Current state of the market

**secontrator** · 31 January 2012, 20:54

Originally posted by leo7 View Post

Hello everyone - this is my first ever post on this forum
I have been contracting since Oct 2010 in a mixture of Opps Management and Project roles prior to that I was permanent for 7 years for a blue chip -
My last contract expired in Dec 2011 and have been off since, I have only recently started looking for a new contract seriously and have found it quite tough going was wondering how other are finding the market and if you have any tips - I have been told that it should pick up around feb and then around April when budgets etc get approved however I think i will go crazy i do not find anything before then !!!

It is not looking great..Iam in IB(permie) and iam looking to move for better opportunities..But, it is damn difficult at the moment...

**BolshieBastard** · 31 January 2012, 22:50

Originally posted by leo7 View Post

Hello everyone - this is my first ever post on this forum
I have been contracting since Oct 2010 in a mixture of Opps Management and Project roles prior to that I was permanent for 7 years for a blue chip -
My last contract expired in Dec 2011 and have been off since, I have only recently started looking for a new contract seriously and have found it quite tough going was wondering how other are finding the market and if you have any tips - I have been told that it should pick up around feb and then around April when budgets etc get approved however I think i will go crazy i do not find anything before then !!!

But surely you researched contracting before giving it a go so knew there would be periods without work?

And if you've only just started looking again for a new role, do you expect to have it fall into your lap within a few days?

Despite what lots of people will tell you, the contract market is tougher now than at any other time imo. Contracts are now shorter and fewer in numbers in almost all specialisms. IMO, its imperative anyone new to contracting should look to put aside as much money as they can so when they are out of work, they do not have to fight over the scraps some agents chuck out there.

**Robinho** · 31 January 2012, 23:04

There's not many adverts up compared to this time last year, but i'm getting interviews. So just keep spamming the job sites and make sure your CV is tuned to the job ads and you'll get a gig within a month i should think.

In the mean time, just relax - i presume you have warchest, The bench isn't all that bad.

**MarillionFan** · 31 January 2012, 23:07

Originally posted by leo7 View Post

Hello everyone - this is my first ever post on this forum
I have been contracting since Oct 2010 in a mixture of Opps Management and Project roles prior to that I was permanent for 7 years for a blue chip -
My last contract expired in Dec 2011 and have been off since, I have only recently started looking for a new contract seriously and have found it quite tough going was wondering how other are finding the market and if you have any tips - I have been told that it should pick up around feb and then around April when budgets etc get approved however I think i will go crazy i do not find anything before then !!!

14 months does not make you a contractor. 1/2/3 contracts?

The first contract is easy. The second the hardest. 3/4/5/6th then yes consider yourself contracting.

Personally never taken any notice of this 'tough' going lark. Contracted since 1997. Never had a problem getting a contract. Now on 35 different contracts in the last 15 years, longest on the bench was 6 weeks and I was lazy getting into the market. If you have the skills & more importantly attitude you'll always get a contract.

**SteelyDan** · 1 February 2012, 07:40

Originally posted by MarillionFan View Post

Personally never taken any notice of this 'tough' going lark. Contracted since 1997. Never had a problem getting a contract.

If you have the skills & more importantly attitude you'll always get a contract.

Nope, don't agree; it's a sweeping generalisation - almost verging on arrogance.

You can have all the skills and attitude you want, but that doesn't mean you'll get a role.

1) To get a role, firstly they need to exist.
2) Secondly, you have to get past the gatekeepers, who, as we know, take their top 3 and ditch the rest. There could of course be a few agencies who are putting 3 candidates forward, so the competition increases.
3) Then you've got to get through the interview & hope you've done enough to get the role. Naturally there will be some disappointed people, who then return to the job boards.

My perception of the market currently is that it is light on roles, and heavy with candidates. Depends what area you are in of course. There might be an abundance of IT roles, but that doesn't mean the remainder of the market is buoyant. Competiton currently is fierce.

**MyUserName** · 1 February 2012, 09:22

I can only talk about my experience but my first contract is ending this month, they offered an extension but another company offered me a 6-12 monther with almost as much money over an hour closer to my house. I did not actually enter the market as such as I got head hunted but it can be done.

**fullyautomatix** · 1 February 2012, 11:05

If your skills are not niche I would say the market at the moment is the toughest for years. Very few companies are actually spending on IT at the moment.

**Wils** · 1 February 2012, 13:45

So the question is what skills keep you in contracts. There is such a vast range of contractors, from PMs to Java devs to support roles, that when someone says its easy/hard it doesn't help anyone much unless they say what line of work they are in.

I'm a Java dev and read the advice on here about researching your market, but the only thing I can find is the market rates and the amount of job adverts there are. It's not enough for me to know if contracting is a good move for me.

**Notascooby** · 1 February 2012, 14:03

Originally posted by Wils View Post

So the question is what skills keep you in contracts. There is such a vast range of contractors, from PMs to Java devs to support roles, that when someone says its easy/hard it doesn't help anyone much unless they say what line of work they are in.

I'm a Java dev and read the advice on here about researching your market, but the only thing I can find is the market rates and the amount of job adverts there are. It's not enough for me to know if contracting is a good move for me.

I'd recommend you look at adding C# to your belt - being able to do both, as long as you're felxible on location, you should be laughing. But there's a lot of people with these skills.

Niche is king - within IB - CharlesRiver / Thinkfolio all command rates of £700 for developers, that's double your average C# role - just for having a little experience on the product.

But then you're less likely to have a detailed design and a team around you, so you're expected to have client facing skills and be able to do more than churn out code.

Infrastrucutre architecture seems good, as does Infrastrucutre PM. Finance PM there's loads of roles as with finance BAs.

Security is a good ticket, bit of self-study and you can have a CISSP if you've got the experience within the sector.

Peoplesoft / SAP / Oracle financials - try and get someithng specific that you can sell, rather than being a generic developer, BA, Architect etc.

Notascooby - generic architect (finance)

Current state of the market