New to Scotland/Edinburgh market - what agencies and rates (business profile)?

[blossom]

Edinburgh agencies

If you are still looking...

Sanderson (Bradie Cole), PSD (Tom...) and Head resourcing (Graeme Cox) all are well established suppliers for Sainsburys Bank and Tesco Bank. Head also have Heineken and Aegon accounts (both also on the Gyle).


Lorien do a lot of recruiting for RBS and I regularly see fairly generic PM roles advertised either on LinkedIn or Jobserve. While I'm sure they are outsourcing, there's still plenty going.

I did hear a while back last year, that (after the Williams Glyn debacle) many of the contractors had been out of work for so long that they ended up taking permanent roles.

Best of luck, Edinburgh seems very swings and roundabouts at the moment. I agree that being as specialist on your CV as possible is always a bonus (down to specific banking applications, processes etc).

[rich2476]

to RBS India branch they have been building for several years (now over 6000 employees of RBS so not outsourced as such) - I was over last year, its a very impressive setup, their highest rate for a PM is £125 a day (£90 the norm for over techies) - so compares well with the £460 (down from £550 as a lot of London based contractors never got renewed and transferred roles over). India branch has had 1st dibs on ALL roles for 9 months, only in exceptional circumstances (Programmer mangers begs on bended knee) will they now hire in UK. I know 8 PM/Test managers/DBA/ Payments bods leaving this month or next.

Not the experience I have had and at the moment they have plenty of roles in Edinburgh.
Tell the people looking to contact Lorien as they are the main supplier.

[tarbera]

Outsourced them to

Outsourced them to? RBS has contract PM roles pretty frequently in Edinburgh

to RBS India branch they have been building for several years (now over 6000 employees of RBS so not outsourced as such) - I was over last year, its a very impressive setup, their highest rate for a PM is £125 a day (£90 the norm for over techies) - so compares well with the £460 (down from £550 as a lot of London based contractors never got renewed and transferred roles over). India branch has had 1st dibs on ALL roles for 9 months, only in exceptional circumstances (Programmer mangers begs on bended knee) will they now hire in UK. I know 8 PM/Test managers/DBA/ Payments bods leaving this month or next.

[HugeWhale]

Hi everyone,

I'm coming from abroad and living now in Edinburgh. At the same time being a contractor is new to me (previously permanent).

I have a business background as project manager / product owner / product manager in various industries (real agile for more than two years in the banking sector and waterfall in postal and FMCG sectors, 15 years of experience in total). I'm looking for similar roles + scrum master or agile coach.

What agencies would you advise me to contact?

Also, what kind of daily rates can I reasonably request?

Thanks for your replies!

Unsolicited advice coming up - do what you will with it.

You need to think carefully about what you want to do. Don't paint yourself as a generic agile/PM as we're awash with them.
A few years ago you could get away with “Project Manager with ERP expertise”. Nowadays that won’t wash. Even “Oracle ERP” expertise isn’t good enough. You’ll need something like:
“Expertise in Accounts Payable/Accounts Receivable configuration within Oracle ERP release 12 environment”. And even then they may ask that you have industry-specific knowledge – e.g. if you’ve not worked in, say, local government setting up accounts payable/receivable systems within an Oracle release 12 environment, you may struggle. Daft, but that's how it is. I was once turned down for a role because I had no experience in the pharmaceuticals industry - the work had nothing to do with pharmaceuticals (except what I might have needed to endure it) but that's how picky they are nowadays as the market is saturated with contractors.

Now to answer your question about Edinburgh - I have no idea. And I'm not sure that contracting will have such a small geographical boundary. My last contracts have been in the Midlands, South West, North West, London and wherever Milton Keynes is! I don't think you can actually say what the day rates would be in Edinburgh for such a generic CV.

So: sharpen your CV (make it niche) and broaden your horizons geographically if you want to make a go of this contracting lark.

Good luck and keep up apprised.

[rich2476]

And since RBS has outsourced all remaining PM's, BA's and no longer allowed to recruit in Edinburgh that's taken 50% of the market out all together - I know several excellent PM's tech and business + scrum masters all without a client for 9 months

Outsourced them to? RBS has contract PM roles pretty frequently in Edinburgh

[tarbera]

And since RBS has outsourced all remaining PM's, BA's and no longer allowed to recruit in Edinburgh that's taken 50% of the market out all together - I know several excellent PM's tech and business + scrum masters all without a client for 9 months

[BR14]

250/300 a day. Maybe 400 if you get real lucky.
There’s no shortage of PMs without technical knowledge.

The understatement of the year.

[Lance]

As said, I have a business background so no technical skills.

250/300 a day. Maybe 400 if you get real lucky.
There’s no shortage of PMs without technical knowledge.

[BrilloPad]

What does your accountant say? Ooops. I mean what does jobserve say?

Are you sure contracting is for you? Have you read the first timers guide?

CUK gets alot of posters with similar opening posts to yours(i.e. no research) then posting later how unfair it all is(e.g. no job security).

Its not all about the money. In fact, for many(most) its more about the lifestyle and liking the challenge of being a business owner and risk taking - the money tends to follow that.

Sorry if that sounds rude. It is intended to be terse. And to help you avoid making a mistake. Have a think, do some research.

And whatever you choose, the very best of luck.
BP

[Beloco]

So what can you actually do?
Do you have any technical knowledge? Or are you just a tick box project manager?
That could be the difference between 200 and 750 a day.

As said, I have a business background so no technical skills.

[doconline]

I think jobserve is still the main job board. Other than that try connecting to local groups on LinkedIn / meetup to network. Not sure about rates, different area / location to me, also depends on you and your previous experience I guess.

[Lance]

I have a business background as project manager / product owner / product manager in various industries (real agile for more than two years in the banking sector and waterfall in postal and FMCG sectors, 15 years of experience in total). I'm looking for similar roles + scrum master or agile coach.
!

So what can you actually do?
Do you have any technical knowledge? Or are you just a tick box project manager?
That could be the difference between 200 and 750 a day.

[Beloco]

Hi everyone,

I'm coming from abroad and living now in Edinburgh. At the same time being a contractor is new to me (previously permanent).

I have a business background as project manager / product owner / product manager in various industries (real agile for more than two years in the banking sector and waterfall in postal and FMCG sectors, 15 years of experience in total). I'm looking for similar roles + scrum master or agile coach.

What agencies would you advise me to contact?

Also, what kind of daily rates can I reasonably request?

Thanks for your replies!