State of the Market

[DrGUID]

FTSE powering towards 9K but Jobserve vacancies have now collapsed to 23K. Something has to give.

Getting the occasional interview but it's one a week rather than two a day like in normal times.

There's been an uptick in agents asking for references (but the other candidates are supplying them). The latest is long conversation followed by an email with no job spec, just space for me to add my referees.

Not much on the boards apart from the numerous Noir ghost vacancies.

It kind of feels like 2002 when the general economy motored along but IT was in an epic hangover (and the FTSE did indeed collapse).

I will continue working on side projects...

[Fraidycat]

FTSE powering towards 9K but Jobserve vacancies have now collapsed to 23K. Something has to give.

There's been an uptick in agents asking for references

The FTSE 250 is a better indicator of the state of the UK contract market and it is still way off its high.

But in general the UK stock market is a joke compared to the US, Microsoft was recently worth more than the entire FTSE 100 combined, and you could buy the whole of the FTSE 250 as-well with the change you had left over.

Jobserve headline number can fluctuate quite a bit intra week as sometimes they seem to clear out the database and repopulate it, so some days it can under report.

As for references, you could give the annoying agent your previous Agency as the reference if you don't want to give them the end client.

[tsmith]

The FTSE 250 is a better indicator of the state of the UK contract market and it is still way off its high.

But in general the UK stock market is a joke compared to the US, Microsoft was recently worth more than the entire FTSE 100 combined, and you could buy the whole of the FTSE 250 as-well with the change you had left over.

Jobserve headline number can fluctuate quite a bit intra week as sometimes they seem to clear out the database and repopulate it, so some days it can under report.

As for references, you could give the annoying agent your previous Agency as the reference if you don't want to give them the end client.

FTSE ALL TIME HIGH! Meanwhile

“Today’s jobs figures are surprisingly poor, with a steep fall in employment and a sharp rise in those out of work, including an unexpected rise in unemployment,” Tony Wilson, the director at the Institute for Employment Studies, said.

https://www.theguardian.com/business...interest-rates

[dsc]

[...] including an unexpected rise in unemployment,”[...]

That's one way to bring down inflation even further...

[edison]

The UK stock market (FTSE100 or FTSE250) isn't powering towards anything. Their performance over the last decade has been staggeringly bad (as per Reuters):

NASDAQ +388%
S&P500 +259%
Nikkei Japan + 138%
Eursostoxx +62%
FTSE100 +13%
FTSE250 MINUS 17%

The UK market weighting in the MCSI world index has halved in the last 15 years. It seems hardly any investors want to buy UK stocks and it's not surprising considering the dull plodding companies that make up most of the index.

Between the two indices, it gives a good idea of how UK companies are poor wealth creators and by extension, well paid job creators.

[CoolCat]

The UK stock market is only up because the pound has gone down against the dollar, and any predicted dividends look higher in dollars with the new exchange rates... so people are prepared to pay more for stock with the same dollar returns

On the other hand any Brit invested in US stocks, will see they have gained massively in the last few months

FTSE ALL TIME HIGH! Meanwhile

“Today’s jobs figures are surprisingly poor, with a steep fall in employment and a sharp rise in those out of work, including an unexpected rise in unemployment,” Tony Wilson, the director at the Institute for Employment Studies, said.

https://www.theguardian.com/business...interest-rates

[umeshk]

I've been benched for almost 5 months now, running on fumes now financially. I've been on a couple of permie interviews, but trying to explain why I want to go back to perm role after contracting seems to be a hurdle I'm not able to get over. I've even got to a point I'm going for perm roles with salaries when I first started in IT in my early 20's. Is that a mistake, or should I just take it on the chin, take the role to atleast have income?

[escapeUK]

I've been benched for almost 5 months now, running on fumes now financially. I've been on a couple of permie interviews, but trying to explain why I want to go back to perm role after contracting seems to be a hurdle I'm not able to get over. I've even got to a point I'm going for perm roles with salaries when I first started in IT in my early 20's. Is that a mistake, or should I just take it on the chin, take the role to atleast have income?

Can't you just say, at this stage in your career you would like the stability of a perm role? Holiday pay, sickness pay, pension, just list a few of the things that the interviewer will no doubt see as benefits they too enjoy. What you must not come over is as a contractor who just wants to take a perm role to make ends meet for 6 months, even if that is the case!

[dsc]

I've been benched for almost 5 months now, running on fumes now financially. I've been on a couple of permie interviews, but trying to explain why I want to go back to perm role after contracting seems to be a hurdle I'm not able to get over. I've even got to a point I'm going for perm roles with salaries when I first started in IT in my early 20's. Is that a mistake, or should I just take it on the chin, take the role to atleast have income?

Just say you've had enough of contracting instability and want a nice, steady position. Seems to work for me.

As for going for any role, you probably need to dumb down your cv for entry roles, as I doubt a lot of companies would take on someone way overqualified. If you are in a dire financial situation then any job will be better than no job. Best of luck!

[Bluenose]

Is that a mistake, or should I just take it on the chin, take the role to atleast have income?

Might as well take a permie role for 24 months and come back here.