Reply to: The trials of a seasoned contractor

[tsmith]

Yes because a BA needs to hit the ground running.

All projects need someone who knows the industry, knows how the company actually works and knows how the technology works.

Ideally you want a BA who understands the company but at a minimum I need someone who understands the industry so as I start prototyping there is someone close by telling me what else I need to do.

In those situations a generic BA is useless I may as well do it myself..

True but what I mean is - when the supply and demand imbalance wasnt as severe - you could get away with not being a perfect fit for a role - now very unlikely.

[eek]

Day rates for BAs/PMs tend to be lower than devs as supply demand imbalance isnt as acute as developers- my point is about actually being able to secure work in the first place in these market conditions - unless you have specific recent experience of the role in question - and perhaps other roles going back a couple of years too- youre likely not going to get it as theres somebody available whos a closer match.

Yes because a BA needs to hit the ground running.

All projects need someone who knows the industry, knows how the company actually works and knows how the technology works.

Ideally you want a BA who understands the company but at a minimum I need someone who understands the industry so as I start prototyping there is someone close by telling me what else I need to do.

In those situations a generic BA is useless I may as well do it myself..

[Old Greg]

Many factors to generalise - just my experience - Im not a developer so the 'old version of software skills' required conversation never happens.

The "previous clients in same sector" conversation is as much a fishing trip on what others were doing

Agree with other poster agencies tend to be more recent experience focussed as opposed to 'client side' businesses.

I had a conversation with a BA in my last contract who was saying he had to 'niche down' to get consistent contracts. Just being a generic BA doesnt work - he had to be a "fashion industry supply chain BA".

I don't know the fashion industry but generic PMs and BAs arriving new into healthcare typically fare badly.

[tsmith]

People are paying for expertise - a fashion industry supply chain BA is worth £x a day more from day 1 than a generic BA. Give me the person with previous experience every day.

Day rates for BAs/PMs tend to be lower than devs as supply demand imbalance isnt as acute as developers- my point is about actually being able to secure work in the first place in these market conditions - unless you have specific recent experience of the role in question - and perhaps other roles going back a couple of years too- youre likely not going to get it as theres somebody available whos a closer match.

[eek]

Many factors to generalise - just my experience - Im not a developer so the 'old version of software skills' required conversation never happens.

The "previous clients in same sector" conversation is as much a fishing trip on what others were doing

Agree with other poster agencies tend to be more recent experience focussed as opposed to 'client side' businesses.

I had a conversation with a BA in my last contract who was saying he had to 'niche down' to get consistent contracts. Just being a generic BA doesnt work - he had to be a "fashion industry supply chain BA".

People are paying for expertise - a fashion industry supply chain BA is worth £x a day more from day 1 than a generic BA. Give me the person with previous experience every day.

[tsmith]

I disagree, and based on another thread where there’s talk about IT departments lagging behind and not wanting to upgrade, it would appear that other posters disagree too.

I’m currently at a site where they were interested in my most recent clients, but were more keen to discuss previous clients that were in the same market sector, and others that were using the same (5+ year old) version of the software.

Many factors to generalise - just my experience - Im not a developer so the 'old version of software skills' required conversation never happens.

The "previous clients in same sector" conversation is as much a fishing trip on what others were doing

Agree with other poster agencies tend to be more recent experience focussed as opposed to 'client side' businesses.

I had a conversation with a BA in my last contract who was saying he had to 'niche down' to get consistent contracts. Just being a generic BA doesnt work - he had to be a "fashion industry supply chain BA".

[BrilloPad]

We need a photo cojak to give an opinion on how old you look :-)

Cojak has turned up at some meet-ups. The one I met her at(2011?) was around the time she became mod. I bet she has aged alot since then.....

[psychocandy]

I DARE them to say anything.

We need a photo cojak to give an opinion on how old you look :-)

[LadyPenelope]

Agree all

Access to unlimited magic money tree funding from investors - losing £1M a week - who cares we will do another round of funding


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Some young interviewer in a startup digital agency I interviewed at a few years ago was not happy when I asked about the project management process there. Agent fed back that I wasn't 'flexible' enough. Because they liked to fly by the seat of their pants, apparently.

Oh, but he did ask me what my favourite film was, as part of the standard interview process. Highly relevant.

[CoolCat]

I've found agencies can be short sighted and 'last role' focussed but clients are often more interested in overall experience that you can bring in from elsewhere.

yes I agree. what agents dont like about my CV is exactly the thing that the kinds of people I want to work for like about it. a number of times my CV (going direct) has been top of the list of the hiring managers shortlist, but I know almost no agents would have put my CV forward without their significant changes.

its not just the broader experience into the past, its also the pragmatic straightforward honesty that agents cannot sense or value, focusing as they mostly do on gloss, buzz words, wrong level of granularity in the wrong place, and hype.

it depends who the hiring manager/organisation is.

[ladymuck]

I've found agencies can be short sighted and 'last role' focussed but clients are often more interested in overall experience that you can bring in from elsewhere.

[WTFH]

The trials of a seasoned contractor

In my experience - people only care about your last role. If that isnt relevant to the role for hire. They can find somebody whos a closer match.

Pretty much anything over 2 years seems irrelevant.

I disagree, and based on another thread where there’s talk about IT departments lagging behind and not wanting to upgrade, it would appear that other posters disagree too.

I’m currently at a site where they were interested in my most recent clients, but were more keen to discuss previous clients that were in the same market sector, and others that were using the same (5+ year old) version of the software.

[BR14]

1974

[thebone]

Being on the seasoned side myself, contracting has worked for me as engagements are finite from engager point of view i.e. my Ltd completes the work, my Ltd leaves and age has not really been a factor at all.

Now because of the IR35 shakeup and possibly a reduced number of contracts, it may mean having to start applying for perm roles and engager mindset will be different. The seasoned individual is going to run into ageism as a blocker a lot more. HMRC may just have forced me to retire (from IT anyway).

[GhostofTarbera]

"My cv goes back around seven years in detail."

In my experience - people only care about your last role. If that isnt relevant to the role for hire. They can find somebody whos a closer match.

Pretty much anything over 2 years seems irrelevant.

Ageism even worse in most startups. Usually headed by early to mid 30 somethings who had access to funding.

Theyre not gonna hire a 40+ year old underneath them.

Agree all

Access to unlimited magic money tree funding from investors - losing £1M a week - who cares we will do another round of funding


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