Bad time of year for new contracts?

[Erebus]

That many interviews without a bite means its you, sorry.
CV is working, initial contact with the agency is working, client wants a chat.
This is sales and you need to go in with that in mind. Back-up everything on your CV with a positive explanation.
You don't have to claim detailed knowledge of everything but you do have to be positive where you have some experience.
Yes, I worked on something similar at xyz corp, I did this part, project result was blah blah blah.
It has to be believeable and honest enough, it's like a first date, be yourself but a REALLY good version.
ALSO - you are a contractor, you are the finished article, forget I think I can, sorry, I'm not sure, I have potential, etc etc that isn't worth the rate.
Someone who gets things done, can get on with everyone and has a nothing is a problem or too much trouble attitude is.
If you know a seasoned contractor, ask them to do a mock interview and give you tips.
Get the next one...

Solid advice, I think I'm out of practice interview wise in any case and need to pre preprocess some positive answers in my mind before I head out to meet a client. I mean I'm not stupid, I think I'm doing this but clearly I'm not doing it well enough.

[DirtyDog]

Which is why agents are notoriously bad at letting you know after interview that you havent got it the gig.

Because there is no incentive to speak to you, when there are other people they can speak to who might make them money.

In the same way that I ignore agents when they can't do anything for me (like when I'm in contract), they reciprocate when I can't do anything for them.

[Erebus]

Which is why agents are notoriously bad at letting you know after interview that you havent got it the gig.

They want you hanging on in reserve in case the 1st choice declines/doesnt show up etc. If they've already told you you've not got it then chances are you'll lost interest/find something else.

So is it best to not chase an agent for a response in case they think you will have moved on?

[DirtyDog]

I think telephone interviews are essential. It's not about being too busy, but it gives both sides a chance to figure out if it's worth investing in an interview.

I can't remember the last time I had a face-to-face interview - I do all mine over the phone - only two public sector clients insisted on a face to face interview, because they had to go through the motions of making sure everyone was interviewed in the same way, with the same questions, to make it fair.

I'm stuffed when this contract ends - the last interview where they asked anything meaningful was over four years ago, so I may be a bit out of touch.

[DirtyDog]

So is it best to not chase an agent for a response in case they think you will have moved on?

If they have something, they will be all over you like a rash. If they have nothing, you'll not hear from them until they have something else which you might be interested in.

Don't make the mistake of stopping looking until you are through the door on day one and have an indication of how much budget there is to keep you there.

[Erebus]

Going to start insisting on this to be honest. Face-to-face with no phone first potentially means a days billing missed for nothing.

It's a whole day out of potentially getting on with something else, private work or even something else on your agenda if you are benched or a days billing as you say if you are in contract, let alone the cost of peak time travel to get to the meeting in the first place.

It could be totally worth it on the other hand but what is the average win/fail ratio per 'x' interviews, does anybody know?

[Erebus]

If they have something, they will be all over you like a rash. If they have nothing, you'll not hear from them until they have something else which you might be interested in.

Don't make the mistake of stopping looking until you are through the door on day one and have an indication of how much budget there is to keep you there.

Yeah that's what I've heard. I've got interviews to be scheduled but I'm still looking of course. I'm applying far less though as it's taking up 100% of my time and not allowing me to finish some private work and refresh some skills.

[Erebus]

I can't remember the last time I had a face-to-face interview - I do all mine over the phone - only two public sector clients insisted on a face to face interview, because they had to go through the motions of making sure everyone was interviewed in the same way, with the same questions, to make it fair.

I'm stuffed when this contract ends - the last interview where they asked anything meaningful was over four years ago, so I may be a bit out of touch.

Snap, I didn't do a face-to-face for my last contract but clients seem to insist on it now (or at least agents do). As far as that goes prior to this I'd not done that for years.

[northernladuk]

Fail. Redo against question numbers.

It appears doing some transposing he doesn't like films about gladiators so just give him his and let him slink out to be forgotten quietly.

[Erebus]

It appears doing some transposing he doesn't like films about gladiators so just give him his and let him slink out to be forgotten quietly.

Or Judge Dredd... ;-)