Average Waiting Period for the next role?

[Ashwin2007]

We keep hearing that there is Credit Crunch, and the Agents claiming that "The market is down now", and some of us on bench. In the current climate, what is the average time a software services contractor (development, testing, and all software services included) spends on bench before finding next role?

For those waiting too long, is it sensible to start looking at permanent options? Would a long history as a contractor affect the pemanent role chances?

[NickFitz]

Last time (December 2007): 20 minutes (I was approached at my desk by a manager who was moving on, as soon as he heard that all contract renewals had been cancelled).

Time before that (June 2007): Four days (Same manager, in the pub after a conference).

Time before that (June 2005): Five or six working days, IIRC.

Time before that (June 2004): What seemed like forever in the wake of the dot-com slump. Although I did win £500 on the Brainteaser viewer puzzle one Thursday lunchtime

[basshead]

Never been benched in the last 4.5 yrs and got 2 contracts on the go at the minute with a sub in the more tedious one

[bullseye]

Contract1: next day after I left my permy job
Contract2: 6 weeks wait from May 2008 mid to June 2008 end
Contract3: would start the first working day after the end of contract2

[BrilloPad]

I voted for the last option as it must be the andyw one!

[Troll]

We keep hearing that there is Credit Crunch, and the Agents claiming that "The market is down now", and some of us on bench. In the current climate, what is the average time a software services contractor (development, testing, and all software services included) spends on bench before finding next role?

For those waiting too long, is it sensible to start looking at permanent options? Would a long history as a contractor affect the pemanent role chances?

Is returning to your country of origin an option?... looks like the party is over here

HTH

[BolshieBastard]

A lot depends on your location ie if you're based in the SE or London region, you really should never be out of work unless its your choice, if in the north of the country roles can dry up very quickly.

The next consideration is your area of specialism. The more 'specialised' it is, you could find yourself always in demand. If its an over populated area such as testing, again, you could find there are too many bodies chasing too few roles.

One thing I dont think carries much weight is how 'good' you are in your role. As already posted, its who you know not what you know which can determine how quickly you get that next role.

Two examples that illustrate this, a PM takes part of an existing team with him project to project because they're all drinking buddies (it happens). Second example, a contractor is regularly in work but his work is tulip and he knows very little. Again, it happens.

I've worked continuously for over 2 years without a break but now my current contract is due to end soon (due tooffshoring I hasten to add), it looks like I'll be looking for work at the 'wrong' time due to the current financial state affecting us all.

[Ashwin2007]

The next consideration is your area of specialism. The more 'specialised' it is, you could find yourself always in demand. If its an over populated area such as testing, again, you could find there are too many bodies chasing too few roles.

This is really a good suggestion. I feel it is better to specialise in areas where there is not much competition.

The only concern here is these specialised areas (such as Sharepoint) have few jobs (although very few people are competing there). Another is the durability value of specialisation. After spending significant effort in specialising in one area, there is also risk of demand drying up for that area soon..

[thunderlizard]

Well I'm specialised (there are about 25 companies I can realistically do work for), and the gaps are usually a lot more than 5 weeks. I kind of like it that way.

[NickFitz]

This is really a good suggestion. I feel it is better to specialise in areas where there is not much competition.

The only concern here is these specialised areas (such as Sharepoint) have few jobs (although very few people are competing there). Another is the durability value of specialisation. After spending significant effort in specialising in one area, there is also risk of demand drying up for that area soon..

Alternatively, become an expert in a field where there are many people working, but very few are any good. This is probably a worthwhile niche in most fields, but where web applications are concerned, expertise in an MS technology is doomed to be of short-lived benefit. A true, and deep, understanding of web technologies and standards as a whole and in detail, rather than the way some product team at Microsoft have chosen to break things this year, will be of much greater benefit.

It always astounds me that, thirteen years after Bill Gates declared that MS was going to concentrate on the Internet, they still find it so hard to actually make something that works correctly. The only Internet-related technology Microsoft have ever managed to get right is MSXML, and they had to ruin that at the start with a premature implementation of XSLT that polluted the browser space for years