Permie to Contracting...??

**Vetran** · 20 September 2004, 00:25

Depends on your skills, I was lucky the client waited. Have a look around and see what you can get. the travel is only for 2 years. Get a contract before resigning, save your holiday so you can start earlier.

**rebeccaloos** · 20 September 2004, 09:20

- the market is good at the moment, so you can probably resign, look at Jobserve and similar sites for a couple of weeks, and then apply. Even if you get a good lead straight away (don't expect it, though!), agencies will be OK with a 2 weeks wait, I reckon. At the end of the day, they will ask the client how long they can wait, and the client will, I think, be OK with waiting for a couple of weeks.

Of course you will earn more money wih contracting. Tell us more about your skill set + experience and we will be able to tell you what daily / hourly rate you can go for. As a contractor, you can take home up to 80% of your gross income, depending on how you decide to pay yourself. You will also be able to claim back your travelling costs and posibly subsistence (since you seem to drive a lot, you must have a lot of meals away from home?)

Re money, even if you only get £20/hr, it's still £3400 a month approx, and 80% of that is £2720 take home -> £27,200 take hoem a year assuming 8 weeks not worked per year (holiday or in between contracts) - as you can see, you would need more than your £28k permie salary to earn as much take home.
And hopefully you will be able to get more than £20/hr, this was just an example!

**SomeonesDad** · 21 September 2004, 18:27

thanks....My skillset is...

ASP.NET - VB.NET
SQLServer 7,2000 Dev & Admin
Oracle Dev (doing a 9i DBA course this week!)
Active Directory Programming
VB6, Access etc...

I have 5+ years DB experience so this is why I'm thinking my employer is taking advantage to say the least.

cheers

**rebeccaloos** · 22 September 2004, 09:11

Looks like a very decent skillset and number of years experience to me

Be aware that when you go for a particular role, agents will look in your CV for periods in your work experience where you have performed exactly the same role with the almost-exact skillset.
So it pays to tailor your CV for each role you go for, and emphasize each time the similarities betwen your previous roles and the contract you're applying for.

For example if you see a contract advertised as a VB.NET + SQL Server admin, emphasize your SQL Server admin much more than your SQL Server dev or your Oracle. I trust you know how to present a CV and therefore how to make part of your skillset and experience stand out from the rest.

Don't forget agents aren't techies and I suspect they go through CVs initially with a "keyword finder" (I am sure they read the selected ones later) - suaully you can tell which words they're after from the ad they've put on Jobserve.

This is purely my opinion (and I'm no agent), but you could ask for £35/hr contracts with your skillset and possibly more - I wait to be corrected by .NET afficionados and .NET haters alike

**t0bytoo** · 22 September 2004, 10:10

You'd get 4/500 a day in the city....

And your boss is indeed taking the p*ss.

**asyahubby** · 22 September 2004, 10:50

Get Out

I had the same issue as you, much the same skillset and was getting £30k. I have just moved to a contract at £33p/h and earning some proper money. I know the rate is not top notch but for your first few contracts you have to accept a lower rate IMHO, then you can command an increase.
Good Luck and dont think twice about it. Go Now. The market is quite hot.

**BlasterBates** · 6 October 2004, 10:05

contracting

If you're travelling anyway then yes contracting is an attractive route.

Apparently the market is good, and indeed about 4 weeks ago when I initially raised my head above the parapit it did seem to be all systems go. Howvever agents then started talking about positions being cancelled, positions being endlessly readvertised and an ex-colleague said that her bank had ceased all recruitment. Looking recently on Jobserve there was just a load of rubbish with low paid contracts and the ones that have been hanging around a while.

It does seem therefore that there is a bit of a pause in the banking sector at least. I suspect however that other sectors such as the public sector are booming.

**Millsy2k4** · 24 October 2004, 10:55

Re: contracting

Hello

I currently work for the local Govermentl as a Technical Consultant. My skill set includes

MCSE in NT 4.0
MCSE 2000 Internet
MCSE 2003 (need one more exam)
CCNA
Exchange 2003
Microsoft ISA

5-6 years in the above skills including designing, implementing and maintaining.

I am thinking about moving into contracting and was hopping someone could answer a couple of questions.

1) What is my realistic earnings if I moved into contracting, taking into accounts the time between contracts. I know this varies, I am only after info based on other contractors experience

2) I have the opportunity to obtain an MCT and CCNP over the next 6-9 months, is it worth obtaining these qualifications (and training experience) before going into contracting.

thanks for any advice

Ian

**rebeccaloos** · 25 October 2004, 10:28

Re: contracting

if you can wait 6 months before going contracting, I would get your qualifications beforehand.
In my experience, when you contract, you try and work as many days as you can and that leaves very little time for training / taking exams.
OK, sometimes you're on the bench and don't have the choice -> hence you have time to study, but if this doesn't happen, you'll see pretty soon that your priority lies in your earning therefore you try to work as many days as you get offered

Permie to Contracting...??