Reply to: As several hundred PM's, BA's + techy's flood the market this month

[BigRed]

^ yes, Banking is much overrated. All process bound paper pushing to the extent being proactive is a pain, better to wait until it breaks, then the straight jacket comes off and you can get praise for fixing it quickly.

[alluvial]

Fortunately they will all be looking for the same work as it's my observation that Banking contractors are far too high and mighty to take contracts outside of the banking sector, leaving the rest of us alone.

My experience has been that once you land in the finance sector that you find it dammed difficult to get away from the process bound, document hungry, nitpicking, tedious, overrated, incompetent (mostly), bean counter driven, stuck up their own arises bunch of idiots that run finance IT projects. I've just managed it after 10 years of trying to convince agents that yes, my skills do transfer into other sectors.
Currently enjoying being pissed of with a role for completely different reasons than previously.
But then, it could be that I'm not like the usual holier than thou bunch that you find in finance , of which, there are many.

[Edinburgh BA]

Yes, and a right royal pain it is too. Most of the agencies that call me up are FS sector only and nothing else. Dire. I make a point of stating I'd be happy to work outwith the sector, but it's not so straightforward in the Central Scotland area - Edinburgh and Glasgow are predominantly banking / life cos / investment with the occasional public service thrown in. Oil industry opportunities up in Aberdeen, or the occasional Uni role but that's it.

Of course, seeing as all the manufacturing got sold off down the river years ago, all very pointless looking at that sector up here too!

[craig1]

Fortunately they will all be looking for the same work as it's my observation that Banking contractors are far too high and mighty to take contracts outside of the banking sector, leaving the rest of us alone.

A lot of them think that because banking is so different to everywhere else that they couldn't work anywhere else, even if they wanted to do so. A strange old environment...

[cojak]

as Industry Account switching winds down, RBS & Lloyds letting 000's go each day, Its looking like a 4/5 month out for a lot of contractors. It's going to be a long dark winter for some.

On the bright side this kull will ensure a good percentage will go to the darkside ensuring rates in the spring will shoot up.?

Fortunately they will all be looking for the same work as it's my observation that Banking contractors are far too high and mighty to take contracts outside of the banking sector, leaving the rest of us alone.

[SussexSeagull]

Maybe it's different in the northern markets but decisions always go to poo as soon as the kids break up in London

First time I have been looking in the Summer but it went from extremely quiet to fending off agents in about a week in mid September.

[bobspud]

Schools factoring in market buoyancy? That's a new one.

Maybe it's different in the northern markets but decisions always go to poo as soon as the kids break up in London

[northernladuk]

From my (testing) perspective the market has looked fairly rosy since the schools went back.

Schools factoring in market buoyancy? That's a new one.

[SussexSeagull]

From my (testing) perspective the market has looked fairly rosy since the schools went back.

[BlasterBates]

The good news is that UBS is now halfway through it's massive job cull

We’re half way through job cuts: UBS CEO

Doesn't look good in the banking sector.

[amcdonald]

That's what scares me 90% of my contracts for the last 5 years have been going back to the same clients.

Applying through jobserve seems to be more effort than it used to be

[craig1]

You mean like doing business? If only though....

Contracting has been too easy for years. It's nowt like it was when I were a lad... Contractors these days just don't know how good they have it

I had a PMO assistant assigned to me at a contract last year who hadn't been born yet when I ran my first project

[northernladuk]

It's increasingly getting back to the early 90s style of contracting where it's who you know rather than what you know that gets you the gig.

You mean like doing business? If only though....

[northernladuk]

as Industry Account switching winds down, RBS & Lloyds letting 000's go each day, Its looking like a 4/5 month out for a lot of contractors. It's going to be a long dark winter for some.

On the bright side this kull will ensure a good percentage will go to the darkside ensuring rates in the spring will shoot up.?

It's a cull and I don't think you can relate contracting rates to go up based on this alone.

[craig1]

It's increasingly getting back to the early 90s style of contracting where it's who you know rather than what you know that gets you the gig. The commodity PM roles are always going to be first come, first served in getting an agent's attention but the better roles tend to have agencies hunting known-good contractors rather than desperate ex-permanent staff doing the "F5-apply" technique of job hunting.