First time contractor.. where did all the jobs go?

[pallavi]

Hi
I am a first time contractor looking out for my first contract recently with a long permanent job history.
While I had the permanent job a month back, I was seeing a lot of buzz in the SharePoint market but my CV was not selling primarily because of the 4 week notice period (and some SC requirements).
Finally after a lot of consideration to ensure keeping me afloat for few weeks financially and looking at the number of job requirements in the market, I took the plunge and quit my job to focus completely on the contractor market and also tap into those opportunities that usually needs one to join asap within a week.
Fast forward a month and all I could see is only one serious interview and no shortlistings despite numerous calls with agencies every day and what I feel is a killer CV (experience in all areas of SharePoint tech stack both in US and UK).
My hunting ground has been Jobserve, Jobsite, cwjobs, monster and LinkedIn.

Am I missing something obvious here or a untold source (he-who-must-not-be-named) that I have missed out on as I am not well ensconced yet in the contractor network?
Any suggestions to improve discovery and a better hit-rate for interviews would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Pallavi

[ruasonid]

Hi
I am a first time contractor looking out for my first contract recently with a long permanent job history.

Am I missing something obvious here

There is your answer.

[NotAllThere]

Your CV probably needs adjusting, and as a first time contractor, you're not as attractive to clients.

[northernladuk]

You've also just joined as many 1000s of contractors are leaving the public sector so very unfortunate timing.

[doconline]

Hi
I am a first time contractor looking out for my first contract recently with a long permanent job history.
While I had the permanent job a month back, I was seeing a lot of buzz in the SharePoint market but my CV was not selling primarily because of the 4 week notice period (and some SC requirements).
Finally after a lot of consideration to ensure keeping me afloat for few weeks financially and looking at the number of job requirements in the market, I took the plunge and quit my job to focus completely on the contractor market and also tap into those opportunities that usually needs one to join asap within a week.
Fast forward a month and all I could see is only one serious interview and no shortlistings despite numerous calls with agencies every day and what I feel is a killer CV (experience in all areas of SharePoint tech stack both in US and UK).
My hunting ground has been Jobserve, Jobsite, cwjobs, monster and LinkedIn.

Am I missing something obvious here or a untold source (he-who-must-not-be-named) that I have missed out on as I am not well ensconced yet in the contractor network?
Any suggestions to improve discovery and a better hit-rate for interviews would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Pallavi

Hi, hopefully you have enough money behind you to keep you afloat longer than this. Especially looking for your first contract. You can quite easily be on the bench for months rather than weeks when contracting. Even after you land a gig, you can be waiting a few weeks for a start date due to getting clearance etc, and don't stop looking until you are in the door and have actually started the gig, as they can be cancelled right up to the last minute.

The places you are looking are where most of the contracts from agents will appear. Make sure you have alerts turned on to get notified immediately of relevant gigs. Can you also contact permie places where you worked before (unless it is one company you have worked for previously) and tap up old contacts / managers etc to see if they have any short term requirements.

As NLUK said you have hit the market at a potentially bad time, as there are lots of PS contractors looking now due to the IR35 changes within the PS market. If you are not clued up on this, take the opportunity now to research it. There is a lot of info on this site about it.

Use this time to get networking, are there any business groups near where you live that you can join? The other thing to consider is lowering your expectations to land your first contract. Once you have contracting experience it is easier to get contracts, and at the moment you will be competing with lots of other contractors who have contracting experience, so you might have to be flexible to land your first gig.

Good luck and hope you land something quickly.

[LondonManc]

A few weeks? Your first invoice from the client could take 10 weeks from starting the gig if they're on month-in-hand invoicing and a true paid-when-paid gig.

[clearedforlanding]

Make sure you have alerts turned on to get notified immediately of relevant gigs. .

You need to be quicker that this, alerts are unreliable an not instant. It really is a matter of refreshing the page constantly.

In addition to the good advice slready posted in this thread.

How far have you cast your net? On a first contract I would recommend being prepared to go anywhere. And by anywhere I don't mean Milton Keynes I mean Lima. You need to get some contacts under your belt. Second languages help a lot. Overseas contracts have an additional benefit in that telephone interviews are the norm, so your interviews don't consume valuable time travelling. Edit: Just notice LondonManc's comment, I have never been refused an advance when taking a contract overseas, so they can be useful in that respect if you can't wait 10 weeks on an invoice.

Google the agent's name and call him up, sell yourself, and then send your CV while you have got him on the phone and walk him through it. Sharepoint isn't a niche skill and you are as mentioned in this thread at a disadvantage as your "contractor attitude" will be questioned, usually by the agent, before it even gets to the client.

You have a job, you just don't have clients yet. Sharepoint consultancy is just one facet of it.

If you haven't got any direct sales skills, get books, youtube videos and practice pitching agents for gigs you don't stand a chance of getting (of course while still applying to gigs you actually want), one of the key things you need to be able to do is match benefits to objections - this is a fast track to it. Don't worry about offending the agents, they have all their junior staff practicing on us.

If you can afford it don't focus too much on rate, the investment IMO should be building relevant gigs on your CV. Avoid stooping as low as to work for a company owned by Bob.

Good luck, and hit the phones.

[MrMarkyMark]

"A few weeks" money would bother me.

Even when I started contracting in the early 2000's, from a derisory 15K perm salary, I had just over 3 months worth of London living money.

It took me 3 months to find my 1st contract and that was back then

[SueEllen]

"A few weeks" money would bother me.

Even when I started contracting in the early 2000's, from a derisory 15K perm salary, I had just over 3 months worth of London living money.

It took me 3 months to find my 1st contract and that was back then

^^^This

You need at least 3 months money and you need to be able to stretch that so you can live as cheaply as possible.

[clearedforlanding]

"A few weeks" money would bother me.

Even when I started contracting in the early 2000's, from a derisory 15K perm salary, I had just over 3 months worth of London living money.

It took me 3 months to find my 1st contract and that was back then

The horrors. I could not imagine what it would be like these days. Of course this is the Golden Era of debt, so I guess people could hop onto Halifax's 30 month 0% credit card and defer the problem.