On the bench, timeline.

[Maxamus]

i would panic after 2 days. I havent been on the bench more than a day though. Must be a scary prospect.

Im glad iv got a 2 year contract here at york (and a £1000 overdraft and £5000 on my credit card should i ever need them when on the bench)

All the best SallyAnne

[rootsnall]

I was out for three years. I was OK for the first 6 months, then I put myself on a couple of courses (complete waste of a lot of money), panicked around 7-8 months, closed the company and signed on, then started doing local PC stuff, driving a taxi, temping etc. Had completely given up and was trying to get into a teacher training course when I got a call out of the blue, got interviewed on a Monday, and started the next Thursday. Curiously it was for a company that I had applied to 7 or 8 times over the previous 3 years, and never even got an interview.

That's good persistence ! How have things been since ? Was it a dead end skill or ?

[Sockpuppet]

1.What would you lot do if you were on the bench for months on end?
2. At what month would you start to panic?
3. When would the insecurities set in?
4. When would you consider cross training? month 3? Month 6? a year?
5. How long would you give it before you started looking for permie work?

1. Drive lorries Not saying £15/hour is great but its not tulip. I bet some support desk workers don't get that.

2. Been on the bench 2 months now - not worried. I work in a very specialised sector of warehousing so its more a waiting game for when the roles come up.

3. Maybe during Jan - Mar when there is less driving work, but still some.

4. I am always cross training. In the last month done 2 training courses.

5. Don't dirty this board.

[Sockpuppet]

i would panic after 2 days. I havent been on the bench more than a day though. Must be a scary prospect.

Im glad iv got a 2 year contract here at york (and a £1000 overdraft and £5000 on my credit card should i ever need them when on the bench)

Surely a rhobust savings policy would be better?

[freakydancer]

Surely a rhobust savings policy would be better?

robust

[ChimpMaster]

Almost been 3 years continuous contracting for me at the moment. Over that time I've been investing so that my cash flow can support the basic needs of the family. Hence I would not panic, but by nature I would worry a bit.

I'm also in a very niche field, and so I don't expect contracting to last very long for me.

The end game for me is to chuck it all in and try something else. Would love to either join a startup or start a business from scratch (not in IT).

[alreadypacked]

The end game for me is to chuck it all in and try something else. Would love to either join a startup or start a business from scratch (not in IT).

I had my own business and learnt that the only way to get rich was to steal money from other people, over charge, under pay, etc. If you were honest you just made a living. I sold-out when I realised there were easier way of making a living Contracting.

[OwlHoot]

Hi all,

What would you lot do if you were on the bench for months on end?

At what month would you start to panic?
When would the insecurities set in?
When would you consider cross training? month 3? Month 6? a year?
How long would you give it before you started looking for permie work?

I got quite a shock in march - On the bench for six weeks looking for a perl contract, in _this_ lively market! Luckily I'm now back in harness in a contract where they're converting a large perl app to .NET (C# and Spring.NET), and it's a heaven-sent opportunity to worm my way into the .NET side (as the perl code is pretty stable, but the .NET stuff being new is bristling with bugs).