Reply to: Young IT contractor

[fool]

Depends what you mean by "infrastructure engineer"?

If you mean you login to windows boxes and click GUIs or run random cli tools on a unix box then you've made a terrible mistake, because your skills largely aren't worth anything and you've jumped into a dying market that only still exist because terrlbile managers don't realise their staff and contractors are just clingers on.

If you deploy terraform from CI/CD or something analogous then you're probably underselling yourself at £250, assuming you have some understanding of what you're actually doing and you aren't just copying examples.

Assuming a reasonble level of skills, biggest worry is you might lack the ability to keep redefining yourself and the Charisma to land jobs that help you do that. If you can do that, you'll be fine.

[Klodge]

I started working at 16 and it took me twenty years to be confident I could offer the skills needed of clients....and I've only had one say far (although they are very happy ).

As a permie my performance record was faultness in all my companies but as a contractor that means zero, it's all experience and with less than 5 years, I don't think you'd get many to bite unless you have a really unique skillset or a hard to gain clearance.....or your day rate is below market rate.

[NotAllThere]

Based in London, 3 years experience as an Infrastructure Engineer in various technologies and I'm 25

I was 26 when I went contracting. £200 a day. You were still in nappies then.

[mbolton]

Hi All,

I am sort of in a similar situation to the original post on this. Thought I would save starting a new thread when my questions follow along a similar line.

I am another fairly young professional looking to get into the world of contracting. For what it matters I have about 4 years worth of experience, but have worked across multiple companies and roles covering small business right up to a FTSE top 10 company. Currently working in Telecoms in finance/billing.

I would like to eventually become a business analyst in a similar field but appreciate I may need to work up to this.

Happy to provide any and all information which would help you tailor advice. But my question is basically what I need to in the next year(?) in order to be in a situation to on quit permanent work and move into contracting

[cannon999]

Cause he's got a degree and the world owes him a living.

What he said

[northernladuk]

What skills and experience can you bring?
How many years contracting have you done?
How many clients?
How many projects have you delivered, end to end, on time in budget?
How long did you last in your 30k job?

Explain why you think you are worth more.

Cause he's got a degree and the world owes him a living.

[WTFH]

No one said it was easy. But it's possible. I was on 30k starting salary out of uni 3 years ago, now I'm on 550/d. And frankly I think I am worth more than what I'm getting atm. Two of my mates are in the same boat. None of us were prepared to take any bull$5it from recruiters/managers who tried to lowball us and underpay us for our skills.

What skills and experience can you bring?
How many years contracting have you done?
How many clients?
How many projects have you delivered, end to end, on time in budget?
How long did you last in your 30k job?

Explain why you think you are worth more.

[northernladuk]

Isn't it funny everyone 3 years out of uni thinks they are worth more or are better than they are.

That comment above speaks volumes.

[cannon999]

Not easy when you've had only one job for 3 years.

No one said it was easy. But it's possible. I was on 30k starting salary out of uni 3 years ago, now I'm on 550/d. And frankly I think I am worth more than what I'm getting atm. Two of my mates are in the same boat. None of us were prepared to take any bull$5it from recruiters/managers who tried to lowball us and underpay us for our skills.

[BenJeffrey]

My personal experience -

I started contracting about 3 years ago at 21, I'd been working in a large corporate environment from the age of 18 and was in a 3rd line Infrastructure role at 19. You've got to appreciate that you're going to pick up the lowest contracts for the first 1 or 2 (My first day rate was £175 p/d on a 6 month for a very small MSP in Leeds) but you've got to see the longer term picture if you're committed to sticking with contracting. Use all the tips from here when getting setup (List of decent accountants, IPSE+ membership)

Yes the first one or two rates are offshore level rates, but there will be a few gigs there whilst you build additional experience as a contractor and in your sector. Currently now working on-site in Knutsford for a bank (no clues there) as a consultant at double my first day rate, all of my previous agency and client references read pretty well to.

PM me if you want any further info.

[northernladuk]

Unfortunately they only way to deal with this bulltulip is greatly embellish your past experience and make up believable half-truths.

Not easy when you've had only one job for 3 years.

[man]

For what it's worth, I did find ways of dealing with these things:

'You are on a good salary for your age'

Never mention your age, it's not relevant to how well you can do / are doing a role. And find a polite way of avoiding answering if asked in interview (if I remember correctly, it's an illegal interview question but it wouldn't be smart to point that out).

'You have only 1 year of experience under your belt, this company will provide great growth opportunities for you' (in reality they are billing you out at 500/d and paying you peanuts)

Consider the title and projects and how they'd look on paper / discussed in interview. If they're going to significantly enhance your CV, take the role and then jump ship as soon as your CV allows (there is an expected 'minimum' period for working in one place as a permie - in my experience this was around 1 year). This is how to best deal with someone who isn't paying a fair rate.

'10k is a big jump salary wise - you should be realistic'

Never tell them your current/previous salaries/rates. It's confidential and you'll keep their rate confidential too. I've previously gotten a higher (permanent) offer than the others around me because of this.

Unfortunately they only way to deal with this bulltulip is greatly embellish your past experience and make up believable half-truths.

I know, the way the industry operates (especially the rampant box ticking) seems to actively encourage dishonesty and it's what I most dislike about it. Playing an honest game is hard work and has cost me many opportunities - but I have found that once and a while someone appreciates the honesty enough that they remember me and come back!

[cannon999]

Add that to the fact that it doesn't matter how good you are if you can't land an interview because your CV doesn't make the hiring manager's final cut (assuming it even gets onto their desk in the first place).

I think realistic expectations are key, as my own initial mistakes included expecting to find a contract reasonably quickly 'because I'm a great techie with a number of high end projects on my CV' (obviously not out loud, that was my thinking at the time) and getting frustrated because it didn't matter a jot whether it was true or not because I wasn't getting any further than the recruiter's/agent's "That's a good/great CV, I'll put you through to the client and get back to you on Monday" spiel. If the OP is put off by this possibility, they should think long and hard before going all in on this.

Yeah that's difficult to deal with. The amount of times I have heard:
'You are on a good salary for your age'
'You have only 1 year of experience under your belt, this company will provide great growth opportunities for you' (in reality they are billing you out at 500/d and paying you peanuts)
'10k is a big jump salary wise - you should be realistic'
yada yada..

Unfortunately they only way to deal with this bulltulip is greatly embellish your past experience and make up believable half-truths.

[man]

But I've met many a person that thinks they are good and most certainly aren't.

Add that to the fact that it doesn't matter how good you are if you can't land an interview because your CV doesn't make the hiring manager's final cut (assuming it even gets onto their desk in the first place).

I think realistic expectations are key, as my own initial mistakes included expecting to find a contract reasonably quickly 'because I'm a great techie with a number of high end projects on my CV' (obviously not out loud, that was my thinking at the time) and getting frustrated because it didn't matter a jot whether it was true or not because I wasn't getting any further than the recruiter's/agent's "That's a good/great CV, I'll put you through to the client and get back to you on Monday" spiel. If the OP is put off by this possibility, they should think long and hard before going all in on this.

[northernladuk]

Don't let the others put you down. If you think you are good - you probably are. I work with people 25-30 years senior to me who have been doing it for just as long and frankly they are ******* useless. It doesn't matter how much experience you have - you can become experienced in a couple of years if you are smart. Know your worth.

But I've met many a person that thinks they are good and most certainly aren't.