Which consulting firms pay the best?

[ITguy1957]

Does anybody know which IT consulting firm pays it consultant the most? What percentage of bill rate do they pay?

[Shaggy Hiker]

That seems like a wildly open ended question. I would guess it has to do with country, currency (though those two are related), and within the US it would have lots to do with location. I get paid a good amount for where I live, but I couldn't afford a house if I lived in California or NYC.

[ITguy1957]

Thanks for the input. Yes, asking about US IT consulting companies. Wondering if anybody has experience working on projects with firms and are willing to share about percentages. For example, if they were billed out at an 100 dollar an hour, how much were they getting paid?

[dilettante]

Reminds me of one that I interviewed with years ago.

When you didn't have current contracts they offered to "bench" you. That meant you got to do crap around their offices for cheap.

As I left I ran into a floor mopper I'd seen coming in. Turns out he was a programmer who was "benched" and he'd been subletted out to the office building landlord for janitorial services.

[Nightwalker83]

Reminds me of one that I interviewed with years ago.

When you didn't have current contracts they offered to "bench" you. That meant you got to do crap around their offices for cheap.

As I left I ran into a floor mopper I'd seen coming in. Turns out he was a programmer who was "benched" and he'd been subletted out to the office building landlord for janitorial services.

I guess I'll know what is going to happen to me then! Better grab a mop and bucket.

[dilettante]

I've never run into that anywhere else. Most of them just don't pay when you don't have active contracts.

Makes a funny story though, at least from the outside.

[ITguy1957]

Interesting. Definitely want to stay away from the janitorial world. Have you had any successes with a company you would recommend? Trying to find the best-reputation companies I can look into.

[techgnome]

wow.... that's a little surprising (about the benching situation) .... most benchings I've seen usually involves professional development, getting certifications, and so on.

I've had positive experiences with Modis and TekSystems. In fact it was through Tek that I got my current position (I was taken on a contract to hire basis, and got converted over to full time.) One nice thing about contract work is that if you find yourself in an unhealthy environment, if the contracting company is any good, then they can usually get you out ... or when the contract it up, not renew it. Downside is that there could be times when you don't know when or where your next paycheck is going to come from.


Oh, one more thing about benching... there are two types... paid benching and unpaid... paid bench is good if you can get it, but usually it is reserved for their top contractors... a lot may only offer unpaid benching, but they keep you on the books. Make sure you talk to the recruiter and find out what the options are.

-tg

[FunkyDexter]

I've had positive experiences with Modis and TekSystems

I'm with Modis right now and am happy with them. I'm in the UK rather than US but it's still a good indication.

[Hack]

In the midwest it is called "being on the beach" rather than benching, but it is pretty much the same thing. I've been through a ton of contracting/consulting firms (full time EMP at the moment, which is very good) and each and everyone of them showed you the door if you weren't making money for them. The best I've ever done is $80.00 an hour....I don't know why my company was billing the customer but I do know it was over $100.00 an hour.

[FunkyDexter]

It's interesting reading this thread because I think it might highlight a cultural distance between both sides of the pond. My relationship with Modis is that they placed me in the contract so they get a small cut of what I earn - basically a commission. I'm not employed by them, in fact I'm my own limited company (some would say very limited) and wouldn't expect anything from them except an introduction to potential clients. I certainly wouldn't expect them to pay me for any time I wasn't working on a contract and wouldn't call it being shown the door if they don't have another cient lined up when this contract ends, I'd just be out there hitting the other agencies to see if anyone else had anything available. I get the impression that over there you're sort of employed by the company, is that right?

[Hack]

I get the impression that over there you're sort of employed by the company, is that right?

Correct, but, you get paid ONLY if the company employing you gets paid. If your contract ends, and they do not have another contract for you then you are out on the street.....no longer employed. I spent 7 years as a contractor and never had a contract with the same company twice. Federal Form 1040 is what U.S. folks get from companies they are employed by. This form indicates the salary you have received for the year from that company and the federal taxes you are responsible for as a result. One year I had 4 1040 forms because during that calendar year I worked for 4 different consulting companies on short term assignments and none of them had anything for me after that so I was, after each, unemployed.

