Reply to: Plan B Overdrive

[oliverson]

All this talk of going permie...

Just had a very interesting approach from an agent in Gibraltar - .Net dev for a start up in Malaga.

€50k per year - a pittance really but in the context of Spain not a bad screw. I could sell up here, get a nice house over there and be mortgage free.

Would be a one way ticket probably though.

I have a place in Malaga, well, 15 mins West of it. Wouldn't be interested in any permie roles over there though. When I bought the place 10 years ago there were some .NET contract opportunities in Malaga. I think if was Avanade who had offices over there. Not sure if they've shut it down since the recession as I haven't heard anything since.

However, not sure if I'd fancy working over there, particularly when it's sunny almost every day. Isn't it a better option just to do 6 months in London and then take 6 months off over there if you fancied winding it down a little?

[PurpleGorilla]

Read the expat forums on Gibraltar - as it's not all rosey. Malaga would be nice though.

[ChimpMaster]

All this talk of going permie...

Just had a very interesting approach from an agent in Gibraltar - .Net dev for a start up in Malaga.

€50k per year - a pittance really but in the context of Spain not a bad screw. I could sell up here, get a nice house over there and be mortgage free.

Would be a one way ticket probably though.

Sounds like it would be a great way to wind down. I can't do that any more, wife and young kids ruined it all!

[Gumbo Robot]

All this talk of going permie...

Just had a very interesting approach from an agent in Gibraltar - .Net dev for a start up in Malaga.

€50k per year - a pittance really but in the context of Spain not a bad screw. I could sell up here, get a nice house over there and be mortgage free.

Would be a one way ticket probably though.

[ChimpMaster]

Permie isn't an option. Can you imagine??

I think it has to be for me, because I reckon I have another 10 years to work yet. I am dreading the thought of being at a permie job, at the beck and call of some self-important director, in the office 5 days a week and on a relatively low income. But.... I need the training/experience in something new, and going permie for a couple of years might be the best way to get into new tech or a new area.

[oliverson]

Self actualisation; spend some hard earned on a spiritual retreat, or get a porsche ;-)

But seriously, 121s and career level reviews in permie ville don't lead to enlightenment either.

Earn it, spend it, enjoy it ✌️

Permie isn't an option. Can you imagine??

[PurpleGorilla]

It's not about the money for me, not that I'm minted, I'm not. It's about the realisation that there has to be some purpose to your life other than turning in decent rates. Must be something in Maslo's hierarchy of needs, probably 'self-actualisation'.

Self actualisation; spend some hard earned on a spiritual retreat, or get a porsche ;-)

But seriously, 121s and career level reviews in permie ville don't lead to enlightenment either.

Earn it, spend it, enjoy it ✌️

[oliverson]

I'm 47, been doing Unix since I was 22. Nowadays I do it in the evenings and weekends too. When I am not doing unix I am blogging about it, or thinking about blogging about it. In my 20s I actually had more of a life outside of it than I do now. However I have no wife or kids.

Still sympathise/agree with what you are saying though.

Maybe I just like getting p155ed then, who knows? :-D

[unixman]

This is precisely the way I feel. Be 50 in a couple of years and the thought of competing with the younger, hungrier guys in the London banking sector really doesn't appeal. A lot of these guys code on an evening, on a weekend, when they're not coding they're blogging about it, when they're not blogging they're thinking about blogging, or coding, or both. Some of us have evolved to have a life outside all that stuff but were probably as hungry back then. It's not like I'm not marketable but I keep turning down decent paying contracts, the last one being another £ 650 role. Good rates but at the end of the day you actually have to turn up and 'do something'. And that's the issue. I've just had enough coding for end clients. I have a couple of good plan B ideas but by the time I finish coding at the end of the day I'm just burnt out so I hit the pub instead. Something has to change. I've felt like this for a long time now. It's probably time to take a risk or two to get where I want to be. Switch the phone off and stop taking calls from the agents who turn your head with decent opportunities. Really feel I'm 'done' with contracting.

I'm 47, been doing Unix since I was 22. Nowadays I do it in the evenings and weekends too. When I am not doing unix I am blogging about it, or thinking about blogging about it. In my 20s I actually had more of a life outside of it than I do now. However I have no wife or kids.

Still sympathise/agree with what you are saying though.

[ChimpMaster]

It's not about the money for me, not that I'm minted, I'm not. It's about the realisation that there has to be some purpose to your life other than turning in decent rates. Must be something in Maslo's hierarchy of needs, probably 'self-actualisation'.

You're right, I'm getting that feeling too. I'm early 40s but already feeling that I need to do more with my life, more different and interesting things, before I am too old and unfit to do it. But I do still need to finance the home, wife and kids, which is always the hardest thing for me to fathom i.e. if I were to do something other than for top money.

