Benched and current climate

[chris79]

Probably been covered in a few threads now but thought I'd share my own personal experience..

Been on the bench for about 3 weeks now. Currently looking to rent an office close to home and work on my Plan B.. but also apply for suitable stuff in parallel (maybe with a bit wider than normal scope) to keep some money coming into the business..

Was on the phone today speaking to a reputable agent (not your normal random run of the mill 'fake CV farmer' crap).. they were telling me that with the increase in redundancies lots of perm people are now looking to take short-term stuff just as a means to an end. Additionally as we already know companies are not spending money so the situation is basically few jobs, lots of people. She said that on one job last week for a technical role paying just £10-12/hour she had more than 10+ CVs to put forward, where as in the past it would have been 2 or 3..

I also got knocked back for an interview last week (perm job) because my greater than £25k/year salary expectations were apparently 'too high', and this was a kind of job which would have safely been £30-35k+ any other time.

[OwlHoot]

God, that's worrying.

Today an agent emailed me with a PHP job paying only £150 a day, whereas the lowest PHP rate I've ever been on was £250 a day three years ago.

I told him to stuff it, but maybe in a few months that'll be the normal rate for PHP - Glad I have perl and .Net too, not that there are many of those contracts around at the moment.

[Mich the Tester]

They’re demanding rate cuts here (a bank). I’m seriously considering sending an e-mail to the directors that says ‘you’ve just received the biggest welfare cheque in history, you’ve been bailed out by my taxes, you’re bleeding small businesses dry, you've sent the whole bloody world into recession and now you expect my profitable business to subsidize your loss making crock of sh1t; piss off. Yours sincerely, Mich the Tester’

Plan B will have to work though.

[Xenophon]

Bench looking likely from mid-December for me.

I'm thinking of going into hibernation until February and then looking...

[chris79]

They’re demanding rate cuts here (a bank). I’m seriously considering sending an e-mail to the directors that says ‘you’ve just received the biggest welfare cheque in history, you’ve been bailed out by my taxes, you’re bleeding small businesses dry, you've sent the whole bloody world into recession and now you expect my profitable business to subsidize your loss making crock of tulip; piss off. Yours sincerely, Mich the Tester’

Plan B will have to work though.

Haha!! Classic, I like your style.

Yeah I've thought of a very good plan-B.. will take me 2-3 months to plan and develop it, but after working out the figures if it was to be successful could make me a LOT of money. It's bringing it and connecting it to market which is the key to success, I've been speaking to a few people in this area so I may factor in other people doing this for me in return for a slice.

At a minimum it might see me over the Xmas period and at least it's something to have on my CV to keep continuity etc.

[Mich the Tester]

Haha!! Classic, I like your style.

Yeah I've thought of a very good plan-B.. will take me 2-3 months to plan and develop it, but after working out the figures if it was to be successful could make me a LOT of money. It's bringing it and connecting it to market which is the key to success, I've been speaking to a few people in this area so I may factor in other people doing this for me in return for a slice.

At a minimum it might see me over the Xmas period and at least it's something to have on my CV to keep continuity etc.

I just have to gather the courage to send it. Might be foolish though, as my Plan B might involve selling to them.

[chris79]

I just have to gather the courage to send it. Might be foolish though, as my Plan B might involve selling to them.

Don't send it, if it's the best offer on the table then just accept it, smile, and send your invoice.

[minestrone]

Haha!! Classic, I like your style.

Yeah I've thought of a very good plan-B.. will take me 2-3 months to plan and develop it, but after working out the figures if it was to be successful could make me a LOT of money. It's bringing it and connecting it to market which is the key to success, I've been speaking to a few people in this area so I may factor in other people doing this for me in return for a slice.

At a minimum it might see me over the Xmas period and at least it's something to have on my CV to keep continuity etc.

I am just about to give a contractor friend a 2 month contract to finish of my plan b that I have been working on for about 12 months in my spare time. I do not know how much to charge him but it wont be much over 200 pd working from home. Present conditions that is not too bad seing as he is being let go and i'm on 350.

He is coding my future full time while I am still making money.

[rootsnall]

I just did a ring around contacts and agents yesterday and I would say it's another 2003 already ! One mate with a good CV has had one interview in 2.5 months. There might be a few good rates still around but I expect they'll plummet so I'd take what you can. I'm in a contract but barely getting a day a week in due to things being 'on hold', I suspect a lot of work will be going 'on hold'.

[Liability]

I just did a ring around contacts and agents yesterday and I would say it's another 2003 already ! One mate with a good CV has had one interview in 2.5 months. There might be a few good rates still around but I expect they'll plummet so I'd take what you can. I'm in a contract but barely getting a day a week in due to things being 'on hold', I suspect a lot of work will be going 'on hold'.

Agree - majority just need to hold out till Feb where things will get better and then obv the new Financial year...