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Market very quiet

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    Market very quiet

    ..compared to when I was last looking back in the summer. Dead, in fact & advertised rates seem low.

    Never been looking at this time of year. Is this the calm before the new financial year or is that a myth?

    BTW Microsoft .Net stack here....

    #2
    Originally posted by Gumbo Robot View Post
    ..compared to when I was last looking back in the summer. Dead, in fact & advertised rates seem low.

    Never been looking at this time of year. Is this the calm before the new financial year or is that a myth?

    BTW Microsoft .Net stack here....
    Same here could be pre election/ end of year/ budget jitters.

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      #3
      I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that. It does seem very slow and rates appear to be slightly under the average. Fingers crossed it picks up soon!

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        #4
        Pre-election jitters/end of financial year for some companies. Most of the recruiters I speak to say they expect it to change in early May once the general election result is known & a new government formed until then unless its a business critical role the market is treading water & has been most of 2015 IME.


        Rates are also terrible unless its a niche role like one for Murex I saw yesterday @ £800-1000 per day!

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          #5
          I'm getting calls about a few potential contracts, however they're all at least 40 miles away
          • The meaning of life is to give life meaning
          • Worrying about tomorrow spoils today

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Gumbo Robot View Post
            ..compared to when I was last looking back in the summer. Dead, in fact & advertised rates seem low.

            Never been looking at this time of year. Is this the calm before the new financial year or is that a myth?

            BTW Microsoft .Net stack here....
            There's your problem. The market is fine but for .net you either have to be awsome or cheap (cheaper than Bob that is).

            Comment


              #7
              Well I started looking late last year after being semi retired for a while. I worked on my cv and regularly changed a couple odd sentences here and there based on advertised roles Id seen.

              Although I was applying for lots of roles, it took about 8 weeks before agents started calling me back. What I found was a number of roles were filled by contractors who had very recently worked (on contract) for the client and had been taken back on. A few were internally filled and at least one was a piss about exercise by the client with another one a clear age related issue.

              Then, I saw an advert for a role that looked like a previous client. Applied and it was. A short 15 minute telephone interview consisted of 'how are you doing, what you been upto' and can you start on such and such a date. Sure can!

              I noted in my search there were some hot places such as Edinburgh, Leeds and Manchester. Rate range was quite high but if I pitched very close to the top, I wasnt getting a sniff. I reduced my expectations to the bottom of the top quartile \ top of the 3rd quartile range. This seemed to work.

              But, as with all these things, if your specialism isnt in demand, there's not a lot you can do ie no jobs, cant apply. I tend to find specialisms go up and down throughout the year. Its often a question of being proactive while sitting out the lull.
              I couldn't give two fornicators! Yes, really!

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                #8
                Dev contractors really need to have a hard look at where they're going because the trend is "offshore".

                The demand is there, but the traditional onshore contractor is looking at an increasingly bleak market.

                On the positive side (if you can call it that ) the permie market is booming and you only have to snap your fingers to get a job.

                Companies are mixing on shore permies with offshore contracted resources.

                If you're a real specialist that can't go offshore, which is why there are one or two very highly paid contracts.
                I'm alright Jack

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by BlasterBates View Post
                  Dev contractors really need to have a hard look at where they're going because the trend is "offshore".

                  The demand is there, but the traditional onshore contractor is looking at an increasingly bleak market.

                  On the positive side (if you can call it that ) the permie market is booming and you only have to snap your fingers to get a job.

                  Companies are mixing on shore permies with offshore contracted resources.

                  If you're a real specialist that can't go offshore, which is why there are one or two very highly paid contracts.

                  It invariably fails and they have to bring in onshore contractors to fix the mess. I have never had a problem getting a contract.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by DannyF1966 View Post
                    I'm getting calls about a few potential contracts, however they're all at least 40 miles away
                    Only 40 miles away, that's practically next door in contract terminology
                    Socialism is inseparably interwoven with totalitarianism and the abject worship of the state.

                    No Socialist Government conducting the entire life and industry of the country could afford to allow free, sharp, or violently-worded expressions of public discontent.

                    Comment

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