IT contracting work

I wanted to know more about how this work's as regard's of how you get paid etc

I've gotten a job doing IT contracting work with a payment of 160 a day and I was told to get an umbrella company or deal with a company the agency gave me and they will handle the invoices for 5% gross

It this what's always done , can anyone recommend a company I'm new to contracting work and I dont want to get ****ed around
also how easy is it to get contracting work, I'l be doing it for a few month's and I just wanted to know more about it?

Kobie

You always have to go through a company (I've never heard of any sole trader IT contractors). So basically you have two choices - umberalla or ltd. If you go through an umbrella company, they will basically invoice the company, take a percentage or fixed fee, and pay the rest to you as a wage. Alternatively you can form your own limited company and employ yourself. This generally works out cheaper, but you'll probably need an accountant to do all the paper work for you on an ongoing basis (yearly returns, payroll etc.). If you're planning on staing in the contracting game for a few years, then get a Ltd. co. If it's just short term go via an umbrella.

SouperComputer

You always have to go through a company (I've never heard of any sole trader IT contractors).

I worked as a contractor initally as a sole trader. However I dealt directly with the clients and did not go through any agencies

Generally in a situation like yours you would setup your own company if you have the time. 160 per day sounds a bit low though, running your own company is not cheap!

tos

I agree with above post - 160 is low. Check out salary surveys for an idea of contract rates in different areas.If you do a search online you'll find some...one I've come across is by a company called Hudson.
Sole trader is good for doing short freelance jobs. From what I gather, longer term contracting does need a Ltd company.
There's probably lots more info on the web - see for example http://www.computerjobs.ie/IT_Jobs/Guide_To_Setting_Up_As_An_IT_Contractor.asp (no connection to me, just pointing you to it).

rick_fantastic

the 160 a day is what your getting from the agency. they are more than likely getting in the region of 220euro a day for your services. but thats the way it works.

what kinda contracting are you doing? support?

yop

That does sound a bit low alright but if you are only starting off then it gets the experience.
I initially was under CPL as the agency who got me the jobs and handled my finances, then I went through a mates company who "hired" me and I was paid through them, cut out a lot of messing.

Good luck with it.

MrPudding

Try to avoid companies that charge you a percentage, go with one that charges a fixed fee. There is no reason to pay these guys more money simply because you earn more, they dont have more work to do.

Guys, how can you say €160 per day is not much when you don't know what she is doing or what experince she has?

MrP

I'm 21 and working full time a year and a half, I consider this good pay for contract work! just not sure how it work's or what it's about and I'm nervous too

rick_fantastic

yeah so what area are you contracting in? im going to presume IT support, active directory, exchange etc etc because the market rate for that kinda work is 160 euro a day.

basically you can either go with umbrella co. or set up your own (better setting up your own as you can be imaginative with your returns and write loadsa stuff off against tax)

you will be expected to know what your doing and not require any training etc etc, so basically you will go in and get a brief induction on how the companies IT is set up and then you will be pretty much on your own.

cousin_borat

CSG I would stick with an umbrella company for now. I am in a similar position 4 months into my first Oracle contract in the Netherlands. If this works out I shall set up a ltd company in Ireland and invoice from there.

Best of luck

eth0_

coolsmileygirl wrote:

I'm 21 and working full time a year and a half, I consider this good pay for contract work! just not sure how it work's or what it's about and I'm nervous too

You're too inexperienced to be doing contract work long term. Trust me. It looks bad on your CV. Unless you're a specialist (and I doubt you are on 160 a day), contracting is not good for your career right now.

Trust me, I was made redundant as an admin last year and all year i've been contracting in what have been pretty much just helpdesk roles, which made it very difficult to get into a permanent job. Once an agency see's you are contracting, they are reluctant to offer you a permanent position, it was infuriating.

In the end I got a permanent job last month after refusing to deal with any more agencies.

I would advise you to do this for a few months and then try and get a permanent job. You will most likely be doing boring work, and you won't receive any training. At 160 a day you're into the higher tax bracket yet you're not earning enough to make it worth your while, IMO.

I would recommend CXC for umbrella company, but some of their account managers are a bit sh1t. On my last contract I dealt with a girl there called Maria, she was really good.

and is it also the case that contracter's don't get paid for bank holidays and day's like christmas and stephen's day ?:eek:

rick_fantastic

you will get paid for the work that you do

no holiday pay, no sick pay, no job security....

thats why the money is better

eth0_

coolsmileygirl wrote:

and is it also the case that contracter's don't get paid for bank holidays and day's like christmas and stephen's day ?:eek:

Yes...you get a daily rate, that means you get paid for each day you WORK.

As I said already, 160 a day isn't worth your while, and you aren't experienced enough to go into contracting at a higher level. If a recruitment agency is telling you different, they're only out for their cut of your daily rate. There's a real trend lately to get contractors in to do helpdesk or junior admin jobs for some reason, presuming the recruitment industry is to blame for that.

