At last, off the bench after 11 months

[worzelGummidge]

That must be nice.

You're right not to lose your nerve and take on the bottomfeeder contracts too early. Hope it's a good contract!
tl

Thanks. I have kept myself busy with lots of DIY and this is my third downturn so I knew the score but it was a bit of a worry.

The different thing this time around is that only the young, just out of school agents seem to bat an eye when faced with a CV containing my most recent contract being more then six months ago.

My previous longest length of time off was about three months back in 2002 but it did make a difference being busy with other things and not looking for roles. Spending three months looking for roles on Jobserve every hour or so is hard work and I feel for those out there doing that especially when dealing with young agents who no nothing about everything.

[TiroFijo]

After contracting since 2001 (all of it abroad) I've now taken a permy job that pays very well. Looking at the sh1te rates and the lack of contracts anyway I reckon I've done the right thing.

[Platypus]

Well done worzel !

[wurzel]

Well done. By the way, what area do you work in? I'm in c#/.Net 3.5 /C++ & I've been on the bench for 2 months now with just 1 interview so I'm expecting a long stint myself.

[RichardCranium]

The different thing this time around is that only the young, just out of school agents seem to bat an eye when faced with a CV containing my most recent contract being more then six months ago.

That matches my experience.

I had a lovely call from a bloke from Parity today. "I called to let you know you can cross that gig off your list; I had already arranged interviews when I saw your CV. You shouldn't be on the bench. Can I make some suggestions about your CV? [he did and they made sense] And here's how to get into NPfIT if you want some of that work..."

I must have caught him on a very good day!

[SantaClaus]

That matches my experience.

I had a lovely call from a bloke from Parity today. "I called to let you know you can cross that gig off your list; I had already arranged interviews when I saw your CV. You shouldn't be on the bench. Can I make some suggestions about your CV? [he did and they made sense] And here's how to get into NPfIT if you want some of that work..."

I must have caught him on a very good day!

Sorry, I just had to sit down in shock. I think you just mentioned that you found an agent who cared!

[gingerjedi]

That matches my experience.

I had a lovely call from a bloke from Parity today. "I called to let you know you can cross that gig off your list; I had already arranged interviews when I saw your CV. You shouldn't be on the bench. Can I make some suggestions about your CV? [he did and they made sense] And here's how to get into NPfIT if you want some of that work..."

I must have caught him on a very good day!

The only decent agent I ever met now works for Parity, his initials weren't MM by any chance?

If I'm right he's good for a free lunch every other month.

[TinTrump]

Well done WG! And working from home too =

[worzelGummidge]

I do Unix infrastructure type work: middleware, security, backups, storage type work. I tried developer / programming but just lost interest.

[DS23]

to wg