Newbie question - enough experience to start contracting?

[silves89]

Lurker turned poster, hi all. I have a newbie question: have I got enough experience to secure a first contract without to much bowing/scraping/lowering of rates?

I'm returning from NZ to the UK in a few months. I have three years commercial JEE/Java development experience plus this last year of .NET and C#.

Is that enough experience for a Java contract do you think? What about C# (my employers here consider me a senior sort of developer)?

[Cheshire Cat]

No, you need 10 years experience before you will be considered for a contracting role.
Check the website below...

http://www.officialrulesofcontractin...m_requirements

HTH

[tay]

Lurker turned poster, hi all. I have a newbie question: have I got enough experience to secure a first contract without to much bowing/scraping/lowering of rates?

I'm returning from NZ to the UK in a few months. I have three years commercial JEE/Java development experience plus this last year of .NET and C#.

Is that enough experience for a Java contract do you think? What about C# (my employers here consider me a senior sort of developer)?

Your experience is enough. It all depends on your attitude and ability to interact with others and sell your skills.
If you are a confident interviewer and are prepared to start on a lower rate and keep any ego you might have in check, you will be fine.

[DimPrawn]

Boomed!

Come on over.

Bear this in mind though.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7419916.stm

The pay and prospects of junior IT support staff in the UK have stagnated as services have been relocated to India, research has suggested.

Annual salaries at the lowest end of the industry have not risen in five years, according to the Association of Technology Staffing Companies (ATSCO).

[HairyArsedBloke]

No, you need 10 years experience before you will be considered for a contracting role.

Especially in products that have only been on the market for two.

[Advocate]

I started with less experience than that; different field though!

[silves89]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I interview pretty well and am prepared to take a lower rate, which I imagine will still be a fair bit higher than what I'd earn as a permie anyway. Keeping my ego in check might be a problem