Is this time worse than before

[tino]

It's bad alright, I can't even get a sniff of an interview at the moment and thats UK wide.

The agents aren't even getting back to me anymore.

[Diestl]

Its seems normal to me, just seasonal changes. IT is such a intrinsic part of every business now, theres always work out there.

[NickNick]

Its seems normal to me, just seasonal changes. IT is such a intrinsic part of every business now, theres always work out there.

Agreed, and just think of all the integration work out there with all the mergers going on in B&F

[tino]

I know,

Technically as a Project Planner / PMO Manager I should be lapping up the work as it stands. Tons of roles out there and paying anywhere from £400-£500 a day, I'm pitching at £370 and in a lot of cases suspect I'm not even being put forward to the client.

I'm based in Belfast but more than willing to commute Monday to Friday.

[Jubber]

You overestimate the power of recruitment agencies, so stick to poetry.

LOL - that made me chuckle. But in all honesty - there are definitely agents slicing 100 quid off rates at the moment, but hey, that's the name of the game. Got the bottle?

2001 I was booted off a contract (with many others) and the whole of 2002 was spent doing freelance stuff but at least this kept me ticking over.

This time I am in a far better position to ride it out, no mortgage, no debts, so watch out, I'll undercut you all

[Rangster]

I know,

Technically as a Project Planner / PMO Manager I should be lapping up the work as it stands. Tons of roles out there and paying anywhere from £400-£500 a day, I'm pitching at £370 and in a lot of cases suspect I'm not even being put forward to the client.

I'm based in Belfast but more than willing to commute Monday to Friday.

I do similar work and am based in London and not getting any call backs at all. Some of the jobs are a like for like match for my current role for a major blue chip client. 6 years experience. Nothing.

[tino]

I do similar work and am based in London and not getting any call backs at all. Some of the jobs are a like for like match for my current role for a major blue chip client. 6 years experience. Nothing.

Exactly the same as me my friend.

The one that did make me laugh was setting up a PMO for (i suspect) the BBC. I've spent the last 18 months in Italy doing the same in the same industry and they were offering £250 PD

[stantheman]

At least I am not on my own - I am getting no responses or phishing for leads. It is extremely frustrating at the minute, but i suppose it comes with the territory / season. My colleagues who have been contracting longer are a bit more sanguine about things so its more likey because its my first time looking.

To keep me going in the new year I have an outside project for a friend to develop a fairly simple system that he intends to run his business through. Whilst its not the most complex it will be critical to his business and livelihood - so it had better be good. To keep our costs down I am using LAMP software which I am not directly familiar with so there is a learning curve here for me. As this is the first time I have done such a piece of work and as I say I am getting some on the job training, I was wondering what people considered a reasonable rate. its probably about a months work and my current rate is about 50gbp per hour. Its also for a friend so I dont want to rip him off but I have a living to make as well.

I am really just looking for guidelines and past experiences

thanks

[PAH]

It's times like this you wish you'd saved enough up to go on holiday for 6 months, if there's a chance the worst will be over by then.

[dmuk]

What happened to the markets then, how long did it take to recover ?

I reckon we have at least another 12 months of depression. The market is buggered. Today BT announced cutting 10,000 jobs, 6k of which are contract roles.

There are minimal new roles being released to the market making it highly competitive between candidates. Standards have been raised dramatically and you need to be prepared for interviews (if you get any). Remember that high skilled candidates are out of work and willing to work for the same or less than you.

Things are also taking a long time to turn around. I finally got interview calls for roles discussed a month ago. Notice the sense of urgency...

Referrals are taking up many places - ie managers and friends recruiting people they know or calling back past contractors. This means a lot of the roles actually available aren't even being advertised. Managers are keen to avoid paying big recruitment costs (by going via agencies or paying for bad picks).

This isn't the dot com crash, this is a real recession. The question is - do you take anything you can get or go on holiday?