Reply to: torn apart between perm/contract options

[ukblokester]

In todays market he made the right choice as it's a terrible time to start contracting.

cheers mate! really appreciate your re-assurance. will see how it goes in another couple of months, but this is where it is at at the moment.

[TykeMerc]

Report back in a month or 2, to let us know what it's like being a permi.

He was a permie before, if you read the 1st post he was contemplating becoming a contractor rather than taking up the job offer he had or staying in his current perm role.

In todays market he made the right choice as it's a terrible time to start contracting.

[max]

hi, seems like got you confused when i said i will sign the contract today, i meant the permie employment contract.
this is a private sector company and it uses more than just my php skills, its a senior developer role where i am responsible for mentoring devel. processes, implementing agile, seo, stability and yes i will be working on symfony.

Report back in a month or 2, to let us know what it's like being a permi.

[ukblokester]

That's great.

For the benefit of the morale of us still on the bench, could you cheer us up with some good news?

- what's your day rate?
- is it private or public sector?
- is it using your php skills or something else?

Just so we can get some proper feedback about the state of the market from someone who knows.

Thanks in advance.

hi, seems like got you confused when i said i will sign the contract today, i meant the permie employment contract.
this is a private sector company and it uses more than just my php skills, its a senior developer role where i am responsible for mentoring devel. processes, implementing agile, seo, stability and yes i will be working on symfony.

[ukblokester]

and?

did you take the full-time option, or did you decide to make the leap into the rarified world of contracting, where every day's a holiday, every paypacket a fortune, all the permies bow down and worship your superior knowledge, tax is optional, and woman look at you with the same awe they normally reserve for Formula 1 drivers and professional football players?*

*your experience my differ from that advertised

thanks for the sarcastic comment, all i really wanted to know was if i was taking the right decision, i didn't come here with any pre-formed opinions hoping for people to confirm what i "think" is the right thing. i really appreciate all the people who took out time to show me calculations that made sense.

[TheBigYinJames]

Also, bear in mind if you mention any amount of money on this board, be it 200 a day or 1000 a day, some wag on here will try to make out that's mere pin money to them, they wouldn't get out of bed for it etc. There's still a lot of bravado amongst some contractors that rate you are on = personal worth.

The truth about contracting as a long term career option is that you have to be flexible during the downtimes, and they happen every 8-10 years in this market, despite what people say. If that means going perm for a while on low money, then so be it - being a contractor is a mindset, not a job. It means adapting to whatever situation you find yourself.

In the high times, that means choosing between 5 star hotels in London, but in the down times, it may mean taking a 30k job for 6 months to service your mortgage(s). Don't let the wiseacres spoil it for you.

[BrowneIssue]

i will be signing up the contract later today!

That's great.

For the benefit of the morale of us still on the bench, could you cheer us up with some good news?

- what's your day rate?
- is it private or public sector?
- is it using your php skills or something else?

Just so we can get some proper feedback about the state of the market from someone who knows.

Thanks in advance.

[centurian]

Spoke to an ex permie colleague who left to take some time off (this was last year) and now wants to get into contracting.

When he left, contract rates in London were around 350-400 pd.

He says that he can find some contracts, but that they are only offering around 200pd, so clearly "down on the market rate".

I had to point out to him that actually, it is the market rate as it stands at the moment.

[Stan.goodvibes]

and?

did you take the full-time option, or did you decide to make the leap into the rarified world of contracting, where every day's a holiday, every paypacket a fortune, all the permies bow down and worship your superior knowledge, tax is optional, and woman look at you with the same awe they normally reserve for Formula 1 drivers and professional football players?*

*your experience my differ from that advertised

[ukblokester]

thanks guys! i will be signing up the contract later today!, i am still interested in knowing what sort of skills are in demand in web development, this thread has made me feel that the niche framework skills i had arnt good enough to get a decent contract.
would be great to know more about the additional skillsets that can enhance my chances in the php/java development area.

[PaulCD]

I'm relatively new to contracting this time round too. I used to be a fairly long termer but then spent 6 years as a permie until the threat of redundancy prompted me to take voluntary (and the enhanced package on offer) back at the end of February. I'm thanking my lucky stars I'm working because it has been very stresseful since I left that role. I managed to get myself an initial 3 week contract in March that has now been extended all the way until Xmas. Clearly I'm very happy about this but in the mean time I've been keeping my toe dipped 'in the permie pool' so to speak. The current market (or lack of) and the let's face it "tulip" that we are having to go through from many of the pimps, means that if the interview that I went to yesterday for another permie role comes off by this Friday I shall be taking it and quitting this contract.

If I'd got a $ for every time a pimp had told me that his client wants to take me on but his project has just been canned I'd retire tomorrow.

The market is just too down for my liking. Maybe that's because I've become softened by my years as a permie, I strongly suspect that it is.

My two peneth to the OP....47k is a decent salary in the current climate and if it was me I'd snap their hands off right now.

[expat]

Time. and luck, are a great thing for personal wealth. The chances of it happning it again soon are, I think, close to nil.

That is an excellent point. Nothing is better for your wealth than being lucky and knowing when to seize your good luck. Without knowing your circumstances, I'd guess that (as described) the £47k job is a piece of good luck in the current environment.

[ASB]

I second this, XLMonkey's calculations and real-life numbers are much better than the back of my envelope.

May I make an observation? I had previously spent 20+ years contracting. That gave me a huge choice about how I dispatched that income. With the economy I lived in during that time I coined it. I'm arguably fortunate in that I have a 7 figure set of free asset (though there is an argument that having a 200k mortgate 20 years ago and no income was worrying). But a 50k with good benefits permie job for the last five 5 years has given me a very easy life. At the moment the contract rate I could get would not compensate. So what does it mean? Time, commitment to your own belief and ability to change when needed. I may well go back to contracting, but at the moment there is no chance it can work for me. If you can secure a 47k role, you would - in my view - nedd a damn good reason to turn it down. You mat, of course, have one.

Time. and luck, are a great thing for personal wealth. The chances of it happning it again soon are, I think, close to nil.

[ukblokester]

thanks @Ardesco, i appreciate your comment, i do see that most jobs are < £200 at times, but also occasionally you do see ads which say £300-£400, having said that i am not arguing the realty that the market is bad, which is why i am here and want to know were the market actually is as you are having to deal with it while youa re in it.

most of my friends with similar skillsets are in contracts which is on at the moment so they are not looking (which is why i didnt see the point in asking) and which is why i am asking for clarifications.

appreciate your spending time for finding me pointers, its all a learning experience for me.

[Ardesco]

I've had a couple of calls for PHP roles over the past month and a bit and they have ranged from £120-£150/day. Good luck finding somebody who will pay you £400/day.....
here is a link that is worth looking at:

http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/contracts/uk/php.do

Take a look at the percentage reduction in rate in the past year and pay particular attention to the hourly rates (a daily rate may be for a 12 hour day in some cases so it isn't always a rosy as it looks)

Finally, you really aren't cut out for contracting. This information took me all of about 30 seconds to search for and find. If you can't do it yourself and just expect answers to be handed to you on a plate you will fail at contracting.

So in summary:

Ignore the negative comments, come contracting you'll make a bomb!!

(I'll be walking down that alley near your house to laugh my arse at you when you're homeless in 6 months time though)