Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Where are the good platforms for contract work?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 145 posts

Re: Ask HN: Where are the good platforms for contract work?

#121

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

ryandvm wrote: post #119
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #14

One thing that makes me sad, is the old "contract agent" seems to have gone the way of the dodo. I clearly remember these folks. They acted in almost exactly the same way as literary or artist agents; searching out opportunities for their clients, and setting up interviews, etc. As a hiring manager, I dealt with them frequently, and had friends that used them. They used to make a lot of money, because they would char…

We did this at our small dev/design studio for about 5 years. It worked amazingly well. The contractors always had work and the "contract agent" got 10% of the contract in perpetuity. The downside was that we were a fairly small operation and so we only had one agent. When he left to pursue his own business venture we were unsuccessful at replacing him and ended up closing up shop. A platform that facilitated this ty…

Yeah, but there must be a reason they all left.

I suspect that the fault lies in the hiring companies.

Re: Ask HN: Where are the good platforms for contract work?

#122

Post by Heyso »

noodlesUK wrote: post #18

Don’t use a platform, they’re designed to screw you. Idk where you’re based but it’s best to take on work you can find through people you know (even tenuously). You can usually find work by bugging people you’ve worked with in the past (or if you’re new, friends from university or school). There is ample work to go around, but it’s not out on those boards.

Why/How would it screw you ?

Re: Ask HN: Where are the good platforms for contract work?

#123

Post by Silhouette »

sjducb wrote: post #116

How did you find jobs in the past? I just found a 6 month contract at £600/day after a 2.5 week job hunt. 2.5 weeks from first message to a recruiter to getting a verbal offer. The actual contract took another week to come through. I just went to all of the job boards, searched for contract jobs and applied by sending my CV with no cover letter. Four recruiters got back to me and one of them had a contract that was a…

It would be interesting to know what type of jobs were you looking for if you're willing to share? Without context we can't really tell whether you found a good gig impressively quickly or settled for below the market rate to start something sooner.

I know experienced contractors who've been looking for software development gigs around that level for much of this summer. Some crazy proportion of the roles being pitched by recruiters or advertised on the boards seem to end up just being imaginary. Even for the ones that are real it sounds like multi-week delays for each step in the process have been common because everyone's been going off on big holidays again this year. So much time wasted even for good people who normally have no trouble finding work.

I could probably write a book with all the excuses from recruiters I've heard about too. Possibly the most creative so far was some new government initiative that was due to run out of the Cabinet Office where apparently no-one actually knows which IT projects are still going ahead after the change in government.

Re: Ask HN: Where are the good platforms for contract work?

#124

Post by roflyear »

zymun wrote: post #114
roflyear wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're saying I have to offer an alternative each time I criticize something? Why?

No, I am not, but someone explicitly asked you for an alternative. But it's nice to have an alternative ready, otherwise you just sound bitter. Plus, you are not adding to the discussion, the reader is stuck with the same original question - where do you find contract work?

They asked me for an alternative, and I'm giving low value comments by saying I don't have one?

Not all comments need to add to the original discussion. Saying I do not suggest someone uses Upwork and giving my first hand experience of using the platform adds some value to someone.

Stop backseat moderating.

Re: Ask HN: Where are the good platforms for contract work?

#125

Post by erikpukinskis »

Buttons840 wrote: post #40
thr0wawayf00 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nowadays, it looks like they have been replaced by "race to the bottom" sites, like Upwork, or these contract companies, that hire you at a fairly low rate, and shop you out for very high rates. I can't help but feel like these platforms are like Uber for programmers: devoid of all meaningful professional contact and ultimately the commodification of programming as a job. The power dynamic has shifted to give most…

And yet it's never been easier to replicate the core source of value for so many multi-billion dollar companies. I know that doesn't capture all the realities, but how many CEOs when asked what their company has accomplished could simply say "we created a webpage". Stange times.

