Reply to: How quiet are people finding the market??

[RichardCranium]

the money is not the hugest issue ( really want to get back to work out of boredom more than anything else ) at the moment.

I'll PM you my LtdCo's bank account details. Please be sure to pass those to your agency for payment for your next gig.

[herman_g]

You were invited. Invoice the agent for the time and travel expenses.

I certainly will, at the appropriate time...unfortunately now is not - he seems to have a corner on a very niche market ( the quite well-connected agent I normally rely on is getting nowhere in the market for some reason).

He has offered to pay my train ticket from London for the screw-up but can't be bothered ( nor will accept such a pittance for the insult ).

The experience ended up a real waste of time, energy and money but, fortunately the money is not the hugest issue ( really want to get back to work out of boredon more than anything else ) at the moment.

[RichardCranium]

1500 dissapeared from from war chest on that.

You were invited. Invoice the agent for the time and travel expenses.

Will not be visiting Swindon anytime soon!

Well, that's just generally good advice anyway.

[herman_g]

am sorely tempted to bench myself today.
I appreciate it sound daft but had enough.....!!

I work for a swiss based financial company in swindon who are doing the corporate bullying tactic with me.

Awful funny you mention Swinden. Seems like a nice little place but judging by the high street closures and rental property market, seems to be in dire straits...

I went for an interview at a well-known building society there two weeks ago.

Travelled all the way from Greece - came a couple days early as I planned on being nice and relaxed for the interview.

Was a hot day in London, suit on 40+ tube, sweated like a pig all the way. Picked up a new clean shirt ( threw the other one away ) and grabbed a taxi out to the client's office.

Turned off the mobile ( in prep for the interview ) and put my name in at reception.

PM comes to meet me, tells me the interview has been canceled ( they called the agent 13 minutes before the appointment time ) since the one permie had not seen my CV and would not be interviewing somebody whos CV he had not read.

Dragged their heels for 1 more week, scheduled the interview, asked 1 technical and several "life experience" questions.

Told the agent I didn't have the technical skills they were looking for and that was that.

1500 dissapeared from from war chest on that. Will not be visiting Swindon anytime soon!

Sorry, but reading Swindon forced me to vent also.

[AlfredJPruffock]

Recived quite a few emails for several roles - however very happy where I am so had do decline - in general the market activity for my sector and rate-wise its pretty much the same as this point last year - so far so good.

[OwlHoot]

Agreed, there is stuff out there, but you have to be a bit more creative than just hammering jobswerve to death.

Any ideas? My CV is public on Monster, possibly a mistake although it has been viewed about 30 times this week. Wondering whether to tart up my currently empty Linkedin profile. Anyone had much luck with Linkedin? Or are there any other worthwhile systems like it?

I've been out since the start of the week, and had several phone calls and CV forwarded to three clients. But the latter are twiddling their thumbs, and the agents tell me that feedback within a week would be the recruiting equivalent of a swift with its tail on fire.

[Hawkeye]

Pretty much nothing since April with a couple of roles falling through at that time. This week I was put forward for two roles. One I did not get an interview but it was still better than nothing. I am positive that I was perfect for it but hey that is my perception and it is a tough market out there.

The other role hopefully I hear today on whether I will be getting an interview early next week! Fingers crossed!

[blesshim]

need to vent

am sorely tempted to bench myself today.
I appreciate it sound daft but had enough.....!!

I work for a swiss based financial company in swindon who are doing the corporate bullying tactic with me.

2 weeks ago i verbally agreed a verbal offer of a new contract extension
yesterday, i found out the extension comes with a 15% rate cut. As i work away from home, this cripples my daily rate and makes permie options of 40-50k seem more appealing!!

Went back to them with a series of negotiation options particularly since i've had 1 day to make a decision.

They accepted that maybe that hadn't handled this as well as they could have and offered me a 1 month extension on my current rate with a view to renegotiating a rate cut when i've returned off my hols.

