My phone nearly rang off the hook yesterday....

[gingerjedi]

You really will have to get reskilled/refocussed gj, you and your situation are beginning to niggle me (in a matey way, obv... ).

PM me with your CV and we'll see what other jobs are out there for you - it's not as if you're too busy to do a bit of googling/reading at the moment...

PM sent, thanks.

[BrowneIssue]

I'm getting the same feeling from agents.

I'm also getting the same feeling from my partner She doesn't get it that it works that way, that I will get a contract sometime, and I'm OK for quite a few months yet. My bench is making her miserable, and that's making me miserable.

Is the following pseudo-psychology of any use?

Dear Mrs expat,

I have been contracting for as long as I have been married: 14 years. Mrs BrowneIssue keeps getting excited when I send off a CV. I keep reminding her that agents never ring back and that I'm only sending the CV to get on their database.

When an agent phones me with a role, my wife gets very excited. Sadly, almost all these calls are lies. The role does not exist, they are fishing for leads.

It is a sad state of affairs. I know my wife is being positive, upbeat and supportive. She is well aware how miserable it can get being on the bench, so is positive for me.

That makes me feel like a heel for being so negative. So I put on a happy face and keep going.

I do send off the applications and I do respond to the calls and do everything that needs to be done. But with a firm pinch of salt applied to every one. I know that recruitment agents lie as part of their job; it is what they have to do.

And I know my wife knows this too. But she also knows if he acts as cynical as me, I might give up. Or at least be less productive in my search for gigs. So despite all the evidence, she remains positive, interested and happy. She tries ever so hard to hide the disappointment when I point out this application / phone call is going nowhere, and I pretend I don't notice her disappointment.

It is a potentially miserable existence, being married to someone on the bench. It's when those marriage vows really kick in and start to hurt.

BUT the nice thing about contracting is that in three years it will all be good again. The bills will all be paid and you'll be drawing up a list of what to buy for that cruise; a holiday that no permie could afford.

Keep nagging Mr expat nicely, supporting him, and guilting him into keeping on applying. And to keep posting on ContractorUK, of course, to keep his spirits up by reminding him how miserable the rest of us are!

Mr BrowneIssue.

[moorfield]

I know I have to take the rough with the smooth as a contractor but the market is so dead the gigs I previously balked at just aren't there, also every contract opportunity I see is being chased by 50+ other people if you believe the agents.

I don't believe what the pimps are saying at all. Yes there are a lot of applicants out there but also a lot of dross. If you're curious you could try advertising your own skillset on one of the boards to see what the competition CVs are looking like.

[moorfield]

I think the days of walking out of an interview with the 'got it' gut feeling are long gone,

Just got home from a 3 hr interview including 2 written tests (one Java, which I haven't done for a while) ! Looking like I may be back next week for another 2 interviews ! All this for an initial 3 month gig (but there will be extensions). Tough, but felt good though.

[moorfield]

The wife is giving me a hard time about it too It's not for the want of trying but she doesn't seem to realise that even the worst case scenario stopgap gigs are few and far between with fierce competition.

My only beef with Missus M is that she has gone round the whole village telling everyone "I've lost my job" so I've had to go round the whole village correcting her "Not lost my job, contract not renewed" !

On the plus side I get to check out the hot mums in the school playground at the moment.

[PM-Junkie]

I don't believe what the pimps are saying at all. Yes there are a lot of applicants out there but also a lot of dross. If you're curious you could try advertising your own skillset on one of the boards to see what the competition CVs are looking like.

Absolutely right. Remember the contractor market has also been flooded with redundant permies who's CVs are going to be weak from a contract perspective.

I almost feel sorry for pimps in that they have to wade through masses of crap CV's to get the half dozen or so that are worth investigating further.

Almost, but not quite

[Fred Bloggs]

UK petrochem and pharma industries which have supported me for most of my working life (>30 years) are now 100% dead. Since May 08 I have been working in nuclear but the current gig is coming to an end soon. There is some work in nuclear but the rates have dropped by 30% or more. It's loooking pretty grim to me. I have applied for a couple of gigs lately to test the water but my CV submissions have been ignored by the pimps. Last year I was getting a call within 10-20 minutes of submitting a CV to a pimp.

:-(

[SuperZ]

Just got home from a 3 hr interview including 2 written tests (one Java, which I haven't done for a while) ! Looking like I may be back next week for another 2 interviews ! All this for an initial 3 month gig (but there will be extensions). Tough, but felt good though.

Mind me asking what sector that is in? Banking or public sector etc?

That`s way OTT in my opinion. Good luck though

[BolshieBastard]

Had a couple of calls today. Yep my local BMW dealer kept phoning me about the new Z4 I'd expressed an interest in!

[gingerjedi]

Had a couple of calls today. Yep my local BMW dealer kept phoning me about the new Z4 I'd expressed an interest in!

This isn't a hairdresser’s forum.