State of the Market

[eek]

You won't have accrued much leave but it's worth saving that to shave some time off your notice period. Also going sick is another good tactic. You'll only get statutory sick pay if they don't have a more comprehensive offering but that can also help get you out quicker. Sometimes you find, if you go sick, a company will offer a payment for you to leave

Stress is a very easy way to get a sicknote.

Also you can't expect people to work a long notice period if they haven't been there that long.

All you can do is negotiate in a way that means they will be glad to see the back of you...

[MyUserName]

I accepted a perm offer back in November, interview was tough, 150 applicants and I bagged 1 of the 3 jobs available. Salary not great but offered a move into a more hands-off role which is what I thought I wanted.

Came to sign the paperwork and HR knocked a few k off the already crappy salary as they don't offer the top of the banding to anyone apparently. Should have walked but a month or so out of work looking for something else over Christmas was more than what they had reduced the salary by.

Fast forward nearly 5 months and the job is a contract disguised as a perm role. There is no future job and in 18 months we will all be gone. Nothing official has been released but when you are decommissioning everything...

Plus 7 hour days have quickly turned into 8 hours on calls then an hour or 2 in the evening to work through emails. Bliss...

So started looking two weeks ago and the perm market seems booming however, a 3 month notice period means moving back into contracting takes a leap of faith. As it happens an agent spotted my CV and called about a contract, he sounded quite genuine and said it was folly to quit, market is still dreadful with lots of applicants for every contract.

So I've started looking for perm positions that work in markets / tech that have a future. 4 interviews booked in within the first couple of days. Had 2 already, first was a total disaster, data science job but no data science questions interviewed by a young hipster asking random questions. Second went great, decent money and back into a mixture of hands-on/off, should be getting back to me on Monday.

Turned down a few interviews due to rubbish companies or mental tech tests, one being design and create a full meeting booking system.

2 more interviews this week.

If London is any use to you give me a shout if these do not pan out, we are hiring.

[DrGUID]

Is anyone else finding 2021 worse than 2020? Having zero luck since the turn of the year. Not even with bread n butter gigs, paying terrible rates. I had more interviews last year...

Has anyone picked up odd jobs to avoid eating into the warchest? Such as deliveries, admin, tutoring etc.

I am getting more emails than 2020 but they're mostly quite generic (e.g. for SAP when I'm a C# guy). Phonecalls are vanishingly rare.

Granted I am not in a super hot location but things are pretty bad. I would say that there are so many people looking, which is the main problem.

On the bright side, I have done some supreme can kicking since last February. I got a month's salary for a role I never started (due to lockdown) and I got a bit of .gov cash doing half a PGCE (which I quit because although there are loads of IT teacher vacancies it's a soul destroying job due to the bullying from other members of staff).

I'm currently working on some side projects which are doing so well I might not have to ever set foot in a place of work again. That would please me immensely because I was interviewed last week for an organisation who will remain nameless and the interview process was more about their virtue signalling than my requirement to gain employment.

Well good luck everyone although I suspect the bounce may never come. It just feels like the mid-90's all over again (I don't know what they were like for IT jobs but the market in general was meh).

[GhostofTarbera]

a 3 month notice period means moving back into contracting takes a leap of faith.

How so??? Get Contract, wait until passed vetting etc and everything locked down, start new contract, email current Co and say your not coming back

job done, What is the penalty for not completing 3 months period? (none i thought not)

[Gould The Swimmer]

I seem to have noticed that day rate and stress levels are inversely proportional so I think it will be a no to lowly paid roles from now on. Just hooe I never get that desperate.

[eek]

I seem to have noticed that day rate and stress levels are inversely proportional so I think it will be a no to lowly paid roles from now on. Just hooe I never get that desperate.

That's always been the case - companies paying more are usually more organised.

[northernladuk]

That's always been the case - companies paying more are usually more organised.

Not so sure I agree with that. Investment banks can be top payers but can be high pressure messy roles. Also public sector can have poorly paid high stress jobs. I think, at best, any correlation between pay and stress should be taken with a large pinch of salt. It doesn't stand up to any theory if I think back to my gigs. Complete mix with no correlation.

I do not agree with Goulds comment though. I don't think anything but specualtion and a lucky guess about stress can be gleaned from the day rate. Also what is stress? A full busy days work stresses some people out and it's what we are paid for.

[ladymuck]

Not so sure I agree with that. Investment banks can be top payers but can be high pressure messy roles. Also public sector can have poorly paid high stress jobs. I think, at best, any correlation between pay and stress should be taken with a large pinch of salt. It doesn't stand up to any theory if I think back to my gigs. Complete mix with no correlation.

I do not agree with Goulds comment though. I don't think anything but specualtion and a lucky guess about stress can be gleaned from the day rate. Also what is stress? A full busy days work stresses some people out and it's what we are paid for.

I'd hazard that, in the sticky end of banking (IB), the more the pay the crapper the job and the more hours and pounds of flesh they'll demand. Far too much effort for me so I'm glad to have never worked in that industry (although I did get interviewed by Goldman Sachs a few years ago to tick the "we considered hiring a female" box).

[Fraidycat]

I think of it over 3 variables: rate, work load, and work quality (quality being the most subjective: interesting or boring, good tech stack, competent client and teammates etc)

Current gig is: medium pay, high work load, high work quality.

The only time I worked in the City was for RBS. It was high pay, low workload, low quality (boring to the point of wanting to )

The best gig i had was during the dot com bubble for a startup: very high pay, medium work load, high work quality.

The worst ever had was a permie role: low pay, high work load, medium work quality.

[Lance]

I think of it over 3 variables: rate, work load, and work quality (quality being the most subjective: interesting or boring, good tech stack, competent client and teammates etc)

Current gig is: medium pay, high work load, high work quality.

The only time I worked in the City was for RBS. It was high pay, low workload, low quality (boring to the point of wanting to )

The best gig i had was during the dot com bubble for a startup: very high pay, medium work load, high work quality.

The worst ever had was a permie role: low pay, high work load, medium work quality.

inneresting