User Profile

[oliverson]

I'm damn sure it's not brexit!

Around 8 years since the decision to leave was made and some people still can't get over it. There should be some kind of therapy for this condition....

[oliverson]

Stats are stats. Boots on the ground tell a very different story, at least for me as a software engineer/devops/platform guy....

[oliverson]

One is my traditional contracting company which I will possibly fold if I don't land anything before December. The other two are 'product' companies, each serving a very different market. Startups that won't yield a return for several months, hence the reason I'm pursuing contracts still....

[oliverson]

Maybe because I'm getting old, but I don't have time for idiots either and it definitely comes across at interview....

Round about April or May time, I had a zoom call for a large firm with offices quite close by. They needed somebody to work on rearchitecting some backend code. First...

[oliverson]

Who's said they were a webdev?

I have three Ltd companies, none of which do web development....

[oliverson]

That's not what I'm seeing, in fact I'd say it was quite the opposite....

[oliverson]

But is it 'inadvertently' or is it by intent? I'd say the latter....

[oliverson]

The market, or lack of, continues to shock me.

In my London banking years (2007-18 mainly) I had many interviews, even in the financial crash there were plenty. I remember these times with pain, anguish but fondness. Emails with so many contract. specs attached I had to ask the agents...

[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...