looking for first contract

[TheBigYinJames]

I am a .NET Developer, but I am wondering if it will be possible to get a contract with only 2 years experience - maybe I need more?

In ordinary rtimes, 2 years is plenty, but at the moment you will be up against people with 3 4 and 5 years willing to do it for the same "batten down the hatches" money.

[SirSickboy]

and if you're still in your permie job, a lot of agencies will not touch you with a barge pole as your notice period would be too long.

WHS

I'm in a similar situation looking for contracts after far too long in rubbish permie jobs and all the agents I've spoken to have said they can't get me contract roles as i've got a notice period. A three month one at that

Personally I'm going to sit tight for a while and see how things go in the new year.

[TykeMerc]

^
^
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What They All Said.

This is a bad time to try to jump into contracting and only 2 years of experience is a weak selling point. Sit tight in your permie role, add to your skills and experience and think again when the economy has recovered.

[Ifrit]

WHS

I'm in a similar situation looking for contracts after far too long in rubbish permie jobs and all the agents I've spoken to have said they can't get me contract roles as i've got a notice period. A three month one at that

Personally I'm going to sit tight for a while and see how things go in the new year.

I'm not working at the moment so I think I will have to widen the search to cover permanent jobs aswell. Most of my permie jobs have been pretty rubbish too.

[Turion]

If you have a permy job, this is totally the wrong time to leave to try to go contracting. More then likely you will stay unemployed. If you lose your job then it's worth a try. If you're dead set about contracting then you must be immediately available. So if you get a contract, you must leave your permie job pronto. Some will let you go as policy, in others you may need to be creative

As a contractor you will be joining a dog eat dog culture that may not be worth the sacrifice of a steady job. One thing never to forget is that contracting is ruthless in a way that most permies cannot imagine. For me I would not have anythingelse, but then i'm only in it for the money.

[thunderlizard]

2 years .NET is more than enough. Anybody who says they've got more than 2w years' .NET experience has just repeated the second year a few times over.

[TheBigYinJames]

2 years .NET is more than enough. Anybody who says they've got more than 2w years' .NET experience has just repeated the second year a few times over.

True enough, I've been doing dotNet now for 5 years, but it's mostly the same old stuff over and over. There are new bits and pieces to add as you go along, generics, ajax etc, but the main problems of programming are the same problems as they have always been, and the way to solve them is similar. Money for old rope you might call it, but the fact that I can say 5 solid years on the CV means more to agents/clients, even if it is just repeats.

[Ifrit]

thanks everyone for the help

I had to leave my perm job and have been thinking about contracting for a while, so it seemed as I had no job anyway that this would be a good time to look for a contract. I had some good interview feedback from the last interview I had for a.NET contract (although I didnt get it)

Does everyone stick to one role when they contract or do people tend to carry out different roles? I am also interested in Testing, I only have about 3 months experience with that though.

[SueEllen]

thanks everyone for the help

I had to leave my perm job and have been thinking about contracting for a while, so it seemed as I had no job anyway that this would be a good time to look for a contract. I had some good interview feedback from the last interview I had for a.NET contract (although I didnt get it)

Does everyone stick to one role when they contract or do people tend to carry out different roles? I am also interested in Testing, I only have about 3 months experience with that though.

Change your CV for each role to fit the job description without blantantly lying. (Well you can lie but you need to be able to remember it through your interview.)

I tend to use my own email account to apply for jobs so when the agent rings me or I ring the agent I can talk about the right experience.

BTW if you have a look at this board you will see there are a lot of testers without contracts.

[Ifrit]

You might want to reformat your cv so it is contractor stylee

http://www.contractoruk.com/news/00405.html

and if you're still in your permie job, a lot of agencies will not touch you with a barge pole as your notice period would be too long.

I changed my CV to contractor stylee, posted it last night and have had a few calls this morning. It could just be coincidence of course.