Reply to: Moving on

[oliverson]

I may not be the best person to advise here as I am a former perm just trying to get into contracting. But for your skillset I think the next step could be to go the .NET Core route (with ASP.NET CORE, EF Core, etc.). Yes, I know it's very new but it is open-source and cross-platform and it will mature.

I did research this area and I convinced myself recently that it is likely the future of MS stack and although new, I feel it will have the original .NET stack longevity and it's smart to get on it now. This is where I put my money.

It will also be an easy transition for you, episodically if you've done MVC5.

As I said I am new to contracting, but I got a few perm offers recently and the process of looking for these convinced my how important MS stack is in the corporate world. .NET Core stack will likely increase this importance.

In terms of re-skilling, I found I can no longer sit and read books or long tech posts. But I found watching good quality videos such as those on pluralsight or lynda makes it quite enjoyable to learn new stuff, at least for me.

I spent the early part of this year doing proof of concepts for a client on .NET Core and Angular 2. Let's be clear on this. .Net Core is a complete and utter rip-off of Node.js. It's vintage Microsoft. The issue I have for this kind of setup is that it may well improve on node performance and offer multi-threaded capability but it just introduces another package manager (nuget), another project configuration (msbuild I think they have reverted to now, from json), just more complexity that simply isn't needed. Anybody considering doing server-side MVC is living in the past. It's all client-side MVC frameworks now like Angular and React. This, coming from a guy who makes a very good living off the MS stack and has done so since .NET Beta 1. MS should have focused on what they can actually control (Enterprise desktop development - windows is still everywhere) instead of wanting a piece of Apple and Google's pie. It's backfired and now they are nowhere.

But all the innovation is happening away from MS these days, yet luddites like me are/were clinging on hoping for a return to form. It ain't happening. The world has moved on and despite being dragged kicking and screaming into this new web stack/open source world, it ain't that bad really. Different but fundamentally the same. Different terms for similar concepts. Very little is new these days except the marketing.

[eek]

I may not be the best person to advise here as I am a former perm just trying to get into contracting. But for your skillset I think the next step could be to go the .NET Core route (with ASP.NET CORE, EF Core, etc.). Yes, I know it's very new but it is open-source and cross-platform and it will mature.

I did research this area and I convinced myself recently that it is likely the future of MS stack and although new, I feel it will have the original .NET stack longevity and it's smart to get on it now. This is where I put my money.

It will also be an easy transition for you, episodically if you've done MVC5.

As I said I am new to contracting, but I got a few perm offers recently and the process of looking for these convinced my how important MS stack is in the corporate world. .NET Core stack will likely increase this importance.

In terms of re-skilling, I found I can no longer sit and read books or long tech posts. But I found watching good quality videos such as those on pluralsight or lynda makes it quite enjoyable to learn new stuff, at least for me.

ASP.Net Websites will move to .Net core with MVC6 and whatever the latest Entity Framework is - i think that's a given...

I actually expect the real growth is hidden within the Dynamics 365 announcement in July. That creates a new Common Data Model with PowerApps (new), PowerBI and Flex (a simple scripting system) all within Office 365 / Azure - allowing simple apps to be created by virtually anyone with a market place allowing them to be sold to anyone as well....

[cntl1]

As a new guy hoping to break into contracting/consulting at 40, this thread didn't inspire me with much confidence.

Thank God I can live on (near) nothing, for a while.

[cntl1]

Not sure about UWP either. Microsoft seem to have lost their way a little. All the momentum is on the web and open source.

I may not be the best person to advise here as I am a former perm just trying to get into contracting. But for your skillset I think the next step could be to go the .NET Core route (with ASP.NET CORE, EF Core, etc.). Yes, I know it's very new but it is open-source and cross-platform and it will mature.

I did research this area and I convinced myself recently that it is likely the future of MS stack and although new, I feel it will have the original .NET stack longevity and it's smart to get on it now. This is where I put my money.

It will also be an easy transition for you, episodically if you've done MVC5.

As I said I am new to contracting, but I got a few perm offers recently and the process of looking for these convinced my how important MS stack is in the corporate world. .NET Core stack will likely increase this importance.

In terms of re-skilling, I found I can no longer sit and read books or long tech posts. But I found watching good quality videos such as those on pluralsight or lynda makes it quite enjoyable to learn new stuff, at least for me.

