State of the Market

[SimonMac]

I am getting more calls than I did twelve months go, I guess I am lucky that I have never really struggled to find a job, or always been in a position that I don't need to find one ASAP, I think that some contractors market themselves out of roles by being too constrictive in their search, they wait and wait for a unicorn (great day rate, WFH or little commute) and in doing so let other roles pass them by.

The second major factor is the skill set, no offense to the devs here but they are now 10 a penny and the offshore guys are getting better, or less crap for the money difference, some roles are more transferable than others. It's hard to offshore a BA when the guys you need to work with are all on shore for example.

[kolata]

It's hard to offshore a BA when the guys you need to work with are all on shore for example.

Seriously, what does the BA do?
Really interested, I am in very different field.

[PrestonChris]

Looks like I picked a great time to start contracting then !

had a good first contract of 11 Months , pretty much saved most of my cash so luckily I can survive for a while

Had the summer off and have just started looking , seem to be about 2/3 Jobs a week that pop up

I have 19 years experience of Oracle Products and 3/4 of web tech

Live in Preston so happy to commute to Manchester / Liverpool , seem to be more jobs pop up over in Yorkshire than Lancashire for some reason

I'd happily relocate to London for a contract if required , early days yet so panic button not been firmly pressed yet !

[SimonMac]

Seriously, what does the BA do?
Really interested, I am in very different field.

Gets answers to questions that people don't really know they are asking!

(Not a BA myself, but worked with some very very good ones who have made or break a programme)

[oliverson]

I am getting more calls than I did twelve months go, I guess I am lucky that I have never really struggled to find a job, or always been in a position that I don't need to find one ASAP, I think that some contractors market themselves out of roles by being too constrictive in their search, they wait and wait for a unicorn (great day rate, WFH or little commute) and in doing so let other roles pass them by.

The second major factor is the skill set, no offense to the devs here but they are now 10 a penny and the offshore guys are getting better, or less crap for the money difference, some roles are more transferable than others. It's hard to offshore a BA when the guys you need to work with are all on shore for example.

I think there's some truth in this, which being a developer is hard to stomach. I think the Eastern Europeans are much better than the traditional plenty cheapness brigade. I would imagine they sit somewhere in between a UK contractor and a the typical Bangalore rate. Just depends if you want a team of average developers. But it's no secret the banks are just trying to cut costs to remain profitable and we are one of those biggest costs. But it's a short-sighted view because their market, certainly in the UK is being eroded by Fintech. They should be focused on fighting that battle so as to actually remain in business beyond the next 5 years, rather than save a bit of money here and there. I read a PWC paper that reckoned something like 20% or more of traditional financial institutions won't be around in 5 years. Let's hope Barclays are among the mix!

[Antman]

I worked for a consultancy that wanted to build a near-shore software factory in Poland in 2002 and I was interviewing developers over the phone, I remember asking one what he liked to do in his spare time, he replied "I like to build spatial databases", thought to myself "good job I moved out of programming!"

[cojak]

Time to go permie ?? Surely not

It you're only thinking about it now you're too late...

[kolata]

I think there's some truth in this, which being a developer is hard to stomach. I think the Eastern Europeans are much better than the traditional plenty cheapness brigade. I would imagine they sit somewhere in between a UK contractor and a the typical Bangalore rate. Just depends if you want a team of average developers. But it's no secret the banks are just trying to cut costs to remain profitable and we are one of those biggest costs. But it's a short-sighted view because their market, certainly in the UK is being eroded by Fintech. They should be focused on fighting that battle so as to actually remain in business beyond the next 5 years, rather than save a bit of money here and there. I read a PWC paper that reckoned something like 20% or more of traditional financial institutions won't be around in 5 years. Let's hope Barclays are among the mix!

I have known a few EEur devs/contractors here and none of them was on less than 500/day.
I know a lot of newbie/mid experience locals on less than that.

[AndrewK]

Gets answers to questions that people don't really know they are asking!

(Not a BA myself, but worked with some very very good ones who have made or break a programme)

I would say BA is guy, who can't write software or be PM.
And most of the time creates documentation which is not related to underlying problem...

[MrMarkyMark]

I would say BA is guy, who can't write software or be PM.
And most of the time creates documentation which is not related to underlying problem...

There are plenty that can do both, certainly I can
Its not that unusual when developing BI solutions.
I've also led teams of around 10 on a couple of projects, I don't know if that makes me a project manager, also?

That is what distinguishes people from the pack, IMO, a solid mix of tech and soft skills.