State of the Market

[SussexSeagull]

In the dot com crash I was an Architect. I took on 2 much lower paid contracts during a bad period. No contract needs a solid 8 or 9 hours of my time, so it's just a case of saying no to certain tasks and learn to manage time better. It's not for everybody, but if you know when to say no and don't let a company abuse you like a donkey, it can work well. It's only for making ends meet in a contracting sense and not something I would recommend if you're at a senior level, as you'll get found out quickly. Lower paid roles are easier to do. If all I could get was 2 x £250pd outside IR35 roles and they looked easy I'd do that in a heartbeat over zero work for months. Thankfully I haven't had to do it since, but I know people who concurrently do 2 or 3 contracts and are raking in a fortune. They are very intelligent and impressively organised. I value my life and take one higher rate role at a time these days.

Unless they are asking you to do something outside the project you agreed on or something else that sets alarm bells off on the IR35 front, I am not sure saying no to tasks the client want you to do as part of your contract is going to go down all that well.

[PCTNN]

If you are struggling, consider taking two contracts at the same time, with at least one of those not necessarily in your realms of expertise. 2 x £300 outside contracts that you have to think on your feet is better than zero contracts and zero calls.

This must be one of the most stupid things I've read this year. In a time where folks are complaining and struggling to find 1 contract, your suggestion is to find 2 and even better, 2 outside ones.

[PCTNN]

I am a UX and i took a break in January to spend time with my family. Now that I was thinking of going back to work I can't seem to find any contracts. There are a good number of permanent openings but contracting is dead. As if IR35 was not enough. Not sure when you see a turnaround all i hear is that we have avoided recession and that businesses are cautious and we may see some recovery signs by the end of this year.

UX contract market is bad, the permie one is not better. Yes there are more opportunities but it's a candidate heavy market, with 10 designers for every job.

[dx4100]

Did a technical test last week, 30 min interview yesterday lunchtime and got the verbal offer 5pm last night. Managed to negotiate the start date for a couple of weeks as well so I can finish off the current gig properly. Contract likely to last until December so fairly pleased given the state of the market.

Rate is reasonable as well - 500 outside - can't be picky at the moment.

Ive got three interviews in the calendar I need to cancel now. Keep the faith people. There is work out there.

I was thinking last night that it pays dividends right now to be more of a generalist than a specialist. Means when you throw your net out you have more opportunities to catch something.

Personally I can fill many roles to an high enough level to do them on a contract basis. Anything from Lead / Senior Dev roles, Principle Architect, Team Lead, Dev Ops Engineer, Front End Dev and so on. Always made sure my skill set and experience was varied. I think thats the key at the moment. Means I can present myself in different ways for different roles and also be the do everything guy for the small companies that need that.

I think if you are just a UX guy or just a Dev Ops guy then your options are just to narrow in the current market.

Good luck to everyone on the hunt.

[dx4100]

Another thought...

I don't get this want to do outside gigs. I have always done a mixture of inside and outside. Never noticed a difference inside the companies I have worked with and its much less hassle doing inside.

I would prefer inside gigs these days given the savings on outside gigs aren't great given most of us are remote now.

Stop worrying about inside / outside.... Just sort yourself a contract.

[agentzero]

This must be one of the most stupid things I've read this year. In a time where folks are complaining and struggling to find 1 contract, your suggestion is to find 2 and even better, 2 outside ones.

Two very poorly paid contracts. Some very poor rates are posted as jokes on this forum. £200/day outside isn't a good rate, but two of those concurrently isn't so bad. We're not living in a Victorian workhouse, so doing two of those gigs is viable.
They see a senior CV and think they're getting more than they're paying for, but in reality are getting just what they paid for. If something outside of a SoW is asked of me I generally don't touch it, so I say no all the time to things. Most of the projects I work on are 6 months to 1 year duration. I've not been out of a contract for a decade.

[TheGreenBastard]

This must be one of the most stupid things I've read this year. In a time where folks are complaining and struggling to find 1 contract, your suggestion is to find 2 and even better, 2 outside ones.

I'd say saying and suggesting it now (and working for a pittance) isn't the smartest choice.

The smart thing to do is multi-gig during the boom times, for full fat rates, but operating an actual business is frowned upon round these parts.

I continue to do it and surprise surprise business continuity remains robust.

[eek]

I'd say saying and suggesting it now (and working for a pittance) isn't the smartest choice.

The smart thing to do is multi-gig during the boom times, for full fat rates, but operating an actual business is frowned upon round these parts.

I continue to do it and surprise surprise business continuity remains robust.

Oh the smart thing is to operate as a proper business - the problem is that the nature of how we are recruited can make that very difficult.

You really need to be negotiating with the end client directly (without agency middle men) to get into that sort of position.

[TheGreenBastard]

Another thought...

I don't get this want to do outside gigs. I have always done a mixture of inside and outside. Never noticed a difference inside the companies I have worked with and its much less hassle doing inside.

I would prefer inside gigs these days given the savings on outside gigs aren't great given most of us are remote now.

Stop worrying about inside / outside.... Just sort yourself a contract.

Outside = analogous to running an actual business, the business proceeds can be invested in other businesses BTL, in a tax efficient manor.

[TheDude]

Outside = analogous to running an actual business, the business proceeds can be invested in other businesses BTL, in a tax efficient manor.

You can pay your spouse £12.5k a year to do F-all as well.