Moving on

[oliverson]

I'm aware that as contractors we tend to have an ongoing requirement to reinvent ourselves in order to stay current/marketable, but I'm having a real issue doing this. I'm not sure if it's motivation, burnout, middle age, boredom, etc. but whilst I recognise the need to move on, it's too tempting to cling on to the past.

Without boring the pants off you, I'm a developer from the North of England and have been contracting for over 12 years, mostly in the London investment banking sector. I have a skill that pays around £ 650 still but those rates are getting harder to achieve. Indeed, no longer are they the interesting greenfield development roles but bug fix/enhancement of mature systems. In short, dull. However, where is the motivation to reskill to newer technologies? I'd be investing a lot of time doing this and for much lesser rates, generally. Not only that but I'd be jumping from the top of the ladder at what I do, to grad-level. I'd be competing with kids with more tech-specific experience than me for half the rate. That doesn't motivate me. However, I do look at my industry and to say it has 'contracted' is an understatement. More developers competing for fewer roles in a dying technology and dying industry, with a backdrop of offshoring and cost cutting. Feels like I'm in limbo, clinging onto the past hoping to edge above the 100 or so other developers per advertised role for my core skill for roles I don't really want. I just want the money! It can't go on can it? I can't be alone in being in this situation.

thanks for reading.

[ChrisFromGreece]

What kind of technology are you working on if I may ask?

Isn't there a similar technology or a progression of it that you could learn and upskill? That might be an easier transition that you give you more interesting gigs and will last for a few more years possibly (until you need to upskill again).

I understand that jumping to a completely new technology takes time and won't necessarily make you competitive (given you have no prior experience to that new technology).

[oliverson]

What kind of technology are you working on if I may ask?

Isn't there a similar technology or a progression of it that you could learn and upskill? That might be an easier transition that you give you more interesting gigs and will last for a few more years possibly (until you need to upskill again).

I understand that jumping to a completely new technology takes time and won't necessarily make you competitive (given you have no prior experience to that new technology).

It's the Microsoft stack, specifically WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation), the MVVM design pattern, Rx (Reactive eXtensions), et al. There are parallels to be drawn with the above and the Angular 2 framework and I've made good inroads into it but my level of experience in the two are either ends of the spectrum. I do feel I'd struggle to convince (and I never lie) a potential client that I am in any way as competent at ng2 / TypeScript / Node, etc, as I am with the Microsoft flavours. Having said that, I am rather more interested in this new direction and of course, it has more application outside London banking, which is the mainstay of WPF dev in the UK. Hell, I might even get to work close to home for a while!

[DimPrawn]

How about moving from WPF to Xamarin and Universal Windoes Platform (UWP), and become a cross platform developer for PC's, tablets and phones?

I'm totally with you on the sick to death, technical treadmill.

I think the key was to have invested all that lovely money into a BTL empire and be earning £650/day in excess rent by now.

Ho hum.

[ChrisFromGreece]

It's the Microsoft stack, specifically WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation), the MVVM design pattern, Rx (Reactive eXtensions), et al. There are parallels to be drawn with the above and the Angular 2 framework and I've made good inroads into it but my level of experience in the two are either ends of the spectrum. I do feel I'd struggle to convince (and I never lie) a potential client that I am in any way as competent at ng2 / TypeScript / Node, etc, as I am with the Microsoft flavours. Having said that, I am rather more interested in this new direction and of course, it has more application outside London banking, which is the mainstay of WPF dev in the UK. Hell, I might even get to work close to home for a while!

How about moving a step up in the hierarchy and be an Architect in the Microsoft stack or move sideways to a DevOps role using the Microsoft stack? The time you will need to invest will be less given you need to know in theory the various technologies but not the nitty-gritty details during implementation.

Another good mix with DevOps is Agile... so you could become ScrumMaster, Agile Coach, etc.

I would never lie either, and in such roles you always learn something new. These roles would also give you similar (if not greater) rates.

[Montyuk]

Maybe its just getting harder for you to achieve those rates. Its not just about reinventing its also about contacts that you make a long the way and how they view your skills. Those contacts then recommending you.

