How long doing another tech before agents/clients will disregard you?

[psychocandy]

NLUK - You appear to know it all it seems....

[northernladuk]

NLUK - You appear to know it all it seems....

Far from it as I prove endlessly but I do see a pattern in ALL your posts and it seems to concern everyone but you apparently messing about and being unprofessional.

[The Spartan]

Do some certification in B and just say to agents, that you're clearly not losing it as you studied for and got certificate X in B.

I'm really glad Certification in my field counts for tulip.

[The Spartan]

Basically, for the last 25 years been doing two technologies - A and B. Both similar but different if you know what I mean. Split has been pretty much 65/35 A-B

Over the years, most of my roles (perm and contract) have been a mixture of both. Some just A, some just B. Generally I prefer A (and it pays more).

More recently I've been doing roles that are either 90% B or completely B. Trouble is I've found that now agencies are not keen if I apply for A roles since I've been out of it for about 6 months now.

Seems nuts to me. 20+ years experience - I aint gonna suddenly be useless because I've done something different for 6 months!

Anyone else encounter? Any way around this - apart from desperately trying to get a contract with A?

Must admit tempted to pay for certification exams for A.

What is A and B?

[GillsMan]

I offer two services, let's call them A and B. Actually, let's call them by their proper names (no idea why you don't want to reveal your technologies): A = e-learning development. B = Learning Management System (where e-learning gets hosted) consultancy. The two are very different skills, and you wouldn't expect someone good at A to be good at B.

I've never had any issues securing work in B when the last year has been made up of A, or vice versa. I really haven't. I've no idea why you have such a problem with this.

Do you need to rethink your CV when going for roles in A or B? Can you not say that you've been doing work for your LtdCo on the side during the last six months? If you've not done any client work, then just say you're under NDA. If you have the knowledge then why are you letting a gap in your CV get in the way of securing work? I don't get it?

[GazCol]

What is A and B?

A = Cleaning
B = Dry-cleaning

[northernladuk]

What is A and B?

Split has been pretty much 65/35 A-B

A - Contracting
B - Claiming JSA

[speling bee]

A - Contracting
B - Claiming JSA

A - Whining
B - Claiming JSA

[darrylmg]

I'm really glad Certification in my field counts for tulip.

It's just a method of providing a good response to the old "so what have you been doing during your time since your last contract",
Or proving that you're still interested in certain technology.

I actually agree with the Op on this.
I do A = SAP BASIS
and B = DBA (Oracle / SQL Server).

Primary skill is SAP, but I'm willing to fall back on DBA skills if required. However SAP contracts pay more.
Both skills complement each other, but if you've been only doing DBA stuff recently, then I can see how agents could get a little wary.
The way the BASIS contract market is at the moment, I wouldn't be surprised if anyone had to take a contract doing something else.

With regards to agents being picky, well they're always like that.
Problem with my kind of work is that the tech experience is the skill and that is constantly changing and can be found in a myriad of guises, versions and platforms. Which makes agents very specific for what they need.
Guys doing PM work or TA/SA work don't need to worry about the tech specifics as much.

[The Spartan]

It's just a method of providing a good response to the old "so what have you been doing during your time since your last contract",
Or proving that you're still interested in certain technology.

With testing a certification doesn't prove much to be honest, it's pretty easy to convey what projects you've worked on though.