Current UK contract market?

[christhedon]

To me the skills you mention I would have thought would be applicable to any large orgnisation that has a large IT infrastructure.

If I were in your position I might take the following approach

1) Look at what industries are particularly interested in those skills at the moment and will pay whatever you want to earn.
2) If you don't know the above then send you CV out to agents specifying in no uncertain terms what you are looking for.
3) See what the agents come back with - That will get you a reasonable feel for the pay and demand for your skills...
4) Secure interviews and go to find out more.
5) Constantly try to get feedback on the above

I've heard of people from security consultancy in the banking industry with maybe 5-6 years exp getting around the same as your perm salary in a contract. I feel sure there will be people earning more and less than that...

Whats your motivation for going back into contracting?

Sorry I can't be of any more help...

Cheers,

Chris

[DodgyAgent]

Hi,

I left contracting in 2000, just as IR35 arrived and Jobserve was the "great new thing".

I have just joined this forum and so I am very out-of-touch.

I have been a dreaded permie since (senior techie & very well paid, thank goodness).

My skillset is mainly real-time embedded especially in high security areas such as encryption, anti-hacker systems, bank currency machines etc.

My security clearance was foreign and lapsed several years ago.

The bummer is my age ... 51 ... and the fact that my permie job has been mainly high-level design for the last 3 years ... little hands-on ... mainly CEO/CTO level design/marketing/approvals meetings etc.

So ... is there still a vibrant UK contracting market?

Or has most of it gone to Bangalore?

And how about ageism?

Is it even vaguely worthwhile about thinking of returning to contracting?

Any feedback most appreciated!

Thanks!

You are better off going for interim management. The skills you have require your dedication and motivation rather than anything else, and these things comes from within you. There is no room for a CEO or even a CTO unless they breathe, sleep, and die for the business. No fool is going to pay you £100,000 to mind the chickens. If you are 51 and have not achieved success in the areas that you are involved in you are unlikely to do so now.
So go for interim where you can maybe use your admin skills combined with some industry knowledge. Contractors who have tried and tested hands on skills will always have work provided they dont come out with the (and I know plenty of idiots who have said this) "there is nothing I have to learn about this" bulls***.

[expat]

Do you still need the money at 51?

I would have thought it would make more sense to do something you enjoy as you near retirement (lets face it, who wants to work in the traditional sense in your fifties).

If the answer to the first question is Yes, that sort of covers the second paragraph too....

Expat, in "55, bank balance negative, no house, no pension, and don't tell me I shouldn't be in that position in the first place because I can only change the future" mode.

[DimPrawn]

Do you still need the money at 51?

I would have thought it would make more sense to do something you enjoy as you near retirement (lets face it, who wants to work in the traditional sense in your fifties).

Embedded contracting in is not a big payer. Not now with China and India anyway.

[premiere]

40K equivalent???? Sheesh, things have changed for the worse in 6 years!

I am currently self-employed in a non-software role and doing fairly well ... but I was earning as a senior permie not far short of £100k.

Since then I have been offered around £100k ... but in places like Swindon & Bracknell .... miles from my rural home.

Maybe I'll stick with my current little business .... crap money, but only 1/2 mile from home and I'm my own boss.

I assume that's Hewlett Packard....?

[XperTest]

You have a "Winston 'I solve problems' Wolve" job paying a 100k yet you're looking at contracting to improve your lifestyle?

[PeakOil]

If you can get 100K as a perm then take it. You are not going to get close as an embedded contractor ATM.

If you are something else, like a security consultant, then you may be able to match it.

tim

The trouble is that £100k means selling your soul.

Very, very long hours and intense dedication to the company.

I had to carry my passport at all times coz I could get into work only to find a plane ticket to some foreign land waiting on my desk.

Don't get me wrong - a senior well paid job can be great fun! You don't really have a boss ... just a board level expectation that you won't mess up ... ever!

It's also makes a change to have a "helicopter view" rather than fighting bits & bytes.

However the pressure (not really stress) is simply unrelentless ... so I'm not sure if I want more of that!

[tim123]

If you can get 100K as a perm then take it. You are not going to get close as an embedded contractor ATM.

If you are something else, like a security consultant, then you may be able to match it.

tim

[PeakOil]

Oh and rates are crap. I'm frequently being called about numbers that make a 40K perm job pay better (and no, I'm not joking).
tim

40K equivalent???? Sheesh, things have changed for the worse in 6 years!

I am currently self-employed in a non-software role and doing fairly well ... but I was earning as a senior permie not far short of £100k.

Since then I have been offered around £100k ... but in places like Swindon & Bracknell .... miles from my rural home.

Maybe I'll stick with my current little business .... crap money, but only 1/2 mile from home and I'm my own boss.

[Paddy]

Hi,

I left contracting in 2000, just as IR35 arrived and Jobserve was the "great new thing".

I have just joined this forum and so I am very out-of-touch.

I have been a dreaded permie since (senior techie & very well paid, thank goodness).

My skillset is mainly real-time embedded especially in high security areas such as encryption, anti-hacker systems, bank currency machines etc.

My security clearance was foreign and lapsed several years ago.

The bummer is my age ... 51 ... and the fact that my permie job has been mainly high-level design for the last 3 years ... little hands-on ... mainly CEO/CTO level design/marketing/approvals meetings etc.

So ... is there still a vibrant UK contracting market?

Or has most of it gone to Bangalore?

And how about ageism?

Is it even vaguely worthwhile about thinking of returning to contracting?

Any feedback most appreciated!

Thanks!

I am older than you. There is a problem with ageism in the contract market and it starts with agents reluctant to put forward older applicants. I found the way around it is to specialise and move very quickly with the market. The projects that I go to normally involve clearing up the mess made by permies or younger contractors that take a wam-bam-thak-you-mam approach. No matter how many certificates you can collect there is no substitute to experience.

[tim123]

Peak Oil,

I don't think your age is a problem. You're only a bit older than me.

There are lots of jobs around, but employers for embedded people are looking for much closer matches than they used to. Not only do you have to have all the right generic skills, you also have to have the right application area experience as well. It never used to be like this.

Oh and rates are crap. I'm frequently being called about numbers that make a 40K perm job pay better (and no, I'm not joking).

tim

[theITcoach.biz]

Ageism?

Dear Peak Oil,

Having worked with contractors in their 50's and 60's, I wouldn't have thought ageism was a great problem, unless you expect it to be.

Sure there will be ageism around, but it has to fight for space with all the other isms.

If you fancy contracting, the best thing to do is go look for a contract. You will find out soon enough.

All the best
John

[PeakOil]

Hi,

I left contracting in 2000, just as IR35 arrived and Jobserve was the "great new thing".

I have just joined this forum and so I am very out-of-touch.

I have been a dreaded permie since (senior techie & very well paid, thank goodness).

My skillset is mainly real-time embedded especially in high security areas such as encryption, anti-hacker systems, bank currency machines etc.

My security clearance was foreign and lapsed several years ago.

The bummer is my age ... 51 ... and the fact that my permie job has been mainly high-level design for the last 3 years ... little hands-on ... mainly CEO/CTO level design/marketing/approvals meetings etc.

So ... is there still a vibrant UK contracting market?

Or has most of it gone to Bangalore?

And how about ageism?

Is it even vaguely worthwhile about thinking of returning to contracting?

Any feedback most appreciated!

Thanks!