Its also your choice whether you decide to take roles to develop skills that pay less, rather than develop those skills in your own time. Maybe there are just more contractors that out shine you and therefore get the roles.

I'm aware that as contractors we tend to have an ongoing requirement to reinvent ourselves in order to stay current/marketable, but I'm having a real issue doing this. I'm not sure if it's motivation, burnout, middle age, boredom, etc. but whilst I recognise the need to move on, it's too tempting to cling on to the past.

Without boring the pants off you, I'm a developer from the North of England and have been contracting for over 12 years, mostly in the London investment banking sector. I have a skill that pays around £ 650 still but those rates are getting harder to achieve. Indeed, no longer are they the interesting greenfield development roles but bug fix/enhancement of mature systems. In short, dull. However, where is the motivation to reskill to newer technologies? I'd be investing a lot of time doing this and for much lesser rates, generally. Not only that but I'd be jumping from the top of the ladder at what I do, to grad-level. I'd be competing with kids with more tech-specific experience than me for half the rate. That doesn't motivate me. However, I do look at my industry and to say it has 'contracted' is an understatement. More developers competing for fewer roles in a dying technology and dying industry, with a backdrop of offshoring and cost cutting. Feels like I'm in limbo, clinging onto the past hoping to edge above the 100 or so other developers per advertised role for my core skill for roles I don't really want. I just want the money! It can't go on can it? I can't be alone in being in this situation.

thanks for reading.

[oliverson]

How about moving from WPF to Xamarin and Universal Windoes Platform (UWP), and become a cross platform developer for PC's, tablets and phones?

I'm totally with you on the sick to death, technical treadmill.

I think the key was to have invested all that lovely money into a BTL empire and be earning £650/day in excess rent by now.

Ho hum.

I looked at Xamarin for a while and purchased one of their pro subscriptions. Very familiar to me but the market just isn't there for contracting. Few roles and those that exist pay average web dev rates. The thought occurred to me to set up a shop/house but it's landing that first piece of business.

Not sure about UWP either. Microsoft seem to have lost their way a little. All the momentum is on the web and open source.

[DimPrawn]

Agree M$ have completely lost the plot.

Most of their products and offerings are a shambles now, with constant churn, disjointed roadmap and poor documentation.

[ChimpMaster]

Your tale of woe echoes mine almost to the word. I've been contracting for around the same length of time and averaging out to the same rate as you. I spent a number of years in IBs (roles that were then offshored) and then several years out of the City.

I don't work on MS tech but the niche (i.e. rapidly dying) tech I work in is no longer used enough for clients to justify hiring contractors. In fact I am only aware of one or two other contractors in the UK who still work on this tech! So I really have ridden this wave to the shore.

Of course I’ve always known that my tech skillset was going out of date and would die, but somehow I’ve always managed to remain in contract, and I’ve always been defensive about spending the money (because I always expected the contracts to dry up). I’ve been contemplating moving into a different tech for the past 10 years but it never happened. The fact that I was always in a reasonably well paying contract, and that it was easy for me, meant that I never moved on to other technologies. I can still move into a decent permie job though, more at an architect level and not directly related to my tech skill, but it would be hard work for permie money …. I’m certainly not keen to work for someone else and take orders for 5 days a week.

I too feel your lack of motivation, burnout, middle age, boredom, etc. Maybe the money has killed the ambition, i.e. there is no need for us to put our neck on the line any more at this age. But looking back, I feel very fortunate to have remained in contracts continuously and to have prepared myself financially so as to almost become ‘immune from work’ as our fellow poster Lukemg put it.

At your rate, assuming 10 months’ work on average each year, you have grossed £1.5m+ and hopefully you’re in a position to pick & choose what to do next. So looking forward, it might look like there’s nowhere to go from here, but - looking back - we’ve come a long way, worked hard and been fortunate, ending up in a position many younger contractors would love to be in.

[DimPrawn]

The real question is, at your point in life do you NEED £600/day to survive or could you work for say £400/day on a technology you are familiar with, but not an expert by any means.

Maybe it's time to semi-retire if you have amassed enough wealth to live on. Do you really need that new Porsche every year and holidays in 5* hotels in Bora Bora?