State of the Market

[Highland]

Quit a perm job in June, decently well paid (c.£110k base) but breached my tolerance limit for bulltulip and not much upward trajectory. 3 month notice period which was a drag.

Started contracting again this month, £750p/d inside. It's nice to be back as simply the hired help for a while

InfoSec in the energy industry.

[Fraidycat]

I didn't make it in one civilservice role where I made to interview stage but it appears that they seem to have some standard answers for questions such as "Give me an example when you blah,blah? (supported your team, team member, helped change project direction etc)"

I had a screening interview with a HR person earlier this year for a perm role, i watched this guy before hand, he can really get you in the mood to answer those kinds tulipe questions. I really laid it on thick during the interview. Just like this guy..

[TheDude]

I had a screening interview with a HR person earlier this year for a perm role, i watched this guy before hand, he can really get you in the mood to answer those kinds tulipe questions. I really laid it on thick during the interview. Just like this guy..

I haven't had an HR interview for years - the last one I had I didn't even bother to conceal my contempt for these sort of questions and still got the gig.

[edison]

I haven't had an HR interview for years - the last one I had I didn't even bother to conceal my contempt for these sort of questions and still got the gig.

I've had interviews with HR bods for three contracts I've done, mainly for senior roles. The best interview feedback I've ever had came from two HR bods. One even spoke to me for a few minutes straight after the interview and gave me some very useful feedback on my CV which I've used to this day.

Not all HR people are awful although many seem to have working practices that don't fit the modern world of work so well.

I skipped quickly through that Youtube video above but the gist of what he was saying, that many candidates aren't very well prepared, is definitely true. Hence why you don't need that much to stand out.

Having interviewed many perm and contractor candidates over the years, it amazes me how so many are really underwhelming.

[CoolCat]

Interviews are a really poor way of deciding if the candidate is suitable. It is surprising that recruitment has not moved on.

[PCTNN]

Quite slow UX market at the moment. My contract ends in January 2024 with another very likely 6 months extension. Not many live roles around at the moment, but I've spoken with 3 agents and they all told me the same thing: clients (mainly in the public sector) are currently discussing budgets for next year, there will be plenty roles coming up from January so I may have a few options.

I also have the option to go back to an old client, a bank, as a permanent this time. The salary on the table is 80-85k plus benefits. I currently am on 500 a day, inside ir35 so the permie offer is on the same level give or take. I just don't know if mentally I'm ready to go back to permieland once again. I'm enjoying the lack of permie bs.

[Fraidycat]

Interviews are a really poor way of deciding if the candidate is suitable. It is surprising that recruitment has not moved on.

It has moved on for developers but not in a good way.

Because most interviews are done on zoom now, it has given companies the excuse of watching developers do live coding.

In the old days they might given a coding test on paper or do a test on a PC setup in the office while they left the room and let you get on with it.

Now they want to watch you type every key stroke.

[eek]

It has moved on for developers but not in a good way.

Because most interviews are done on zoom now, it has given companies the excuse of watching developers do live coding.

In the old days they might given a coding test on paper or do a test on a PC setup in the office while they left the room and let you get on with it.

Now they want to watch you type every key stroke.

That would be an immediate - nope...

[BigDataPro]

...Now they want to watch you type every key stroke.

I guess the reason could be to catch cheaters. There are many youtube videos where the candidate merely copies the code from a from site while on full screen share :-), somebody sitting elsewhere answering questions while this guy does lip syncing etc.

[Dark Black]

Quit a perm job in June, decently well paid (c.£110k base) but breached my tolerance limit for bulltulip and not much upward trajectory. 3 month notice period which was a drag.

Started contracting again this month, £750p/d inside. It's nice to be back as simply the hired help for a while

InfoSec in the energy industry.

I went perm () last year after finding the market for contracting really quiet, having depleted my war chest during the pandemic.
Absolutely hating it for all the usual reasons.

Really want to quit and return to contracting, but the market still seems quiet and/or poor rates for what is about