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My Guide to Software Engineering Contracting in UK

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Re: My Guide to Software Engineering Contracting in UK

#21

Post by sirsinsalot »

jacobp100 wrote: post #15
sirsinsalot wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't touch umbrella setups. Don't go inside IR35. Businesses either hire contractors for a liquid and expendable workforce... Or they hire high skill people who take on more liability and charge for it accordingly. Be in the second group. They don't use umbrella setups.

I found inside IR35 can be much more lucrative. It's big companies that have more money, can't hire enough perms, and just need stuff done

You have to ask why they feel the need to spend on contractors.

Also if you're inside IR35 then you're an employee for all intents and purposes but without the perks of a perm position.

Be a business, not an employee. If you look like an employee, regardless of the legal layout, you'll be remunerated like one.

Be a business. They make more money.

Re: My Guide to Software Engineering Contracting in UK

#22

Post by sirsinsalot »

lbreakjai wrote: post #16

It's depressing to see that the average day rate in London is still at around 500 pounds. I made as much in my first contract 7 years ago. Sky was offering 650 pounds a day for your average frontend react role. I thought the times were good, but even then the old timers were talking about the good old days with some nostalgia.

650 a day is still common. It just isn't as visible because the government injected fear in to the market.

Re: My Guide to Software Engineering Contracting in UK

#23

Post by PaulRobinson »

ksahin wrote: post #17

With a limited company generating £100k/year in revenue, I’m curious how much a contractor would earn after salary tax? (assuming no admin/accounting costs)

Put it through a limited company and you’ll pay a lot less than as salary (and PAYE). It’s a weird quirk, but it’s about half the tax roughly. Means you’ll net about £80k minus some small costs. It’s been some years since I did this but an accountant can advise you and help you deal with any national insurance payments need to be dealt with.

Re: My Guide to Software Engineering Contracting in UK

#24

Post by sirsinsalot »

jacobp100 wrote: post #19
sirsinsalot wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Edit: I can't read. If only my client knew! £220/day?! I've not paid a developer less than 600/day since like 2015 and that is outside London too. Some people are being taken for mugs.

No - take your day rate, multiply by 220. That's what you'd expect to make a year

Ah yes that sounds about right.

Re: My Guide to Software Engineering Contracting in UK

#25

Post by sirsinsalot »

PaulRobinson wrote: post #23
ksahin wrote: post #17

With a limited company generating £100k/year in revenue, I’m curious how much a contractor would earn after salary tax? (assuming no admin/accounting costs)

Put it through a limited company and you’ll pay a lot less than as salary (and PAYE). It’s a weird quirk, but it’s about half the tax roughly. Means you’ll net about £80k minus some small costs. It’s been some years since I did this but an accountant can advise you and help you deal with any national insurance payments need to be dealt with.

Also the typical setup is to PAYE a small wage and take the rest as dividends and other tax saving mechanisms.

Re: My Guide to Software Engineering Contracting in UK

#26

Post by aussieguy1234 »

sirsinsalot wrote: post #14
aussieguy1234 wrote: post #11

Remember, with GPT-4 around its alot easier to work with a language or technology you only have minimal exposure to. It's like having a Principal Engineer around 24/7 that you can ask questions to unblock you. So dive right in. You can also use it to practice the interview before the actual interview.

If your principal is like GPT-4, I'd consider this a red flag. Your comment is an advanced version of "fake it till you make it". That's another red flag when I'm hiring disgustingly highly paid consultants.

If the person writing the questions is a Senior Engineer already and knows how to evaluate the answers properly for correctness, you probably would not be able to tell, even if they've only had minimal exposure to let's say, Ruby or Python as opposed to JavaScript/TypeScript. Or writing advanced SQL queries when they don't do this very often.

Re: My Guide to Software Engineering Contracting in UK

#27

Post by sirsinsalot »

aussieguy1234 wrote: post #26
sirsinsalot wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your principal is like GPT-4, I'd consider this a red flag. Your comment is an advanced version of "fake it till you make it". That's another red flag when I'm hiring disgustingly highly paid consultants.

If the person writing the questions is a Senior Engineer already and knows how to evaluate the answers properly for correctness, you probably would not be able to tell, even if they've only had minimal exposure to let's say, Ruby or Python as opposed to JavaScript/TypeScript. Or writing advanced SQL queries when they don't do this very often.

You're assuming the red flag relates to technical correctness. It doesn't. It's a red flag about mindset and diligence.

Using genAI is fine, using it to bolster a lack of underlying knowledge as I read it, is a red flag.

Re: My Guide to Software Engineering Contracting in UK

#29

Post by madeofpalk »

aussieguy1234 wrote: post #11

Remember, with GPT-4 around its alot easier to work with a language or technology you only have minimal exposure to. It's like having a Principal Engineer around 24/7 that you can ask questions to unblock you. So dive right in. You can also use it to practice the interview before the actual interview.

I believe only not-so-strong developers actually believe this, after actual experience with this tech. That's just like saying that "Stackoverflow is like having a Principal Engineer around 24/7" which could be true to a degree, but it still doesn't make up for not knowing stuff.

Re: My Guide to Software Engineering Contracting in UK

#30

Post by lbreakjai »

sirsinsalot wrote: post #22
lbreakjai wrote: post #16

It's depressing to see that the average day rate in London is still at around 500 pounds. I made as much in my first contract 7 years ago. Sky was offering 650 pounds a day for your average frontend react role. I thought the times were good, but even then the old timers were talking about the good old days with some nostalgia.

650 a day is still common. It just isn't as visible because the government injected fear in to the market.

I'm out of the game (Even out of the UK) but I work for a British company, with about 30 contractors on board. We're starting to wind the project down, and I think there's a genuine sense of fear that the market has considerably dried up.
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