Reply to: Finding it too quiet!!!!

[SueEllen]

I would definitely be up for finding one abroad at this stage, have tried FB Groups with no joy. Any suggestions?

What's your skill set?

[SpeedyLearn]

Maybe you are right ref people being near to them. I have been doing this for over 20 years now and the one bit of advice I would give any contractor is use contracting to explore new places and potentially new cultures. I get that this is very difficult for people with families but I would urge anyone to try at least one contract abroad or in a completely different part of the country.

I would definitely be up for finding one abroad at this stage, have tried FB Groups with no joy. Any suggestions?

[uk contractor]

Uncertainty around customer passport onboarding in Financial Services is the biggest issue and could run and run until its sorted the London contract market is going to be more dire than danny Would not hold your breath either EU are playing hardball over this its the only leverage they have left so bound to be a lengthy battle and likely to take 2 years to sort out. I think UK will leave EU with no deals whatsoever rather than pay £100 billion in fines so this will force many inv banks to reluctantly relocate away from London to somewhere else like Luxembourg, Paris or Frankfurt

[skysies]

There are many factors at play. There are certainly several examples of people on here from a variety of disciplines who have gone from walking between contracts to going months between them.

I suppose we will never know what would happen if we voted to Remain and I am sure there are other factors but before the Referendum vote I was doing ok and now I am not. Certainly the City hasn't reacted well and that tends to govern the rest of the country.

Well, I think it IS Brexit. As someone as close as it gets in the City, I can tell you, the people here will cut your throat to save their money, and it's all at stake now. What do you expect, someone start splashing their dough on contractors right now? Rather not, and that will soon spread all over the place.

[DrGUID]

I'm also finding it quiet. I'm a London based developer but did a project management course earlier this year. I've pretty much failed to make the switch to BA or PM - there are just too many experienced people around.



By the way I spent a couple of years working in Taunton and really enjoyed it. I think some of my former colleagues are at the Hydrographic Office now, it's probably an OK place to work and it is a lovely part of the World.

[MrMarkyMark]

Your attitude tells me you have no experience of working in that sector. Granted a lot of the traders are tosser but the developers are, well, developers. I once had an interview lined up at NICE in Manchester and knew a guy there. I pulled out of the interview process as I had a better off and my contact said the 3 interviewers were gutted because they wanted to tear me a new 4rsehole on account of the companies and rates I'd been on. Ridiculous eh? Rate envy.

Exactly, there is nothing special about working in FS, apart from the rate generally being better.

I have contracted in pretty much all types of industry and stick to FS as it pays more, simple as that

[squarepeg]

(...) Nowadays most is Open Source and you can learn it in the privacy of your own home. (...)

You have to learn it on the job. You can pick up the basics online or play with stuff on AWS, but you learn it properly when you actually have to use it to do the job you are paid for. And you may have all the .Net experience in the world, know your CS in and out, recite RFCs backwards, but if you don't know how to log on the box you are debugging, don't know where the logs are, then I'm afraid you will have to accept lower rates. Not because of rate envy, but because you will make the team work slower until you learn the missing bits.

[oliverson]

Are you saying I have rate rate envy? What have I said that suggests that? I was simply questioning the generalisation that people in FS/PS have a bad attitude? How does that make me jealous? How do you know I haven't worked in these sectors?

Your attitude tells me you have no experience of working in that sector. Granted a lot of the traders are tosser but the developers are, well, developers. I once had an interview lined up at NICE in Manchester and knew a guy there. I pulled out of the interview process as I had a better off and my contact said the 3 interviewers were gutted because they wanted to tear me a new 4rsehole on account of the companies and rates I'd been on. Ridiculous eh? Rate envy.

[SussexSeagull]

I've lost count of the number of agents who have called me about roles at the Hydrographic Office in Taunton.

I wouldn't have even accepted a non ir35 caught role there as the rates are so poor.

Has anyone not been offered the Hydrographic Office? The combination of a poor rate to start with being under iR35 literally meant I would have been financially better off getting a permanent job locally.

[PerfectStorm]

Where does the dividend tax come in to a IR35 contract?

Fair point!

[Big Blue Plymouth]

Do you have an example please (which site are you using)?
I'm prepared to take on work inside IR35 at the moment as I'm dumping as much as I can into my pension as a company contribution.

I've lost count of the number of agents who have called me about roles at the Hydrographic Office in Taunton.

I wouldn't have even accepted a non ir35 caught role there as the rates are so poor.

[eek]

Even if it wasn't being claimed off tax, couldn't the company buy the travel and accommodation so it's not coming out of your take-home? At least then you're not paying the dividend tax on it.

Where does the dividend tax come in to a IR35 contract?

[Zzap]

Do you have an example please (which site are you using)?
I'm prepared to take on work inside IR35 at the moment as I'm dumping as much as I can into my pension as a company contribution.

There are lots of contracts around at the minute inside of IR35 for the public sector that have been unfilled for ages, literally months. I don't see this market being quiet at all. As I mentioned earlier in the thread if you are prepared to be flexible on day rate and location then you should never go without contract work if you have the standard full stack set of developer skills.

You should never be on the bench for more than a few weeks if you are prepared to be flexible

[pauldee]

You need to stop taking every thing so personally - not everything is about you.

A comment about me isn't about me?

[PerfectStorm]

Inside IR35 means no expenses - Hotels and long distance train tickets get very expensive once its coming out of income taxed at 60%+

Even if it wasn't being claimed off tax, couldn't the company buy the travel and accommodation so it's not coming out of your take-home? At least then you're not paying the dividend tax on it.