Reply to: Are there any jobs out there?

[sal626]

Not all jobserve CVs are getting through - I discovered that by accident. I phoned after one that appeared late one Friday, on the following Monday to discover my CV hadnt arrived. Therefore phone the agency (about 15 mins after you send it) to confirm they have received it. Try and discuss it with them - gets your CV up to the top of their pile!

Excellent point.....jobserve is very unreliable...

I would even say call up the agent before you apply, and tell them jobserve is unrelaible and ask for thier personal email....I've found most agents are willing to provide it.........at least your CV is more likely to be noticed.

[I'mFree]

"In times of peace prepare for war, in times of war prepare for peace."

From what I hear from mates who are contractors too, it is the same for many of us. Decent work record, decent CV, Apply for jobs, promises, then SFA.

First, I think it is important not to take it personally otherwise you will become bitter and angry.

Second,as others have suggested it is time to think about the future, using the Tsun Tzu adage, "In times of peace prepare for war, in times of war prepare for peace."

I am taking the advice of previous posters and doing some training.. I have spent time over the last month of note taking and study for the PMI /PMP exam and going on a P2 course in a couple of weeks.

To be honest, Prince2?, it hard to stay awake.

But the situation is this; there is an army of tossers out there with P2 who can hardly wipe their own backsides without a PID (sic) but they have the jobs.

Also I would say try something different and diverting to keep the old brain cells going.. I went on a plastering course a few weeks ago. It was great fun and I can now do a bit of plastering and make a fair job of it (good rates for mates). Ok, it is not going to get me a PM role but it kept me occupied and cost £300 for the week. Better than plodding through Jobserve relentlessly to no avail.

Don't despair. But do something..

Cheers

I'm Free

[dmini]

Thre are some - Ive got 2 interviews at least for next week - another couple of possibles as well. Only been out since last Friday, so Im quite happy - I do Wintel server support so fighting hundreds of CVs per contract out there.
My advice - for what its worth.

If a vacancy shows with more than one agency, I'm now sending it to all of them (unless I really hate one). One of them might actually read it. I get the impression they are fairly swamped at the moment - so lazier ones go through enough CVs to get the number of applicants they require.
DON'T LET MORE THAN ONE OF THEM SUBMIT THOUGH

Not all jobserve CVs are getting through - I discovered that by accident. I phoned after one that appeared late one Friday, on the following Monday to discover my CV hadnt arrived. Therefore phone the agency (about 15 mins after you send it) to confirm they have received it. Try and discuss it with them - gets your CV up to the top of their pile!

Again - agencies AREN'T calling back. A number of others have noted this. There are of course, exceptions - but don't sit waiting for that call from your CV you just submitted - it probably won't happen. When I was still in contract and sitting in the middle of permies - therefore unable to ring agency - no callback, no interview. Able to ring them - 2 interviews.

Use your time out (esp if in the Windows environment) to add to your skills. I have spent about £13000 on training in the last year - plus lost contract / invoice time. Now that is extreme - but there are books out there. Study, learn material, and pass the attached exams. Silly - but a lot of clients are looking for that cert in Vista/2008/sql etc. One interview next week I have to take proof of all my certs with me! Books are fairly cheap - do it. I've got a pile of study books to work though at home for other linked products. Done about half of them over the last year. Still got SQL, Exchange 2007, Cisco and a bit more Vista to do though!

Well, that's my two penn'orth. Hope that helps.
Now all Ive got to do is at least one good interview - preferably two!

[karpizan]

8 years as a Tech Author and not a sniff since the end of October. Just the same old, probably non-existent, crap showing up on the job sites, and calls from agents down to a trickle.

Repeat ad nauseam.... it'll get better, it'll get better, it'll get better........

[deckster]

Can anyone explain to me what a test manager actually does

When we test here it works like this

1) Developer tests his/her code to make sure it works (e.g. it throws no programming errors up)

2) The next step is for a team of people from the business to perform UAT - which actually forms part of the training.

The main issue with this method is that it does not allow for any load testing and so can cause issues if it is rolled out for a large number of users. But you can often extrapolate systems loads and scale the hardware up.

The manager in this case of the testing is the stakeholder, the BA and possible the PM.

When would you actually need a dedicated test manager - is it for brand new products which are due to be released into the market?

Just wondering really.

