What's going on with these spammy job portals then?

[SussexSeagull]

To be fair I'm finding it sucks right now. It's very quiet in my area for a start and then there is this seismic change that seems to have gone on. In the old days there were quite a few roles, apply quick, interview same week and start the week after. All my gigs in 12 years have been like this.

Now? Nearly every role I apply doesn't move days, in some cases weeks. Nearly 2-3 weeks for two public sector roles. The number of them evaporating before interview is surprising, and in most cases I feel pretty confident they have rather than the agent lying to me. The few I've interviewed for have also fallen through for obscure reasons. Not one single one has just been a straight race against another guy and the winner gets the gig. It's surreal.

Wondering if it's just me or contractor recruitment has changed. I know the IR35 will be starting to have an effect but this seems to have been going on awhile.

But yes, I also expect next year to be a bloody awful one. I was optimistic at the start of all these but I'm certainly not now.

It changed in about May this year overnight. I was looking for a new contract then and the first couple of weeks suggested no problems but then everything seemed to go into slow motion or stop.

[jmo21]

To be fair I'm finding it sucks right now. It's very quiet in my area for a start and then there is this seismic change that seems to have gone on. In the old days there were quite a few roles, apply quick, interview same week and start the week after. All my gigs in 12 years have been like this.

Chatting to a contractor friend last week, who is just about to finish a contract, and he said the market is the quietest he can remember it in years, and attributes it directly to the upcoming IR35 changes.

[dx4100]

I have noticed this quiet a bit during my latest search.

I tend to just find out which agency / client is advertising the role - not all that hard and message them directly on linkedin avoiding the job board.

[SteelyDan]

Chatting to a contractor friend last week, who is just about to finish a contract, and he said the market is the quietest he can remember it in years, and attributes it directly to the upcoming IR35 changes.

Are you sure you mean 'contractor friend'?
I think any contractor (on here especially) would have been able to give you that kind of response if he/she has kept up to speed with the latest developments.

[BABABlackSheep]

It’s terrible at the moment.

I’m getting spammed by CV-Library for roles I’ve already spoken to the agencies about and the role(if it ever existed) has been taken weeks ago.

I have submitted my cv for perfect fit roles, and a lot of the time you don’t even get a call or call-back if you leave a message.

[SteelyDan]

It’s terrible at the moment.

I’m getting spammed by CV-Library for roles I’ve already spoken to the agencies about and the role(if it ever existed) has been taken weeks ago.

I have submitted my cv for perfect fit roles, and a lot of the time you don’t even get a call or call-back if you leave a message.

It's often the case, but not always, that many of these roles don't exist at all, they're put there for the agent to harvest fresh CVs.

[jmo21]

Are you sure you mean 'contractor friend'?
I think any contractor (on here especially) would have been able to give you that kind of response if he/she has kept up to speed with the latest developments.

Yes, I did mean a friend who is a contractor?

I was simply agreeing and using an example to the person I quoted.

[tsmith]

The number of roles listed across all job sites for what I do is ridiculously low. Lowest Ive seen in 7 years. Literally one or two new roles a week. And even then many are not relevant - in vertical market I dont have experience of.

[DeludedKitten]

Market is as quiet as I've seen it, even during the banking crisis crash (not that I'm in banking).

The roles are drying up, anything that is interesting / suitable you hear nothing back, permie roles have been put back to next year