State of the current London IT Contract Market?

[Rabotnik]

Is it just the London banking market that is quiet?

I'm looking for BI roles in any sector and I'm not having much success, and what little is out there often requires IB experience (which I don't have) or they want you to have C#, Oracle, COGNOS or loads of other skills for low rates. I probably picked the worst time to go contracting, but I was in a permie role for 5 years that I wanted to get out of. Have to take the risk some time.

[craig1]

I've seen the other side of the situation that may explain some things. We've been desperate to get a couple of good PMs recently on a programme of work I'm running and have been offering over the market rate for a 12 month contract at a very good, prestigious client*. The vast majority of CVs received from the agencies (about 6 agencies in total once we went outside the PSL) were either abysmal or were clearly full of lies once we got the PM in for an interview. We even had one candidate turn up and not recognise the CV we were referring to as it had been amended so heavily by the agency to doctor it towards our spec. We did get the two excellent candidates eventually through recommendations gathered from an internal mailshot, even then the client's insistence on going through a PSL agency for payment for unknown contractors almost derailed it. All three PSL agencies were asking the contractors to sign stupid terms with 15-25% margins (we knew because both contractors complained to us).

So... the common fault I'm seeing is all to do with the agencies. Here's what we witnessed:

- We were frustrated that we were having to sift CVs carefully for content. That's historically what I've asked agencies to do, expecting to get 3 decent CVs and have probably 2 interviewable candidates from them. I think we were at 1 in 5 in for interviews and even that was being generous as we were desperate. Agencies sacking good agents and hiring 18 year old newbies just doesn't provide acceptable service for clients.
- Good candidates were being put off by the "low rate", one of the guys we are starting didn't apply for the roles advertised as they were listed at £300p/d despite us having a firm £500p/d rate at the start. It was only when he came direct through the recommendation that we found this out. Even when we raised it to £750p/d we saw an advert stating £450p/d!
- One good candidate we offered the role to dropped out suddenly to "take another role" according to the agent. We found out that he actually dropped out after we "insisted" he accept a rate cut of £50p/d and the agency refused to negotiate, blaming cost cutting on our end. We found this out through me calling the guy directly asking if he'd reconsider.
- Agents just didn't understand what we wanted and sent far too many grossly unsuitable people through. Having a PRINCE2 Practitioner certificate does not make someone an experienced project manager. Also, calling someone a PM when they are business analysts trying to break into project management is just poor. The worst was a CV where the agent's cover-sheet said that said the candidate was a highly experienced PM when the CV showed not a single project run and a long career as a technical line manager.
- Agency Account Managers over-selling rubbish candidates over ones we felt had promise, to the point that one even started rubbishing a candidate he himself had put forward so that we wouldn't bin his "favourite". Am I maybe being cynical in thinking that the favourite had agreed to be put forward at a mug's price while the agency hoped to cream a massive margin?
- All PSL agencies who we approached over payroll terms for the new contractors insisted on firm, long-term tie-in contracts with us and we know that at least two of them harassed the contractors about opting out while signing a lengthy tie-in on their contract. They were eventually taken on direct with the client, ignoring the whining of the agencies.

My subjective opinion is that the direct contract market isn't that bad just now as that's kept me over-subscribed and I'm still getting lots of speculative invites to apply directly for contracts. Maybe the fault is with the intermediaries. I accept that many agencies are struggling now but stiffing both client and contractor while cutting services to the client is surely long-term destructive for the industry as a whole.

* we needed two mid-range infrastructure PMs, we started at £500 p/d then raised it to £750p/d as the hunt progressed, the candidates stayed poor and our desperation increased.

[Barley]

I've seen the other side of the situation that may explain some things. We've been desperate to get a couple of good PMs recently on a programme of work I'm running and have been offering over the market rate for a 12 month contract at a very good, prestigious client*. The vast majority of CVs received from the agencies (about 6 agencies in total once we went outside the PSL) were either abysmal or were clearly full of lies once we got the PM in for an interview. We even had one candidate turn up and not recognise the CV we were referring to as it had been amended so heavily by the agency to doctor it towards our spec. We did get the two excellent candidates eventually through recommendations gathered from an internal mailshot, even then the client's insistence on going through a PSL agency for payment for unknown contractors almost derailed it. All three PSL agencies were asking the contractors to sign stupid terms with 15-25% margins (we knew because both contractors complained to us).