What’s a multi-billion dollar company who’s only created a web page?

Re: Ask HN: Where are the good platforms for contract work?

#126

Post by jacknews »

throwawaythrow1 wrote: post #107

Long time UK contractor/freelancer here, I've also done a lot of hiring in the UK. The problem over the past few years has been IR35 which has effectively gutted/killed the UK contractor market (including lorry drivers and temp roles). Because of this many companies will only take on contractors within scope of IR35 which drives down the day rate. So employers have found it easier to focus on permanent recruitment. Y…

I'm always put off by sites like these, and eg turing.com, where all the featured developers appear to be from much less well-off countries. It seems like it might be code for low rates and exploi ... wage arbitrage.

I'm a westerner now living in such a country, and the reality is that living a western-level lifestyle, particularly as a foreigner (international schools etc), is actually more expensive than living in your home country.

Re: Ask HN: Where are the good platforms for contract work?

#127

Post by eaenki »

caseydm wrote: post #56
sph wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have history on Upwork, and pretty good one. But I haven't used it in 6 years, and my rate then was around $60/h and it's double that now. But I keep hearing how terrible and underpaid it is in here, hence this post.

I would give it another shot. Since your history is older you likely need to keep your rate at $60 for a while and complete a few jobs. But UpWork has the biggest market and there are plenty of people out there willing to pay for developers with a solid history. People say it's underpaid or terrible, but part of that reputation comes from people doing one or two jobs and quitting. Plus, I've hired developers on UpWor…

so whats ur adivce on writing proposals

Re: Ask HN: Where are the good platforms for contract work?

#128

Post by eaenki »

koevet wrote: post #22

I have been contracting for the last 20 years, never used any platform (Toptal, etc.). I'm based in Europe and I have mostly worked in EU countries, except for a couple of very lucrative contracts in the Middle East. I can see you are based in London: London has tons of contract gigs, especially in the financial sector (mostly using JVM languages I'm afraid). If you can move around, Switzerland has also lots of contr…

can you name those swiss and uk agencies?

Re: Ask HN: Where are the good platforms for contract work?

#129

Post by WHATDOESIT »

senko wrote: post #72
brtkdotse wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're alive and well in Northern Europe at least. I'd say a majority of contracting work is done through them since they somehow get exclusivity deals with big clients like H&M, Scania, SAAB and the like. They charge around 5-15% (almost always 10% though) of every invoice. Before you balk at the number, consider that during my almost 5 years as a solo contractor I've spent _zero_ hours doing sales. None. When I wa…

Are they contract agents, tho, as in, you (the developer) employ them to find you a gig? Or are they staffing agencies, as in, you work for them, they invoice the client and pass the income minus their fee to you? I've seen plenty of the latter but hadn't heard of the former before.

From my experience, it's practically always middlemen. I don't see a problem though - this is easier for me. I found a few good recruiters that I keep in contact with, they know my requirements and anytime I ask they have a good, well-paid project for me. I don't see the practical difference.

Re: Ask HN: Where are the good platforms for contract work?

#130

Post by WHATDOESIT »

pottertheotter wrote: post #104
pessimizer wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They charge around 5-15% (almost always 10% though) of every invoice. That's nothing to balk at. In the US, being a contractor is like selling wholesale, and being an agency is like selling retail. I'd expect the contractor cut to be 30%-50%, and the rest to go to the agency.

Yeah, 5-15% sounds awesome. I was recently considering doing some project-based work through a consulting firm and their cut was more like 60%. Wouldn't have to do any sales, but that seems absurd. I wonder if it is a US thing of employees having too little power. A couple years ago I heard an interview on Fresh Air [1] where a woman talked about her experience cleaning houses. She said she at first made $8.55/hour w…

In Europe it's very usual to charge consulting rates that are double what the employee is paid. After the employer-paid portion of taxes and insurance it's necessary, the actual margin is just around 15-20% then.
Post reply on HN