IT Contracting since 1993

[Lockhouse]

Where have you been? We have just managed to replace a Clipper credit bureau just before the end of 2019! Now to get rid of the Adabas one!

That's truly incredible.

[Speccy]

Just replaced Clipper

Up until 1989 it was great - I was on about £1000pw doing COBOL then the mainframe market shrank by 80% virtually overnight. Lots of contractors were affected. It was really tough for a year - I did piece work for a mate who owned a company working in "micro-computing" and learnt half a dozen PC packages at the same time (dBase, Paradox, etc). Nearly came a cropper financially. After fourteen months of hand to mouth I managed to blag my way into a brokers at London Bridge programming Clipper(!!!). The market really took off in 91/92 and the rest is history.

Where have you been? We have just managed to replace a Clipper credit bureau just before the end of 2019! Now to get rid of the Adabas one!

[canoas]

you still here?

long gone............left after 2 years!!

[BR14]

That reminds me of a Fidessa support chap who sat near me working for a broker firm on £1,000 a day, was ridiculous £5k a week. He use to do long hours 7-7 but heck he was young enough and he always had an hour lunch out somewhere.......in 1999. It was only because he worked for Fidessa in his past job that he was in high demand, another SAP type thing. I remember those SAP guys getting paid loads around 96-2001ish

you still here?

[canoas]

That reminds me of the apocryphal tale in Freelance Informer, where a COBOL programmer went for a C programming job, assuming that C was just am abbreviation for COBOL. He then went on the C++ (Just C, but more...).

Late 90s were great. SAP contracts abounded - £3000 a week or more.

That reminds me of a Fidessa support chap who sat near me working for a broker firm on £1,000 a day, was ridiculous £5k a week. He use to do long hours 7-7 but heck he was young enough and he always had an hour lunch out somewhere.......in 1999. It was only because he worked for Fidessa in his past job that he was in high demand, another SAP type thing. I remember those SAP guys getting paid loads around 96-2001ish

[Lockhouse]

That reminds me of the apocryphal tale in Freelance Informer, where a COBOL programmer went for a C programming job, assuming that C was just am abbreviation for COBOL. He then went on the C++ (Just C, but more...).

Freelance Informer.....Those were the days.

[NotAllThere]

Up until 1989 it was great - I was on about £1000pw doing COBOL then the mainframe market shrank by 80% virtually overnight. Lots of contractors were affected. It was really tough for a year - I did piece work for a mate who owned a company working in "micro-computing" and learnt half a dozen PC packages at the same time (dBase, Paradox, etc). Nearly came a cropper financially. After fourteen months of hand to mouth I managed to blag my way into a brokers at London Bridge programming Clipper(!!!). The market really took off in 91/92 and the rest is history.

That reminds me of the apocryphal tale in Freelance Informer, where a COBOL programmer went for a C programming job, assuming that C was just am abbreviation for COBOL. He then went on the C++ (Just C, but more...).

Late 90s were great. SAP contracts abounded - £3000 a week or more.

[Lockhouse]

What was contracting like 87-93 outta of interest? When I arrived in 93 IT was starting to kick off and there were a lot of jobs around, well in the city of London anyway. in 93 I don't think there were that many IT companies/jobs around Reading etc back then.

Up until 1989 it was great - I was on about £1000pw doing COBOL then the mainframe market shrank by 80% virtually overnight. Lots of contractors were affected. It was really tough for a year - I did piece work for a mate who owned a company working in "micro-computing" and learnt half a dozen PC packages at the same time (dBase, Paradox, etc). Nearly came a cropper financially. After fourteen months of hand to mouth I managed to blag my way into a brokers at London Bridge programming Clipper(!!!). The market really took off in 91/92 and the rest is history.

[ladymuck]

Being a mere whippersnapper by not starting out until 2005, all I can say is that recessions seem to be when I get my longest gigs. Currently on my highest rate to date. CBA to work that out in relative terms to when I started out on £150 a day.

[BR14]

first contract was 1974
was great until microprocessors, internet and web developers buggered it up for us.