27 applications and only one call

[boredsenseless]

yeah, better tailor and edit my CV to the roles really....and gonna start following up applications with a call...

thing is, back 4 months ago when I was a permie...i was sending off a weaker CV, and getting called left right and centre??

Summer was a good period this year, and also the recruiter probably wanted to call your current employer with an offer to replace you, so would move heaven and earth to get your bum of the current seat as then he could place you and your replacement, double bubble no effort.

[Cliphead]

Last month on this gig. Sent 2 CVs monday, 2 offers friday.

[dmini]

Just to reply to all you LOVELY people
Yes I was a match for the contracts I chased. I - unlike many contractors DON'T apply for jobs I cannot do. That is from experience working with them. I want to do a good job from day one, and don't bluff skills onto my CV or in interview.
I started applying about three weeks before I left - when I knew my contract wasn't going to be renewed. Most of those NEVER got a call-back.
From the agencies who did ring back, I got the impression that in the Wintel support arena there were hundreds of people chasing vacancies - and that a lot had "already been filled, but they happened to not be able to stop the advert".
Once I got to the last week - a lot more calls back - told my CV was brilliant, I was a really good fit, then...........

I think a lot depends on which arena you operate in. In mine, there are lots of people chasing the work - it becomes much more of a lottery, as to whether the agencies even read your CV - it was obvious that many agents hadn't read mine.
In many of your cases, I guess there are less of you chasing the jobs, which makes agencies more interested. I'm really glad you find your contracts that easily

[Cliphead]

I'm really glad you find your contracts that easily

Experience counts.

[wantacontract]

area of work

I am a Project Manager....seems to be loads of us contractors out there in PM !!!

[tim123]

"You must be tulip. 10 applications, 3 offers"

I think you're all tulip.

One application - one offer.

Who sends out 200/280 CVS. Thats just lazy. Are you trying to tell me that your CV matched these roles!! No of course they didnt.

If I type in Crystal Reports and/or MIS and/or SQL Server I might see 80 adverts, but I may only apply for 1 or 2 of them.
.

MF, you're just lucky with your skill set.

You try the same with generic embedded experience and you will not get the same results.

OK, a good guy might get the same interview to offer ratio, but the application ratio goes sky high. Not least because many of the main players only employ contractors as a last resort and play "yes we want a contractor", "no we don't", "yes we do" games with the agents. I once applied for the same job about 6 times over a three month interval before they offered me an interview, by which time I had found something else.

tim

[chicane]

It seems to me that the most successful contractors around here are those that:

1) Operate in newly emerging technologies
2) Work in areas where a high degree of training is necessary to reach even the entry level (e.g SAP)
3) Choose to specialise and become highly competent in a specific skill (e.g. J2EE)

Those who get paid less or struggle to get contracts) would seem to have more general purpose skillsets (mine is web development in ASP and PHP) - possibly skillsets that would be better suited to a permie role. I've spent the last year doing a variety of successful client-direct contracts but I can't seem to get the agencies particularly interested, despite their customary initial promises.

[wantacontract]

niche areas

i agree with you chicane....the more niche market your skill is, the easier it is to secure that contract, and they seem to be sky high rates too...

but maybe the niche skills are more likely to be phased out? and require re-training??

[chicane]

but maybe the niche skills are more likely to be phased out? and require re-training??

Yeah but that's partly why contractors get higher rates ... you can never afford to rest on your laurels. Whereas a permie would get sent on regular training (at least with the bigger companies), as a contractor you have to constantly watch the market and either finance your own training or study at home.

To compound that, there's the old chicken (experience) and egg (job) situation... but I guess that's why some people alternate between the perm and contract worlds - to get free training and experience in emerging skills.

[Lockhouse]

Business Skills

Business skills are the clincher. Generic "web developers" will be two a penny and there will be lots of you about, but a "web developer with equity derivatives" will be sought after. Sell yourself according to the market and play to your strengths.