State of the Market

[BlueSharp]

I'm hearing some of those London head's have been found as far North as Coventry, things must be bad in the Smoke!

[FIERCE TANK BATTLE]

I'm thinking of making the switch to contracting soon, but am having second thoughts after seeing this thread. I got told it's easier to leave the permie job before looking for a contract (because contracts don't wait), but that means it'll be August by the time I serve the notice period.

Not sure if this is a great idea, but I really needed a change in project due to various reasons, do you guys think the market will pick up much in September?

My background is technical (dev lead in consultancy, 10+ years in Java, past few years on AWS/IBM Cloud/Docker, worked on UI a bit in Node.js a bit to help out the team but won't say it's up to professional level).

My advice is don't, unless you have a war chest for at least 9-12 months, because that's likely to be how long you'll be stuck looking for a contract.

[PerfectStorm]

Contracts all say they don't wait, but by the time you've sorted an interview, maybe had a second one, waited for a contract to turn up, any background checking (finance/govt), waited for the IT account/laptop to be set up etc then you'll usually find they've waited at least a couple of weeks. You can use this timing to apply for jobs before a renewal, safe in the knowledge that it will usually take weeks to get anywhere near 'confirmed', but you're saving time by fishing early

Tell people you're immediately available, then reveal information as you need to. It's up to you when you serve your existing contract, and you can always have a word to see if you can get out early.

[SussexSeagull]

Up and down week. Had a phone interview on Monday which went well only to discover it went to someone who knew someone who works there. At least this proves the point about networking, I suppose!

Been quiet since then though.

[PCTNN]

Contracts all say they don't wait, but by the time you've sorted an interview, maybe had a second one, waited for a contract to turn up, any background checking (finance/govt), waited for the IT account/laptop to be set up etc then you'll usually find they've waited at least a couple of weeks. You can use this timing to apply for jobs before a renewal, safe in the knowledge that it will usually take weeks to get anywhere near 'confirmed', but you're saving time by fishing early

Tell people you're immediately available, then reveal information as you need to. It's up to you when you serve your existing contract, and you can always have a word to see if you can get out early.

Another possibility when moving from permanent to contract can be to accrue holidays and take them during your notice. So say you have a 4 week notice but 2 weeks in accrued holidays, you can potentially start the contract while still technically on holiday and employed by the permie company, with a minimum overlap.

Anyways, I found that clients are usually willing to wait for you to work your notice. And, if they're not willing and desperately need you pronto, that should raise some concerns around the type of project you're getting yourself into.

[BionicTeddyBear]

I'm shocked how quiet it is out there when trying to get .NET contracts. Is anyone else experiencing this?

I feel like I'm having to fight for breadcrumbs.

[uk contractor]

I'm shocked how quiet it is out there when trying to get .NET contracts. Is anyone else experiencing this?

I feel like I'm having to fight for breadcrumbs.

Its been like this for a long time now you got lucky before or had a decent network to fall back on if this is your first experience of the massive IT contracts downturn.

[Bluenose]

I'm shocked how quiet it is out there when trying to get .NET contracts. Is anyone else experiencing this?

I feel like I'm having to fight for breadcrumbs.

This is the bottom of the market, brighter times will come in Q4 going into new year.

Just need to find somewhere to hide until then.

[BionicTeddyBear]

Its been like this for a long time now you got lucky before or had a decent network to fall back on if this is your first experience of the massive IT contracts downturn.

I understand that it's been bad for a while but I was still able to find contracts.

I came to terms with the fact that the days of constantly being hassled by agents are gone. However, I never ever thought that I would be the one doing the hassling.

[BionicTeddyBear]

This is the bottom of the market, brighter times will come in Q4 going into new year.

Just need to find somewhere to hide until then.

I can't say that I'm all that optimistic about that.

The economy is taking a battering and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Especially not until we get some certainty.

If we "no-deal" that certainty won't be here for years.