State of the market

[Keen2Work]

I've been contracting in IT for a long time, think it's much harder to find contracts than it used to be, and have been out of the work for the best part of a year. On paper, I have good skills though my recent roles have been shorter and to be fair, my carefully crafted CV doesn't tell a consistent story in respect of having a particularly strong specialist area - almost a pre-requisite when you look at the ads - too late to act on that unfortunately.

I cannot find work.
I have had two or three failed interviews in London and am now wondering what to do next.
Agents call (though not so much recently), sound enthusiastic, sometimes confirm they'll put me forward, and that's it. Nothing more!

1/ Should I pay for a course and gain certification?
Does anyone have specific experience of the effectiveness of this action for successfully securing a contract with a client? (Java?, .NET?, C#?)

2/ Am I the only one in this situation?
It's well nigh impossible to accurately gauge the state of IT at the moment. Agent's, forum articles and postings all give frustratingly contradictory views of the current state of the contract market, and whether or when it will ever recover.

[Fred Bloggs]

In a word- Dire.

[CheeseSlice]

my carefully crafted CV doesn't tell a consistent story in respect of having a particularly strong specialist area - almost a pre-requisite when you look at the ads - too late to act on that unfortunately.

Are you neither a tester, developer, project manager, etc? What do you do?

[wantacontract]

there seems to be a fair few roles available, just a lot of candidates all vying for them!! Or the same old banking roles that most people can't get into due to barrier of entry...

[krytonsheep]

Agents call (though not so much recently), sound enthusiastic, sometimes confirm they'll put me forward, and that's it. Nothing more!

You're not alone. Having agents phone up, being very enthusiastic and chatting for ages then going off the radar seems be fairly normal.

[oliverson]

It really is depressing.

I have a very impressive CV with the last several years contracting at financial institutions, initially retail banks but lately investment. As a .NET developer I have good commercial experience in WPF but despite a few interviews, no offers. I have always interviewed well, generally getting an offer for every interview. This has all changed in the last couple of years. Not blowing my own trumpet at all but if I'm struggling then plenty of others must be.

[moder8or]

re 2/ Am I the only one

I've been contracting in IT for a long time, think it's much harder to find contracts than it used to be, and have been out of the work for the best part of a year. On paper, I have good skills though my recent roles have been shorter and to be fair, my carefully crafted CV doesn't tell a consistent story in respect of having a particularly strong specialist area - almost a pre-requisite when you look at the ads - too late to act on that unfortunately.

I cannot find work.
I have had two or three failed interviews in London and am now wondering what to do next.
Agents call (though not so much recently), sound enthusiastic, sometimes confirm they'll put me forward, and that's it. Nothing more!

1/ Should I pay for a course and gain certification?
Does anyone have specific experience of the effectiveness of this action for successfully securing a contract with a client? (Java?, .NET?, C#?)

2/ Am I the only one in this situation?
It's well nigh impossible to accurately gauge the state of IT at the moment. Agent's, forum articles and postings all give frustratingly contradictory views of the current state of the contract market, and whether or when it will ever recover.

Hey men, No! you are'nt the only one.
Do not despair
I am in engineering, and I dont often login to this forum, I just find it is an insight into the job scene
I have just had a long discussion with a recruiter, he said I have a fantastic c.v. and given the opportunity and location I will find a contract.
Ive been contracting since 1983 in a stop / go economy, where there has been downturns, upturns, and even turnarounds by the establishment that we all pay for, to provide us all with the opportunity of a reasonable standard of living
Opportunity, that is the key to it all, given the chance, we can all thrive, and have the will to do so, there are those who do not have the ability to succeed, we will have to support the non achievers, once we are back in the groove, we can say, we have overcome our difficulties.
Even the agencies are struggling, thats why they ring and talk about next to nothing
Both IT and Engineering are suffering, as are the public and private sector, hey, the whole lot is in a poor state
But do not despair, keep trying as you have been, learn from those interviews, be sure to get a confirmation of submittal from your agencies, then you know where you stand, it can only get better
woh yeh!

[krytonsheep]

It really is depressing.

Yep it's depressing. It's got to the point where I'm thinking of applying for roles in Singapore where things seem to be booming... from wiki
"As of August 8th, 2010, Singapore is the fastest growing economy in the world, with a growth rate of 17.9% for the first half of 2010"

[oliverson]

The unfortunate side to Singapore is low rates.

Let's face it, we are in a 'contracting' market being squeezed from all sides. It looks bl00dy bleak to me. I feel like a miner or shipbuilder at times!

[gricerboy]

Honestly, I've never heard such a bunch of Cassandras! Talk about the glass being half empty lol!

I'm in .Net / sql development and the .Net market is presently booming. Ok, rates aren't that great but I'm coming to the end of my 3rd 3-monther since December having had only 1 week on the bench. Contract is up Friday week and I fully expect to walk into something the following Monday. Maybe you think I'm over optimistic but unless things have changed in the last couple of months whilst I haven't been looking then my pecker is well and truly UP at the moment!