Longest Bench Time???

**lilelvis2000** · 22 July 2009, 09:30

9 months.

**alreadypacked** · 22 July 2009, 09:35

Originally posted by SajStars View Post

New Poster - so kidz gloves please!

I started contracting last year, after leaving a large software house and enjoyed it up until this year, however i have taken a permie role due to being on the bench for 3 mths.

Just wondering what the average contractor bench time is? The last stint of 3 months was really beginning to bring me down, motivation and all sorts. in the end i took a permie role paying #50k.

However - an old contact phoned me with a small contract for a couple of weeks, so i am planning to take some holiday, do the contract and come back to the permie role, if i dont find another contract...

whats it like out there at the moment?

I think it depends on how big your war chest is, when it runs low everyone does what they have to do, some even go permie.

HTH

What time is the party starting, is the beer in the fridge

**Andy2** · 22 July 2009, 09:59

Noobie alert

**Menelaus** · 22 July 2009, 10:03

Originally posted by SajStars View Post

New Poster - so kidz gloves please!

I started contracting last year, after leaving a large software house and enjoyed it up until this year, however i have taken a permie role due to being on the bench for 3 mths.

Just wondering what the average contractor bench time is? The last stint of 3 months was really beginning to bring me down, motivation and all sorts. in the end i took a permie role paying #50k.

However - an old contact phoned me with a small contract for a couple of weeks, so i am planning to take some holiday, do the contract and come back to the permie role, if i dont find another contract...

whats it like out there at the moment?

Four months. Went climbing.

HTH

**mace** · 22 July 2009, 10:04

I was 4 months out in 2002

I've been a contractor off and on since 1998. I left contracting at the end of 2001 and took a permie role which I didn't enjoy which I left in June 2002 and got a contract in October 2002. Things were pretty bad all the way through to autumn 2003 as I recall. I did a couple of short term contracts and a contract which lasted a while but was on a 1 week renewable basis. I had another 2 months on the bench in summer 2003 and then things were ok. Remembering how bad it was back then, I went back to permiedom in 2007, only to be laid off a month ago. Now looking for another "permie" role or a contract if I have to. Not keen on contracting because you generally get better quality work as a permie and money's not everything. May change my mind again if the next "permie" role doesn't work out, however.

I do find it strange when some contractors on here suggest that contracting is a lifestyle and you need a particular mindset for it. IMHO, it's horses for courses, contracting's worth it when you're in your 20s/early 30s need to make some money quick, and the contracting market is strong. Permiedom's worth it as you get a bit older, establish a family, have made enough money to not want the stress of looking for a new role (every year on average) and want better quality roles.

We're drinking from a shrinking lake. When I started contracting, the older contractors would relay me with stories about how they made £400 per day in the 1980s and how much money they'd made creating basic websites in the early 90s. They'd also complain about the flood of youngsters (like me) which entered in to contracting in the late 90s pushing the rates down. The message that I got then and still believe is that unless you continually upskill in this industry (which is incredibly difficult to do as you have no control over your job), there's always going to be somebody brighter or cheaper out there. I'm reading on these boards now about people considering taking contracts for £150-200 per day. Frightening. I feel sorry for the kids today and am envious of my parent's generation. When I went to uni, they'd increased the places so that about 10% of kids could go to uni. I believe the figure now is 30%. On top of this, there's been a mass influx of foreigners since the millenium. Both of these factors are unlikely to change. Kids in their 20s look as if they've got no hope in ever buying a house and will have to work like crazy to make the same kind of cash I did. In turn, I've had to work substantially harder than my parents to have a similar lifestyle. There's no easy answer. My generation used to look down on striking miners and factory workers slating them for their ignorance of trying to hold on to their jobs when people in other countries could mine coal or produce steel more cheaply. We're all miners now.

**thunderlizard** · 22 July 2009, 10:06

1 month before i went industry-niche, 4 months after.

**chef** · 22 July 2009, 10:34

i'm in a niche market and it always takes 4-6 weeks between contracts, always has done.

shortest bench period (excluding extensions) 1 week
longest 3 months.

**minestrone** · 22 July 2009, 10:36

I only work 6 months a year. So 6 months.

**realityhack** · 22 July 2009, 10:38

3 months.

Got any beers in the fridge?

Longest Bench Time???