Reply to: Working outside the city (London)...?

[eek]

Doesn't that depend on the city and where you are in it?

European cities are different and several UK cities plant trees on their streets.

Oh and none of the places including cities have had cows anywhere near - horses and deer on a few occasions but definitely no cows.

Newcastle has cows on the town moor every summer.

[up4it]

Milton Keynes has some concrete cows!

See here...
Concrete Cows - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[SueEllen]

Why so desperate to work in s skyscraper in a city? There's no trees, grass, cows, mud, no beautiful frosty morning drives, too many people, too smelly, too dirty, too stressy, too impersonal, too unfriendly.... the list goes on?

You stay where you are and enjoy your higher quality of life.

Doesn't that depend on the city and where you are in it?

European cities are different and several UK cities plant trees on their streets.

Oh and none of the places including cities have had cows anywhere near - horses and deer on a few occasions but definitely no cows.

[socialworker]

Moi? How do you work that out? If you mean the cars I only mean pass the exotics while driving my 6 year old diesel Ford Focus belching out black smoke as I try and get it to 60.

With the greatest of respect, have you tried maintenance? I had my Dad's old Ford Escort diesel that he had as a company car then bought off the company when he retired, I think it was about 15 years old near the end but never belched out black smoke - he always taught me diesels have to be maintained. Or was this just poetic licence?

[Project Monkey]

Not a wind up - genuine post. I don't see many skyscrapers and cool offices in Wales.

I'm not having a dig; on the contrast if anything - where are the decent places to work outside the M25? ok...Manchester city center will have a fair few, as will Birmingham - but what about all the towns inbetween. Surely contractors gravitate towards London down here in the south? If not, where do they go? Where do they work? What is it like? Why did they choose to work outside of London?

That's the point of my original post because I do not know.

Why so desperate to work in s skyscraper in a city? There's no trees, grass, cows, mud, no beautiful frosty morning drives, too many people, too smelly, too dirty, too stressy, too impersonal, too unfriendly.... the list goes on?

You stay where you are and enjoy your higher quality of life.

[GB9]

Rates falling

Been looking seriously for a role this week.....rates significantly down since the back end of last year....plenty of jobs. Doesn't seem like there is a rush to fill them though.

Looking like having to accept 2004 rates again if I want to eat.

[RockyBalboa]

Moi? How do you work that out? If you mean the cars I only mean pass the exotics while driving my 6 year old diesel Ford Focus belching out black smoke as I try and get it to 60.

Get a gig at Barclays in Radbroke Hall... Do a mornings work then go sit on the croquet lawn with your lunch in the sun watching the ladies go by. Great stuff...

[northernladuk]

Ah so it's the likes of you that gives the rest of us a bad name there!

Moi? How do you work that out? If you mean the cars I only mean pass the exotics while driving my 6 year old diesel Ford Focus belching out black smoke as I try and get it to 60.

[RockyBalboa]

Get a gig at Barclays in Radbroke Hall. Great drive giving it the berries through the countryside to get there, count how many Lambo's, ferraries etc pass you on the way in through Alderly. Do a mornings work then go sit on the croquet lawn with your lunch in the sun watching the ladies go by. Great stuff. Gig and rates are rubbish and likely to get kicked out on your arse about November but can't have it all LOL.

Ah so it's the likes of you that gives the rest of us a bad name there!

I don't work there every day but I sure seem to put in more (effective) time than many other contractors I have come across. However, I am fortunate enough to be on higher rate than quite a few.

With regards to London - don't see the point of it myself unless quite a substantial increase in rate makes the commute/staying there worth it... or if I get really desperate for work which has not happened in all these years (so far!)... but as others have alluded to, it depends on current location, motivations, needs/wants etc.

[Vandalay]

I left London after 6 years and moved to Edinburgh in 2010. There's a thriving financial services contracting market up here. Rates are marginally lower, but then so is the cost of living, and its a MUCH nicer place to be without question.

[formant]

The reality of working in IT in the UK is that most of the jobs are in London and the South-East!
Outside of that area there are less jobs and more people chasing them.
Wherever the job is, preference is usually given to local candidates providing they have the correct skill-set.

The second line is where he's just plain wrong. London has a lot of jobs, it also has a hell of a lot of people, plus a pretty constant stream of EU citizens looking to make a move there and bidding for jobs from outside the UK.

With a relatively rare specialism, you have a lot less competition outside of London - jobs just don't come up that frequently. With generic skills, you'll no doubt find it easier to pick something up where there's loads going. If you're generic and very good at it, you shouldn't have a problem winning gigs outside of the city.

London's never been 'worth it' (the hassle, the commuting/living cost) for me.

[kaiser78]

The reality of working in IT in the UK is that most of the jobs are in London and the South-East!
Outside of that area there are less jobs and more people chasing them.
Wherever the job is, preference is usually given to local candidates providing they have the correct skill-set.

That's just rubbish from start to finish. Yet more musings with no facts like most of the posts in the last few days.

I would say that the first statement is pretty much spot on. Not sure about the other 2 however.

[up4it]

I agree with what you are saying. Though, in my case I was a little too 'special' until becoming more of a geriatric! FTFY

[MyUserName]

I agree with what you are saying. Though, in my case I was a little too 'special' until becoming more of a geriatric!

FTFY

[up4it]

If you have trouble finding IT jobs outside of London, maybe your skills are too generic.

My own little niche IT industry - for example - has no bases in London at all.

I agree with what you are saying. Though, in my case I was a little too specialized and keep trying to become more generic!