What is your #1 challenge preventing you from doing contract work in UK right now?

[SueEllen]

Let just say the ones we interviewed weren't always the ones we actually ended up with

The client interviewed Wipro people face to face. Everyone else got a telephone or Skype interview. Draw your own conclusions....

[MrMarkyMark]

The client interviewed Wipro people face to face. Everyone else got a telephone or Skype interview. Draw your own conclusions....

I did......a long time ago .

We interviewed one fairly competent quite vocal developer based in India for a role.

Once he started work he turned into a technically useless, silent, surly character - supposedly the same guy, maybe he had a full lobotomy just prior to reengaging with him

[uk contractor]

So who are these CEOs that keep jumping from company to company and performing these outsourcing deals? Is there evidence in the public domain to support these allegations?

I know of 1 IT CEO who is very high level & high profile goes into an investment bank for a few years brings all his best mates from school brings his own suppliers (who provide him with massive back handers for the business) decimates the existing IT department by getting rid of anyone who opposes him & or forces them to quit as they are clearly career side lined forever! Yet I am not going to post that info in public am I or share it with anyone via PM either! Who would? But trust me you have not worked long enough or been exposed to these issues if you think it does not happen on a fairly regular basis. IT supply chains are also full of corrupt friends of friends charging mates rates yet billing + 20-25% extra & diverting the difference to their best mate in some other form! It takes typically 3-5 years for a new IT CEO to either succeed or be found out & its not like the business will give him a bad reference will they so he-she just moves onto the next role unchallenged!

[SueEllen]

I know of 1 IT CEO who is very high level & high profile goes into an investment bank for a few years brings all his best mates from school brings his own suppliers (who provide him with massive back handers for the business) decimates the existing IT department by getting rid of anyone who opposes him & or forces them to quit as they are clearly career side lined forever! Yet I am not going to post that info in public am I or share it with anyone via PM either! Who would? But trust me you have not worked long enough or been exposed to these issues if you think it does not happen on a fairly regular basis. IT supply chains are also full of corrupt friends of friends charging mates rates yet billing + 20-25% extra & diverting the difference to their best mate in some other form! It takes typically 3-5 years for a new IT CEO to either succeed or be found out & its not like the business will give him a bad reference will they so he-she just moves onto the next role unchallenged!

It's been recently caught out in the NHS.

[uk contractor]

It's been recently caught out in the NHS.

Good for them now they can spend the extra saved on providing a totally free health service to planet earth whilst telling UK citizens to wait their turn In Financial Service sector it takes a long old time for these scoundrels to be discovered as they also use the dark arts to conceal rather well what exactly they are doing under the table so to speak

[davidbieder]

Ok I will bite.

So why are you not taking advantage of the Berlin Start-up Tech City? I thought Berlin was a hot bed of IT. Perhaps, it was over hyped by Wired, BBC, Huff Post, etc. Are there no big investment banks / fintech in Berlin at all? Whatever.

The biggest challenge is:

1. Finding the next contract and being on the bench
2. ...

That enough for ya? Good.

That's good stuff. Thank you.

Re: Berlin > I am more interested in London and UK. Came here in 2014 and love it. One reason: The people are so much nicer here.

[blackeye]

I know of 1 IT CEO who is very high level & high profile goes into an investment bank for a few years brings all his best mates from school brings his own suppliers (who provide him with massive back handers for the business) decimates the existing IT department by getting rid of anyone who opposes him & or forces them to quit as they are clearly career side lined forever! Yet I am not going to post that info in public am I or share it with anyone via PM either! Who would? But trust me you have not worked long enough or been exposed to these issues if you think it does not happen on a fairly regular basis. IT supply chains are also full of corrupt friends of friends charging mates rates yet billing + 20-25% extra & diverting the difference to their best mate in some other form! It takes typically 3-5 years for a new IT CEO to either succeed or be found out & its not like the business will give him a bad reference will they so he-she just moves onto the next role unchallenged!

Not CEO, but I've come across this twice at MD/programme director level at 2 large banks.

'Mates' in these cases are old colleagues that created system integrating companies who obviously had given backhanders to MD for the business. On a large scale implementation they stick around for years, charge millions and pay off the MDs house(s).

In the end, everyone wins but the shareholders. A few pennies in a pot of gold.

[darmstadt]

That's good stuff. Thank you.

Re: Berlin > I am more interested in London and UK. Came here in 2014 and love it. One reason: The people are so much nicer here.

Is that because Berlin is now full of British hipsters forming startups while London is full of non-British people forming startups

[GB9]

Not CEO, but I've come across this twice at MD/programme director level at 2 large banks.

'Mates' in these cases are old colleagues that created system integrating companies who obviously had given backhanders to MD for the business. On a large scale implementation they stick around for years, charge millions and pay off the MDs house(s).

In the end, everyone wins but the shareholders. A few pennies in a pot of gold.

I've seen it too but there is also an element of getting in people you have worked with before who you know are good, and also acting as a business and making more cash e.g if I've worked with someone before who I know is good and if the client will let me bring them in through my own company, then why not? They get good resource and I get more income. The alternative is find someone from the market who may or may not be good, and the agent makes money. I know which I prefer.

[cojak]

There is a very small window for contracting left in the UK.

I think that the IR35 moves in the Public Sector will move into the private sector come April 2019.

But for those contractors prepared to accept being inside IR35 (increased tax and no expenses) there will still be contracts out there.