Serious Question

[AtW]

I use Linux/PHP/MySQL to ride them out

Maybe you are a PRO and got such good rate, however these technologies are all often used by young people who would get permie job on crap rates, so getting high rates in that area is IMO very rare thing. PHP particularly - no bug serious project will use it, and by serious I mean object reuse, inheritance - backend stuff, not just HTML generation.

Be careful not to lose your C# skillz.

[t0bytoo]

I do php/mysql on the side. But very much on the side.

A friend builds websites. He pays me to do little tasks that are sometimes quite fun. But it's not something I want to be doing in the long term.

[cojak]

Good post Denny and one that even experienced contractors need to read. A good reminder of what we are and what we need to do to stay that way...

[Shimano105]

Thanks all! Some very interesting reading and some very positive points to take on board.

I do tend to rely on the old agent/contractor model too much, but to be honest I kind of like this way. I am planning on contacting some old places to get some direct work as well (next week's project).

The main stumbling block for me though is still 'how'. Sure I can invest £3k in courses, I can take MS certs ( I have in the past - MCSD and I'm on my way to MCAD) but these are no silver bullet. In fact as a test I put the MCAD logo on my CV for a few positions to see if I would get a bite - nothing came of it, so I question whether they are worth anything anymore.

So when people say update your skills, what do they actually mean? Yes I have .NET vis studio and I can write apps with it. I have a good grasp of how the framework operates and have a good understanding of best practice approach to .NET apps. But it still doesn't get me the gig does it?

Believe me I am a modest chap who isn't too proud to do something for peanuts for 6 months to get in - but I still can't get a look in on these roles and it would still only be 6 months. Clients specify a minimum of 2 years and usually expect 4 years experience.

So is it down to being cheap and lying on the CV about experience?

I am also writing some apps at the moment, AtW, but they certainly lack the grand scale of SKA so would they count for much as a demo for a client?

This is starting to get tricky and the more I look into it the more I feel like a brick wall has appeared which I can't get past. But quitting is not an option so I'll just have to keep plugging away.

[AtW]

I am also writing some apps at the moment, AtW, but they certainly lack the grand scale of SKA so would they count for much as a demo for a client?

Write stuff and post it online with or withour source, have a blog dedicated to .NET things - if you are between contracts then you should have time to put into it, so make sure you do - it may not be grand, but it will advance your own knowledge of .NET framework pretty well - it might be good idea to accept temporary drop in rates by taking some .NET contract, IMO such approach would have been harder if you were looking for a permie role.

If you did C++ then picking up C# should be very easy, it's all really down if you can do the job or not, if you did Basic before and then switched to C# then it might be hard to do it quickly, but in your case it should not be.

In any case don't dispair - a lot of people around the world die from not being able to eat or drink or both, so whatever you go through is nowhere near the kind bad stuff that happens daily around the world.

[mcquiggd]

Which part of the country are you in Shimano?

Salaries for the permie jobs below aren't great, but better than nowt - you can still sell yourself on your VB background, analysis skills, flexibility and move onto C#...

http://www.jobserve.com/WADD481987336D554.job

http://www.jobserve.com/WB9D084F97B1CAC3B.job

There are contracts as well, but it depends if you want to duck into permiedom and get training paid for etc. Contracts will want previous experience, permanent jobs maybe less demanding. Legacy migration is your best bet, there is all sorts of free information from MS on how to transition from VB6 to say VB.Net. Start learning .Net 2, and look ahead to what is coming next year...

I wouldn't write off certifications - but they have to be current. I'm in the process of upgrading the MCSD.Net to the newer generation. They sometimes help with interviews - in the past Iv'e been presented with Transcender tests for MCSD exams as part of the screening for example.

[Shimano105]

Well that is a valid approach mcguidd and one that I am also actively pursuing. I did try a perm role last year that promised x-training to .NET but when I got there it was a load of bollox, so I buggered off back to VB6 contractor land. Something I'll not let happen again!

[mcquiggd]

Once you've got commercial experience, and dare I say perhaps boosted your confidence a tad, then 'ahem' expand the CV.

I'm currently permie as it gives me experience of Visual Studio Team System, Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005. If I return to contracting (and I might well be doing that), it will be for a role that builds on those skills. Sometimes permiedom can be the right career choice at the time.


P.S VB.Net might be the easiest transition path into 'thinking the .Net way', but C# is definitely the way to go and establish or build on your OO credentials.

To back up Alexeis point about exercsing your skills in different ways, one thing I am also involved in is porting a community supported framework to support the next generation of MS data access technologies (LinQ for Entities and LinQ for SQL).

A good place to keep an eye on where things are headed is

http://channel9.msdn.com/ - for example:

http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=202138



... and various blogs, such as:

http://davidhayden.com/blog/dave/arc...6/12/2987.aspx

[milanbenes]

Morning All,

Shim, very sorry to hear this story especially with your situation with your new baby.

Good luck for the future,

Milan.

[milanbenes]

lads I have said this in the past, all of us, to preserve our existence MUST invest in looking at IT trends, thinking about what the companies will want, thinking about where the demand will be and where the most competition will be

then we have to steer ourselves through all this to keep ourselves in work, otherwise each and every one of us will die out like the dinosaurs

I have been preaching this rhetoric for years

Shim, you need to do _anything_ to get back into the game, once back in with a revenue stream, start planning the future and steering yourself in the direction where you see the best chance of getting in where the most demand is and will be

take one step back to take 5 forward, take a hit on rates to get back in, be away from home for a while, look further afield or abroad

remember, it's much easier to pull a bird when you already have one (you have a certain confidence) and it's much easier to get contracts when you already have one

training courses, forget it, buy books and buy tuliploads of books and buy books on the stuff in your orbit and any other orbits that your orbit crosses, a 30 quid book can give you the knowledge to win an interview and then it is down to you to live outside your comfort zone for a while and do the work and learn on the job, you never know when you will need books

study in your spare time, study Computer Weekly, what technologies are companies buying, study jobserve, in what technology area are the contracts with the highest rates and the longest durations, from your career so far, who are the contractors who have had the easiest life and highest rates and longest contracts get into what they are doing, it may take 2 years or so to steer yourself to that area but make a plan and go for it

if the future is uncertain, put some money away, work the weekends you get the chance to work

All the best,

Milan.