If you care about your career, look for a permanent job.

To be honest it just came at the right time!

I was on the verge of a breakdown in my previous job and various factor's outside work life didn't help at all.

I'm much more stress free now (to be honest I have done SFA in this job and have only really had 2 week's proper work so far, they are really laid back)and my contract is ending in two week's !

I have 2 interview's lined up the only thing that's bothering me is if in a month or two's time I don't find something else but I'm sure I will!

rick_fantastic

nobody wants to take on helpdesk / junior admin on a permanent basis, id say mostly because no very many people with any sort of experience will work for under 25k a year.

i finished college and took on a three month contract with a smb as a technician and now im working for them full time. also back in college doing an mbs funded by the company. i was contracting on 220 euro, now im on a salary, less money but i got job security

homeOwner

I agree with the poster who said you are too inexperienced to be contracting. But i will add that it depends on what you are contracting in.

For my 2 cents, if you want any sort of longeviety in IT then you need to get a good grounding in your field before you brach out and contract. When you are contracting you can end up doing the donkey work and also you dont really have anyone to learn from how to do things properly. The staff wont be interested in helping you and the company isnt interested in training you, you will have no progression or career plan. How are you going to improve? You could be stuck doing what you are doing for years. 160 a day also seems low but that depends on what you are doing. Good luck with it anyway.

JackieChan

I'm currently an Oracle contractor and have been for almost 4 years. I would say that a good grounding in IT is a must.
I started my career with Compaq doing mainly Helpdesk and some installs and other bits for one of their clients. After spending 4 years doing that- a long time I know. I was MCSE qualified and had a great grounding in unix,Nt servers, networks. From there I moved in to Oracle and spent another 3 years working on that and got OCP qualified. It was only when I was doing some work for a client in the UK and saw that guys that knew F*ck all were on twice as much as I was(and this was the midlands, not London) that I knew I needed to make a break. A month after returning I had my first contract. Never looked back. My HD days have given me a great grounding and I can approach projects from angles others wouldn't see due to it.
Its great when your not pidgeon holed as just this or just that. If clients can see you can help out on other projects its going to keep you on a contract for longer and allow you to push for your top rates.

rick_fantastic

yeah tis all well and good being on 160 euro a day @ 21 but thats bout as high as you will get unless you start getting yourself qualified.

most people take the mcp / ccnp / ocp / lcp route if your going into linux / oracle or microshaft

i know lads doing java certified programmer exams and stuff too.

personally im doing an masters of business studies in information systems so that i can get into consultancy and away from technical stuff like im doing now.

point being you need to plan for your future in this industry. id agree with the others and say contracting at your age and skill level is career suicide

SouperComputer

Guys, how can you say €160 per day is not much when you don't know what she is doing or what experince she has?

Because from a financial standpoint, ones experience is not relevant. All that is relevant is your expenses. From that standpoint 160 per day worked is not a great amount IMO.

On average my company cost me 120 a day to run, this includes: Car, salary, savings, pension, overheads and taxes.

I agree with the sentiment of others CSG, latch on to a company and with a bit of luck they will pay for some training/education for you. I tried contracting when I was 19ish and its really wasnt the great-paying experience it sounded like. I worked for a couple of companies, got my name out there and setup again at 24. This worked out so well that I got to sell it at 26.

rick_fantastic

yeah latch onto a company that will pay for your training. thats what im doing.

i will owe company a year after i finish my mbs but i will have 3 yrs commercial experience doing all aspects of IT from admin to programming to training to networking.

i got lucky and got a really sweet deal straight out of college. although i did have 4 years part time support experience by the time i finished college.

im in the process of setting up a limited co. so that i can put nixers and small programming jobs through the company and then when i finish off the year i owe to company im thinking of hitting oz for a while

will get good money over there with the backing of my own established company for couple of years

MrPudding

SouperComputer wrote:

Because from a financial standpoint, ones experience is not relevant. All that is relevant is your expenses. From that standpoint 160 per day worked is not a great amount IMO.

It is €38400 per year, assuming a 48 week year. That is nto bad money for 21 years old.

Allow 2k for management fee and you have a pretty reasonable salary left over for someone starting out.

SouperComputer wrote:

On average my company cost me 120 a day to run, this includes: Car, salary, savings, pension, overheads and taxes.

I dont think CSG would nessecarily need to be paying this kind of money to run her company. When I was contracting in Ireland I was pay €135 per month for managment fees. They were pretty much my only running costs.

SouperComputer wrote:

I agree with the sentiment of others CSG, latch on to a company and with a bit of luck they will pay for some training/education for you.

I also agree, get some experience and a speciality. Still it is a nice little earner and very handy if you needed to get out of a job you weren't happy with.

MrP