Need to get off the bench....

[CheeseSlice]

Well you don't have to spend all the 8K in one go and it is unlikely a permie employer would do so either - not even over 2 years in most places!

I've rarely had the ability to choose my own training in permie roles. Thats one of the main benefits of being a contractor for me.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

MPwannadecentincome:

Good luck and keep at it. Don't give up. A gig often comes up when you least expect it. Bench is beckoning for me in a few weeks too.

[MPwannadecentincome]

MPwannadecentincome:

Good luck and keep at it. Don't give up. A gig often comes up when you least expect it. Bench is beckoning for me in a few weeks too.

Many thanks! The phone interview went really well today it has made my week

Now off to networking drinks in London.

I hope you find something good - best of luck to you.

[Old Greg]

Many thanks! The phone interview went really well today it has made my week

Now off to networking drinks in London.

I hope you find something good - best of luck to you.

Not much to add except I hope it works out. You are doing the right thing through networking. I have only ever found one contract via advertised roles. Also, make sure you get out of the house every morning before 9 am, even if just for a 5 minute walk. And something WILL turn up.

[psychocandy]

MP - hope something gets sorted for you soon.

Hope you don't mind me adding to your thead about how I do things.

Been on bench since September. Only looking since start of October really since I did go on holidays for a few weeks.
My situation is slightly different in that I've got a small baby in the house and wife has been ill recently. So, in a way, its been nice to be home to look after them both but it means, even though I've devoted time to job hunting, I've not had the time I'd have liked to do other stuff like learn new skills, study for exams etc.
Wife is pretty good and takes baby out most days for a few hours so I can get on with things.

Generally, I get up in the morning and crack onto jobserve, jobsite, cwjobs, monster, technojobs. Amending CV generally for each role. Then the calls start.
Also, done the emails to people, Linked in etc and all that.

I've found the market fairly quiet but surprisingly its not gone as dead as I'd expected nearer xmas. In the past 15-20 years been redundant 3 times from permie jobs and had many contracts and longest I ever had between was about 3-4 weeks. It does worry you a bit when its a lot longer this time I must admit - I start doubting myself and wondering if I'm ever going to get anything.

Since then I've been offered one that got canned on the friday before, been close to a few, and had quite a few phone interviews. What I have found is :-

1. Increase in stupid question technical interviews.
2. Lowest rate person seems to go a long way these days.
3. Plenty of roles get advertised then get pulled by the client (or agent is too keen in the first place).
4. A lot of it is luck - I've had phone interviews where its obvious they've already made up their mind regardless - its all about being put forward for the right role at the right time.
5. Not many people bother with face to face now - got my first one on monday.

Warchest is now ok to last until about next April/May. Still hopeful of getting something before xmas if I can - even if it is a low paid one. Thinking being 1/2 normal rate for two months is better than nothing before xmas, hoping then in january it'll start picking up again.

Starting to look further afield now as well. Good news is that wife is getting a little better so working away for a few days a week might be doable (with the help of family). Not ideal and I'd like to secure something decent to pay for the additional costs/hassle but at least its an option now.

Also, still signing on. Glad I did this. Once the claim is done its no big hassle to turn up for literally 2 mins every 2 weeks and they pretty much leave me alone to get on with things. 3 month since last contact so approx £900 or so back into warchest from this. Better than a poke in the eye. Only problem is this contrib JSA runs out end of Feb so don;t know what happens then?

MP - I'd be claiming now if I were you. As a single person, you've got no other persons income to consider so should be ok for all sorts of assistance. My problems is that wife works part-time (£500/month yet great) so I can't get anything extra.

[Peter Loew]

Well you don't have to spend all the 8K in one go and it is unlikely a permie employer would do so either - not even over 2 years in most places!

Besides even spending some of that if it helps you get contract that has got be better after tax than doing a permie role?

Maybe, dunno. Will have to check with this particular co.

[MPwannadecentincome]

MP - hope something gets sorted for you soon.

...

I've found the market fairly quiet but surprisingly its not gone as dead as I'd expected nearer xmas. In the past 15-20 years been redundant 3 times from permie jobs and had many contracts and longest I ever had between was about 3-4 weeks. It does worry you a bit when its a lot longer this time I must admit - I start doubting myself and wondering if I'm ever going to get anything.

Since then I've been offered one that got canned on the friday before, been close to a few, and had quite a few phone interviews. What I have found is :-

1. Increase in stupid question technical interviews.
2. Lowest rate person seems to go a long way these days.
3. Plenty of roles get advertised then get pulled by the client (or agent is too keen in the first place).
4. A lot of it is luck - I've had phone interviews where its obvious they've already made up their mind regardless - its all about being put forward for the right role at the right time.
5. Not many people bother with face to face now - got my first one on monday.

...

Also, still signing on. Glad I did this. Once the claim is done its no big hassle to turn up for literally 2 mins every 2 weeks and they pretty much leave me alone to get on with things. 3 month since last contact so approx £900 or so back into warchest from this. Better than a poke in the eye. Only problem is this contrib JSA runs out end of Feb so don;t know what happens then?

MP - I'd be claiming now if I were you. As a single person, you've got no other persons income to consider so should be ok for all sorts of assistance. My problems is that wife works part-time (£500/month yet great) so I can't get anything extra.

Thanks PC - I wasn't worried about the gap as much as the fact that it took 6 weeks just to get a phone interview!

I've also seen plenty of roles that have ended up being pulled by the client or where they thought they knew what they wanted but actually needed something else.

Re JSA I guess I should be claiming but whilst I am withdrawing dividends from the Ltd Co somehow it doesn't seem right to claim JSA, I know contributions based is not means tested but I keep thinking its better to be on a lower rate doing something useful than claiming JSA.

Hope you find something soon!

[DirtyDog]

Re JSA I guess I should be claiming but whilst I am withdrawing dividends from the Ltd Co somehow it doesn't seem right to claim JSA, I know contributions based is not means tested but I keep thinking its better to be on a lower rate doing something useful than claiming JSA.

If the warchest is likely to run out soon (and I'm not going to define soon!), then get claiming.

Murphy's Law says that just as you jump through that final hoop for your £76 a week (or whatever it is), you'll land a new role on your best ever rate. So why wait

[aoxomoxoa]

If the warchest is likely to run out soon (and I'm not going to define soon!), then get claiming.

Murphy's Law says that just as you jump through that final hoop for your £76 a week (or whatever it is), you'll land a new role on your best ever rate. So why wait

But I think there's a variant of Murphy's Law to the effect that if you're relying on Murphy's Law kicking in, then it won't.

[MPwannadecentincome]

Wow!

An agent just talked my rate up!

Hmm that means I should have asked for much more, never mind.