Newbie

[kaiser78]

For OP - as and when you enter the world of contracting, you are in effect working for yourself. And so it is vitally important to project yourself in a professional manner in terms of behaviour, attitude, appearance and also being able to speak and write properly.

If your CV is as poorly presented as your original post then you are really restricting your options for moving into contracting, as in most cases the first thing an agent will get to know about you is when they first pick up your CV.

[stek]

Well that knocks stek out then!

Safari spell checker not me, honest! And your reply is wrong too!

[steve80]

Drop me a message. I know of a few

[BolshieBastard]

Safari spell checker not me, honest! And your reply is wrong too!

Damn keyboard!

[kamran]

Thanks for your input and I will keep trying. For the criticism I admit the spelling and grammar is not to the highest standard but this is expected when using an Android phone 10:30 in the evening

[Avalonia]

A lot of pimps are illiterate

[VillageContractor]

I'm currently looking and have found converting calls from agents and being put forward for roles into interviews and offers difficult.

Definitely apply for all roles, early in the morning seems to work well, I've found telling agents I'm a contractor helps with regards notice and rate and I've also got in touch with a lot of recruiters on LinkedIn.

For the things I've been put forward for it seems to take time to see any traction. It feels as though the market is quiet, but considering I've never done this looking for contracts I wouldn't read too much into that

Good luck

[Earthrunner]

I've been trying to get contract work since early October now and had a defined end date to my perm employment. This has now passed so I'm available immediately but still struggling to get responses from agencies regarding contracts I've applied for. I'm chasing them regularly and searching a lot of job sites to find contracts. I've dumbed down my CV to fit the roles I'm applying for since I have been an IT department head for some time and despite being very hands-on and technically skilled I'm aware a department head title might put clients off, hence referring to myself as an infrastructure technical lead at most. Each application has a tailored CV and covering letter.

One agent has actually told me clients won't touch me because I have no contractor experience! How does one get such experience if one cannot secure a contract? Every agent tells me my CV is really good, but never get me interviews! It is a real pain but I can only advise to persevere and keep applying/calling agents. Today I actually secured my first contract role interview, it's not an ideal location but the fact I've secured it is critical and positive.

Hang in there!

[jmo21]

One agent has actually told me clients won't touch me because I have no contractor experience!

What he actually means is that they, the agent, see you as a high risk applicant as your are exiting permie land.

They think you may get cold feet going for a contract and accept a permie role, thus being a waste of a spot on their list they sent to the client.

ANYTHING that makes you high risk will see you not submitted to the end client.

When there are a lot of people applying, they are happy to use anything to whittle the list down.