Chances of getting a contract based on old experience?

[northernladuk]

The belief that every contract is filled in 10 nanoseconds by a contractor who can supply 99% of the skills from day 1 isn't really true. IMO it is likely a myth created by agents to bluff rates down. If it were true we would all be working for £6.50 an hour.

What's wrong with that??

[unixman]

Yes, old skills carry weight. But it depends on everything else. Current client is looking for a contractor but CVs have been poor. So they are attaching weight even to stuff the guy did 4 or 5 years ago.

If you were configuring vlans 5 years ago, that is still somewhat useful to clients seeking vlan experience, more than the other candidate who doesn't know what a VLAN is. Clients are often looking for a range of (sometimes unrelated) skills and candidates will have different experience of each.

The belief that every contract is filled in 10 nanoseconds by a contractor who can supply 99% of the skills from day 1 isn't really true. IMO it is likely a myth created by agents to bluff rates down. If it were true we would all be working for £6.50 an hour.

[AnotherGuy]

I wonder if cutting your rate, lowering your expectations, might be a potential option here?

To reintroduce yourself into something you've not been working with for a long time, it might be worth getting £X/day less than what you would get with the stuff you've been doing the last few years, so in the short term you would earn less money, but you will prepare yourself better to be able to take contracts with both tech stacks in the future and to not have so much reliance on the current one.

This, of course, granting the client care about the "discounted" rate, or the agents even talk to you, and pass the discount, etc... so many variables.

[squarepeg]

Don't give the Agents too much credit though, I left and old CV on Monster that had my HNC in Electronic Engineering on it but had 15 years IT work and I was still contacted a few times for Electrical Engineering roles.

:-) I still get agents calling me about PHP and Drupal jobs (I haven't touched either in 10 years) :-) No, they are not listed on my CV and I keep my JobServer/Monster clean of this stuff. :-)

[northernladuk]

Yes, that tech was on the list of "essential requirements" for the role.

Don't give the Agents too much credit though, I left and old CV on Monster that had my HNC in Electronic Engineering on it but had 15 years IT work and I was still contacted a few times for Electrical Engineering roles.

[squarepeg]

Was the agent who contact you out of the blue regarding that tech (maybe CV keyword), or were you already trying to get a contract with that tech?

Unfortunately the case I'm talking about is a fairly common programming language, so no really niche at all...

Yes, that tech was on the list of "essential requirements" for the role.

[vwdan]

Just apply/send your CV and see if anyone bites, doesn't cost you anything, you are overthinking it.

Yep - at the end of the day, you don't have to the best in the world, you just need to be better/a better fit than whoever else applies. We can all target ourselves to some degree, but on a case by case basis, there are just too many variables that are invisible. Sometimes you'll spark their interest because of something else on their CV that they want to look into doing, sometimes someone else will do that even if you were 'perfect' according to the advert.

I was always reasonably choosy about what I applied to, but you still have to keep the application numbers up if you're seriously looking because you just don't know what will win you that interview.

[sal]

Just apply/send your CV and see if anyone bites, doesn't cost you anything, you are overthinking it.

[AnotherGuy]

Yes. I have on my CV something I haven't used in five years and then an agent found me a client using that tech this year. There's no rule. You could say that ZX Spectrum Basic is dead but with the growing interest in retro computing someone who still knows how to code in it could get a contract and a good one at that. I've seen stranger thing happen.

Was the agent who contact you out of the blue regarding that tech (maybe CV keyword), or were you already trying to get a contract with that tech?

Unfortunately the case I'm talking about is a fairly common programming language, so no really niche at all...

[squarepeg]

Yes. I have on my CV something I haven't used in five years and then an agent found me a client using that tech this year. There's no rule. You could say that ZX Spectrum Basic is dead but with the growing interest in retro computing someone who still knows how to code in it could get a contract and a good one at that. I've seen stranger thing happen.

[NotAllThere]

If the skill is niche, then it's possible. My first contract was in something I hadn't used for four years.

[northernladuk]

It could be said you are really only as good as you're last gig. If your experience isn't evident by the end of the first page of your CV you are on a wish and a prayer. There will be plenty of applicants with end to end experience. That's also assume the tech is still cuurent.

[AnotherGuy]

I think I kind of found some answers:

http://forums.contractoruk.com/busin...ml#post2143318

If they're looking for a C# Dev, they won't give a monkeys about your 30 years experience in Java/C/C++/Smalltalk/ML/whatever and your high level of skill as a general purpose "programmer" that may allow you to ramp up quite quickly in C#. They want to see contract after contract in your recent work history where you've used C# all the way.

http://forums.contractoruk.com/busin...ml#post2132166

Agents and particularly clients want to see you have very recently used and excelled in the skills they have said their job entails.

They dont want to know how good you are in skills that dont apply to their job. Neither do the clients to see the skills they do want buried 5 or 6 paras down the cv instead of the top.

http://forums.contractoruk.com/busin...ml#post2132204

If they need a van driver, they don't just want "experience of driving red vans", they want "experience of driving red vans in the last six months, and more red van experience than any other vans" or you are not suitable.

[AnotherGuy]

Hi,

Just wondering if anybody was able to secure a contract working (mainly) with a tech/lang/framework they had (commercial) experience with, but from past positions/projects?

And with past, I mean like 3 or 4 years in the past?

Is it difficult? Do [agencies/clients] just take a look at your most recent role(s), disregarding anything older than a couple of years, for example?

Thanks.