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Busted and boomed within the same week.

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    Busted and boomed within the same week.

    OK, don't post much here these days, but thought I'd stick one on for people still looking and wondering what the state of the market is.

    Basically, I spent 7 months looking around for a contract last year. Toughest I'd know it in 21 years of contracting. Eventually I took a 6 month'er in an Investment Bank. Unfortunately, I delivered on-time and on-budget, which meant the project was finished two weeks before my contract was due to expire. Client thanked me for all the hard work, but said they had no more budget and therefore couldn't extend beyond my end date. Oh well.

    Well, this time around it's taken just 1 week of looking to land a new role. Another IB, and with a 10% rate increase over the last place. Also a much, much larger project, so hopefully more work there than the initial 6 months. We'll see.

    Note that the IB's are *much* less fussy at the moment, as many try to scramble back all the staff they let go last year. I've had multiple agents tell me as much over the phone. If you get the chance of a role - even if you don't seem ideally suited - just go for it. I was less than ideal for the job I've just grabbed, but the client didn't seem at all fazed about it in the interview. It seems the ability to show some willing is starting to count for something once again in the contracting world.

    Cheers,

    Nomadd
    Last edited by nomadd; 2 April 2010, 14:24.
    nomadd liked this post

    #2
    Mind sharing what you do, which bank, etc (by PM if you prefer)? I've been contacted about a couple of roles relating to IB this week.
    Originally posted by MaryPoppins
    I'd still not breastfeed a nazi
    Originally posted by vetran
    Urine is quite nourishing

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by d000hg View Post
      Mind sharing what you do, which bank, etc (by PM if you prefer)? I've been contacted about a couple of roles relating to IB this week.
      Can't give out specific bank details, as I'm sure you can imagine. All I will say is that a hell of a lot of them seem to be recruiting hard at the moment. We've just had two permies leave my current gig in the last week, due to much better offers from competing banks; I've got a week left to go before I leave and start my new contract gig elsewhere.

      My roles are around the Java Architecture/Design/Coding side of things, predominantly server-side (J2EE, but also non-J2EE multi-threaded stuff, low latency, grid/caching, etc.) Tools are the standard Java bits: Spring, Hibernate, SVN, Coherence, etc., etc. Systems are mainly "front office": FX, Fixed Income, eTrading, etc.

      Cheers.
      nomadd liked this post

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        #4
        Interesting. The ones I've seen are Flex/Java, with emphasis on Flex.
        Originally posted by MaryPoppins
        I'd still not breastfeed a nazi
        Originally posted by vetran
        Urine is quite nourishing

        Comment


          #5
          Do you think they are they willing to look at people without banking exprience.

          I have not bothered applying to any IB simply because I do not have banking experience.

          Comment


            #6
            Well I keep getting contacted and while I have some banking experience, it's not very obvious on my CV because it's not something I'm actively looking for, and I did it as my last permie job.
            I think it depends on the skillset you have... if it's generic they can be picky, if it's specialist they are more likely to look outside the pool of people already working in that specific domain... as a developer domain knowledge is useful but we all know it's the same tech at the end of the day.

            Why don't you apply and see? Phone about some positions and bluntly ask "are they interested in people with no banking experience"?
            Originally posted by MaryPoppins
            I'd still not breastfeed a nazi
            Originally posted by vetran
            Urine is quite nourishing

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by memyselfandi View Post
              Do you think they are they willing to look at people without banking exprience.

              I have not bothered applying to any IB simply because I do not have banking experience.
              Keep applying!! None of us had banking experience and one point and we now have so must work at some point. They prefer banking experience but it isn't as closed shop as SC. They will fit the right person in to the right job regardless of previous experience to a certain extent.

              Keep plugging at it IMHO...
              'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by memyselfandi View Post
                Do you think they are they willing to look at people without banking exprience.

                I have not bothered applying to any IB simply because I do not have banking experience.
                As other's have said: just go for it. You've nothing to lose.

                I had to apply for 350+ roles last year before I landed an IB role, so it's clearly not easy. But the market is a lot better this year, so maybe something will land for you a lot sooner. Just go for it and see what happens.
                nomadd liked this post

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                  #9
                  You could also work out the lowest rate you could take in London without it being pointless, which could be a fair whack below what they are expecting to pay... the agent might love to place you and take £100/day, and if you are serious about breaking in it's a strategic move because next contract you do have current experience.
                  Originally posted by MaryPoppins
                  I'd still not breastfeed a nazi
                  Originally posted by vetran
                  Urine is quite nourishing

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by d000hg View Post
                    You could also work out the lowest rate you could take in London without it being pointless, which could be a fair whack below what they are expecting to pay... the agent might love to place you and take £100/day, and if you are serious about breaking in it's a strategic move because next contract you do have current experience.
                    Doing a bit of a "loss leader" rate for the first gig could be good advice and could pay big dividends longer term.
                    Public Service Posting by the BBC - Bloggs Bulls**t Corp.
                    Officially CUK certified - Thick as f**k.

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