[oliverson]

Sheesh, maybe we should start a club for highly skilled but de-motivated old folk like us.

Seriously though, what you feel is exactly like many of us here. Maybe it's the 10 years of almost non-stop work I've been through.

Thing is, I do enjoy the product I work on and I'm damn good at it, but the work just isn't out there any more. I'd buy you beer for the rest of your life if I could get contracts at £650/day all day long like you can. My current contract actually pays quite in excess of that, but that's because it's an end-of-life product/contract for me

It's not about the money for me, not that I'm minted, I'm not. It's about the realisation that there has to be some purpose to your life other than turning in decent rates. Must be something in Maslo's hierarchy of needs, probably 'self-actualisation'.

[ChimpMaster]

This is precisely the way I feel. Be 50 in a couple of years and the thought of competing with the younger, hungrier guys in the London banking sector really doesn't appeal. A lot of these guys code on an evening, on a weekend, when they're not coding they're blogging about it, when they're not blogging they're thinking about blogging, or coding, or both. Some of us have evolved to have a life outside all that stuff but were probably as hungry back then. It's not like I'm not marketable but I keep turning down decent paying contracts, the last one being another £ 650 role. Good rates but at the end of the day you actually have to turn up and 'do something'. And that's the issue. I've just had enough coding for end clients. I have a couple of good plan B ideas but by the time I finish coding at the end of the day I'm just burnt out so I hit the pub instead. Something has to change. I've felt like this for a long time now. It's probably time to take a risk or two to get where I want to be. Switch the phone off and stop taking calls from the agents who turn your head with decent opportunities. Really feel I'm 'done' with contracting.

Sheesh, maybe we should start a club for highly skilled but de-motivated old folk like us.

Seriously though, what you feel is exactly like many of us here. Maybe it's the 10 years of almost non-stop work I've been through.

Thing is, I do enjoy the product I work on and I'm damn good at it, but the work just isn't out there any more. I'd buy you beer for the rest of your life if I could get contracts at £650/day all day long like you can. My current contract actually pays quite in excess of that, but that's because it's an end-of-life product/contract for me

[oliverson]

The writing is on the wall and all that...

Seem to have been experiencing a downward trend in the all round quality of the contracting experience.

Biggest concern is the paucity of roles - don't know if its a temporary thing but I finished my last proper role in February and have only managed to secure a 6 week holiday/paternity cover role. Thought it was year end / election uncertainty but it's still dead.

Rates seem to have taken a dip & I just don't enjoy doing it anymore.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy development work - when I started 15 years ago I'd start at a company and, by and large they'd tell me they wanted x,y and z and generally leave me to get on with it. Now there is so much micro management & I get the feeling that the client thinks they own my ass. I don't like that...

I don't know if the influx of foreign workers has had an impact, whether it's my age (getting on a bit now) or if there genuinely aren't many roles out there at the moment but the last 3 months have made me realise that I've perhaps been leading a bit of a charmed life in over the last few years.

Short term, I'm going to focus a bit more on going direct & pulling in my own projects. I've got some plans in this respect and hopefully they'll come off & I'll be able to build a client base together. It'll be tough but not as soul destroying as the work I've done of late. Failing that, I'm cashing in my chips and f****g off somewhere warm to go out on a big one...

Must be having a mid life crisis or something...

This is precisely the way I feel. Be 50 in a couple of years and the thought of competing with the younger, hungrier guys in the London banking sector really doesn't appeal. A lot of these guys code on an evening, on a weekend, when they're not coding they're blogging about it, when they're not blogging they're thinking about blogging, or coding, or both. Some of us have evolved to have a life outside all that stuff but were probably as hungry back then. It's not like I'm not marketable but I keep turning down decent paying contracts, the last one being another £ 650 role. Good rates but at the end of the day you actually have to turn up and 'do something'. And that's the issue. I've just had enough coding for end clients. I have a couple of good plan B ideas but by the time I finish coding at the end of the day I'm just burnt out so I hit the pub instead. Something has to change. I've felt like this for a long time now. It's probably time to take a risk or two to get where I want to be. Switch the phone off and stop taking calls from the agents who turn your head with decent opportunities. Really feel I'm 'done' with contracting.

[MicrosoftBob]

Employer: Thanks for coming to see us today Mr. Gorilla. We like your long experience. What else can you offer this company ?

PurpleGorilla: I'm riding you to retirement.

There's always the Ron Jeremy option

[sirja]

Got links to any good resources on how to get into this?

Financial Spread Betting for a Living

This site should give you a good overview, but please do your own research and if you do decide go forward with spread betting make sure you have a good risk management strategy in place. This is an activity that CAN wipe you out in an instant, so must be approached with great caution.