Don't worry, I will not bore you with my frustration but I'm seeking serious advice.
I am a newcomer, 33, Swiss, with a degree in Software Engineering and looking for a contract as J2EE Developer in London, preferable in Finance. I spent 5 years as developer at UBS in Switzerland, 3 of them in Java/J2EE in a Credit Risk Control environment, always in permanent positions.
Most of the agents I contacted yet are telling me that the contracting market is quite good at the moment and with my cv/skills I whould find a contract within reasonable time. Sometimes I even get phonecalls within 1-2 hours for the same joboffer from different agencies, claiming to be eager to put my cv forward to the client.
But here it normally ends. When I call them 1-2 days later, then the job is gone. I am looking now for more than 2 months, what is wrong?
- Is the contractor market as bad in London at the moment?
- Are there no contracts around?
- Are there so many contractors on the field?
- Are there any problems with beeing Swiss?
- Is there a better way for searching than on jobserve and keeping in touch with agencies?
- Can anybody provide me some "connections"?
- Is something wrong with my skills or cv and what would be the reason for all the agents not to tell me?
- How important is the right rate? What is a reasonable rate?
- Are there problems related to "opting in/out"?
Am I stranded at the wrong agencies? Currently I've been in contact with:
- Aston Carter
- Knight Munro
- Hays IT
- OTC Computing Ltd
- Harvey Nash
- Computer People
- DP Connect
Thanks for advice!
I am a newcomer, 33, Swiss, with a degree in Software Engineering and looking for a contract as J2EE Developer in London, preferable in Finance. I spent 5 years as developer at UBS in Switzerland, 3 of them in Java/J2EE in a Credit Risk Control environment, always in permanent positions.
Most of the agents I contacted yet are telling me that the contracting market is quite good at the moment and with my cv/skills I whould find a contract within reasonable time. Sometimes I even get phonecalls within 1-2 hours for the same joboffer from different agencies, claiming to be eager to put my cv forward to the client.
But here it normally ends. When I call them 1-2 days later, then the job is gone. I am looking now for more than 2 months, what is wrong?
- Is the contractor market as bad in London at the moment?
- Are there no contracts around?
- Are there so many contractors on the field?
- Are there any problems with beeing Swiss?
- Is there a better way for searching than on jobserve and keeping in touch with agencies?
- Can anybody provide me some "connections"?
- Is something wrong with my skills or cv and what would be the reason for all the agents not to tell me?
- How important is the right rate? What is a reasonable rate?
- Are there problems related to "opting in/out"?
Am I stranded at the wrong agencies? Currently I've been in contact with:
- Aston Carter
- Knight Munro
- Hays IT
- OTC Computing Ltd
- Harvey Nash
- Computer People
- DP Connect
Thanks for advice!
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