State of the market

[nomadd]

A telephone call from an agent asking for two references.

I suggest he uses everyone on this thread. Should more than cover it.

[Stan.goodvibes]

Just watching the state of the market and the state of the UK in general from Down Under and I have to say 'eeee its grim oop north' and down south and pretty well everywhere if you are looking at it from the outside. Shhee-it whats next - ration books? Is it really THAT bad? - I keep seeing articles on the BBC website about 10 years of austerity etc - jeez by that time everyone in the world will be speaking Spanish, Brazilian (Portugese) or Cantonese! UK IT contractors will be getting about 10p/hour as the cheap offshore labour for Asian countries...

Meanwhile here in Oz its booming along about to go back to full employment (under 5%) with contracts galore and rates going up and the dollar about to head ABOVE the US$. We'll be catching up with the pound soon, I figure in a few short years I'll probably be buying a holiday home in Chelsea with my spare change...

Emigrate now, save yourself before its too late

[Animal]

You mean you guys would give me a reference I'm sure a reference from someone called Fred Bloggs would go down a treat

Market seems OK, Jobserve seems to be sending roles through almost every day, filtered on VB.net, C# and Delphi. Mostly C# it seems. Am I correct that webforms skills are in demand while winforms are not? Dunno how many of these are real.

I've had a longish break from contracting - since early 2008 - due to family illness. Feeling a bit house bound!

[Ignis Fatuus]

...
The feeling of relief I feel is immeasurable. It signals the end of a 3 year period of hell. I came to London chasing the big rates at the big banks and it's been nothing but an unmitigated disaster working with some real t0ssers and being interviewed by people I wouldn't p**s upon if they were on fire. I have a contracting friend who did exactly the same and despite being on even bigger money than I was on he is desperate to return home too. We had a plan when we came down here. It was called 'Operation Richard Gere'. The idea being that we'd be cash rich and oozing class at the Corney and Barrow's of this world. What we didn't realise is that we were living 'the dream' prior to our departure.

Enough of my rant. Lager for £ 2.60, Fish & Chips (with summat moist) for way under a fiver, best curries on this island, 50% house prices, better scenery, decent down to earth people, just a shame about the weather (and no I don't own whippets or pigeons!)

Long live the North!

proved too much for the man,
So he's leavin' the life he's come to know,
He said he's goin' back to find
Ooh, what's left of his world,
The world he left behind
Not so long ago.
He's leaving,
On that midnight train to Georgia,
And he's goin' back
To a simpler place and time.

Seconded. You never realise you were breathing poisoned air until you breathe fresh air again. Then you realise that your life is too short for what you had found yourself doing.

[gingerjedi]

Just watching the state of the market and the state of the UK in general from Down Under and I have to say 'eeee its grim oop north' and down south and pretty well everywhere if you are looking at it from the outside. Shhee-it whats next - ration books? Is it really THAT bad? - I keep seeing articles on the BBC website about 10 years of austerity etc - jeez by that time everyone in the world will be speaking Spanish, Brazilian (Portugese) or Cantonese! UK IT contractors will be getting about 10p/hour as the cheap offshore labour for Asian countries...

Meanwhile here in Oz its booming along about to go back to full employment (under 5%) with contracts galore and rates going up and the dollar about to head ABOVE the US$. We'll be catching up with the pound soon, I figure in a few short years I'll probably be buying a holiday home in Chelsea with my spare change...

Emigrate now, save yourself before its too late

Ooh you're tempting fate, you're post could have been written from a UK perspective looking outward to the wider world only a fews years back.

Is the Australian market sustainable? Is there any doubt about whats fuelling it? Money doesn't grow on trees in the modern world.

Be prepared.

[Andy2]

Emigrate now, save yourself before its too late

That's the root I will be taking. I am planning to emigrate to Oz or canada.
US has almost stopped issuing H1B visas. Not sure how the IT market is in Canada. Any comments ?

[filthy1980]

That's the root I will be taking. I am planning to emigrate to Oz or canada.
US has almost stopped issuing H1B visas. Not sure how the IT market is in Canada. Any comments ?

about 6 months ago a mate of mine got a contract out there within about 6 weeks of looking, and he was still based over here

he was a networks guy

not much of a yardstick i know

[Fred Bloggs]

Ooh you're tempting fate, you're post could have been written from a UK perspective looking outward to the wider world only a fews years back.

Is the Australian market sustainable? Is there any doubt about whats fuelling it? Money doesn't grow on trees in the modern world.

Be prepared.

Simple, it's natural resources and demand in Asia that's driving the economy, the exchange rate etc... The boom in exploiting natural gas resosurces is looking very much like it might totally economically transform the whole of Australia from what I can see. It is possible that in the next 10 to 15 years that Oz might be the world's largest exporter of LNG (liquefied natural gas). Certainly, the landscape for all engineers in O&G is booming, I have seen salaries for permie jobs in Oz that are more than double the permie salary for the same job in the UK. The exchange rate has had a lot to do with that but it is a fact. Unfortuantely, at almost 54 I'm too old to be let into Oz.

[Animal]

Canada's a big place :-) If you're talking west coast, then I'd say it's quiet.

[Stan.goodvibes]

This is a large scale Sybase Upgrade program and will definitely continue on into 2011 but will start at 3 month. Come on who would like to make the first bid.

Go on take a chance, you might be right for the role. Hit that little apply button

From jobserve.com.au. That's agent-speak for 'somebody pleeeeze apply for this role!!!!'

There are tons more like it.