What to do to get a better rate?

[bluedrop]

Hi all,
I'm a business analyst with 10yrs of experience. I've been contracting for 4 yrs now. I'm an IT BA and I've worked on Insurance (solvency2), 2 large divestment programmes for retail banks.....currently with another high street bank in their private banking division, working on setting up a new investment mgmt platform.

My daily rate has always been the same. Around 500 pd.

What can I do to get a better rate? What BA skills pay over 600pd?

Would you recommend I stick to one area and build expertise there ? Having projects in so many different areas - is this working against me?

[northernladuk]

Have you had a look at jobserve to see what roles in your skillset are pulling in the money you are after? Are you talking about still being a BA but in other techs or changing role completely? You also don't mention your location which doesn't help. If you are in the NW the easiest thing to do to hike your rate would be to move to London.

First place to go would be jobserve and look for roles in the same area at the rate you are thinking of and then consider what you need to do to get those roles. You could also look at Itjobswatch to help with your analysis. Changing roles or learning new tech is going to be very difficult to do, particularly if you are looking for the skills to charge a premium. A switch to permie or time off to learn could negate any rate increase for many years.

BTW £500 is not a bad rate at all so just make sure you are also not looking beyond the possible as well.

[bluedrop]

Have you had a look at jobserve to see what roles in your skillset are pulling in the money you are after? Are you talking about still being a BA but in other techs or changing role completely? You also don't mention your location which doesn't help. If you are in the NW the easiest thing to do to hike your rate would be to move to London.

First place to go would be jobserve and look for roles in the same area at the rate you are thinking of and then consider what you need to do to get those roles. You could also look at Itjobswatch to help with your analysis. Changing roles or learning new tech is going to be very difficult to do, particularly if you are looking for the skills to charge a premium. A switch to permie or time off to learn could negate any rate increase for many years.

BTW £500 is not a bad rate at all so just make sure you are also not looking beyond the possible as well.

Thanks NLUK!

I'm in London. And yes I'm still looking at being a BA

[jamesbrown]

Isn't that a case of tail wagging the dog? I'd approach this in terms of an area that I wanted to evolve into, with rate being a part of that (but not necessarily a deciding factor). Higher rates are generally for niche technical skills (e.g. analyzing problems and developing appropriate mathematical models) and/or niche sectors that have specific requirements. Obviously rates are higher in London too, but effective rates may not be higher after travel/living costs. I'm not in IT, so I can't really comment on the progression from BA to something else, but the best rates in my field come from building a strong reputation in a niche area and then tendering for projects and working direct, rather than going through an agent. Specializing can (doesn't always) come with risks, though, insofar as there are upfront costs with tendering for work and the possibility of extended periods without work if tenders don't come off.

[Bellona]

BTW £500 is not a bad rate at all so just make sure you are also not looking beyond the possible as well.

WNLUKS
IMO Plenty of candidates about at the moment so the top rates are few and far between unless they are looking for niche specialisms.