Fortunately being well liked around here has meant i was unofficially shown an email trail which said they have no intension of retaining me and will hire a replacement while i'm on holiday!!

my wallet says take the 15% cos its still money
my heart say stuff them and i'll keep the knowledge in my head and walk.

sorry but needed to vent!

[kaiser78]

Been out since May - Took the first month really low key - Rest wise - (had done some silly mileage for the last year)

Appling for all sorts of roles (being a contractor of old I have many strenghts) However I have found that I have had some silly call backs but thats it..

Anyone else finding that they just are not getting called back???

Cheers S.

I joined the bench in May, took it easy for a couple of weeks and then started a new contract at the end of June. Lower rate although am able to add new skills to my CV which are also cross-industry, which is why I was happy to take the lower rate.

I am also receiving calls and emails from agents for roles, some of which are relevant, some not, but am enjoying the luxury of simply being able to ignore these for the moment.

[nomadd]

Investment banking jobs either require you to break in to it at a junior level or require years of experience in investment banking. After broadening my skills and passing certificates, I've found that agents will only look at my core skills as the other technical skills I've obtained would put me at the same level of experience as a much junior candidate - this is the main IT problem in that technical skills gain and lose popularity relatively rapidly, leaving you drinking at a shrinking waterhole. Young managers would be wary of having me in their team as I'd have more experience than them. A lot of people in my position then start to look for work abroad, which I'm unwilling to do. I'm guessing the only other way out of the trap is to embellish my CV which I'm also unwilling to do. Things do come up, but it's felt like I'm surviving rather than flourishing since I was 30. I may strike lucky this time next week, next month or next year.

+1

Matches my feelings and experiences exactly.

Nomadd

[PM-Junkie]

Difficult to say what the score is with half of these. Suspect it may be the case that the job existed (as there are usually specific details) but that particular agency didn't have a relationship/not a strong enough relationship with the end client and another agency filled the role. Other possibilities are that suppliers advertise roles for projects which they anticipate they'll get but don't then get.

To be fair, I have been on the other side of the fence. You get sign-off from the HR PHBs for a role - wander off and do all the work neccessary to nail a quality resource, and then when you go back and do the final processing stuff with HR you're told they've changed their minds (or more likely were talking out of their butt all along) and have pulled the sign-off.

Frustrating for everyone...and yet one more reason to want to throttle one of the HR drones.

[mace]

This is the problem with IT

My last contract finished at the end of May and I've found Jobserve to be quite busy, just not for the roles I want!

Investment banking jobs either require you to break in to it at a junior level or require years of experience in investment banking. After broadening my skills and passing certificates, I've found that agents will only look at my core skills as the other technical skills I've obtained would put me at the same level of experience as a much junior candidate - this is the main IT problem in that technical skills gain and lose popularity relatively rapidly, leaving you drinking at a shrinking waterhole. Young managers would be wary of having me in their team as I'd have more experience than them. A lot of people in my position then start to look for work abroad, which I'm unwilling to do. I'm guessing the only other way out of the trap is to embellish my CV which I'm also unwilling to do. Things do come up, but it's felt like I'm surviving rather than flourishing since I was 30. I may strike lucky this time next week, next month or next year.

[mace]

Those are the worst

... and then when you chase it a few weeks later the role has "gone away".

I do wonder how many of these never existed.

Difficult to say what the score is with half of these. Suspect it may be the case that the job existed (as there are usually specific details) but that particular agency didn't have a relationship/not a strong enough relationship with the end client and another agency filled the role. Other possibilities are that suppliers advertise roles for projects which they anticipate they'll get but don't then get.

[deej]

... and then when you chase it a few weeks later the role has "gone away".

I do wonder how many of these never existed.

True enough! "But we'll keep your CV on file for any future opportunities" blah blah

[RichardCranium]

but the end client is just sitting on the CVs and not making a decision on who to reject/interview/etc. Very frustrating!

... and then when you chase it a few weeks later the role has "gone away".

I do wonder how many of these never existed.