A month on the bench

[tractor]

..

Interestingly I am getting lots of calls (3 + plus daily) for PM roles. Just after I started a new role.

what I find is that it takes about 4 weeks to get your CV circulating to the agents (dropping in from Jobserve etc and being searchable) from when you start looking so that you are on their radar.

I also have seen a distinct drop in Agent morals and education over the last few years.

I am sure one of the agents was chewing gum whilst discussing an Infrastructure PM role with me yesterday!!

It's gonna get even worse now all the phones4u people are on the market.

[JackyB]

As the title says, been 4 weeks since last gig and the only calls I’m getting are for PPI or claiming for an accident I never had.

Got the CV out to the usual sites, updated LinkedIn profile etc. Market is looking okish for my skill set, C# in South Wales\West.

Never had more than a week off between gigs for over 12 years so a bit lost what to do next. Is there any mileage in actively sending my CV off to select agencies, or even approaching clients directly? Or should I just suck it up, sit tight and enjoy the delights of daytime telly?

Approaching clients you have worked for previously is also another route you can take, and chat to old colleagues - they might be able to refer you for jobs

[Tasslehoff]

Hope you get something sorted soon

[oliverson]

Barclays didn't rate cut everyone when they tried and they even gave increases, and yes the rate on is not on the low end.

Yes the 10 day rule over a three month period close to Christmas isn't great but the. It's not the end of the world as Christmas is a great time to spend with family etc

They did me twice in the space of 1 year, along with the Xmas. I did escape the Olylmpic 2 week enforced leave though but the guy who started a week before me got done.

Nah, I just don't trust them anymore. Who would? They also did my flatmate 3 times in 2 years. What was I thinking?

[SPWeb]

Well, well, well ... hopefully this will give you some 'light at the end of the tunnel' hope but I had a phone interview today for a role I'd been put forward for back in August.

I don't know what's been going in between then and now, maybe people are working through their backlog of CVs after the school holidays, maybe the preferred candidate was killed in a freak gardening accident, maybe they were waiting for the perfect moment but there you go, they got there in the end.

So don't despair Dack - it looks like the market is moving, just very slowly.

[dack]

Well, well, well ... hopefully this will give you some 'light at the end of the tunnel' hope but I had a phone interview today for a role I'd been put forward for back in August..

Seems the good old days of a call on Thu, interview Fri and start on the Mon are gone.

Cheers for the 'chin up', much appreciated.

[Montyuk]

I've seen a flurry of activity since the holiday season has ended and I have a face-to-face next week back at Barclays. The role sounds OK and I'm happy where I am really thought it's a bit slow. Question is, do I really want to go back to Barclays? What would be in store? Enforced leave at Xmas followed by their Q1 rate cuts. Think I'll call it off.

Well have seen barclays do three rate cuts and always told them no. I can't complain on good day rate and still learning.

[flipFlop]

... The best thing I did was to stick my CV on a load of job sites - that got me a lot of calls but unfortunately none of the people calling seemed to have any jobs! But I figure that when something does come up the most recent contacts are most likely to get a call back.

I love these sort of conversations when no-one on either side knows what the hell they are talking about.

[dack]

Well I eventually landed a 'rolling' 1 monther yesterday, start Monday. That'll be 5 weeks on the bench. Rate's not so good but local gig with flexible hours.

My last gig was for just over 3 years and prior to that I had 8 years of back to back work. Despite being in the game for almost 20 years, I'm a newbie when it comes to being on the bench & looking for work.

Lessons learnt:
- Turnaround seems a lot slower these day, no more calls on a Thu, interview Fri and start on the Monday. Next time round, I'll be actively seeking 4 weeks out, not 2+ weeks after contract end.
- LinkedIn seems to be the way to find work but you need to be proactive, chasing jobs and making connections.
- Gone are the days of sticking you CV on JobServe, slobbing out all day awaiting calls.
- PluralSight.com is a joy, despite some of the trainers there talking like robots.

Good luck to all you currently on the bench, hang in there, something always turns up, eventually. Bench time is just something you have to factor in (which I didn't).

[craig1]

The other thing that's important is pimping yourself properly out to agents. If you've been contracting for 12 years then you must have at least a few agents who'll recognise you as someone who is a good contractor. Just a little note to them letting them know you're available, the type of work and location and you'll at least stick in their heads for a tiny bit before they hit the cost of using a job search engine.

If you've reached 12 years and you have no agents like that then either you've been screwing them over or you've been particularly unlucky. I had 5 agents on my list that I notified one month before my contract renewal dates then again on expiry of contract. On the LinkedIn thing, I have 2 agents on my personal contacts, the rest haven't proven they're trustworthy enough to get on there; contacts are precious, if you treat them like things to exploit then you'll find you get nothing back.

The best rule of thumb I was taught as a contractor was: 1/3 of my daily rate for me, 1/3 for the taxman and company reserves, 1/3 for warchest. Just manage your personal budgets to match your 1/3 of daily rate and you could take 6 months a year off if you had to, if you're lucky and stay in work nearly all the time then that's 1 month earlier retirement for every month you work!