Just checked the inbox of an old email address to find this from ITContractor. (I particularly like the IR35 bit):
The grand a day paying IT Contract roles. All those roles between 700 and 1,000 a day. How to get into one of them.
From JobsWatch.
Top Paying Roles
Requirements Engineer - £1,000
Quant Analyst - £1,000
Chief Architect - £875
Programme Director - £869
SAP XI Architect - £850
Murex Flex Developer - £829
OSS Consultant - £800
OSS Architect - £800
Murex Project Manager - £788
Functional Architect - £782
Services Director - £775
Senior Security Architect - £775
IT Director - £772
Murex Developer - £743
Senior SAP SD Consultant - £725
SAP BC Consultant - £725
IT Architect - £723
SAP Programme Manager - £716
Senior ABAP Consultant - £710
Summit Business Analyst - £708
TIBCO Analyst - £700
Six Sigma Master Black Belt - £700
Senior IT Programme Manager - £700
Fixed Income Support Specialist - £700
Data Mart Analyst - £700
Got Any?
Do you have any of those skills?
Are you making sure that you get the market rate for the job?
If you don't know what you are worth, I'm damned sure your agency will and if you are getting around £500 a day for any of the above roles then it is practically guaranteed that you will be getting shafted by your agency.
Senior or Niche
I think the big thing to notice is that the big rates are either for senior roles or niche skills.
In fact it seems that having a niche role in a not widely used skill or toolset makes you just about as valuable as someone who is in a senior position.
How to Get In
I don't know what a Murex developer is, or a Quant Analyst (perhaps Quant means very, very senior - but I doubt it) or a TIBCO Analyst but it might be well worthwhile, if you are out of work, to contact the tool vendor or whatever and ask them how much it is to go on one of their courses.
If the skills is rare enough you might be able to get work with just the knowledge you got on the training course as long as you had the other skills wanted by the client.
However, if you didn't want to take that much of a chance you could ask the tool vendor if they would be interested in hiring you out after the course – and if you are really cheeky you could ask them if they could take the cost of the course out of future income that they will get for you.
You might as well ask – especially if you are out of work.
Shortage of Supply
Usually when there is a skill that has such high rates it is because there is a shortage of supply of labour.
The vendor can't train them up and get them experienced quickly enough.
They would be pushing graduates through their 8-week training and practice course before shoving them out to unsuspecting clients.
Big Bucks
It might be very nice for them to have an experienced developer or analyst that they can hire out along with their smiling but inexperienced graduates.
And then, after the first contract with the tool vendor, you could be charging yourself out at between £700 and £1,000 a day.
You could be earning in excess of 200 grand a year.
Low on IR35 Radar
And surely HMRC wouldn't think that someone who earned that much would be a 'disguised employee' as far as IR35 is concerned.
It would be a bloody good disguise.
You wouldn't be very high on their radar.
There are lots of other softer targets at the bums-on-seats rates that they would go for first.
From JobsWatch.
Top Paying Roles
Requirements Engineer - £1,000
Quant Analyst - £1,000
Chief Architect - £875
Programme Director - £869
SAP XI Architect - £850
Murex Flex Developer - £829
OSS Consultant - £800
OSS Architect - £800
Murex Project Manager - £788
Functional Architect - £782
Services Director - £775
Senior Security Architect - £775
IT Director - £772
Murex Developer - £743
Senior SAP SD Consultant - £725
SAP BC Consultant - £725
IT Architect - £723
SAP Programme Manager - £716
Senior ABAP Consultant - £710
Summit Business Analyst - £708
TIBCO Analyst - £700
Six Sigma Master Black Belt - £700
Senior IT Programme Manager - £700
Fixed Income Support Specialist - £700
Data Mart Analyst - £700
Got Any?
Do you have any of those skills?
Are you making sure that you get the market rate for the job?
If you don't know what you are worth, I'm damned sure your agency will and if you are getting around £500 a day for any of the above roles then it is practically guaranteed that you will be getting shafted by your agency.
Senior or Niche
I think the big thing to notice is that the big rates are either for senior roles or niche skills.
In fact it seems that having a niche role in a not widely used skill or toolset makes you just about as valuable as someone who is in a senior position.
How to Get In
I don't know what a Murex developer is, or a Quant Analyst (perhaps Quant means very, very senior - but I doubt it) or a TIBCO Analyst but it might be well worthwhile, if you are out of work, to contact the tool vendor or whatever and ask them how much it is to go on one of their courses.
If the skills is rare enough you might be able to get work with just the knowledge you got on the training course as long as you had the other skills wanted by the client.
However, if you didn't want to take that much of a chance you could ask the tool vendor if they would be interested in hiring you out after the course – and if you are really cheeky you could ask them if they could take the cost of the course out of future income that they will get for you.
You might as well ask – especially if you are out of work.
Shortage of Supply
Usually when there is a skill that has such high rates it is because there is a shortage of supply of labour.
The vendor can't train them up and get them experienced quickly enough.
They would be pushing graduates through their 8-week training and practice course before shoving them out to unsuspecting clients.
Big Bucks
It might be very nice for them to have an experienced developer or analyst that they can hire out along with their smiling but inexperienced graduates.
And then, after the first contract with the tool vendor, you could be charging yourself out at between £700 and £1,000 a day.
You could be earning in excess of 200 grand a year.
Low on IR35 Radar
And surely HMRC wouldn't think that someone who earned that much would be a 'disguised employee' as far as IR35 is concerned.
It would be a bloody good disguise.
You wouldn't be very high on their radar.
There are lots of other softer targets at the bums-on-seats rates that they would go for first.
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