Documents required / CV advices / Follow up after putting forward cv

[cojak]

I know you are not a permie forum, but that's a way to share hints and get to know about previous experiences.. maybe questions could seem stupid, but I am newbie and I have no idea...
Anyway thanks a lot for your help

I didn't say they were stupid, we don't really know the answers.

[fahbb]

They will probably check if you are a visa holder, but we aren't a permie forum and every company is different. Some companies will ask you for 3+ years of references, others will only ask for a personal reference.

I know you are not a permie forum, but that's a way to share hints and get to know about previous experiences.. maybe questions could seem stupid, but I am newbie and I have no idea...
Anyway thanks a lot for your help

[cojak]

Thanks for all your answers. I have to admit that most of the offers that I got are related to permanent roles.
Contract market seems to be very tough right now.

Btw, do you know what documents do they need for permanent roles? And how do you prove where you have worked at before? Do they call the Company to check if I was working there?
I have nothing to hide of course, I could show my payslip.
It just bothers me a lot if they call my previous Company to check if I was working there. Do you know how does it work?

Thanks a lot

They will probably check if you are a visa holder, but we aren't a permie forum and every company is different. Some companies will ask you for 3+ years of references, others will only ask for a personal reference.

[fahbb]

Thanks for all your answers. I have to admit that most of the offers that I got are related to permanent roles.
Contract market seems to be very tough right now.

Btw, do you know what documents do they need for permanent roles? And how do you prove where you have worked at before? Do they call the Company to check if I was working there?
I have nothing to hide of course, I could show my payslip.
It just bothers me a lot if they call my previous Company to check if I was working there. Do you know how does it work?

Thanks a lot

[SueEllen]

You only have to make the effort once. Keeping it up to date afterwards is a trivial exercise.

^^^This.

My insurance docs are pdfs and so is the utility bill I decide to use...

[Scruff]

Generally the list of docs and things seems to be getting longer. Just going through this now.....5 years of addresses lived at , 3 years of references, disclosure Scotland at a cost of £25, a load of questions about whether sought advice when going ltd vs umbrella, questions around how many employees in ltd.......proof of insurances, passport photo, utility bill dated last 3 months....can easily take half a day doing it.
I remember the days when a few references and signing the contract was suffice.

You only have to make the effort once. Keeping it up to date afterwards is a trivial exercise.

[SeanT]

References, what are they?

[SuperZ]

Generally the list of docs and things seems to be getting longer. Just going through this now.....5 years of addresses lived at , 3 years of references, disclosure Scotland at a cost of £25, a load of questions about whether sought advice when going ltd vs umbrella, questions around how many employees in ltd.......proof of insurances, passport photo, utility bill dated last 3 months....can easily take half a day doing it.
I remember the days when a few references and signing the contract was suffice.

[cojak]

Welcome!

You'll find a lot of answers to your questions within the CUK website.

On the right you'll find CUK Navigation. >>>>>>>>>

Look down and you'll come to the First Timers section. Have a read through there.

Basic expenses questions answered here: Contractor Expenses - How to claim Travel and other expenses via Limited Company or Umbrella

Then pay particular attention to IR35.

If you go into the Accounting/Legal forum you'll discover the thread Basic advice when running your own contractor business.

Guide to Contracts also has some good articles.

Do you want advice on the state of the contract market for your specialism/location? Have a look at this website; it will answer most if not all of your questions: http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk

But you need to know what is coming at you (and us) next year so take a look at these threads as well:
You are probably not going to like this - we certainly don't
Public Sector IR35 consultation launched

And finally - accountant recommendations - Ta-da!

Happy reading!

[Elliegirl]

If I were in your position I wouldn't even think about contract roles. Recruiters are looking for specialists and there are plenty of them out there with years of experience. Some very good ones have been out of work for months. You might have a much better chance with permanent roles. Because of the state of the market and other factors, some contractors are seriously looking at taking on permanent roles. I would get in there as soon as possible before you face serious competition from seasoned contractors looking to go permanent.

[northernladuk]

- CV advice: I have 7 yrs of experience in FSI, Manager at BIG4 Consulting Company as permanent employee, with a mix of experiences in different phases of the project (Business and Technical Requirements, Test Management, Data Quality, Project Management). Not sure about what position to apply as contractor. People told me that "everybody is a Project Manager" and it's difficult to get a contract as PM with 7yrs of experience.
On the other side, if I apply to Business Analyst / Test Manager and so on.. my cv shows I had other experiences in the past and I am not specifically specialised in that role. So what do you think? Anybody faced same problems?
Do you know anybody good I can ask for cv advice?

IMO it's not CV advice you need. It's a bit more fundamental than that as your CV will just show off the skill you are selling. You are in a market with many other very experienced people so you are gonna have to be good at something. I'm not sure 7 years of general experience is going to be much use to you. Pick any of those roles you mentioned and you are going to be up against people with 10+ years doing that role alone. Contracting is not really for 'good people' or jack of all trades that think they can turn their hands to anything. You need to be the best available to provide the skills the client is missing.

I'd say you are going to be in for a very torrid time trying to nail something with nothing but some general skills.

[TheFaQQer]

- Documents: I know that for permanent job is required to provide documents about previous experiences, employees, education etc..
What about when contracting? Which documents are needed? Do they call previous employees? Do they ask to provide with Master's degree?

If you are claiming to have a master's degree, then they may well ask you to prove that you have one - particularly if you aren't opting out of the agency regulations.

Do you know anybody good I can ask for cv advice?

Matt Craven

- Follow up: Sometimes, recruiters tell me they will put my cv forward to customer. How can I know if they really do or not? After calling, I usually ask to send me a mail back with a short summary, but often they don't do. Is it a bad sign? Do you usually follow up, if they don't send a mail back?

Welcome to contracting

[SeanT]

See http://forums.contractoruk.com/busin...ecs-avoid.html

[fahbb]

Hi all,
i am a new contractor in UK job market, and I would like to have some advice from seasoned contractors:

- Documents: I know that for permanent job is required to provide documents about previous experiences, employees, education etc..
What about when contracting? Which documents are needed? Do they call previous employees? Do they ask to provide with Master's degree?

- CV advice: I have 7 yrs of experience in FSI, Manager at BIG4 Consulting Company as permanent employee, with a mix of experiences in different phases of the project (Business and Technical Requirements, Test Management, Data Quality, Project Management). Not sure about what position to apply as contractor. People told me that "everybody is a Project Manager" and it's difficult to get a contract as PM with 7yrs of experience.
On the other side, if I apply to Business Analyst / Test Manager and so on.. my cv shows I had other experiences in the past and I am not specifically specialised in that role. So what do you think? Anybody faced same problems?
Do you know anybody good I can ask for cv advice?

- Follow up: Sometimes, recruiters tell me they will put my cv forward to customer. How can I know if they really do or not? After calling, I usually ask to send me a mail back with a short summary, but often they don't do. Is it a bad sign? Do you usually follow up, if they don't send a mail back?

Thanks a lot for your time.