LinkedIn contacts - does your network really give a ****?

[oliverson]

Well, as suspected, they went with the other candidate. Very surprised really as interviews really don't go much better than that one.

The search goes on....

[oliverson]

Well, I didn't get too 'attached' to Tuesday's interview but still, end of play Friday and f**, all feedback. Never used to be like this.

[oliverson]

The £ 450 I was on in 2005 would now equate to £ 800.52 according to the Bank of England inflation calculator! This at a time when there was no such real dividend tax, no IR35 reforms, the Flat Rate VAT scheme was good for a few grand a year, personal tax allowances were more generous, new 4 bed detached...

[oliverson]

Sadly the rates on offer these days are from 20+ years ago. Less in some circumstances....

[oliverson]

That's what I'm seeing. I've had probably six cold calls from agents this week and one interview that I'm awaiting feedback on, though 2 days radio silence tells me all I need to know on that one I think.

On a side note, this forum has been slowing down markedly the last few days. Seems...

[oliverson]

I wonder if that could be down to 'shirking' from home?

Easy enough to respond to a message on your phone, but if they answer a call, it's might be pretty obvious they're not at home working at all....

[oliverson]

I wouldn't say I was from a disadvantaged background, just a very working class northern one with father a builder and mother a machinist/cafeteria worker. I was the first member of our entire family tree to go to University and I gained a 1st in Computer Science. I was rejected from one major University...

[oliverson]

I'm still employed and receiving a salary, just no customers at the moment....

[oliverson]

My own personal stalker. I feel so lucky....

[oliverson]

I've had a few actual conversations the last few days with REAL PEOPLE on a REAL PHONE. Forgot how much I actually enjoy talking to people, usually about how good I think I am!...

[oliverson]

True but many of these are 'team mates' you had a few beers with after work on occasions, one guy I even raced 100m down the banks of the River Thames one freezing cold December. Iron man took it really serious and beat me by a second or so. He had a drill instructor preparing him for weeks leading...

[oliverson]

My findings mostly. It's very much like when I pull into a Tesla SuperCharger site and unfortunately they've opened it up to non-Teslas. We have the Tesla drivers (the CS degrees), rubbing shoulders with the non-Tesla EV drivers (the self-taught, code bootcamp hacking brigade), occupying two charging...

[oliverson]

It's been quite a lively week this week. I had 3 separate phone calls from agents yesterday, though didn't lead to anything (perm, inside IR35 and junior going through her script).

However, I also had an interview earlier today. Wow, remember those?!?! Now for the painstaking wait!

[oliverson]

Sorry, I meant Marxist....

[oliverson]

I'm not surprised at all.

Here we have a communist government spending everybody else's money on big state at the expense of, actually PUNISHING, the private sector.

Anybody servicing that sector is bound to be quids in....

[oliverson]

Perhaps it's the time of year, the 'decision makers are now back from holiday'.

I think we have a window now of September to December when IHMO it's the best chance of landing work (historically). Let's hope those of us looking get sorted and put this miserable year behind us....

[oliverson]

So, I'm currently looking for contract work and am several months in with just one single interview, a zoom call, that was a waste of time.

My findings is that JobServe is just a black hole into which I fire my CV and occasionally get a response, usually from Lorien, saying my application...

[oliverson]

The last time I was looking (2020/21) I don't recall this type of behaviour and I certainly don't recall it in the years prior, though all my contracts in the 5 years prior to that were through previous clients with no agency or searching involved.

I just find it very frustrating. At least...

[oliverson]

Is there some kind of time wasting craze going on in recruitment that I'm unaware of?

Another opportunity pinged my way on LinkedIn, followed by an actual telephone call. All sounded very promising and the client moves quickly. 3 days later and sweet f**k all.

This is all that...

[oliverson]

The 3rd year of my degree was placement at a company and I picked an absolute belter:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequent_Computer_Systems

It was a real eye opener for me, coming from a decade of working in the insurance sector. A totally different industry and one I really...