Reply to: State of the Market

[SussexSeagull]

Finally got a decent contract after nearly 8 months on the bench and it came via grapevine not from the market. This is by far slowest time there I ever seen in last 12 years and it still shows no signs of improvement (Azure Cloud+ stack).

I haven't noticed Covid slowdown as I have signed gig 2 weeks before first lockdown, nor felt much in 2007-2008 as was lucky to survive a wave of redundancies.

Only thing I can say after that time - war chest is contractor's only friend. This should be maintained on 12-18+ months level at any cost: multiple simultaneous contacts, side gigs, passive income of any kind - whatever one can get their hands on. Having anyting less than this is asking for financial troubles.

I would struggle to tell you last time I got s contract that didn't involve networking or the agent coming to me. I only really persist with JobServe as it is relatively quick to apply and I suppose someone has to get the contract! I have been out a week and had a phone call from an agent today about something which wasn't suitable for me but does prove my point somewhat.

It sometimes get's forgotten that one well timed contract can keep you out of a slump. Apparently 2012 was poor but I sat it out with a well paid contract so was none the wiser.

Most people would love 12-18 months money but with, in my experience and seemingly others on here, bigger gaps between contracts that is becoming a rarity. Must confess if I was having to have multiple income streams to start afloat then I would question if it was for me.

[Sub]

Finally got a decent contract after nearly 8 months on the bench and it came via grapevine not from the market. This is by far slowest time there I ever seen in last 12 years and it still shows no signs of improvement (Azure Cloud+ stack).

I haven't noticed Covid slowdown as I have signed gig 2 weeks before first lockdown, nor felt much in 2007-2008 as was lucky to survive a wave of redundancies.

Only thing I can say after that time - war chest is contractor's only friend. This should be maintained on 12-18+ months level at any cost: multiple simultaneous contacts, side gigs, passive income of any kind - whatever one can get their hands on. Having anyting less than this is asking for financial troubles.

[hungry_hog]

Is anyone on here in the AI market? Hows that going at the moment?

I am not, a friend is (in the FS space) and is getting direct approaches from buy side (hedge fund / private equity / investment management). Having said that he has been looking 3 months so it can't be that great! These companies are incredibly picky and sometimes keep people on ice for months. Then when they want to interview they give you half a day notice (if you're lucky).

[CheeseSlice]

Is anyone on here in the AI market? Hows that going at the moment?

[CheeseSlice]

You have mentioned cost of living. That's one factor. Throw in interest rates, state of the economy, brexit, ir35, offshoring, oversupply of visas, covid etc etc. All have had an impact one way or another, some to a lesser degree than others. There is a reason for everything, things don't just happen.
There will be a recovery, of course there will. Once the election is over and the economy starts improving. Whether it gets back to pre-crisis is something that nobody knows right now.

Which crisis? It feels like there have been so many I can't tell what a normal market is anymore.

[SussexSeagull]

https://forums.contractoruk.com/busi...al-forums.html Perhaps?

Absolutely.

[rocktronAMP]

https://forums.contractoruk.com/busi...al-forums.html Perhaps?

[Unix]

You're hired!

[sadkingbilly]

followed by poppycock

[Fraidycat]

what utter balderdash.

The B in LGBT stands for bisexual.

It is legal to positively discriminate among two equally qualified candidates based on sexual orientation.

Its easy enough, tick the 'Bi' box for some free points.

[northernladuk]

what utter balderdash.

I'd agree but it does always remind me about the RAF getting caught with a blatantly discriminatory policy in June last year. TBF they just handled it badly hence it hitting the news. There were better ways of achieving the same ends without it blowing up but kinda of connected.

[sadkingbilly]

Pro tip for out of work contractors struggling to land perm roles, this works with public sector/government roles:

what utter balderdash.

[SussexSeagull]

I think generalists get a bit of a hard time on here. The thing is about specialisation is it is, well, quite specialised so not many people can do it. Absolutely fine if you have carved a niche for yourself that is so small it wouldn't occur to anyone to try and muscle in (even if they could) but I recall being in demand as a web tester 25 years ago and now it is so assumed it wouldn't get mentioned in an interview.

You are also entirely at the mercy of trends in that sector and when the market is bad there is no work for anyone, no matter what your CV is.

I am being overly simplistic but it its business, not a purity test.

[sreed]

I was talking about this recent quiet period. I've been in contracts since 2006 with at most gaps of a few weeks, rate it highest its been in current contract so not seeing the downward trajectory in my area.

Same here. I don’t have as much contracting history as Unix but even as a generalist PM I’ve not found it terribly hard to get a decent paying contract. If I lost my current contract tomorrow, I’m fairly confident of being able to get another one that I’m happy with.

[Fraidycat]

Pro tip for out of work contractors struggling to land perm roles, this works with public sector/government roles: