Reply to: How has 2011 been ?

[beaker]

2011: A bit tulipe for me, only worked about 6 months and spent too much traveling and not working

On the plus side, the Mrs' Plan B is now Plan A and she earns more per day than I do!

2012: Off to a great start, best rate yet and jumped up to Programme Management level, so let the good times roll! Got to bill >200 days and get my Plan B off the ground this year!

[BrilloPad]

Hi,

I am considering contracting in the C# .net, ASP .net area and found an old post by Shimano105 attempting to get onto the contracting gravy train in 2008. I have now seen a post by him stating that he/she is returning to a perm role?? Has the bubble burst, is this the wrong time to leave my comfortable boring perm role???
Shimano105 why are you returning to the 'bench'???
Any advice would be appreciated.

Regards
Rick

Not quite sure why you choose this thread - but you would be better off posting a new thread in the Welcome/FAQs forum where you will get better replies. Or maybe one of the mods will move your post over?

[tricky720101]

Why return to perm roles???

Hi,

I am considering contracting in the C# .net, ASP .net area and found an old post by Shimano105 attempting to get onto the contracting gravy train in 2008. I have now seen a post by him stating that he/she is returning to a perm role?? Has the bubble burst, is this the wrong time to leave my comfortable boring perm role???
Shimano105 why are you returning to the 'bench'???
Any advice would be appreciated.

Regards
Rick

[norrahe]

you did what !!!!!

how can you live with yourself ?

Milan.

Sure did!

Quite easily

I may just end up buying a bigger and better one anyway

[EternalOptimist]

2011 - Things went well - too well

The missus was retired, but got taken on to run a few caring teams. I expected a big slowdown, but ended up doing 45 weeks
Kids all flew the nest and had success, which is nice


2012 - The missus and I just want to relax and take it easy

[portseven]

Apart from family issues (MIL and others death with cancer)

Business wise it's been good, same client all year, good professional relationship with them, and am proving more and more valuable to them.

Some really interesting projects, picking up some good marketable things for CV

Good position for rate negotiations next renewal...

[hyperD]

Crawled my way up from the pit of post-divorce financial oblivion, fought hand and tooth with everything I could muster, and now can see the shining, beckoning light of freedom and living life to the full again.

Goals for 2012? To be once again in good health, with a life full of friends and companionship and to be sat in the left hand seat of a twin DA-42 Twin Star.

And of course, a Christmas cheer to my compadres on CUK for keeping me informed and sane once again.

[ChimpMaster]

Best year for income so far, after a hiccup earlier in the year when previous contract was heavily Bobbed. Feel fortunate to have landed another contract - not so great on the work side but best rate yet - won't last for long but hoping to see it to spring 2012.

2012 is going to be a tough nut to crack. I keep on saying 'another 5 years and I'm sorted' but it never ends, it's never enough. But who cares...I've had enough of chasing this dragon. I'm getting older and I want to live out the remaining 50 years of my life experiencing the world and seeing my kids grow up.

[Doggy Styles]

I'm sorry to hear the less happy stories on here. I sincerely hope you have better luck in 2012.

[lilelvis2000]

pretty crap really
Major client had a management change and new management are very stingy and not technically with it.
From Jan-july there was nothing but the maintenece money coming through.
Got tired of waiting so now hooked up with three other businesses to outsource the work to me. So far done three websites and a bespoke application.
Looking into setting up something in south-asia with some old Uni. pals.
Things were looking up for the new year, then the landlord asked us in a very firm way to leave premises.
Overall its been crap.

[escapeUK]

2011 good year, worked all the time (probably too much really). Reasonable rate.
2012 better year, another 6-12 months at a third higher rate and new exciting opportunities on the horizon.

[bless 'em all]

Work

Jan to Mid-November: South coast gig kept me going. Client co found a permie to sit at my desk so o.u.t I went.

Mid-November to now: New gig secured within two days but waiting for SC clearance to be transferred.

[Fred Bloggs]

Jan to Aug

Bad things - working in Surrey and commuting home to NW Monday to Friday.
Good things - very interesting work on best ever rate, working with good people on 2x previous best rate.

Aug to Dec (and on into 2012)

Good things - local gig so home each night.
Bad things - back down to 50% of previous rate for an extremely high workload, bad tempered permie management, stressful due to volume of work on a pretty big project (>£1bn) that's bady under resourced but crippled by low budgetted man hours, 23 miles office to home can take upto 90 minutes to get home and never less than 70 mins thanks to volume of traffic (I thought there was recession on FFS?). Recent expected offer to relocate to Perth (in Australia) on ~AUD 1600 per day never materialised.

Mustn't grumble.

All in all, sorely tempted to look for another role darn sarf if I can get another good one in 2012.

[mudskipper]

Comme ci, comme ça.

[Mr.Whippy]

So the consensus is everyone is on their best ever rate and have never been out of work in 2011.

2011 been great for me, 254 days billed so far and still 2 weeks to go