Excel modelling

[scarletjim]

Hi, I stumbled across this forum and thought I would pick your brains - do you ever find contract work available for Excel spreadsheet modelling?

I can see that most people on here are DBAs, programmers or software developers, whereas I'm more of an end user I guess. I have spent about 7 or 8 years now doing temp jobs for financial services companies, and usually end up working with Excel, setting up linked spreadsheets, trapping errors, writing formulae, tracking other people's formulae to list precedents and data sources etc. I can't write visual basic, but I regularly record macros, and can normally make some sense of the underlying code.

I have also spent about 4 years working with Business Objects as an end user, designing and formatting reports, and manipulating the results, often writing formulae within Business Objects cells. I did not get involved in building universes and hierarchies, but I understood how they related to the results of my reports.

I usually take temp jobs through accounting agencies, and am usually offer £15 to £20 for temp jobs, and £25k to £35k for perm jobs. Most of you guys n girls could presumably do what I do with Excel, but you all seem to earn significantly more for the work that you do, so I am wondering if there is any contract work available for spreadsheet modelling for someone like me via a forum like this?

One further question, if there is work available, would there ever be any contracts where I can work largely from home, even if the rate is significantly reduced?

Cheers, james.

[Cojak]

Hi James,

The reason for us earning more is that we use Excel as a by-product of our main job. (I don't even bother putting it on my CV any more). I'm afraid that the work your asking about can be done cheaper by someone in Mumbai (who cares where 'home' is anymore?).

You need to work more on those Business Object skills or report writing (Crystal, Cognos that kind of thing...)

Good luck..

[MarillionFan]

Errr. Cojak has said it all. (Bitch)

Business Objects, Crystal, Cognos etc is where the money is. I tend to charge a starting rate of £400 p/d for work these days.

The Excel modelling bit is a side skill which I would like to point out - that I am the best f-cking Excel Model designer I have ever ever come across but have to date never been paid the same money as the above.

[partimer]

Adding an appendum to MF.
I have yet to come across anywhere which pays somebody to just simply write reports in Crystal or business objects.
Normally you'll have to dig out the information from various data sources which often are legacy systems. Getting them to interface, getting the data, putting the data into a useful form and delivering via web (security issues) or email, etc.

That's where the money is. I have never come across somebody being paid to "put this field here, create this hearder/footer".

[rebeccaloos]

I disagree

I have come across lots of people who were appointed to do a high-value technical job, but in fact end up just doing some reporting (and sometimes not even using a tool like Crystal or BO, but just Excel) or even worse just reviewing documents

I think there are lots of jobs like that - they obviously don't market themselves as such of course, it would be hard to justify the £450 a day they pay...

[partimer]

>end up just doing some reporting

>they obviously don't market themselves as such

Eh, that's what I was getting at (which you agree upon). You'll have a heck of a time marketing yourself as a pure report writer.

The fact that the incompetant managers are too dumb to make effective use of contractors and pay them lots of money, are their own fault.

How many people spend their work time posting on this board ?
Could they market themselves as "Message board consultants" or do you stick with the developer / project manager, etc. tag.

What you do in work could have no relation to what you signed on your contract to do
Stupid world but that's life.
They could pay me to twiddle my thumbs and I would do it but I'll have a hard time finding it advertised on jobserve. "Thumb twiddler 50/hr". I wish

[MarillionFan]

I have done seven days so far on this '2 day' contract.

Today I had to wait for four hours, paid at £60p/h while management had to fill in the correct forms to have a User Name and Login recreated for the network which had been incorrectly deleted. I offfered to go home and come in the next day, they said wait and charge us!!!!!!!

[partimer]

>Today I had to wait for four hours, paid at £60p/h
>while management had to fill in the correct forms

Good one MF !!!!

It's like hiring Tiger Woods for 1000/hr and telling him to teach you how to play tennis.
There really are some useless managers out there ...

Bill them for every second
Question is, how do you find these sort of customers who don't know their @rse from their elbow ?

[expat]

Hi James,

Cojak is indeed correct that Excel (or SQL or unix) is a tool in out kit, not our job.

Your path might well be to take the same view, but I'll just add that your "main job", that makes use of the tools you have like Excel, might be business-oriented rather than tech-oriented like most of us here. Depends on your own experience and desires (and chance opportunites).

Business-oriented skills can be harder to sell, and the price can be more variable than tech skills; but they are probably harder to send overseas.

[MarillionFan]

"The fact that the incompetant managers are too dumb to make effective use of contractors and pay them lots of money, are their own fault."

Good point partimer. In the end I billed for 7.5 days work and let them off a 1/4 day.

The job took three days, plus 1.5 days for deleted moved user ids, network paths etc, plus 2 days doing a solution they then scrapped.

In all 7.5 days for something I told them was something they could not use. So now its, MF can you come back and do it in Cognos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sheesh. What a bunch!!!!!