Well that might be OK for small systems but unit test + UAT is never going to be sufficient for any decent sized project. Producing detailed and comprehensive test cases, writing the supporting frameworks and actually running the tests is a very skilled and potentially enormous task. Certainly most of the projects I have worked on over the last ten years have had tens of testers working full time right from the word go. Obviously this needs careful management and a decent test manager (usually somebody with very thick skin who doesn't mind bugging developers several times a day to actually get them to do some work ) can make or break a project.

[original PM]

on the desktop support the wages for this seem to be rock bottom

the company I am at have permy desktop people on about 16k per year working 5 from 7 over 24 hours.

It is not surprising therefore that when you do finally get through to them they cannot answer a simple question and the main response is ctrl-alt-delete

hey ho this will change soon!

[trsisko]

i cant find a job either i do desktop support and am cleared anyone know of any places in london or MK's let me know thx

[Rookie]

Can anyone explain to me what a test manager actually does

When we test here it works like this

1) Developer tests his/her code to make sure it works (e.g. it throws no programming errors up)

2) The next step is for a team of people from the business to perform UAT - which actually forms part of the training.

The main issue with this method is that it does not allow for any load testing and so can cause issues if it is rolled out for a large number of users. But you can often extrapolate systems loads and scale the hardware up.

The manager in this case of the testing is the stakeholder, the BA and possible the PM.

When would you actually need a dedicated test manager - is it for brand new products which are due to be released into the market?

Just wondering really.

I'm not too sure but I'd say the quantity/complexity/type of tests that needed to be carried out would determine whether you would need a test manager or not.

[original PM]

Can anyone explain to me what a test manager actually does

When we test here it works like this

1) Developer tests his/her code to make sure it works (e.g. it throws no programming errors up)

2) The next step is for a team of people from the business to perform UAT - which actually forms part of the training.

The main issue with this method is that it does not allow for any load testing and so can cause issues if it is rolled out for a large number of users. But you can often extrapolate systems loads and scale the hardware up.

The manager in this case of the testing is the stakeholder, the BA and possible the PM.

When would you actually need a dedicated test manager - is it for brand new products which are due to be released into the market?

Just wondering really.

[ShowMeTheMoney]

Anyone else have any luck? The market for Test Managers is the worse I've ever seen of late...................the war chest is nearing the bottom, very worried now. Perhaps its time to sharpen up my old bar man skills

[Svalbaard]

Can't be that great then

Twat! Yes you.

[sog]

I work as a permie (.NET stuff), never worked as a contractor before. Just checking out the forum and seeing what I can learn from experienced people that hang out here

I imagine that when we talk about the market, it's all dependent on the specific area, right? I know, the whole economy is bad, but in terms of contract opportunities, do you think certain areas are doing better then others? What's your opinion on .NET development demand, for contractors?

[norrahe]

First post on this forum and hopefully it will offer some hope! I have been contracting in Test Anayst-Test Manager positions for approx 4 years and have had plenty of holidays and breaks in between - went a bit crazy last year and did Thailand, Egypt, Jordan and Australia - all month long breaks from the office
.

Can you PM me with details of the agencies you are using, My OH is a test engineer and is on the lookout.

Thanks

[guzzaloid]

First post on this forum and hopefully it will offer some hope! I have been contracting in Test Anayst-Test Manager positions for approx 4 years and have had plenty of holidays and breaks in between - went a bit crazy last year and did Thailand, Egypt, Jordan and Australia - all month long breaks from the office

I came back Jan 2nd and the phone was quiet but picked up like crazy the second week in and have now landed a nice 6 month contract, I even had the pick of 3 offers which was surprising in this climate - so there is hope out there!

Im not outstanding technical wise - im an old school tester of the Usability/UAT/Functional ilk but I do have 10 years in the game and how else can I say this without offending anyone, erm, I dont come across as a typical IT geek and I think that helps in interviews as this is the 5th on the spin that has been successful, I can only imagine how many similar people there are in the interviews so maybe its the glowing skills and experience that gets you the interview but its the personality that nails it!

I understand its not all as cut and dry as my experience but thought I would offer a different stance on things.

[rootsnall]

Probably not so good a tactic for the young uns but I am approaching this stint on the bench as a chunk of my retirement but taken 15 years early when I'm not so old and knackered. I'll just have to work it later in more lucrative times.

Between looking after kids, doing up an old house with a large garden and some reskilling I'm sure I can keep myself amused for 2009 if things are really that grim.