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Plan B Overdrive

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    Plan B Overdrive

    The writing is on the wall and all that...

    Seem to have been experiencing a downward trend in the all round quality of the contracting experience.

    Biggest concern is the paucity of roles - don't know if its a temporary thing but I finished my last proper role in February and have only managed to secure a 6 week holiday/paternity cover role. Thought it was year end / election uncertainty but it's still dead.

    Rates seem to have taken a dip & I just don't enjoy doing it anymore.

    Don't get me wrong, I enjoy development work - when I started 15 years ago I'd start at a company and, by and large they'd tell me they wanted x,y and z and generally leave me to get on with it. Now there is so much micro management & I get the feeling that the client thinks they own my ass. I don't like that...

    I don't know if the influx of foreign workers has had an impact, whether it's my age (getting on a bit now) or if there genuinely aren't many roles out there at the moment but the last 3 months have made me realise that I've perhaps been leading a bit of a charmed life in over the last few years.

    Short term, I'm going to focus a bit more on going direct & pulling in my own projects. I've got some plans in this respect and hopefully they'll come off & I'll be able to build a client base together. It'll be tough but not as soul destroying as the work I've done of late. Failing that, I'm cashing in my chips and f****g off somewhere warm to go out on a big one...

    Must be having a mid life crisis or something...

    #2
    Remember, good s**t happens as quickly and seemingly randomly as bad s**t. You could be in a contract you enjoy this time next month and your mood will be deferred at least. To be brutally honest, though, filling in for someone on paternity leave is basically temping and it should've triggered all the alarm bells. If you have a warchest and the opportunity to be choosy, maybe it's time to invoke that by asking more directed questions at interview or to consider specialising more. You're much less likely to encounter issues of D&C and general stupidity as a specialist working a discrete project with upfront deliverables (less likely, not immune).

    Failing that, 15 years is a decent stretch and there are no shortage of warm places to f**k off and retire happy

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by jamesbrown View Post
      Remember, good s**t happens as quickly and seemingly randomly as bad s**t. You could be in a contract you enjoy this time next month and your mood will be deferred at least. To be brutally honest, though, filling in for someone on paternity leave is basically temping and it should've triggered all the alarm bells. If you have a warchest and the opportunity to be choosy, maybe it's time to invoke that by asking more directed questions at interview or to consider specialising more. You're much less likely to encounter issues of D&C and general stupidity as a specialist working a discrete project with upfront deliverables (less likely, not immune).

      Failing that, 15 years is a decent stretch and there are no shortage of warm places to f**k off and retire happy
      For all the talk of retiring abroad, I'm actually in the process of buying a new house & I can't afford the downtime; that's why I've taken a cr@p role to keep the mortgage co. happy.

      But yes, I could end up in a fulfilling role next week; it's just that the experience of the last couple of years doesn't make me feel confident that I will and the market is poor at the moment for my skillset (MS Web stack etc) & my concern is that this could be a long term thing & I may just be pushing sh!t uphill. So perhaps I'd be better off in the long term focusing my efforts elsewhere.

      Comment


        #4
        For all the talk of retiring abroad, I'm actually in the process of buying a new house & I can't afford the downtime; that's why I've taken a cr@p role to keep the mortgage co. happy.

        But yes, I could end up in a fulfilling role next week; it's just that the experience of the last couple of years doesn't make me feel confident that I will and the market is poor at the moment for my skillset (MS Web stack etc) & my concern is that this could be a long term thing & I may just be pushing sh!t uphill. So perhaps I'd be better off in the long term focusing my efforts elsewhere.
        Where (else) are you thinking of focussing your efforts? You've mentioned trying to build a direct client base, is that it or do you have other ideas too?

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by theroyale View Post
          Where (else) are you thinking of focussing your efforts? You've mentioned trying to build a direct client base, is that it or do you have other ideas too?
          No, I will concentrate my efforts on this for the time being.

          It's what I do...

          Would love to get into something food&drink related but there's too much competition round here from downshifting hipsters who, frankly, don't need the money.

          Comment


            #6
            It took me 5 years to get a viable plan b going, I'm pretty sure it was about the same length of time for AtW with SKA, I have a lot more respect for the squirrel feeder now than I did then.

            My biggest advice for anyone doing a plan B would be to get a partner who can walk the walk in the industry you are focused on, that has paid off for me in the last year.

            I can sit and knock out code, plan my day the way I want it to go and chose the tech I want to work with. My partner can identify the people to speak to, what the people he will speak to want to hear and more importantly have a degree of reputation in the industry so he can get their interest. Going it alone is a mug's game.

            Comment


              #7
              OP Hi, I've been on the bench since 17 April, so 4 weeks now. I posted about the "drama" I have encountered, but as a BA who's worked in various sectors I've been to a few interviews (see my thread titled WTF am I doing wrong).

              Before I started contracting I spent £300 to pay some CV expert to review my CV and give me some pointers, best investment for me as on paper I sell myself well, it's just avoiding the pit holes I've encountered and scoring the contract at/after interview (currently awaiting feedback on 5 final stage interviews).

              What I'm asking is have you revised your CV and it's at least generating interviews for you, or do you think it's merely you've boxed yourself in with your current skill set?

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by MasterP0 View Post
                OP Hi, I've been on the bench since 17 April, so 4 weeks now. I posted about the "drama" I have encountered, but as a BA who's worked in various sectors I've been to a few interviews (see my thread titled WTF am I doing wrong).

                Before I started contracting I spent £300 to pay some CV expert to review my CV and give me some pointers, best investment for me as on paper I sell myself well, it's just avoiding the pit holes I've encountered and scoring the contract at/after interview (currently awaiting feedback on 5 final stage interviews).

                What I'm asking is have you revised your CV and it's at least generating interviews for you, or do you think it's merely you've boxed yourself in with your current skill set?
                Pit hole? You mean pitfall, no wonder your CV needed spellchecking. Understandable though as English obviously isn't your first language. Do people really get final stage interviews? For me it's a quick chat on phone, then occasionally a F2F to see if I'm human, start Mon......

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by MasterP0 View Post
                  .

                  What I'm asking is have you revised your CV and it's at least generating interviews for you, or do you think it's merely you've boxed yourself in with your current skill set?
                  Hi!

                  The problem seems to be that I get lots of calls from different agents about the same roles. This past week its been a lot of calls about 3 different roles, all of which are a schlepp and are not paying well.

                  Don't think its my CV, more likely the hint of dispondency in my voice which probably gives away the fact that I'd rather not do a Mon-Fri away from home on some god forsaken business park for £320 per day.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Plan B is the only way forward for us ageing developers in my opinion.

                    I reach the ripe old age of 50 next March & my Plan B has started with a realistic aim of being my main income in 4 years time. I intend to slow down my contracting days over that period from 9 months work this year down to 5 or 6 months work a year in 4 years. Again I feel this is realistic in today's climate. By then I think my work will have completely dried up as a full time profession.

                    Really hope my Plan B works as I'm putting a lot of effort into it with no reward at all at present.

                    Comment

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