IT Contractors - how to get the best rates

[adriennewillfly]

My DH wants to ask a question please...

He had been contracting at one place for a few years - 6month rolling but kept renewing. It was a specialised banking IT role earning 650 per day. He finished up there, and is looking for another similar paid contract but can't seem to get anything. The recruiters are trying to get him to take 550 per day or less on various roles, which he has refused as he knows the recruiters' cut will be 200 per day or more. He thinks they are trying to put forward cheaper contractors to increase their margin before they put him forward.

Does anyone have tips on actually getting the higher end rates (600 and more), or does he have to suck it up and take a job where the recruiter is taking a huge chunk?

[Hoppinggreen]

Depends on how much he needs the money really
If there are quite a few roles with that rate it might well be the market rate at the moment, I know it’s a drop from his previous rate but it’s still not bad. Also, there’s no way to get round the agencies usually so he will have to decide if he wants to deal with them
Finally banking may be difficult due to Brexit at the moment, plus it’s a bad time of the year. Might pick up again in January
DH is an IT Contractor but tends to do govt work. He usually gets 3 or 4 emails about new contracts a week but it’s dropped to 1 or 2 in January

[aniqat]

Hi adriennewillfly! Sorry to hear that.

I currently work for Broadbench and we are mortgage and protection brokers specifically for Contractors. Many of our clients are having similar issues at the moment as December tends to be the quietest month for contracts. We partner with iContract and Hubbado and I've just had a look, most of their IT roles fall between the £400-500 per day mark so, it sounds like the day rate your husband is hearing is indicative of current industry trends.

Hopefully, work will pick up in the New Year, but keep an eye on icontract.co.uk and hubbado.com because they are first to publish new contracts.

If you have any questions, feel free to message me :)

Aniqa

[Puttheknifedown]

Maybe he could try emailing key contacts in the new year letting them know he's in the look out. The way to get higher rates is to be on organisation's preferred contractor lists - and you need contacts to get you on!

LinkedIn is another way - to flag yourself as available and see what you can go for directly without agencies.

Finally, IR35 comes into force in April - it's actually a good thing to change up where he's working if he's been there a long time. This is a big change for the market - lots of employers doing full scale review of all their contractors and reviewing etc. Across the board employers will likely look to reduce day rates in order to offset changing tax rules and employer obligations. Hope that helps

[QueenDoris]

As others have said, everything is quiet in December as recruiters spend most of the month in the pub. Things will pick up next week when they all get back.

However, to get the best rates and roles sweat your network hard. Nothing beats a personal recommendation - recruiters receive piles and piles of CVs and anything that moves you the the top will help.