So... the common fault I'm seeing is all to do with the agencies. Here's what we witnessed:

- We were frustrated that we were having to sift CVs carefully for content. That's historically what I've asked agencies to do, expecting to get 3 decent CVs and have probably 2 interviewable candidates from them. I think we were at 1 in 5 in for interviews and even that was being generous as we were desperate. Agencies sacking good agents and hiring 18 year old newbies just doesn't provide acceptable service for clients.
- Good candidates were being put off by the "low rate", one of the guys we are starting didn't apply for the roles advertised as they were listed at £300p/d despite us having a firm £500p/d rate at the start. It was only when he came direct through the recommendation that we found this out. Even when we raised it to £750p/d we saw an advert stating £450p/d!
- One good candidate we offered the role to dropped out suddenly to "take another role" according to the agent. We found out that he actually dropped out after we "insisted" he accept a rate cut of £50p/d and the agency refused to negotiate, blaming cost cutting on our end. We found this out through me calling the guy directly asking if he'd reconsider.
- Agents just didn't understand what we wanted and sent far too many grossly unsuitable people through. Having a PRINCE2 Practitioner certificate does not make someone an experienced project manager. Also, calling someone a PM when they are business analysts trying to break into project management is just poor. The worst was a CV where the agent's cover-sheet said that said the candidate was a highly experienced PM when the CV showed not a single project run and a long career as a technical line manager.
- Agency Account Managers over-selling rubbish candidates over ones we felt had promise, to the point that one even started rubbishing a candidate he himself had put forward so that we wouldn't bin his "favourite". Am I maybe being cynical in thinking that the favourite had agreed to be put forward at a mug's price while the agency hoped to cream a massive margin?
- All PSL agencies who we approached over payroll terms for the new contractors insisted on firm, long-term tie-in contracts with us and we know that at least two of them harassed the contractors about opting out while signing a lengthy tie-in on their contract. They were eventually taken on direct with the client, ignoring the whining of the agencies.

My subjective opinion is that the direct contract market isn't that bad just now as that's kept me over-subscribed and I'm still getting lots of speculative invites to apply directly for contracts. Maybe the fault is with the intermediaries. I accept that many agencies are struggling now but stiffing both client and contractor while cutting services to the client is surely long-term destructive for the industry as a whole.

* we needed two mid-range infrastructure PMs, we started at £500 p/d then raised it to £750p/d as the hunt progressed, the candidates stayed poor and our desperation increased.

Great post, interesting to hear this from the other side, ive had similar problems myself with agencies when recruiting analysts, its just so difficult to get the right people. The screening some agencies do is pitiful.

[darrenb]

agencies

I've seen the other side of the situation that may explain some things. We've been desperate to get a couple of good PMs recently on a programme of work I'm running and have been offering over the market rate for a 12 month contract at a very good, prestigious client*. The vast majority of CVs received from the agencies (about 6 agencies in total once we went outside the PSL) were either abysmal or were clearly full of lies once we got the PM in for an interview. We even had one candidate turn up and not recognise the CV we were referring to as it had been amended so heavily by the agency to doctor it towards our spec. We did get the two excellent candidates eventually through recommendations gathered from an internal mailshot, even then the client's insistence on going through a PSL agency for payment for unknown contractors almost derailed it. All three PSL agencies were asking the contractors to sign stupid terms with 15-25% margins (we knew because both contractors complained to us).

Clients have created these monsters and now they are suffering from them. Any business that claims it has to go through agents because they are effective filters should read your post in its entirety. It is much better to look for candidates directly, on LinkedIn, through personal contacts, etc

[jmo21]

- One good candidate we offered the role to dropped out suddenly to "take another role" according to the agent. We found out that he actually dropped out after we "insisted" he accept a rate cut of £50p/d and the agency refused to negotiate, blaming cost cutting on our end. We found this out through me calling the guy directly asking if he'd reconsider.
.

This is exactly why a telephone screen is necessary, stops in person waste of time but crucially, you get the guys phone number so if there are any agency shennanigans you can call him up.

[redgiant]

I've seen the other side of the situation that may explain some things. We've been desperate to get a couple of good PMs recently on a programme of work I'm running and have been offering over the market rate for a 12 month contract at a very good, prestigious client*. The vast majority of CVs received from the agencies (about 6 agencies in total once we went outside the PSL) were either abysmal or were clearly full of lies once we got the PM in for an interview. We even had one candidate turn up and not recognise the CV we were referring to as it had been amended so heavily by the agency to doctor it towards our spec. We did get the two excellent candidates eventually through recommendations gathered from an internal mailshot, even then the client's insistence on going through a PSL agency for payment for unknown contractors almost derailed it. All three PSL agencies were asking the contractors to sign stupid terms with 15-25% margins (we knew because both contractors complained to us).

