noobs elusive 1st contract

[BrilloPad]

Get a permie role if you can. Then keep applying for contracts.

Best of luck with your search.

I usually people wait until they get the advice they want to hear. No-one had suggested that so I thought it was worthwhile!

[rjoe]

Sadly I disagree. The whole point of getting a contractor in is to get a specialist in that can bring valuable and related experience in. They can hire any old permie that thinks they can do the job. Someone with experience of that type of work will know the pitfalls and shortcuts and will be much better placed to deliver than someone learning on the fly.

It's pretty fundamental to contracting IMO.

Sure, I understand that, especially when you're talking specific technology XP. But even then, someone who's maybe not too familiar with the platform, but who constructs well-written code in other languages and has worked on similar platforms and has done some other cool stuff. You gonna chuck them out the equation?
I've been handed solutions built by so called specialists which have turned out to be a pile of rubbish, full of bugs, and as they've buggered off onto another gig it's the permies who have to pick up the pieces, rewrite things from scratch. I've worked with so called specialists who've been horrendous company, total waste of money. So when it came to hiring contractors myself, I made sure they could think outside the box. In my view, someone with broader XP is going to have better appreciation for quality, can join the dots and think more laterally.

[FrontEnder]

Guess what I've found the most tricky is, where my XP is broad and varied, I have been going for a variety of roles. The feedback I get then is the client is looking for out-and-out individuals. Now in my view that's a bit short-sighted and sitting on the other side of the fence when I recruited permies and contractors, your prima donna expert is usually more of an inflexible difficult-to-manage personality, than someone who is agnostic to both technology and methods, but who applies their skills to whatever given situation. However what with the PM market being saturated, I guess it is too much effort for some to look outside the box.

So that's a bit frustrating, as I know I could do a good job there, maybe it's just not meant to be and maybe I wouldn't want to work there anyway, but a gig's a gig, right?

At least I'm finding my way around and now gravitating towards the few agencies who've bothered to have a decent conversation with me and who in turn have put me through for a few quality gigs early in the pipe.

Then you should tailor your CV to the role, put the things they want front and center. Then tell them that you are an expert in what they want.

[northernladuk]

Guess what I've found the most tricky is, where my XP is broad and varied, I have been going for a variety of roles. The feedback I get then is the client is looking for out-and-out individuals. Now in my view that's a bit short-sighted and sitting on the other side of the fence when I recruited permies and contractors, your prima donna expert is usually more of an inflexible difficult-to-manage personality, than someone who is agnostic to both technology and methods, but who applies their skills to whatever given situation. However what with the PM market being saturated, I guess it is too much effort for some to look outside the box.

Sadly I disagree. The whole point of getting a contractor in is to get a specialist in that can bring valuable and related experience in. They can hire any old permie that thinks they can do the job. Someone with experience of that type of work will know the pitfalls and shortcuts and will be much better placed to deliver than someone learning on the fly.

It's pretty fundamental to contracting IMO.

[dx4100]

Get a permie role if you can. Then keep applying for contracts.

I would do this...

[rjoe]

It took me 2 months to land my first contract.

I left my previous perm role without having anything lined up, mainly because I was led to believe at the time that clients wanted contractors that were available immediately without a notice period.

As with anything it takes time and perseverance, concentrate on improving your CV as that is the first thing that gets seen, get as much feedback as you can from agents about your CV, at the beginning I would always ask agents what to change / improve on my CV and got some good suggestions.

Look at job adverts and tailor your CV to incorporate the buzzwords they contain.

Use this time as an opportunity to get up to speed with new developments, Scrum, Kanban or whatever is relevant for your industry, at the very least if someone mentions it in an interview you can appear knowledgeable

Thanks

[rjoe]

It's impossible to say. Depends on the market you're targeting & the state of that market, the skill-set you have, the years experience you have.

You'll need to drop any self-imposed limitations. For example if there's a contact 100 miles from home you should still think about applying for it. If there is a role for a "Project Manager" and you view yourself as a "Programme Manager" then apply for it.

Guess what I've found the most tricky is, where my XP is broad and varied, I have been going for a variety of roles. The feedback I get then is the client is looking for out-and-out individuals. Now in my view that's a bit short-sighted and sitting on the other side of the fence when I recruited permies and contractors, your prima donna expert is usually more of an inflexible difficult-to-manage personality, than someone who is agnostic to both technology and methods, but who applies their skills to whatever given situation. However what with the PM market being saturated, I guess it is too much effort for some to look outside the box.

So that's a bit frustrating, as I know I could do a good job there, maybe it's just not meant to be and maybe I wouldn't want to work there anyway, but a gig's a gig, right?

At least I'm finding my way around and now gravitating towards the few agencies who've bothered to have a decent conversation with me and who in turn have put me through for a few quality gigs early in the pipe.

[CompulsiveArsonist]

It took me 2 months to land my first contract.

I left my previous perm role without having anything lined up, mainly because I was led to believe at the time that clients wanted contractors that were available immediately without a notice period.

As with anything it takes time and perseverance, concentrate on improving your CV as that is the first thing that gets seen, get as much feedback as you can from agents about your CV, at the beginning I would always ask agents what to change / improve on my CV and got some good suggestions.

Look at job adverts and tailor your CV to incorporate the buzzwords they contain.

Use this time as an opportunity to get up to speed with new developments, Scrum, Kanban or whatever is relevant for your industry, at the very least if someone mentions it in an interview you can appear knowledgeable

[northernladuk]

There is no average. Far too many different factors to consider to make a call like that.

[stek]

I started looking in the November, and got a contract the following April.

That was in the glory days of contracting though.

The real glory days were when it was a genuine finish Friday, start Monday, rate increases without asking in case you fancied clearing off, as soon a you finish a role, phone rings it's knackers off, no real need to look for a role, faxing timesheets, typing invoices, actually posting stuff in a postbox, easily outsmarting HMRC and VAT people, no need for building access, no compliance, 486SX25 desktop or IBM PS/2, DEC TeamLinks, 10Base2, jumpers for goalposts, three rings when you get there, stray dogs, manual chokes and Pounds, Shillings and Pence....