Trouble getting a new contract

[VillageContractor]

I'm fairly new to the contract market in the UK. I read a lot of threads on the boards here where everything is doom and gloom and so many people are on the bench. Within 1 week of applying on job boards I had two contract offers.
Having said that though, agents are getting flooded with CV's and this appears to be the hardest stage to get past. Several people were put for one of the contracts I was offered and some of them their CV's were better than mine, yet they couldn't get past the technical questions at the interview stage. The kind of questions that only someone with a lot of true experience can answer. Might also depend on the line of work too. There might be more work available in the infrastructure space than coding, project management etc

I've interviewed a lot of developers recently, and approximately half of them aren't very good and they're just trying their luck.

Most have been people trying to jump from perm to contracting, but some have been contracting for a while. Which makes me wonder who hires them

[SussexSeagull]

I suspect what happens is that agents get flooded with 100s of CVs whenever they advertise a contract, a majority of which probably aren't qualified to do it and turns the whole thing into a lottery.

[diseasex]

I suspect what happens is that agents get flooded with 100s of CVs whenever they advertise a contract, a majority of which probably aren't qualified to do it and turns the whole thing into a lottery.

True only for beginners. Once you start contracting you start getting relationships with agents and clients and you are on the top of the list for a gig.

[TNA57]

I'm fairly new to the contract market in the UK. I read a lot of threads on the boards here where everything is doom and gloom and so many people are on the bench. Within 1 week of applying on job boards I had two contract offers.
Having said that though, agents are getting flooded with CV's and this appears to be the hardest stage to get past. Several people were put for one of the contracts I was offered and some of them their CV's were better than mine, yet they couldn't get past the technical questions at the interview stage. The kind of questions that only someone with a lot of true experience can answer. Might also depend on the line of work too. There might be more work available in the infrastructure space than coding, project management etc

No doubt there are a lot of contractors on the bench atm hence why agents get flooded with CV but they tend to call candidates who match requirements closely.
Landing the contract depends on a few things and I wouldn't be so confident that all of the "better CVs" couldn't get past the technical stage. its all about what the client wants. Perhaps they wanted someone who had more of a permie outlook than a contractor who had been doing such for years - Could be they would be able to ask you to do things more their way. Also how did you know that the other CVs were better than you? Does that mean that you merely got lucky?

[SussexSeagull]

True only for beginners. Once you start contracting you start getting relationships with agents and clients and you are on the top of the list for a gig.

I don't know, you can make new contacts and expand the circle by getting a new contract through an advert.

I take your point though.

[LondonManc]

I've interviewed a lot of developers recently, and approximately half of them aren't very good and they're just trying their luck.

Most have been people trying to jump from perm to contracting, but some have been contracting for a while. Which makes me wonder who hires them

We saw the same last year. Pretty much the whole first batch of CVs were rejected.

[diseasex]

We saw the same last year. Pretty much the whole first batch of CVs were rejected.

No wonder I get accepted every time on the first interview. When i first pulled it off the client was interviewing like 5 contractors before and I was the last...

[LondonManc]

No wonder I get accepted every time on the first interview. When i first pulled it off the client was interviewing like 5 contractors before and I was the last...

Not the best thing to do in an interview....

[diseasex]

Not the best thing to do in an interview....

Pulled it off as in I've managed to make the client wait entire notice period from a perm position

[LondonManc]

Pulled it off as in I've managed to make the client wait entire notice period from a perm position

Not difficult, especially if you're switching within financial services.

The best time to go from perm to contract is when you have been made redundant.