So... the common fault I'm seeing is all to do with the agencies. Here's what we witnessed:

- We were frustrated that we were having to sift CVs carefully for content. That's historically what I've asked agencies to do, expecting to get 3 decent CVs and have probably 2 interviewable candidates from them. I think we were at 1 in 5 in for interviews and even that was being generous as we were desperate. Agencies sacking good agents and hiring 18 year old newbies just doesn't provide acceptable service for clients.
- Good candidates were being put off by the "low rate", one of the guys we are starting didn't apply for the roles advertised as they were listed at £300p/d despite us having a firm £500p/d rate at the start. It was only when he came direct through the recommendation that we found this out. Even when we raised it to £750p/d we saw an advert stating £450p/d!
- One good candidate we offered the role to dropped out suddenly to "take another role" according to the agent. We found out that he actually dropped out after we "insisted" he accept a rate cut of £50p/d and the agency refused to negotiate, blaming cost cutting on our end. We found this out through me calling the guy directly asking if he'd reconsider.
- Agents just didn't understand what we wanted and sent far too many grossly unsuitable people through. Having a PRINCE2 Practitioner certificate does not make someone an experienced project manager. Also, calling someone a PM when they are business analysts trying to break into project management is just poor. The worst was a CV where the agent's cover-sheet said that said the candidate was a highly experienced PM when the CV showed not a single project run and a long career as a technical line manager.
- Agency Account Managers over-selling rubbish candidates over ones we felt had promise, to the point that one even started rubbishing a candidate he himself had put forward so that we wouldn't bin his "favourite". Am I maybe being cynical in thinking that the favourite had agreed to be put forward at a mug's price while the agency hoped to cream a massive margin?
- All PSL agencies who we approached over payroll terms for the new contractors insisted on firm, long-term tie-in contracts with us and we know that at least two of them harassed the contractors about opting out while signing a lengthy tie-in on their contract. They were eventually taken on direct with the client, ignoring the whining of the agencies.

My subjective opinion is that the direct contract market isn't that bad just now as that's kept me over-subscribed and I'm still getting lots of speculative invites to apply directly for contracts. Maybe the fault is with the intermediaries. I accept that many agencies are struggling now but stiffing both client and contractor while cutting services to the client is surely long-term destructive for the industry as a whole.

* we needed two mid-range infrastructure PMs, we started at £500 p/d then raised it to £750p/d as the hunt progressed, the candidates stayed poor and our desperation increased.

One of my old colleagues who is out for a PMO role got stiffed by the agent. Without him knowing the agent called the client and wanted more money for the role after he had already accepted the role at the agreed rate. The end result was that the client was quite rightly f**ked off with the agent and canned the role so everyone looses out.

I'm looking around this week and finding the market to be on the quiet side in my areas as well - this time last year I was getting far more enquiries.

[MyUserName]

My old housemate is a team leader for a company in London. They are screaming for good C# .NET developers but simply could not get them. After a couple of interviews where the interviewee was nothing like the cv portrayed they started phone screening but even that was taking up too much time as they were getting two different types of developers:

1 Rubbish ones who could not do the job and were either deluded or lying
2 Competent developers who wanted a stupid amount of money, I think they were offering 60k or so and this was what most of the people in the company of a similar position was on but people would not go for it.

In the end they resorted to poaching some old contrators that they knew from previous work.

[Scoobos]

Yup, I wonder if its the market or the mechanics at fault here.

I had been looking for a 3rd line wintel architecture role, or support, or something else of interest - for nearly 3 months before taking a lesser role at a big cut from my usual rate.

Now that I have it, I find that my client has been looking for months, only getting crap.

Given that I've come from a contract working for a massive multinational global leader in I.T, have nothing but 100% references, have NEVER not been offered a contract from interview and a truely global CV and clientbase over the past 7 years; I can only blame the quality of the agents working these roles.


(I'm modest irl too btw, honest, just being clear for the forum)

If someone thinks that my CV isn't worth forwarding for a Wintel support role , whos just come out of college , or has no education but a pretty face - then I'm doomed.

This is all I've had to deal with for months; and ended up taking a 12 weeker at a 50% cut of my rate that is absolutely NOTHING like the jobserve spec - even 1 bit..

Seems like its awful for both sides.

[wonderboy]

My old housemate is a team leader for a company in London. They are screaming for good C# .NET developers but simply could not get them... I think they were offering 60k or so

Ah, there's your problem. 60k is £3400 ish take-home / month.

A nice 2-bed flat in Richmond costs £3940/month. In Angel they cost circa £2400/month.

Then you have whatever it costs you to feed, clothe and insure yourself, plus bills.

In short, you have no disposable income in return for being one of the privileged few who are great at C#.

Why would someone with a great CV who is great at what they do accept this state of affairs?

Hint: they wouldn't and they don't - they contract where the money is good, work for themselves or bite the bullet and move into better paid areas like CTO-ship / finance etc, or they go for prestige with Google et al.

...hence your mate's inability to hire good .NET devs.

[Boo]

Am I maybe being cynical in thinking that the favourite had agreed to be put forward at a mug's price while the agency hoped to cream a massive margin?

Dunno. Am I maybe being cynical in thinking you're a rollicking twazzock for using agencies in the first place ? Put an ad on jobserve and get your most jumior person to sift the sh*t. Then scan the 50 left taking 1 minute each and interview the 3 that work for you. How much would that cost you/your firm ?

Boo