State of the Market

[TheDude]

The problem is, I am nobody else's employee. I am committed to my own Limited Company of some 24 years. It has it's own obligations that need to be met.

Then there's the tax. I'm ferociously opposed to paying high levels, actually ANY level of tax, when I see how successive governments have, and continue to, piss it up against a wall, funding illegal immigrants and sending money abroad.

Sounds to me like your primary business is tax efficiency.

[oliverson]

Sounds to me like your primary business is tax efficiency.

Need to keep the shareholders happy!!

[edison]

Most successful interviews I have had for contracts have been south of half an hour with the odd one going up to 45 minutes. When they go beyond that or into multi stages I am always fairly sure I won't get it.

Also if you don't hear back in 24 hours it in all probability won't be you.

I suppose logically someone must get these gigs but I suspect if it is a drawn out process the client is actually undecided whether they need a contractor at all.

I seem to be the complete opposite other than the interviews I've had with known acquaintances which were more like cosy chats.

One time, I was interviewed by the Global CIO, Head of HR, Global Audit Director and Global Head of Treasury Management. Thankfully all the interviews went really well so it didn't seem too painful although I'm not sure I could cope with that now.

My first gig was four interviews including the European CIO and lastly, a director from the business side. The latter was conducted on the phone whilst I was sat in my car at a music festival and we spent most of the time taking about music. Needless to say, I passed the 'cultural fit' test and got the role LOL.

[SchumiStars]

Most successful interviews I have had for contracts have been south of half an hour with the odd one going up to 45 minutes. When they go beyond that or into multi stages I am always fairly sure I won't get it.

Also if you don't hear back in 24 hours it in all probability won't be you.

I suppose logically someone must get these gigs but I suspect if it is a drawn out process the client is actually undecided whether they need a contractor at all.

Yep, I can agree with all of what is written. One of my interviews was 15mins on the phone, he asked me about my previous experience and one of the projects I manage to get working was one he had originally worked on.

He said, well if you managed to get that out of the door for ClientCo, you know what you are doing. Mon, 9am pls and put the phone down.

When I graduated, it was the dot.com. I went to first interview with my suit and brief case and the managing director gave me the contract across the desk after I had impressed the tech director with my knowledge of ADODB.Connectionn and collections and classes.

After that I had another 5 offers all within the space of a few days, literally going from one interview to another.

It gave me a lot of confidence and I still use a lot of the same interview technique to closing down the offers. Think I still have the brief case as well

As a contractor, we have to invest in ourselves. Having technical ability is great but if you can't sell yourself, then you dead in the water.

OS/2 Warp was a better product than Windows 3.11 but Microsoft know how to market and so that's what sold. Not to mention that MS killed IBM when they found that they had used there code.

....My gosh, I good do with a few offers right now.

[sadkingbilly]

OS/2 Warp was a better product than Windows 3.11 but Microsoft know how to market and so that's what sold. Not to mention that MS killed IBM when they found that they had used there code.

....My gosh, I good do with a few offers right now.

oops.
'killed IBM'?? really? - where did all the mainframes come from?

[Snooky]

The latter was conducted on the phone whilst I was sat in my car at a music festival and we spent most of the time taking about music. Needless to say, I passed the 'cultural fit' test and got the role LOL.

I've had a few like that, where I've found something in common with the interviewer (usually music) and deliberately pushed the conversation down that road so they (a) went away with a good "chat with a friend" feeling at the end of the interview and (b) didn't have the opportunity to ask too many questions. They've always resulted in an offer.

[Dorkeaux]

I've had a few like that, where I've found something in common with the interviewer (usually music) and deliberately pushed the conversation down that road so they (a) went away with a good "chat with a friend" feeling at the end of the interview and (b) didn't have the opportunity to ask too many questions. They've always resulted in an offer.

I'm with your point a). Always good to have something in common and leave a good impression.

I think point b) starts to verge into the "Do anything to make the employer offer me the job" territory.
Which is fine if that is your only goal. Plenty of people do this, along with the cap-in-hand variation.

As I've said previously, the best interviews I participate in are conducted as two parties trying to work out if you are a good fit for one another or not.
Lots of questions on both sides.

[oliverson]

I'm with your point a). Always good to have something in common and leave a good impression.

I think point b) starts to verge into the "Do anything to make the employer offer me the job" territory.
Which is fine if that is your only goal. Plenty of people do this, along with the cap-in-hand variation.

As I've said previously, the best interviews I participate in are conducted as two parties trying to work out if you are a good fit for one another or not.
Lots of questions on both sides.

Employer? Job? Please explain!! Lol.

[SussexSeagull]

Based on permanent roles but we are looking for contracts in the same environment.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c30qzng45mzo

[oliverson]

Based on permanent roles but we are looking for contracts in the same environment.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c30qzng45mzo

The bit of action I was seeing has basically died a death over the last week. Whether that's due to the 'decision makers are all on holiday' old chestnut I don't know.