Current market situation (3rd level support)

[wizzfizz09]

Hi Guys,

Great forum, very informative...

Just trying to ascertain what the current market is like in the UK for 3rd level support/Infrastructure/Wintel and how things are looking. I'm considering a move in a couple of months as some friends are headed over already. Any feedback that would be great.

Cheers

[gingerjedi]

The competition is ridiculously high and the rates are ludicrously low.

[kaiser78]

Same as all role types at the mo its seems.

[peterc2609]

Seems to be more work in Europe - Belgium/Netherlands/Sweden/Switzerland

The market may be slightly better in the south i.e. London, but it is dead in the north...

I've decided to go permanent for a while till it sorts itself out - if ever!

[Worzel]

Same as all role types at the mo its seems.

I'm sure there has been an overall reduction across the board but that still leaves the prospect of a reasonable income from some skill sets. Support roles on the other hand have now dropped to income levels where they dont quite fit with the rest of IT. At the 1st/2nd support level you can earn the same money or more driving a van, working in coffee shop etc

I do some 3rd level support but it's mostly project work and design thesedays. Competition is fierce and I'm noticing that I'd be better off trying to skew my C.V. more to the project admin side of things as I could earn the same sort of money for maintaining excel spreadsheets and booking meeting rooms as I could building and fixing systems!

[wizzfizz09]

The competition is ridiculously high and the rates are ludicrously low.

Competition is high here too (in OZ) so it's nothing I'm not used to.. 1 role I was interviewed for recently had 263 applicants...the recruiter told me that only 4 were shortlisted (including myself)

But you also mention rates.. From my research, Infrastructure still sits in between 250-350quid per day. That seems reasonable to me. What doesn't sound reasonable are all these helpdesk/1st/2nd level positions that I'm seeing offering absolute banana's. Like Worzel said, you could probably make more money in a coffee shop. These hourly/daily figures are an insult seriously. What the hell is going on?

Someone can drive a van or operate a coffee machine can earn the same/more than someone who has Computing experience in XP/Vista/Basic networking/App support?

[lukemg]

I'm sure there has been an overall reduction across the board but that still leaves the prospect of a reasonable income from some skill sets. Support roles on the other hand have now dropped to income levels where they dont quite fit with the rest of IT. At the 1st/2nd support level you can earn the same money or more driving a van, working in coffee shop etc

I do some 3rd level support but it's mostly project work and design thesedays. Competition is fierce and I'm noticing that I'd be better off trying to skew my C.V. more to the project admin side of things as I could earn the same sort of money for maintaining excel spreadsheets and booking meeting rooms as I could building and fixing systems!

WHS – support is dead and there will be no revival. It also provides a roadmap for what will happen in other areas of IT. If it can be out-sourced, it will be and as the market shrinks, rates will follow suit. The only exceptions are niche areas with substantial barriers to entry e.g. SAP. In addition, the exodus from these areas of IT will provide a glut of people trying to shift into Project Management, Service Delivery etc.

[AngelOfTheNorth]

Im in a well paid contract at the moment and even I feel depressed after reading all this (and Im not even in support!)

[gingerjedi]

Competition is high here too (in OZ) so it's nothing I'm not used to.. 1 role I was interviewed for recently had 263 applicants...the recruiter told me that only 4 were shortlisted (including myself)

But you also mention rates.. From my research, Infrastructure still sits in between 250-350quid per day. That seems reasonable to me. What doesn't sound reasonable are all these helpdesk/1st/2nd level positions that I'm seeing offering absolute banana's. Like Worzel said, you could probably make more money in a coffee shop. These hourly/daily figures are an insult seriously. What the hell is going on?

Someone can drive a van or operate a coffee machine can earn the same/more than someone who has Computing experience in XP/Vista/Basic networking/App support?

I think of the support market as a sort of tree, there have always been plenty of monkeys at the bottom on the trunk but as long as the higher branches exist they get to climb up pretty quickly. Lop off some of the branches and the clever monkeys at the top will climb down a bit making it harder for lower branch monkeys to climb up.

Take a chainsaw and cut the branches back to to trunk and you get all the monkeys clambering to stay on what little is left, the less experienced will be pushed off altogether. These monkeys will be bruised and half starved as they fight for the rotton fruit on the ground.

[rootsnall]

[QUOTE=lukemg;1121799 The only exceptions are niche areas with substantial barriers to entry e.g. SAP.[/QUOTE]

The market is somewhere between dead and very dead. The problem with any large package is that the consultancies and hence the outsourcing/offshoring/onshoring lot are onto it in a big way. The barriers to entry are not relevant anymore except for very new niches and the Indian arms of the consultanices will be ahead of the pack anyway and quickly eliminate any boomed money.

Not a sniff of any work in what would normally be a good time to be hunting as new budgets are released. I've got the doomed feeling today.