State of the Market

[hungry_hog]

I think the same way apps have made dating completely disposable, LinkedIn has made the job search process disposable

In the old days you would go for a coffee with a trusted agent when job searching, after that maybe have a phone call once every couple weeks
how's the market - anything coming up - is John Smith still at Bank X - no he got kicked out after 15 pints at lunchtime

People would use select agents (e.g. Robert Walters), now there are a million agencies, most of them utter fools

[TheDude]

Whilst I agree with keeping up with the latest trends in technology, legacy platforms don't disappear overnight and there has historically been a market in them. That kind of lends itself to more experienced contractors for clients where it isn't worth training their own staff on something on it's way out.

Most banks run on Java - there will be JVM work for decades to come.

[TheDude]

In the old days you would go for a coffee with a trusted agent

Trusted agent?

[Bluenose]

Trusted agent?

Back in the day, yes. To a point of course, they are sales people at the end of the day.

Business relationships were valued as a way of building your business / contract desk up and some effort was invested to ensure that you were kept happy and new opportunities followed-up / explored.

These days, I am not sure how many of these contract recruitment desks are staying afloat due to their 100% disposable approach to how they deal with you. Yes, there is large volume in the lower end software development /engineering market but its a crowded trade with really thin margins.

Look at Adecco's share price, its likely that this is still a bear market for EU Contract staff and that last May/June was just a dead cat bounce in the market.

[gables]

Trusted agent?

Yeah definitely (as Bluenose alludes) back in the 90s for me anyway; I had a great relationship with an agent who seemed to represent me a bit like an actor\agent type thing - probably wasn't but just felt that way.

[The Green View]

I remember when I first got into IT I did a tour of the circle line, booted and suited, armed with a stack of copies of my CV. Got my first job from that trip & that particular agent got me several other contract roles down the years.

He was proper old school though - told me to make sure I'd had a shave & had done up my tie correctly before I went for the interview . That was the 90s & I'm guessing he's retired now.

[SussexSeagull]

You certainly used to be able to form alliances with agents if you could prove you could get through an interview process and do a contract without too much fuss. Fast forward to today and I have gone through an entire contract (as in been recruited, paid and worked until the end date) without actually physically speaking to or meeting the agent and communicating entirely via e-mail or messenger.

[oliverson]

Most banks run on Java - there will be JVM work for decades to come.

If you like being inside IR35.

[gables]

If you like being inside IR35.

Hmmm, so imagine you've been out of a contract for 4 months like some on here allude to, and along comes a £600/day probably for a year, so let's say 220 days yielding £132k you're going to say no because it's inside IR35?

[TheDude]

If you like being inside IR35.

If you like well paid fairly reliable income why not?

I am netting considerably more inside IR35 than I did in my last outside gig.