State of the Market

[TheDude]

Serves them right. IB's have always been completely up themselves. Don't have IB experience then you have no chance of ever getting an interview despite how good your skills are. Only sector I haven't worked in I think, never had a sniff in 27 years of contracting.

I walked straight into Goldman Sachs as a lateral hire. They wouldn't have touched me as a grad but were happy to take me with non banking industry experience.

[TheDude]

Or the fact you can't find C++ Developers for £40,000 is because the going rate for that skillset is £55,000...

Depends which sector.

[TheDude]

Just coming out out of a very well paid IB role after almost 4 years.....I can tell you right now they are all on a race to the bottom rates wise your going to have to target non financial services if you want to get any decent work going forwards.

They axed all the London based developers & support staff same day to save money as they appear to be in deep financial trouble......like so many in IBs they relied on the fake offshore based (but actually near shore based!) suppliers of talentless bottom feeders....the end results are already more steep losses due to lack of experienced IT staff to contain the damage..........!!

My last gig was at a European IB. There were about 200 developers on the floor and I estimate at least 50% had recently moved to the UK from India. It was quite clear that they weren't being paid the sort of salaries that one would expect for a dev role at an IB.

[TheDude]

Had this through today if it's of interest to anyone (no rate provided):


Morgan Stanley -MOR3JP00011529 (Previously MOR3JP00011444) - Scrum Master CONTRACT (Glasgow)
Job Title: Scrum Master
Location: GBR | - | Glasgow | 3 days on site, 2 days WFH
Duration: 12 months


About Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services.
As a market leader, the talent and passion of our people is critical to our success. Together, we share a common set of values rooted in integrity, excellence, and strong team ethic. We can provide a superior foundation for building a professional career – a place for people to learn, to achieve and grow. A philosophy that balances personal lifestyles, perspectives and needs is an important part of our culture.

Team Overview:
The Scrum Master of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) Engineering group in the Core Infrastructure division at Morgan Stanley is responsible for designing, implementing and managing the firm?s huge scale global physical and virtual server infrastructure. The group is involved in evaluation, certification, integration, and maintenance of numerous products, including hardware, hypervisor, the Linux O/S, system configuration, critical infrastructure services (DNS, DHCP, NTP, etc.), load-balancing capabilities, high availability products and virtualization management technologies. There is a large software development and integration aspect to most of our work, as we enable our customers to practice DevOps techniques by provisioning and managing infrastructure as code.

Key Responsibilities:
• We are seeking a Scrum Master to join our organization in Glasgow, co-located with two squads in the early stages of Agile adoption.
• You will be responsible for improving value-add, flow rate, quality standards, predictability and continuous improvement of your teams, as well as participating in the firms rapidly expanding horizontal Agile practice spanning numerous technology areas.
• You will use Agile methodology values, principles and practices to plan, manage, and deliver solutions.
• Facilitate and coordinate agile ceremonies, and manage workflow through Jira • Create and deliver a reporting framework for team members and management • Train and mentor squad members in Agile techniques • Work with product owners to handle roadmaps, backlogs and new requests • Monitor progress and performance and help teams institute effective change • Help build a productive environment where team members own and enjoy working on their products

Skills Required:
• Experience in a scrum master or service delivery manager role • Excellent knowledge of Scrum and Kanban techniques, ceremonies and artifacts • Familiarity with software development teams/projects • Strong analytical and problem solving and conflict resolution skills

Desired Skills:
• Experience working with virtual teams

IB rates plunge when they are not in London.

[willendure]

As predicted, my interview was a waste of time. Not the right person for the job at all - they were looking for someone with much stronger infrastructure/networking background and that just isn't my bag. F**ing HR person completely clueless.

However, the guys I spoke to who were based in Mumbai actually seemed like a decent bunch and were apologetic about their HR. They will probably be looking for someone with my skill set a few months down the line.

A good practice run at any rate.

[SussexSeagull]

Not had a face to face interview since 2018. All Zoom/Teams since then.

I checked and my last one was March 2019. One thing that doesn't seem to be coming back post lockdown.

[SussexSeagull]

WFH staff are striking due to being asked to come back to the office.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y2vgg1x0qo

This is level the workforce has reached, that if they can't WFH, they will strike on the office days. Blows my mind TBH. Why not just, go to the office and work.

Are you a fan of going back to the office by any chance?

[eek]

Are you a fan of going back to the office by any chance?

He’s logic is that is that he has a chance of a contract if the only option is 5 days a week in London so everyone else rules themselves out.

the irony is I’m quite enjoying 2 days a week in London - I get to go to a show on Wednesday night

[ShandyDrinker]

I have been contracting for 17 years and never got near to working in the City. It is more of a closed shop than SC roles.

Problem is in London and the South East, and maybe further afield, if the City isn't employing contractors, and as they mainly seem to be Inside now I am happy describing it as that, then it drags the whole region down with it.

Although picking up a post from yesterday, people have to be prepared to take a different route if they're not getting work in the city. I unsuccessfully tried for a while to get work in the city and didn't get a sniff. Then in late 2010 a contract came up at JP Morgan in Dublin which, although I got through the interview fine, ended up having to reject as I got a contract elsewhere. Fast forward 6 months and I tried a similar approach but with BAML instead and got the contract. I worked there on and off for a couple of years and then got transferred to London and worked there for another couple of years. Following that, I've had a number of city based contracts ever since.

The point here is that sometimes you have to take a crappy contract in the arse end of nowhere to put the name on your CV, it can then open doors.

I'm not sure it would work now as I am of the opinion contracting is more on its backside than I've ever seen it, but for anyone wanting to break into a particular sector, take an unconventional route if necessary.

With the city and IB contracts (or jobs), take something in a Dublin, Belfast, Glasgow, Bournemouth or Birmingham and then see if you can get transferred to London. Even if not, the name familiarity may well open doors.

In the current market and having seen other comments on this thread about to WFH or not, I know damn well that after over 10 years of primarily WFH, a differentiator in the next contract may well be that I have to be prepared to be in the office 5 days a week. I don't relish the idea, but if it means I can get work because someone else is being sniffy about it then their loss is my gain. It's a dog eat dog world.

Likewise on the inside versus outside argument. I don't want to work via umbrella or inside via a limited but if them's the rules of the new game then make the most of it. Max out the pension while you still can if at all possible and try to make sure you get a contract within commuting distance.

[Cookielove]

I had an interview today, glad it was via Teams and I'd not wasted train fares it was a shocker...basically asking how quickly can you do x,y and z.

Like being timed on a production line how quick can you do tasks...it was bizarre. Then to top it off expected to be in the office full time although person I'd be working for based in another country and fully remote so why the need to be in the office ...control I guess and to be awkward as the wording was put as any reason why you can't come to the office every day so it started off on the offensive without me even asking about the working pattern...it was awful just awful.....

Am off to drown my sorrows as it all seems so grim