Reply to: Why do you want to become an I.T. contractor? What are your hopes?

[diseasex]

As a permie it's an incredibly tough place to build a real life now, I genuinely feel sorry for graduates. If you earn decent money (£100k+) or have wealthy parents, you might have a chance.
Otherwise, you will do what 95% of young professionals in London do:

1. spend 5-7 years in a house share, convincing yourself everyday that it is still acceptable to share a home with strangers as you approach your late 20s.
2. When you approach 30 you finally realise it's insane to live in shared accommodation after university, despite how cool the gin bar is down the road. But as prices are so high, you decide you will have to buy with your partner. As you only have 10% deposit, all you can afford is a lovely 400 sq ft 1-bed flat in an 'up and coming' area, that is full of uneducated illiterate animals that literally stab each other when it gets dark. But you comfort yourself that it's ok, because it will be worth £££££ in a year right?
3. The genius pensioners / racists that voted to leave the EU get their wishes. All the immigrants that can add value leave and the great financial capital of London crumbles. The London bubble deflates and you are left in negative equity living in a council estate for the rest of your life.

Brexit doesnt affect them

[blackeye]

I feel terrible for London permies - I can take home the same as a senior role with almost no responsibility while staying 30 mins from work, covering my meals and expenses and then I pay a 1/4 of what they do for my own house. It's ******* insane.

Obviously the risk is there etc etc, but even so.

As a permie it's an incredibly tough place to build a real life now, I genuinely feel sorry for graduates. If you earn decent money (£100k+) or have wealthy parents, you might have a chance.
Otherwise, you will do what 95% of young professionals in London do:

1. spend 5-7 years in a house share, convincing yourself everyday that it is still acceptable to share a home with strangers as you approach your late 20s.
2. When you approach 30 you finally realise it's insane to live in shared accommodation after university, despite how cool the gin bar is down the road. But as prices are so high, you decide you will have to buy with your partner. As you only have 10% deposit, all you can afford is a lovely 400 sq ft 1-bed flat in an 'up and coming' area, that is full of uneducated illiterate animals that literally stab each other when it gets dark. But you comfort yourself that it's ok, because it will be worth £££££ in a year right?
3. The genius pensioners / racists that voted to leave the EU get their wishes. All the immigrants that can add value leave and the great financial capital of London crumbles. The London bubble deflates and you are left in negative equity living in a council estate for the rest of your life.

[vwdan]

Money, simple as.

I'm a young contractor and at times, I would prefer to live a permie life. But how else does one afford to live a normal life in London with a single income?

I feel terrible for London permies - I can take home the same as a senior role with almost no responsibility while staying 30 mins from work, covering my meals and expenses and then I pay a 1/4 of what they do for my own house. It's ******* insane.

Obviously the risk is there etc etc, but even so.

[blackeye]

Money, simple as.

I'm a young contractor and at times, I would prefer to live a permie life. But how else does one afford to live a normal life in London with a single income?

[vwdan]

Didn't want to / feel ready to progress upwards in seniority but wanted to do something different. Contracting ticked all the boxes - same fundamental work but essentially doubled my take home.

Progressed naturally through it anyway, and loved it more than I imagined. Went permie on the same take home, but came back for the freedom.

[davidbieder]

why do you / did you want to be I.T. contractors? what drives/ed you? what are/were you hoping for?

I used to be a full-time IT consultant. My boss sent me around a lot. I basically did what we contractors are doing now - I was always the external guy. I got tired of saving the world for my clients day in day out and then having to explain to my boss once a year why I am asking for a little pay rise.

[m0n1k3r]

Funnily enough I still have these but they are called supplier reviews and deliverables now

Are they asking for your sales rep/consultancy manager/whatever, or do they just call you in?

[m0n1k3r]

Hi,

Just curious:

why do you / did you want to be I.T. contractors? what drives/ed you? what are/were you hoping for?

Because I've never liked being a salary slave, always enjoyed running my own (I set up my first company when I was 18; I'll soon be 52) and always had a view to grow the business beyond just myself, whenever possible.

If all you want is just a job with no unnecessary responsibilities, a regular, steady income and no uncertainties then don't become a contractor. Go the company career route instead. In good times, contractors can earn a bit more. In bad times, contractors can earn far less.

[uk contractor]

Mate. Do you think I don't know it? I've spent good chunk of my adult life analysing stocks and forex. I know these ****ers are ripping people off nicely, they see your trades, your stop losses etc and play against you. To mitigate this problem you need pro account, ECN for forex etc, tools that managers use.
Over last 15 years I've witnessed ups , massive crashes etc and it's absolute joy to watch. A great hobby.
I haven't lost a penny since 2009 , made a good figure and moved to the UK for that cash. Then had to accumulate cash as I was skint so was only observing markets for few years. Since brexit I started with low 5 figures and and ended up with mid 6 figures now (putting contractor income constantly too). Over the weekend i decided to go more aggressive because of how successful my trades were, market is still bullish and need to use it while it lasts ... or die trying So small amount goes for speculation , rest for value trading, hope that small amount will grow quickly...