[Rabotnik]

5 years is a good stint so far. Given the way that things are going, hope for another 5 years and plan to save/invest that income so that you don't have to worry too much after that time. I've always seen contracting as a 'bonus' period of my life and have known it won't last forever, so I've always planned for the inevitable i.e. the day when I won't be able to get a contract or at least one that is financially worthwhile.

I reckon 10 years is a good run these days, if you can secure good rates for that duration.

Yeah I also have the attitude of "make hay while the sun shines", since eventually I think contracting for one man bands will be ended by the government or just market saturation. Hopefully my mortgage will be paid off in 2 years so at least I'll have that out the way.

[ChimpMaster]

Too much real life in this thread

I've only been contracting for 5 years but I already see myself ending up in your situation. I work in Microsoft BI and was on the bench for 3 months. The market is flooded with BI devs now in London and I was lucky to get a contract nearby for a month and then my old manager at the NHS hooked me up with a job there but it's a 2 hour commute from home and paying £50 less than the contract I left previously (the 1 month gig was £130 less per day than my previous rate :O).

While on the bench I was learning a load of Hadoop stuff and doing some certification, but without experience it wasn't enough to land a big data role. I also detest lying, though I know my competition are most likely blagging their way into jobs. I've been involved in hiring at 2 previous companies and the amount of rubbish people put on their CV is ridiculous.

Also concerned about the public sector legislation coming next April

Maybe I'm Not Cut Out To Be A Contractor

5 years is a good stint so far. Given the way that things are going, hope for another 5 years and plan to save/invest that income so that you don't have to worry too much after that time. I've always seen contracting as a 'bonus' period of my life and have known it won't last forever, so I've always planned for the inevitable i.e. the day when I won't be able to get a contract or at least one that is financially worthwhile.

I reckon 10 years is a good run these days, if you can secure good rates for that duration.

[Rabotnik]

Too much real life in this thread

I've only been contracting for 5 years but I already see myself ending up in your situation. I work in Microsoft BI and was on the bench for 3 months. The market is flooded with BI devs now in London and I was lucky to get a contract nearby for a month and then my old manager at the NHS hooked me up with a job there but it's a 2 hour commute from home and paying £50 less than the contract I left previously (the 1 month gig was £130 less per day than my previous rate :O).

While on the bench I was learning a load of Hadoop stuff and doing some certification, but without experience it wasn't enough to land a big data role. I also detest lying, though I know my competition are most likely blagging their way into jobs. I've been involved in hiring at 2 previous companies and the amount of rubbish people put on their CV is ridiculous.

Also concerned about the public sector legislation coming next April

Maybe I'm Not Cut Out To Be A Contractor

[Old Greg]

Don't think I know anyone who would accept 30k a year.....

You should broaden your social circle.

[coolhandluke]

Don't think I know anyone who would accept 30k a year.....

[Old Greg]

Now whilst you don't equate working for 30k as ambitious for those that are it might be very ambitious and they're really stretching themselves. Not everyone is driven by having things and maybe 30k is enough.

I'm sure I read somewhere that the happiest people can quite often be the poorest\lower paid.

30% more income than you currently receive is what will make you happy.

[gables]

I can't understand the lack of ambition amongst people and I can't understand how people can get by on a salary like that, but they do. I'm also aware how privileged we are in the scheme of things but we didn't arrive here by accident did we? I guess some people are just driven and others content. Nothing wrong with that.

Now whilst you don't equate working for 30k as ambitious for those that are it might be very ambitious and they're really stretching themselves. Not everyone is driven by having things and maybe 30k is enough.

I'm sure I read somewhere that the happiest people can quite often be the poorest\lower paid.

[DimPrawn]

I'd cream myself on £650 a day, I think I'd end up dead in a motel.

Surrounded my a mountain of white powder and hookers?

[johndc31]

My salary is a third of that

I'd cream myself on £650 a day, I think I'd end up dead in a motel.

[oliverson]

My salary is a third of that

You know what I meant! Mine's about a quarter of it!

[ezaquarii]

I just want the money! It can't go on can it

Nope. You're canibalizing your brain this way.

This is common in every industry - people push machines, cars or other things, "saving" on maintenance until damage.

Every asset needs maintenance. Cars needs repair, production machines must be stopped for tuning and repair, etc. Contractor must slow down to catch up with new technology. In IT, you get more knowledge or you get out.

Agressively pushing for short-term gain is costly in long run.

I'm currently in similar situation, considering jump from Android (where my skills are quite unique) into backend development, where is more work, but my skills need to be pimped up with 1 year of permiedom below my financial expectations.