Contracting in IT

Eoghan25

Hi,
I am considering going contracting in IT for a while. I have been offered a daily contract doing desk side support for 3 months told it might go on possible a little more. I am currently in a job with a fixed term contact but there is no real possible of moving up and have been here a while and feel its is time to move on I am only doing 1st line support here. I am bit hesitant as I have a mortgage out I do not really want a situation of going unemployed for long periods I have been told by a few people that it is fairly strong and picking up new daily contracts is fairly handy,money is good and your not out of work for long periods usual at most a week between contracts. I have a bit deskside and a bit of helpdesk experience and i have a 1 mcp and should be picking up a few more in the next couple of months. Anyone doing this type of work what would they advise any info would be appreciated

cheers

eoghan

MrPudding

I start contracting myself on Monday. I have a 12 month contract for server support. Things are definately on the way up. Although there are no definates it looks at the moment like there is not going to be a shortage of work.

You should check things out in London the money is amazing. Try www.jobserve.com

MrP

eth0_

The money is good but the major downsides are that you get paid quite erratically due to having to get your time sheet approved, sending it to your contracting company for approval, who then invoice the company to get your pay, then its sent to your accountant, it really is annoying not knowing when you'll get paid.

Also IMO you tend to get walked over as a contractor because you've no rights and possibly your colleagues are jealous of you because you're earning a lot more.

Eoghan25

the area i am more worried about is picking up the next contract after the one your on finishes up some people are telling me you at most be 1 or 2 weeks waiting which is doable but others are saying you could 3 months before you get another contract which id be worried about

fatboypee

A few bits of advice:

1. Adopt an attitude of "Show me the Money" as far as you can.
This is to say take no sides in politics, stick to your boss's side like glue wherever you think hes not being a nob, be friendly to everybody but make sure you have your priorities right: i.e. you're there to earn. At the end of the day the average contractor can get used to do virtually anything and so if you look to the nice paycheck then you don't mind sometimes doing the hack work. Also its easy to get yer ego stroked by being considered an 'expert' because you're a contractor, this can be dodgy as you then get lumbered with an almost impossible task....(happened to me!)

2. Ensure All hours are known to be billable. IF they company wants you staying late & in early etc then ensure this is costed, otherwise off with-you at the end of a normal day.

3. Be affable to everyone, contracting, especially in this country is a v.small community. Permies will bitch about the rate you get etc, just be nice and never tell anyone you work with your rate. Bosses won't appreciate and neither will the permies around you.

4. Most Importantly, work yourself into a position of indispensibility ! (This is every contractors main aim and will become second nature I'm sure), by this I mean be careful who you share your knowledge with and try and pick up any work that they find annoying, difficult or impossible, offer innovations and best-practise solutions to show you're on the top of your game, this will earn serious brownie points and when renewal time comes you will be in a position of trust if not wholly indispensible.

6. Learn Everything there is to learn
Try if you can to learn on the job by those around you, I've found myself in situations where I have picked up a whole new language etc while on a contract. All adds to the CV for the next gig.....

Last of all, don't freak, take your time, get to know your role and systems in place, its too easy to barge in with the way you're used to doing things and new practices etc without fully appreciating why things are the way they are..

Hope that helps a bit.

Chubby..

fatboypee

Eoghan25 wrote:

the area i am more worried about is picking up the next contract after the one your on finishes up some people are telling me you at most be 1 or 2 weeks waiting which is doable but others are saying you could 3 months before you get another contract which id be worried about

Just don't spend all your dosh ..... you will get work one way or another, you may need to travel but still theres work out there.. At the very least you take a rate / role of less quality till the next gig comes up...

Chubby..

jank

How many years exp would u need in servers to actually go contracting.

1 year or 2?

Does it matter if its Linux or Windows (I presume Linux pays better cause of the geek factor )

fatboypee

jank wrote:

How many years exp would u need in servers to actually go contracting.

1 year or 2?

Does it matter if its Linux or Windows (I presume Linux pays better cause of the geek factor )

In my experience at least 1 year of support with all the main windows tools & technologies would be usual. Linux does not have as much of a market presence that I'm aware of, added to which Server Support is usually one element of a usually wider role (network, storage & often DeskTop as well).

Chubby.

jank

fatboypee wrote:

In my experience at least 1 year of support with all the main windows tools & technologies would be usual. Linux does not have as much of a market presence that I'm aware of, added to which Server Support is usually one element of a usually wider role (network, storage & often DeskTop as well).

Chubby.

Hmmm very interesting. What kind of rate would someone with say 1 year exp of server support expect. Cant see anything more then 150 per day or am I wrong

TempestSabre

eth0_ wrote:

The money is good but the major downsides are that you get paid quite erratically due to having to get your time sheet approved, sending it to your contracting company for approval, who then invoice the company to get your pay, then its sent to your accountant, it really is annoying not knowing when you'll get paid.....

Thats was my experience of contracting. You need a big cushion of money for between contracts and when they take ages to pay you. On my last contract it took almost 9 weeks to get the first paycheck.