Had Enough!

[tornado1]

Hi All,
Nice to be back, I know what you’re thinking this is my first post. But that is not quite true, as I have posted to this forum in the past under ‘tornado’ but that was a while ago and for the life of me cannot remember my password, so I though it would be quicker re-register. Anyway my problem is this, I am a Systems Engineer working for a IT services company full time and have been in IT for 2 years, from reading all the postings here I know that a lot of ppruners are IT contractors as it provides the flexibility and good pay to fund and accommodate there flight training, the thing is this I have just come back from a weeks holiday and really would like to get going on my flight training ASAP as I am now 26 and feeling that I have to do it soon. So I am looking for some advice from mainly the IT contractors out there but any advice will be well received, about whether I could make enough cash with my amount of experience in the contracting world as I do not trust the agencies to give the whole truth with regard to rates of pay.

[mad_jock]

H'mm the land of contractors and there pimp's.

You really have 3 people envolved.
You,the customer, company and the pimp.

I personally have never had a problem with the customer. I am quite happy and do put a quality days work in with minimal fuss and i tend just to get on with it and not bitch if i get given something to do which is below a sysadmins job spek. I have been in my time one of the highest payed removal men / floor sweepers in europe. But i have seen other people being screwed left right and center by them. And the amount of stress it gives them is huge sometimes i wonder why they stay as a contractor.

The pimp's are a evil which you have to put up with. They seem to pull there staff from a school of cheeky wide boys who are professional bullsh*t artist's. I sometimes wonder if they even know when they are lying and when they are telling the truth themselves. Basically if they are going to make more money out of you, they are your best mate but once your placed you won't hear a peep from them until they muck your pay and you have to shout at them. And it's not unusal for them to earn between 15-25% on your rate per hour. Which i don't have a problem with on the first contract but if you get extended they don't do anything more for me or the customer.

The reason why i have found it good for flying is that it is very easy to take breaks to fit in courses and blocks of hour building. And the pay is good.

the pay :)

first line PC support /helpdesk 8 - 15 UKP/hr
secondline pc support /helpdesk 12 - 20
server stuff and network 15 - 35
unix support 20 - 40

These are just an outline and the rates are very dependent on the client your reputation and if you have any special in demand skills eg Orcale DBA etc.

Contracting has been good fun and has been a means to an end for me. I have been told i am crazy to leave it but everyone on this forum will know why.
So 1 month to go on this contact then load the car up and i am going to take 4 months off and get everything completed so the plan is MCC before xmas.


MJ

[tornado1]

Thanks MJ that has been a big help. Contracting will also be a means to a end for me too, I know it's always going to be a gamble as I will have to hand in and work my notice before contacting the agencies so that I have 100% next day availability. The only thing I am worried about is that I will find work before the money I have saved to see me through runs out. In your experience, what level should I go for? I have:

2 year's commercial experience in
NT Workstation / Server
Server builds (NT / Term Server)
Client builds
Software roll out's
Upgrades (S/W & H/W)
Helpdesk cover (Desktop support)
LAN'S WAN'S
6mths Citrix
A little Novell
Office
A little SQL 6.5

Also do they expect certain exam passes I currently have:
NT Workstation & Server
NT Server in the enterprise
Networking essentials
3 Citrix exams

Sorry to turn this onto a IT forum but I need advice from people that are already using contracting as a means to an end to get what they really want.

Also best of luck with the MCC, what will you do then is it bye bye to IT for good?

[mad_jock]

As with flying the first job is always the hardest to get. I started out doing NT4 rollouts and then started doing more and more of the server stuff and trouble shooting. Now i am working supporting a 1800 user unix / NT network in a R&D enviroment which is good fun.

To be honest the exams are nice to have but after the first job you are running on how well you did it. They like to see people getting extensions because it means you must have been doing something right.

The reason why IT contractors are a bit different to the locals is the amount of broard experence you pick up. So if something nasty comes up the liklyhood is that you have seen the solution or heard of it a few jobs ago.

The other bit of advice i can give is don't shag the locals. It causes hug problems and pisses everyone off. The bosses can't bebothered with the hassel and they can always get another contractor or there is huge amount of tears when you move on to a 7*12hr week and you start forgetting where you mother lives never mind that you have a SO. (I learn't the hard way)


Have a look at

www.jobsite.co.uk (http://www.jobsite.co.uk)
or
www.jobserve.co.uk (http://www.jobserve.co.uk)

The quicker you get your CV out the quicker you can dump IT and fly.

As for me after finishing i should imagine that i will have to do a few months more to keep the money coming in while the CV's are winging there way to peoples buckets.


Good luck
MJ

[tornado1]

Thanks for your all your input, and the links. I'm going for it!! no more excuses.

How long has it taken you to get to this stage. What with contracting and training?

Thanks again and good luck too.

[mad_jock]

2.5 years approx since dumping my full time job. Did the PPL last september doing ATPL's modular with oxford just now.

Get them started as soon as possible after you get your 1 class medical.(400 for medical 1700 for the modular at oxford) i didn't find the techs to bad but there were guys there on the 3-4 attempt. You will find once you are contracting it will be hard to study in the evenings so if you do quit your job use the time to get the ATPL theory out of the way while waiting for the first contract

I personaly think its the best way to do it if you can earn the money before you spend it.
The guys who borrow 50k etc will end up paying back 75k at least. So working your nuts off before is the cheapest option.

Yet again my scottish genes have pointed me down the cheapest route. :)

MJ