Finding it tough getting any client to bite (New to Contracting 9 years as a permi)

[northernladuk]

I think the OP was just stating he had something to offer, which is experience.

Possibly. There isn't enough detail there so I've given a generic opinion on what he might be doing wrong. It's very common for newbies to see the roles and just apply without thinking what the client wants and how contracting roles differ from permie ones. In permie land the person tends to be asset, in contracting his demonstrable skills are.

Having loads of technologies isn't necessarily a benefit to getting a gig.

If you were having a large kitchen put in. Do you get in a handyman that can do kitchens, along with bathrooms, bit of building and so on or do you get a kitchen fitter in that's done 100's of them?
If a client wants a citrix guy in does he go for someone with a bit of exchange, cloud, CRM and so on experience or does he get a guy that's delivered many citrix deployments in the past few years?

Obviously in some cases, depending on the details the advice isn't right but on the whole is a better way to think while applying. At the very least he might understand why he's not getting so many call backs.

[uk contractor]

Working for managed service providers is usually the kiss of death to any CV in this type of role as it means you were just someone who was handed the role as you worked for them & got assigned to the end client probably on a below current market rate at the time. End clients know this as the rep for working for managed service providers on infrastructure will not tick many boxes for hiring mangers. I would lose any reference to managed service providers on your CV just put the end clients name & if you get any interviews if asked that is the time to mention it was for a managed service provider working at xyz.


But as others already said now is not a good time for contractors even if there were many roles around your going to be near the bottom of the queue as your not immediately available & 9 years is not really anywhere near enough experience for these type of roles your going up against skilled contractors with 15-20 years genuine end client experience who are also immediately available.


Stick to perm for another 6 years then try again.

[SueEllen]

Thank you for your patronising level of condescending but I'm referring to the imminent arrival of public sector contractors into the private sector and the whole short-term basket case that public sector contracting will be.

But yeah, you encourage him to ditch his permie job and go for it.

Where in my replies did I tell him to resign?

I may have hinted for him to not to tell the truth to agents to get an interview but I haven't told him to resign.

[lawnmower]

The contract market is due to get very unstable and flooded very shortly. I'd ride it out in the permie role for the next six months and see what happens when the dust settles if I were you.

It's been bad (and has been flooded) for the last year, certainly in Testing. I'd recommend staying perm at the moment.

[Lambert Simnel]

Do you tailor your CV for every role you apply for? I have made mine as varied as possible to suit most roles I am applying for.

To echo NorthernLad's point, a varied, multi-faceted cv is fine if you're applying for a permie position. For a contract position, you're far better being a square peg for a square hole. Speak to the agents and if possible get the actual job spec for each position. Then tailor your cv towards that specific role - obviously not making stuff up, but bringing the relevant experience front and centre stage.

And to agree with the generally given advice, applying for a contract as an in-job permie with a month's notice will severely limit your opportunities. You need to indicate availability of no more than 2 weeks or a lot of vacancies will just pass you by.

[daeus]

Ok I'm glad I posted.

Lots of useful information here to straighten up my plan of how I have been and now how I will attack this and also a great insight on you experienced contractors viewpoints so thank you for all the comments.