Hey there,
I left uni with an undergrad in maths + computing and then a masters in applied maths in 2003. (Plus 1 years experience in 2000 in a placement doing VBA and C/C++ work in finance)
Then I landed a job at a hedge fund as a developer / code monkey in their quant team in november 2003.
Worked mostly in VBA / Excel, Matalb, and S-Plus but I also have some experience in C++ and OO coding, plus vbscript and asp from setting up an intranet site at the firm.
Quit in march 2007 since I was bored there but wasn't sure what to do instead so I went travelling.
Spent 2.5 years bumming around on beaches and so on.. did manage a 3 month contract in australia working with VBA (in late 07 early 08) but other work was just bar work and sales stuff. Basically I did sod all to keep my skills up to date, I was too busy having fun.
Now I'm back in the UK. I'm tempted to go into contracting, I like the idea of the variety that can be offered since I got bored in my old role having to work on the same projects all the time and looking at the job websites there seem to be roles being offered relevant to my experience and skill set.
But is it worth me trying since my experience is 2 years old?? Or will I stand a chance if I offer myself up at a lower rate?
At least as a contractor my long term commitment and motivation is not going to be called into question like it would be in a permanent role, or is it?
Should I be looking for a contract now or trying to give myself some experience by finding some sort of project to work on (I don't have Office or VBA on my system though, but I guess I could try and do something in C# or java I guess)..
I've still got left over savings, plus some inheritance money, but obviously I'd rather not fritter it away and want to get back into work ASAP, and rent in london isn't cheap.
What do you guys think?
Cheers
I left uni with an undergrad in maths + computing and then a masters in applied maths in 2003. (Plus 1 years experience in 2000 in a placement doing VBA and C/C++ work in finance)
Then I landed a job at a hedge fund as a developer / code monkey in their quant team in november 2003.
Worked mostly in VBA / Excel, Matalb, and S-Plus but I also have some experience in C++ and OO coding, plus vbscript and asp from setting up an intranet site at the firm.
Quit in march 2007 since I was bored there but wasn't sure what to do instead so I went travelling.
Spent 2.5 years bumming around on beaches and so on.. did manage a 3 month contract in australia working with VBA (in late 07 early 08) but other work was just bar work and sales stuff. Basically I did sod all to keep my skills up to date, I was too busy having fun.
Now I'm back in the UK. I'm tempted to go into contracting, I like the idea of the variety that can be offered since I got bored in my old role having to work on the same projects all the time and looking at the job websites there seem to be roles being offered relevant to my experience and skill set.
But is it worth me trying since my experience is 2 years old?? Or will I stand a chance if I offer myself up at a lower rate?
At least as a contractor my long term commitment and motivation is not going to be called into question like it would be in a permanent role, or is it?
Should I be looking for a contract now or trying to give myself some experience by finding some sort of project to work on (I don't have Office or VBA on my system though, but I guess I could try and do something in C# or java I guess)..
I've still got left over savings, plus some inheritance money, but obviously I'd rather not fritter it away and want to get back into work ASAP, and rent in london isn't cheap.
What do you guys think?
Cheers
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