I'm not even "playing", I'm purely investing in value stocks (hi Buffet!), something undervalued, tipping into profits only recently etc.and keeping long enough to profit from it. No stupid fund manager can rip me off like that. Just to give you an idea how hard work it is - I've analysed over 1000 stocks around the world over the weekend and picked only like 4
So yeah, I think (sic!) I know what I'm doing so far, and it goes well. I just need few hundred % and i can rest for the rest of my life :P

Good luck mate hope you get there in the end.

[diseasex]

Good luck but also get out while you can. The markets are rigged & unless you are playing with a 6 or 7 figure amount to begin with that means your always at risk of losing large sums of money as most of the industry is unregulated at the lower tiers of investment sub 6 figures which is why its classified as gambling & not FCA regulated investment. Been there myself many years ago made a lot of money lost some of it made it back then lost it all again its virtually impossible for anyone with anything less than a high 6 figure investment to succeed over time. Fund managers have billions to invest & only need to make an easy few % per month on safe trades (usually global market pullbacks). Traders in investment banks have less leverage, way more regulation & higher profit targets to achieve and only the elite few % of those industry professionals manage to succeed despite having all the education background & indepth training. The odds of succeeding using the unregulated trading instruments are only at best less than 2-3% most of the providers to this industry are little more than crooks who rig the markets pricing data before it ever reaches you by introducing latency & millisecond delays disguised around high volume market activity! read the free forums here & you will notice a distinct pattern around many many people effectively having money taken from them by underhand tactics when using non FCA regulated instruments! Trade2Win Forums

Mate. Do you think I don't know it? I've spent good chunk of my adult life analysing stocks and forex. I know these ****ers are ripping people off nicely, they see your trades, your stop losses etc and play against you. To mitigate this problem you need pro account, ECN for forex etc, tools that managers use.
Over last 15 years I've witnessed ups , massive crashes etc and it's absolute joy to watch. A great hobby.
I haven't lost a penny since 2009 , made a good figure and moved to the UK for that cash. Then had to accumulate cash as I was skint so was only observing markets for few years. Since brexit I started with low 5 figures and and ended up with mid 6 figures now (putting contractor income constantly too). Over the weekend i decided to go more aggressive because of how successful my trades were, market is still bullish and need to use it while it lasts ... or die trying So small amount goes for speculation , rest for value trading, hope that small amount will grow quickly...

I'm not even "playing", I'm purely investing in value stocks (hi Buffet!), something undervalued, tipping into profits only recently etc.and keeping long enough to profit from it. No stupid fund manager can rip me off like that. Just to give you an idea how hard work it is - I've analysed over 1000 stocks around the world over the weekend and picked only like 4
So yeah, I think (sic!) I know what I'm doing so far, and it goes well. I just need few hundred % and i can rest for the rest of my life :P

[Pherlopolus]

Mainly Quality of life.

The balance between earning more, not getting complacent in a career, and being able to have as much time off in a year as I want, rather than 25 days.

The realisation that no matter how much a contract is annoying, frustrating or generally crap it is only a transient thing, and not all the way to retirement.

[kaiser78]

Deep down for most if not all of us...the money...

[uk contractor]

I hear you. If i'll get wiped (and so far It's been very profitable last year) , Sydney that is.
If i get the same % value as last year I'm there. But things are getting trickier as I'm diversifying more , as sums are getting bigger and scarier.
Wish me good luck I guess.

Good luck but also get out while you can. The markets are rigged & unless you are playing with a 6 or 7 figure amount to begin with that means your always at risk of losing large sums of money as most of the industry is unregulated at the lower tiers of investment sub 6 figures which is why its classified as gambling & not FCA regulated investment. Been there myself many years ago made a lot of money lost some of it made it back then lost it all again its virtually impossible for anyone with anything less than a high 6 figure investment to succeed over time. Fund managers have billions to invest & only need to make an easy few % per month on safe trades (usually global market pullbacks). Traders in investment banks have less leverage, way more regulation & higher profit targets to achieve and only the elite few % of those industry professionals manage to succeed despite having all the education background & indepth training. The odds of succeeding using the unregulated trading instruments are only at best less than 2-3% most of the providers to this industry are little more than crooks who rig the markets pricing data before it ever reaches you by introducing latency & millisecond delays disguised around high volume market activity! read the free forums here & you will notice a distinct pattern around many many people effectively having money taken from them by underhand tactics when using non FCA regulated instruments! Trade2Win Forums

[Newbie1]

Sydney and other parts of Oz are very expensive compared to 10 years ago.

[diseasex]

The most reliable way to use the markets to get a 7 figure sum - is to start with a 9 figure sum.

I hear you. If i'll get wiped (and so far It's been very profitable last year) , Sydney that is.
If i get the same % value as last year I'm there. But things are getting trickier as I'm diversifying more , as sums are getting bigger and scarier.
Wish me good luck I guess.