4 ms·

Not eveyone will earn at the higher end of the market in SV either but £600 to £700 a day isn't terribly difficult to achieve in London. Basically we're talkin

Not eveyone will earn at the higher end of the market in SV either but £600 to £700 a day isn't terribly difficult to achieve in London. Basically we're talking about being a semi good and modern Java, Node or Python developer. Alternativly a system administrator who's not afraid of automation. You'll probably need to work in Government or Finance, but like I said, it's not uncommon.

Silhouette 11y ago
You'll probably need to work in Government or Finance That's the kicker, and what I meant by "the right niches" before. I know plenty of people doing contract software work in and around London who aren't getting close to that, and surely would be if the general market was that high. These are pretty well qualified (often PhD) and experienced (10+ years) people who know what they're doing and have decent track records, they just don't enjoy working in intense environments like trading. I'm curious about where you think the Government gigs at that rate are found, if all they need is being semi-good with one of the popular languages. I can think of quite a few people who'd be interested in that kind of opportunity, but if any of my close network are doing it right now then they've not mentioned it.
- ownagefool 11y ago
  That'd be the kicker if it was extremely difficult to get into either Government or Finance but it's not. Either way, places that'll pay this in Government are The Home Office, DWP, DVLA, MOJ & GDS. Pretty much every arm of central Government pays decent rates. But rather than me just talk crap, why don't you just look:- https://www.jobserve.com/gb/en/JobSearch.aspx?shid=E3A30197FA79410EA1 https://www.jobserve.com/gb/en/JobSearch.aspx?shid=E3A30197F... https://www.jobserve.com/gb/en/JobSearch.aspx?shid=E3A30197FA79410EA1 https://www.jobserve.com/gb/en/JobSearch.aspx?shid=E3A30197F... https://www.jobserve.com/gb/en/JobSearch.aspx?shid=6E57F8DA8E00AC2897 https://www.jobserve.com/gb/en/JobSearch.aspx?shid=6E57F8DA8...
  - Silhouette 11y ago
    Sorry, I'm not sure what you meant to link to there, but I suspect what you actually linked to wasn't it. In any case, based on people in my network, it doesn't appear to be guaranteed that people working for civil service departments such as those you mentioned will routinely attract the kind of rate you're talking about even at high levels.
    - ownagefool 11y ago
      The link seems to lost the settings, but either way, jobserve, contracts, select by rate and search the programming languages. Anyways those rates aren't guaranteed but the money is out there. However, you won't get them by not asking for them. Why would you? :)
      - Silhouette 11y ago
        I won't get those rates anyway, as my career has taken a slightly more entrepreneurial path recently. :-) However, I'm half interested on behalf of various friends and former colleagues who are still 100% contract/freelance, and half interested from the point of view of not giving an overly optimistic view to anyone reading this who isn't familiar with the contracting market. As it happens, I did check several sites including the one you mentioned when I first posted, and based on that it looks like it's still fair to say that £700+/day rates are achievable particularly in London and in the right niches, but they aren't (yet?) the norm even for quite good developers.
        ownagefool 11y ago
        I never said they were the norm, just that they're uncommon. That said, if you want solid advice for your mates, it's simply this. Be resonably competent, pass a technical interview that's mainly talking based, get your foot in the door at £600 a day, ask for more after you establish yourself. If you actually deliver your network will be completely different and you'll be able to command those higher rates for quite some time. More importantly, don't bottle negotiations. Your competition isn't amazing, they're just guys who know the framework de jure and make sure they're buzzword compliant.
- lgieron 11y ago
  You don't need to be in trading/front-end software, 600 pounds p/d is just for regular positions if you know the frameworks that are currently in demand.

Silhouette 11y ago

You'll probably need to work in Government or Finance That's the kicker, and what I meant by "the right niches" before. I know plenty of people doing contract software work in and around London who aren't getting close to that, and surely would be if the general market was that high. These are pretty well qualified (often PhD) and experienced (10+ years) people who know what they're doing and have decent track records, they just don't enjoy working in intense environments like trading. I'm curious about where you think the Government gigs at that rate are found, if all they need is being semi-good with one of the popular languages. I can think of quite a few people who'd be interested in that kind of opportunity, but if any of my close network are doing it right now then they've not mentioned it.

ownagefool 11y ago
That'd be the kicker if it was extremely difficult to get into either Government or Finance but it's not. Either way, places that'll pay this in Government are The Home Office, DWP, DVLA, MOJ & GDS. Pretty much every arm of central Government pays decent rates. But rather than me just talk crap, why don't you just look:- https://www.jobserve.com/gb/en/JobSearch.aspx?shid=E3A30197FA79410EA1 https://www.jobserve.com/gb/en/JobSearch.aspx?shid=E3A30197F... https://www.jobserve.com/gb/en/JobSearch.aspx?shid=E3A30197FA79410EA1 https://www.jobserve.com/gb/en/JobSearch.aspx?shid=E3A30197F... https://www.jobserve.com/gb/en/JobSearch.aspx?shid=6E57F8DA8E00AC2897 https://www.jobserve.com/gb/en/JobSearch.aspx?shid=6E57F8DA8...
- Silhouette 11y ago
  Sorry, I'm not sure what you meant to link to there, but I suspect what you actually linked to wasn't it. In any case, based on people in my network, it doesn't appear to be guaranteed that people working for civil service departments such as those you mentioned will routinely attract the kind of rate you're talking about even at high levels.
  - ownagefool 11y ago
    The link seems to lost the settings, but either way, jobserve, contracts, select by rate and search the programming languages. Anyways those rates aren't guaranteed but the money is out there. However, you won't get them by not asking for them. Why would you? :)
    - Silhouette 11y ago
      I won't get those rates anyway, as my career has taken a slightly more entrepreneurial path recently. :-) However, I'm half interested on behalf of various friends and former colleagues who are still 100% contract/freelance, and half interested from the point of view of not giving an overly optimistic view to anyone reading this who isn't familiar with the contracting market. As it happens, I did check several sites including the one you mentioned when I first posted, and based on that it looks like it's still fair to say that £700+/day rates are achievable particularly in London and in the right niches, but they aren't (yet?) the norm even for quite good developers.
      - ownagefool 11y ago
        I never said they were the norm, just that they're uncommon. That said, if you want solid advice for your mates, it's simply this. Be resonably competent, pass a technical interview that's mainly talking based, get your foot in the door at £600 a day, ask for more after you establish yourself. If you actually deliver your network will be completely different and you'll be able to command those higher rates for quite some time. More importantly, don't bottle negotiations. Your competition isn't amazing, they're just guys who know the framework de jure and make sure they're buzzword compliant.
lgieron 11y ago
You don't need to be in trading/front-end software, 600 pounds p/d is just for regular positions if you know the frameworks that are currently in demand.