation. No mortgage/rent to pay. No debts. All my bills are paid. If none of these were in place, I would probably have remained as a permie somewhere. As a contractor, I just want to go somewhere, do a good job for the duration, enhance my reputation and then get paid. Because of my personal circumstances, I can afford to even undercut the "overseas cheap labour".

Talking of which, I am currently trying to find someone that wants me to use my MCSE. Pointers appreciated. The agents in London appear to be posting fake jobs.

[Bluenose]

not sure is algo good for future or rates. It is small market plus depends what type of algo you doing. It could be simply ATS. Even if you lucky to get on a greenfield HFT (if such exist), it does look like a very difficult market.

well said Andrew.

i did a hft greenfield gig a couple of years back (EMM) and i don't believe there is a much of a big future in algo (or hft) the big money was made back in 04-07 when there was a step change and lots of work to do.

in the front office all i saw was the business struggling to make money and toffs fighting over scraps. the party looked over to me, whether that's changed or not in the interim i don't know?

the big boys with their dark pools are still making big money still as market is rigged and the bangalore boys with shops brimming with algo talent scalping anything with a heartbeat with little else in between.

all it's going to take is a set of HFT regulations to hit or a financial transaction tax and its all over.

to the OP: i would be looking to shift into behavioural algo or in big data and leave banking for insurance and retail, £850pd is standard and has been for two years. banking is a dead industry for contractors and maybe this is your wake up call.

[AndrewK]

not sure is algo good for future or rates. It is small market plus depends what type of algo you doing. It could be simply ATS. Even if you lucky to get on a greenfield HFT (if such exist), it does look like a very difficult market.

[LondonManc]

Just as importantly, is there chance to make progress up the ladder to a position within 5 years where the perm salary will be >100% of the contract rate? If so, you need no more guidance from us and unless you cock it up badly, you've got a redundancy payment at the far end of it.

[ChimpMaster]

75% of contract rate doesn't make the contract worthwhile financially. So as per the comment above, the rate is too low and in my view does not justify the risk/reward of contracting.

My cut-off is that contracting should provide 200% of an equivalent perm salary, but every individual will have their own price. More important to me is that I get to choose where I work, i.e. working conditions are fundamental for me.

So the only reason to stay contracting in your scenario would be for the lifestyle. That's a call only you can make.

[VillageContractor]

This contract role is on your doorstep.Where will the next one be? And the one after that and so on. All the PS contractors will be flooding the market soon as well.

I never understand why people make decisions based on where their next or current contract is. Like that guy the other week wanting to ditch his client for his 'dream' gig... But it's only temporary. They all are.

75% of your contract rate isn't bad at all. Granted making an accurate assessment of like for like is nearly impossible if that's a solid guesstimate then sounds like a fair gig. Only need a couple of months on the bench in a year, which will happen sometime, and the permie role will actually pay better. Depends if the rest of the stuff around the role is attractive to you.

Like NLUK says, contracts are temporary so location is a short term consideration. It doesn't sound like you're confident in getting lots of contracts so the permanent gig might be the best option for you.

75% is either a very good salary or a very poor rate

[northernladuk]

This contract role is on your doorstep.Where will the next one be? And the one after that and so on. All the PS contractors will be flooding the market soon as well.

I never understand why people make decisions based on where their next or current contract is. Like that guy the other week wanting to ditch his client for his 'dream' gig... But it's only temporary. They all are.

75% of your contract rate isn't bad at all. Granted making an accurate assessment of like for like is nearly impossible if that's a solid guesstimate then sounds like a fair gig. Only need a couple of months on the bench in a year, which will happen sometime, and the permie role will actually pay better. Depends if the rest of the stuff around the role is attractive to you.

[Mark2117]

is permanent now the better opportunity?

I'm a newbie so apologies if I'm breaking etiquette but did find this threat interesting and related to my circumstances and looking for some general advice/thoughts.

My contract is ending and I'm very fortunate to have an offer for a contracting and a permanent role. Been contracting for 5 years, thoroughly enjoyed it but finding the complexity increasing and financial gap reducing between the two, and looks like it'll only get worse.

Contracting market rates seem to be reducing (having taken a reduction for a role two years ago and being offered the same rate now) and the permanent salaries seem to be increasing in comparison. Company running costs and taxes are slowly increasing and the ability to leverage any savings seem to be getting closed. So is now the time to put the ltd to non trading and jump back to permanent?

A bit more context - permanent role pays about 75% that of the contracting role. Comes with benefits and there's an opportunity to upskill that I haven't done for a while but is a more senior/challenging role. Personal consideration is that the contracting role is on my doorstep and I have a young family.

I know it's a personal choice and a great position to be in but interested in general thoughts or opinions as much to do about the future of contracting over the next 2-5 years.