I seem to keep having this conversation...

[luckykaa]

An agent calls me up about contract positions

Agent: "I have a company that looks interested"
Me: "Sounds good.  What sort of a company?"
Agent: "Oh, it's a games company {blah blah blah}"
Me: "Oh..  what's the daily rate?"
Agent: "£120 a day"
Me: "Yeah...  I was just on twice that before"

Seriously, they're really offering that!?  Even for a permanent position it's not a very good salary.

Comments

[luckykaa.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah, but I do have specialised skills and 10 years experience.

Even salaried permanent positions pay more than that and they come with paid holidays and someone else pays the employers NI contributions.

[cath-er-ine.livejournal.com]

Just what I wanted to say! :)

[ingaborg.livejournal.com]

That is a really rubbish rate! £120 / 8 = £15 per hour. (and being a daily rate for a games company, they'll probably expect you to work longer days).

I would expect to get at least £8 per hour for secretarial temp work, close to home. Even a school leaver taking a junior coding role would expect more. And you are a skilled and experienced software engineer. You shouldn't take a penny under £20, and £25 - £30 would be more like it.