Reply to: There are a lot of whinging IT contractors

[NotAllThere]

Been in the IR35 forum lately?

E.g. https://www.contractoruk.com/forums/...rmination.html

[fool]

Well that's my point: if you have upskilled/added up-to-date experience then you can still get mainframe work, which may well use the Old Testament skills as well as the New; but if all you have is old mainframe skills then nobody wants them.

A lot of it just depends on attitude. You get a lot of the "not in my wheelhouse", "don't train your replacement", or "lets negotiate a new rate" type of responses around here, but the reality is that's just locking yourself in a box

Both vertical and horizontal movement is entirely possible as a contractor, and you can do it whilst leaving at 5. You just need to not be a Tulip.

I've had 3-4 different job roles doing wildly different things since this post.

[BrilloPad]

Been in the IR35 forum lately?

WSS....

It makes a nice change for a mod to agree with me rather than banning me....

[cojak]

Why did you drag this up?

Been in the IR35 forum lately?

[SueEllen]

Some things never change

Why did you drag this up?

[northernladuk]

There are a lot of whinging IT contractors - IT Contractor & IT Contracting News & Advice

Not even gonna bother giving them my traffic. Bloody awful site.

[BrilloPad]

Some things never change

[Troll]

computercontractor.net the forum of which made General look like a girl guide meeting.

Oh happy days

[expat]

You can, because I still do although I have 'upskilled' as well so that not only can I use the old, yet both relevant and required, skills I can integrate them with the new stuff

Well that's my point: if you have upskilled/added up-to-date experience then you can still get mainframe work, which may well use the Old Testament skills as well as the New; but if all you have is old mainframe skills then nobody wants them.

[clearedforlanding]

Tell me about it....

There are a lot of whinging IT contractors.

[administrator]

You didnt uses to be able to link to that site from this, guess admin no longer views it as a threat. Back in the day the bloke who owns it ran computercontractor.net the forum of which made General look like a girl guide meeting.

I preferred namesfacesplaces. That colour scheme still haunts me. If past history is anything to go by "We received this, about whinging IT Contractors, in response to one of our articles." probably means "I emailed myself something this morning to try and make some news."

[darmstadt]

It applies to old mainframe programmers too: they will not be getting contracts now unless their mainframe experience is current. I speak from experience: I have 15 years mainframe experience but it's not current mainframe stuff. My old mainframe skills are MVS COBOL BAL CICS JCL CLISTs etc, and you can't get a contract with that.

You can, because I still do although I have 'upskilled' as well so that not only can I use the old, yet both relevant and required, skills I can integrate them with the new stuff

[ZARDOZ]

You didnt uses to be able to link to that site from this, guess admin no longer views it as a threat. Back in the day the bloke who owns it ran computercontractor.net the forum of which made General look like a girl guide meeting.

[NotAllThere]

If you're a dev in your forties or fifties I would imagine that you're rather good at it and you enjoy the work...

And no young whippersnappers coming up behind me either - not since large scale off-shoring.

[expat]

So much BS in those quotes you don'y know where to start.

I'm sure the old mainframe programmers, who still earn a very good living, due to scarcity, wouldn't go along with him.
Similarly, I have worked with a lot of older BAs, PMs, Programme Managers, etc. I bet we all have.

Even most of the trolley dollies that make up, most, HR departments are contractors, now.

It applies to old mainframe programmers too: they will not be getting contracts now unless their mainframe experience is current. I speak from experience: I have 15 years mainframe experience but it's not current mainframe stuff. My old mainframe skills are MVS COBOL BAL CICS JCL CLISTs etc, and you can't get a contract with that.