Need to get off the bench....

[Tightfit]

Just for fun I set up Jobserve to include only Eastern European countries. (Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Ukraine).

Search everywhere in these countries for contracts, no keywords, last 7 days (yep I know its Xmas hols)

7 contracts in the entire of eastern europe. Two are duplicates, so only:
6 contracts.
Russia x 2 (3rd was a duplicate - removed)
Poland x 2
Romania x 1
Czech Rep x 1

Ok, If I leave all the search parameters the same but replace all of those Eastern European countries with 'United Kingdom' I get:
4,925 contracts.

Maybe Jobserve isn't the best way to find contracts in Eastern Europe, but I wouldn't be packing my bags and buying a plane ticket to that part of the world in search of riches. Germany, Benelux maybe...

From what you saying - you prefer the ´Well Heeled countries of the EU'
Therefore include the following in your Search on Jobserve. Namely
Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland ( yes you can get in their as well although not EU ) Luxembourg, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Finland and Sweden.

See what you come back with ????

[quackhandle]

Have you thought about alternative revenue sources? For example, if you're a limited company, set up your website properly, put an articles section on it, write interesting articles and put Google Ads on them, network your articles everywhere and encourage people to share the links around. If you're quite literate and are near expert level in your area then you can probably think of plenty of things to write about. You won't make tons of money but anything's better than nothing, also writing articles gets you into others' mindsets as a "published expert" making hunting for roles that wee bit easier. Get your friends to proof read and tell you of any particularly good ones, punt those exclusively and free to major trade magazines and journals, it's all positive publicity and those things tend to go quite high up on searches for your name.

Cheers, a former contractor told me about this before, I'll have to give it some serious thought.

qh

[MPwannadecentincome]

New Year New Update

The last week of Dec brought all the bad news in one go - 1 interview I had "succeeded" only upto the point of them withdrawing the role, the other interview there was a better candidate to take to the final interview so I was out.

Apart from attending the Job Center and filling in a special form for Self Employed / Ltd Co. Directors and supplying copy of business bank statements an old client of mine in Germany noticed my linkedin update and asked if I was available. Did a quick skype call and scheduled a follow up with another Director for 2nd Jan.

2014 and yesterday I had learnt that the 3rd company I had interviewed with the result came in someone more local and better suited was offered the role. Another item in the pipeline had gone cold as well, leaving only the German company; that call seemed to go well and first thing this morning I submitted a proposal on a rate. The company is only small so I was not paid much before so I will see what I can get having pointed out my increased experience and skills over the last 4 years since I was there last.

Had another call with an old company today and taken 2 calls from Agents. There is some stuff on jobserve to apply for.

The only concrete news I've had this year is the text message that just came saying my JSA claim has been authorised - so at least I will get £72 pw.

So just waiting for Germany to call now....

[Damon]

Keep going buddy.

I've been getting a few calls a day this week so Jan is ramping up.

[thecontractoruk]

The last week of Dec brought all the bad news in one go - 1 interview I had "succeeded" only upto the point of them withdrawing the role, the other interview there was a better candidate to take to the final interview so I was out.

Apart from attending the Job Center and filling in a special form for Self Employed / Ltd Co. Directors and supplying copy of business bank statements an old client of mine in Germany noticed my linkedin update and asked if I was available. Did a quick skype call and scheduled a follow up with another Director for 2nd Jan.

2014 and yesterday I had learnt that the 3rd company I had interviewed with the result came in someone more local and better suited was offered the role. Another item in the pipeline had gone cold as well, leaving only the German company; that call seemed to go well and first thing this morning I submitted a proposal on a rate. The company is only small so I was not paid much before so I will see what I can get having pointed out my increased experience and skills over the last 4 years since I was there last.

Had another call with an old company today and taken 2 calls from Agents. There is some stuff on jobserve to apply for.

The only concrete news I've had this year is the text message that just came saying my JSA claim has been authorised - so at least I will get £72 pw.

