RE: FN-FORUM: Starting out with agencies

date posted 19th January 2006 22:02

Hi Tam,

I was in a similar situation in the late 90's. I had only ever worked =
for
two companies (full time) and although I knew I was good for my current
company, I had no idea if I had marketable value.

The first contract I took required travelling a fair distance (although =
not
as far as you!), and was for the same rate as my previous full time
employment. After the Inland Revenue took their chunk I was initially =
worse
off.

On the up side, I got some experience. My first contract was for 3 =
months.
After that, the rates kept going up - and so was my experience. In
addition, my CV was looking good as they were all well known companies =
that
I was contracting too.

One thing to beware (things might have changed now). At one point, I =
was
earning =A322 per hour. The agency were charging =A328 per hour for my
services. It was only because I had to open letters for my boss one day
that I found out. One quick call to the agency later, and I was on =
=A325 per
hour.

My thought has always been 'If I don't try it, I will kick myself later =
on
in life'. Give it a go - you will either love it or hate it. Either =
way,
at least you've given it a go.

-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL REMOVED] [EMAIL REMOVED] On Behalf Of Tam
Denholm
Sent: 19 January 2006 16:29
To: FN-FORUM / [EMAIL REMOVED]
Subject: FN-FORUM: Starting out with agencies


Hi everyone,

I've been persuing freelance web development work for about 6 months
now, working from home sitting on my computer for 12 hours a day
(quite unhealthy i know, but i bet im not the only one). Its now
getting to a point where im *just about* happy with the quality and
amount of work coming in.

Im now looking into the near future (next 2-3 months) and looking to
move onto contract on-site work, eg going into workplaces for a daily
fee. At the moment im feeling quite aprehensive (and scared actually)
about doing that, since the only experience in a commercial
environment has been in a kitchen (i used to be a chef). I've never
worked in a proper office in my life and only having my few months
freelancing experience im really not very confident.

So i was looking to start small, maybe a 3-5 day contract in a local
agency somewhere to start me off. A few things are limiting me though,
im in Edinburgh and most of the jobs i see are London or dotted around
England, so a 3-5 day contract wont really be worth it because of my
expenses for travelling. Another thing im aprehensive about is my age,
which is why i dont like telling people it, i just get that feeling of
nobody taking me seriously because im only 20 even though i feel im
better than half of the people in this industry that can "talk a good
job".

I know this post is a bit personal but any advice is appreciated, im
confident in my ability as a developer, just not in my experience,
which is what im hoping to build on.

I've waffled on a lot, i'll shutup now.

Cheers
Tam
--
www.dreadlabs.com

--=20
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