Reply to: I have been out of work for a year..

[wackadu]

Even in despair there is hope. Nice post quickweb.

I wasn't on the bench, but ina direct contract with no agencies involved, working from home. The projects came in irregularly, but paid enough to cover the down time. I used the "spare" time to do other projects.

Once of these was the Xbox 360 Locator, which, when the Xbox 360 came out alerted people as to which online stores had Xbox 360s. All based around affiliate links to people like Dixons, Comet, Amaozn etc. During Dec, Jan and Feb with me watching it carefully and managing the whole site, I sold over £850k worth of Xbox 360s, and made around £30k in affiliate fees (all payable a month in arrears or so). Unfortunately (for my site!), Xbox 360s then started to become more available, so the site wasn't neccessary any more.

If you have no formal work on the go, but do have a PC and an internet connection, then it is possible to make some money. Not enough to retire on, sure, but £30k I wasn't expecting.

So read affiliate forums, get some domain names and apply for some affiliate programmes. There is money out there!

[quickweb]

I know it's disheartening to be out of work for even a few weeks let alone a year or more.

To bring in a bit of cash, has anyone ever done other types of work during their time "on the bench"?

I wasn't on the bench, but ina direct contract with no agencies involved, working from home. The projects came in irregularly, but paid enough to cover the down time. I used the "spare" time to do other projects.

Once of these was the Xbox 360 Locator, which, when the Xbox 360 came out alerted people as to which online stores had Xbox 360s. All based around affiliate links to people like Dixons, Comet, Amaozn etc. During Dec, Jan and Feb with me watching it carefully and managing the whole site, I sold over £850k worth of Xbox 360s, and made around £30k in affiliate fees (all payable a month in arrears or so). Unfortunately (for my site!), Xbox 360s then started to become more available, so the site wasn't neccessary any more.

If you have no formal work on the go, but do have a PC and an internet connection, then it is possible to make some money. Not enough to retire on, sure, but £30k I wasn't expecting.

So read affiliate forums, get some domain names and apply for some affiliate programmes. There is money out there!

[ChimpMaster]

I know it's disheartening to be out of work for even a few weeks let alone a year or more.

To bring in a bit of cash, has anyone ever done other types of work during their time "on the bench"?

[vetran]

9 Months

Don't lose heart, redo your CV - get everyone you respect to check it, find small amounts of work anywhere!

I did a load of work for a mate (a new startup), supporting their customers, for almost free! When I wanted a reference to cover the quiet period it was a glowing one. I also got a few new skills and an opportunity to make new contacts. These lead to a few quid.

In the end I got a job through an old contact.

[wackadu]

All those people complaining about tulipty 20/hour rates - perhaps they should read about those who can't find work like the people on this thread.

[oraclesmith]

My last contract ended in January 06. Since then I've been working fairly hard on a direct consultancy approach and I've had some good opportunities but come up against bigger consultancies and potential clients who prefer them. It doesn't seem to be paying off, so I had some holiday and now I'm turning to the agency contract market for a while. My gap's not an issue moneywise but you should have some liquid assets stashed away before you jump. If you're flexible (eg. prepared to work away from home during the week) and prepared to do mundane work, you'll be OK.

Also, read the contract if you're going to start at a low rate for anything other than a short term contract. Agents have been known to write contracts which don't give the contractor any notice or which limit the rate they can ask for renewals.

[ChimpMaster]

Anyone else been out of work for an extraordinarily long time?

[Mordac]

I didn't know you get payed to post on here all day, as that seems to be your number one skill.

I don't get paid to post on here all day, but I do spend a lot of time in mind-numbingly boring conference calls, and posting on here keeps me awake. Just.

[oraclesmith]

And mine !

Mind you I'm not being paid at the moment either !

[Xenophon]

I didn't know you get payed to post on here all day, as that seems to be your number one skill.

Hey - that is my number one skill!

[wackadu]

I didn't know you get payed to post on here all day, as that seems to be your number one skill.

[Mordac]

Surely now that depends on your skillset and the current level of demand for it.

If there's no demand for your skillset then you should be doing something else.

Mordy in "stating the bleedin obvious" Mode

[MarillionFan]

"Suicide it is then."

Ok great. If you succeed let us know.

[oraclesmith]

So what is it then ?

[ChimpMaster]

You've either got a crap CV or a crap skillset. No half-decent contractor should be having problems securing a contract in the current climate. I'm getting a dozen calls a week (at least) and the longest gap I've had in the last 18 months has been 3 weeks (and that was around Christmas last year). Your CV is merely a marketing document, and has one purpose - to get you an interview. If you don't get an interview roughly 25% of the time, there's something wrong with it.

Surely now that depends on your skillset and the current level of demand for it.