I can't comment on £1500 specifically but there's plenty of (IMO) well-paying demand for low-level dev work out there in the tech industry in general. (Whether

I can't comment on £1500 specifically but there's plenty of (IMO) well-paying demand for low-level dev work out there in the tech industry in general. (Whether you consider the tech industry parasitic is of course another matter entirely…; I've never worked in finance and I do alright.) I don't know about predominantly writing assembly code, but that probably exists, too (SIMD…). Personally, I read a lot more (dis-)assembly than I write. General advice for deeply technical consulting: you need to have a lot of deep practical experience in a few specific areas and you'll generally need to hit the ground running no matter what project you're dropped into and rapidly start generating corresponding value for the client. And expect to be continuously fighting off offers of permanent employment once you start picking up work.