[dilettante]

Um, the 1040 is what you file. Employers provide W-2s, or in some cases 1099-MISCs depending on the working relationship (a lot of 1099 use was weeded out as an employers' tax scam over the past few decades).

[FunkyDexter]

Correct, but, you get paid ONLY if the company employing you gets paid. If your contract ends, and they do not have another contract for you then you are out on the street.....no longer employed. I spent 7 years as a contractor and never had a contract with the same company twice. Federal Form 1040 is what U.S. folks get from companies they are employed by. This form indicates the salary you have received for the year from that company and the federal taxes you are responsible for as a result. One year I had 4 1040 forms because during that calendar year I worked for 4 different consulting companies on short term assignments and none of them had anything for me after that so I was, after each, unemployed.

That's an interesting relationship and I'm trying to decide if I'd prefer it to our system or not. Over here there're three basic aproaches:
1. You're Employed. You get all the rights that go with that (fair dismissal procedures, minimum annual leave and wage etc) but you're not a contractor so you're taxed as an employee (which usually works out to more) and you won't get as high a rate as you would if you contracted
2. You're Self Employed. You get naff all rights but you get a much better rate. You won't work for an agency but it's likely that an agency will get you an introduction so continues to take a cut throughout the duration of the contract. N.B. many contractors set up their own limited company (which is what I've done) so they're technically employed by their own company. That has some tax advantages and means that, technically you have all the same rights as under option 1 but, well, you're never going to sue yourself are you?
3. You're a temp. You're employed by an agency but you'll actually work for one of their clients. The client pays the agency and the agency pays you. You get most of the same rights as option 1 but, as a temp, you can be disissed at any time without cause.

It sounds like your system is basically the same as our temping system but over here that's not realy used for professionals. It's mostly used for industrial, cleaner, catering and unskilled office workers. Professionals are usually either directly employed or contract. I guess your system probably works out much the same as our option 2 in practice.

[techgnome]

Here in the US, there is an actual distinct difference between "temp" and "contract" ... Temp is just that.... My secretary is out sick with the flu, and I need some one short notice to fill in... that would be temp work. I pay the temp agency and they pay the person they send over. How the temps get paid... I'm not sure. Contract on the other hand, usually cover the more "professional" types... and it's usually for longer periods than just "temp". Consulting/Contract firms take people on in one of three capacities:
1) They act as facilitators to help fill full-time employment positions. HR isn't always plugged in when it comes to recruiting technical people. so they will contact the consulting firms, who specialize in that sort of thing and usually have a pool of people that they are in contact with that they can see are interested.
sometimes the company doesn't necessarily need full-time employees, or need to augment their force for a while, or they are looking for new tallent, but don't necessarily want to train someone only to find out they won't work out.... that's where consulting companies come in... you can go in a 2) straight up contract... typically minimum is 6 months... I've seen some as long as 2 years... or you can 3) go through as "contract to hire" ... that's how I got my job. I worked as a contractor for 6 months....during that time the prospective employer gets to see how I work out... and if they like what they see (they did) they take me on full time (they did) .... or they could have simply re-newed the contract... or they could have canceled it all together (I know a couple people this happened to) ... it works out for both the company and the candidate. Both sides get 6 months to find out if they like the other... sort of like professional dating... Had I not liked working for them, I could have then refused the offer, and then probably would have gone back to the consulting firm and started looking for the next contract.
When I was working as a contractor, I had full benefits and coverage... but it comes from the consulting company... not the client. Unfortunately because of the high turnover of consultants, it meant higher premiums than is usually found. But eh.... And my W2 came from the consulting company, they took taxes and all of the other obligitory stuff out. For all intents and purposes, I was an FTE of the consulting firm.

-tg

[Hack]

Most of my contract gigs were short term...between 90 and 180 days. Generally speaking I was hired for one of three reasons:

1. The company in question did not have an IT staff that consisted of any programmers
2. The company in question did have programmers on their IT staff, but none of which had the skill set to do what was required at the moment.
3. The company in question did have skilled programmers on their IT staff, but all of them were off on other, long term, projects.

I HATED it when it was number 3....in those cases not only did I have the my onsite boss looking over my shoulder, I also had all the other programmers giving me "code reviews" - that situation really blew.