So just waiting for Germany to call now....

I'm in same boat, I had 5 interviews in Dec, was very confident that I would end up with at least 2 or 3 offers. Mysteriously all are gone and I end up with nothing. Sadly it piss me off so much just before Christmas.

I don't understand why some clients withdraw the role after conducting all phases of interviews, are the managers that idiots or this is the way things works in contracting world .

I have a feeling also that some of the clients are not serious about recruitment but want to check the market if they can find "THE BEST", if not they prefer to wait. So asap start is not really asap.

Hopefully Jan will bring the good news - fingers x

[craig1]

The last week of Dec brought all the bad news in one go - 1 interview I had "succeeded" only upto the point of them withdrawing the role, the other interview there was a better candidate to take to the final interview so I was out.

Apart from attending the Job Center and filling in a special form for Self Employed / Ltd Co. Directors and supplying copy of business bank statements an old client of mine in Germany noticed my linkedin update and asked if I was available. Did a quick skype call and scheduled a follow up with another Director for 2nd Jan.

2014 and yesterday I had learnt that the 3rd company I had interviewed with the result came in someone more local and better suited was offered the role. Another item in the pipeline had gone cold as well, leaving only the German company; that call seemed to go well and first thing this morning I submitted a proposal on a rate. The company is only small so I was not paid much before so I will see what I can get having pointed out my increased experience and skills over the last 4 years since I was there last.

Had another call with an old company today and taken 2 calls from Agents. There is some stuff on jobserve to apply for.

The only concrete news I've had this year is the text message that just came saying my JSA claim has been authorised - so at least I will get £72 pw.

So just waiting for Germany to call now....

Did you send the "thank you for interviewing me" letter to those you were unsuccessful with? Until the new person's bum is on the seat the role is still open. If he doesn't turn up then you're right in their minds. Also, if he's less than stellar, a gracious letter thanking them for interviewing you along with a short reminder that you'd really love to be able to show them how good you are in future might just make them think they'd be better with you instead. In all the interviews I've done in the past I've had one of these letters and it really made me think "did I choose the right guy?" Even if it doesn't get you an immediate role, you'll leave a positive thought in their mind. You never know if they might recommend you to someone else in their company who needs someone with your skills.

[MPwannadecentincome]

Did you send the "thank you for interviewing me" letter to those you were unsuccessful with? Until the new person's bum is on the seat the role is still open. If he doesn't turn up then you're right in their minds. Also, if he's less than stellar, a gracious letter thanking them for interviewing you along with a short reminder that you'd really love to be able to show them how good you are in future might just make them think they'd be better with you instead. In all the interviews I've done in the past I've had one of these letters and it really made me think "did I choose the right guy?" Even if it doesn't get you an immediate role, you'll leave a positive thought in their mind. You never know if they might recommend you to someone else in their company who needs someone with your skills.

does that happen in this country? I know it does in USA never heard of it here, mind you I've sent a short note to one of them on a linkedin invitation.

[Manz]

Every week I keep getting calls and emails from agents saying they have a permanent role for me, I don't know why because I'm only looking and applying for contracts.

[craig1]

does that happen in this country? I know it does in USA never heard of it here, mind you I've sent a short note to one of them on a linkedin invitation.

It's not normal, no, but it is polite. Anything that marks you as slightly better than a competitor or creates a positive impression in the minds of influential others can't hurt, can it?

[CheeseSlice]

Every week I keep getting calls and emails from agents saying they have a permanent role for me, I don't know why because I'm only looking and applying for contracts.

Happens all the time. When they ask if you're looking for work at the moment, ensure you poke the words 'looking for new contracts' into your response to minimise the time wastage.

Had some funny ones in December where the agents knew I was only looking for contracts, but were obviously struggling to find perm candidates. One poor fool even demanded I 'explain' why I only take contracts and not perm roles with a tone of desperation in his voice. Oh, where to begin...