Struggling to get to an interview...

[eek]

So does the OP need more certs? Which ones?

Keys 101 - radiators
Roman history 101 - Live Entertainment for the masses
Food condiments 102 - testing Chutney

[DigitalUser]

I hire a lot of devs. Unless I knew you or someone I trusted knew you - you wouldn't get a second look - 4 years experience for a java dev isn't enough - it took me 3 years to get my training wheels properly off and 7 before I could run. Sure, there are people who can smash it in 6 months - 1 year and they stand out so much that they never need look for work, it finds them.

Keep plugging away whilst doing your permie job and you may get a contract, but I'd have an eye on the longer term, you are more likely to start hearing things back once you've got 5-6 years.

EDIT - actually , looks like you left your permie job? Didn't read the complete thread....

I got my first contract as a Java developer after 4 years of being perm. Two years on, I've moved into team lead/coaching type roles - the point I'm making is that what you're trying to do is entirely possible, and there is growth if you're smart and continue to develop personally, but I also was lucky that an agent (who is also quite young) took a punt to put my CV forward as no one else had got in touch up to that point.

Do I think I was good enough to compete in the contract market? For legacy projects yes (which, incidentally, is what I got my Java contract for), but for greenfield projects absolutely no chance.

[SpontaneousOrder]

For legacy projects yes (which, incidentally, is what I got my Java contract for), but for greenfield projects absolutely no chance.

That's a good point. Any chimp could do my current gig so long as they passed the test which is one of the harder ones i've done.