Re: FN-FORUM: PHP Contracting

date posted 13th August 2007 13:38

Well money wise, do Java and banking. PHP is ok money.

As to agents. Don't knock em. They do a job that you don't have the time
to do. One of the only times I scoffed at using an agent, the company
went bankrupt owing me a lot of money.

What I would say is that I expect an agent to be extremely clear about
their percentage 12-20% is the norm. At the end of the day if they offer
you a rate and you are happy with it, then what they take is really none
of your concern. Know the market, know what you should be expecting.

http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/ is a fantastic site for that type of
analysis. Remember to look at your locality when you are working out
rates. The city can skew results.

Adam



Tam Denholm wrote:
> Hey all,
>
> I've been contracting in London about 5 months now and i've been to
> two different places. Its fun, i like it and i love that i get to
> change places of work when things start to get mundane, it suits me
> well.
>
> Being that before i came here i had only done freelance work for small
> businesses and other freelance designers i was really surprised with
> how many job offers i got, both permanent and contract. Luckily,
> people hiring me understood that while my CV wasnt brilliant my
> knowledge spoke for itself. I believe i made the best decision with
> going the contract route. So now im at a stage where i'm earning damn
> good money compared to what i was earning before i came here and im
> happy.
>
> What im wondering is where i find the rediculously well paid gigs,
> because, lets face it, im here for the money, no other reason. So far
> i've figured out not to use recruitment agencies. One of them marked
> up my daily rate by 28%, when i found out they were going to be doing
> this i refused the offer. So far i've managed to find contracts
> myself.
>
> I'm also sure that since most of the jobs advertised on the net are
> from recruiters that i'm going to have to find gigs elsewhere. So i'm
> wondering how people who have experience of contracting do it. Is it a
> word of mouth thing? Cold calling dev houses? Or is there some secret
> im not yet aware of?
>
> Thanks
> Tam
>
>