Reply to: Where do you see yourself in 5 years…

[Board Game Geek]

I usually reply to the "where do you see yourself in 5 years time" with :

I have no idea. I'm not Mystic Meg. If I was, I'd be doing the lottery. I'll be wherever I'll be.

[Francko]

On a balcony overlooking the Bay of Naples being paid to drink wine and eat sausages while observing and reporting on the mafia assassinations.

[EternalOptimist]

in five years


travelling to work in a submarine, due to AGW,
through empty streets, due to swine flu
in a well run country,due to the clean-up in politics
on a good train, thanks to network rail
in a safe world , thanks Tony fckingBlair

[FarmerPalmer]

sitting in a cubicle, or at home in my office, cutting code and getting paid by the hour

... what else is there ?

[milanbenes]

i think the main problem is skillz

if you are in an area (support) where any 14yr old can compete with you

then of course you're gonna be looking at paper-round money


Milan.

[gingerjedi]

ginge,

if your rate is 28 quid at abbeywood,

isn't it time to think about permie ?

Milan.

I wouldn't get anywhere near that as permie, £28k tops at the moment looking at the market.

£28 ph is bank manager money if you manage to keep it going, I do think some people on here have been in a contractor bubble (including myself) and don't realise how bad things are at the moment, the only calls I get are for bog standard support bollox for £22-26k and they want you to run a whole site for that.

I know what I need to do to command a decent rate but I don't have the resources or time to do that right now, I keep whinging on here so I'll stop now as I'm even boring myself.

[Cyberman]

Just going through my post interview analysis for a permie role and I can’t think what the correct answer is to this age old chestnut of a question?

I take it “Hopefully on £500 pd in a cushy contract role” wouldn’t have been the answer he was looking for?

How about ' I'd like to be an MP or a Banker ' !!

[suityou01]

My ideal gig would be SC MoD in Bristol on £28 ph... but that finished.

I am realistic about rates in the current market, I have few buzzwords in my CV as I get enough pointless phone calls from lazy agents with irrelevant job descriptions.

I'm not flexible on location other than a 50 mile radii from Bristol as I like to see my family, I can’t help but think that agents are taking more of a margin these days to protect their income which they may get away with on high rate contracts but support roles going from £28 ph to just £18 or lower makes it near impossible to travel or stay away.

I have highlighted some things I would like to comment on.

28ph. That is being flexible. Possibly overly so, but I don't know what you do or how well.

Few buzzwords to limit the number of "pointless" calls. This I think is partly to blame. You can sniff an agent out in seconds. I take control of the conversation immediately. I'm kind of busy now, but if you email me the job spec I'll take a look in half an hour or so and call you back. Easy.

If for example you put the word SQL Server on your CV then you will get bulltulip phone calls with people looking for SQL Reporting services, or Server infrastructure etc etc. It's a fact of life. You are your sales and marketing department. Calls is good, no matter how futile it seems. I know of plenty of contractors on here that would kill for a few dozen "pointless" calls a day. Sort your self out in this department and cast your net a bit wider.

50 miles radii of Bristol. That's London out then. Good luck with that. I'm away from my family all week and it gets me down. Not half as much as explaining to my kids why we would be moving into rented accomodation as Daddy couldn't pay the bills.

[milanbenes]

ginge,

if your rate is 28 quid at abbeywood,

isn't it time to think about permie ?

Milan.

[SallyAnne]

Barefoot and pregnant.

Like Arnie in Twins?

I'm strangely aroused by that

[gingerjedi]

I feel for you mate.

Did you try dropping your day rate, seeing how many buzzwords in the jobserve ads are in your CV, being flexible on location and posting your CV to the job boards 5 times a day?

Green shoots they say. Something will come in at the last minute when you least expect it.

What's your ideal gig?

My ideal gig would be SC MoD in Bristol on £28 ph... but that finished.

I am realistic about rates in the current market, I have few buzzwords in my CV as I get enough pointless phone calls from lazy agents with irrelevant job descriptions.

I'm not flexible on location other than a 50 mile radii from Bristol as I like to see my family, I can’t help but think that agents are taking more of a margin these days to protect their income which they may get away with on high rate contracts but support roles going from £28 ph to just £18 or lower makes it near impossible to travel or stay away.

[Mich the Tester]

I'm not in a contract. I don't want to even think about going permie. FFS I'd rather shave my balls with a hedge trimmer than work for a dipstick who asks these stupid interview questions... but needs must and if it's the only option.

Think long and hard. Is it REALLY the only option? Do you have other skills that you could use to work for yourself? Teaching and offering courses in your skills, freelance translating, freelance technical writing? Is your local area in need of some kind of shop or service that it doesn’t have right now? Can you sell stuff from home or on the internet?

If you really want to work for yourself you need to think about everything you’ve done up to now and which particular skills can be offered in a different way to someone who’ll pay for them.

Now I know it’s easy to talk; it’s much easier to see opportunities when you’re in work as your mindset is perhaps more optimistic, but think about it.

[expat]

In your job

= "what you have done already is what I aspire to". Suck suck.

I remember again why I contract.

[suityou01]

I'm not in a contract. I don't want to even think about going permie. FFS I'd rather shave my balls with a hedge trimmer than work for a dipstick who asks these stupid interview questions... but needs must and if it's the only option.

I feel for you mate.

Did you try dropping your day rate, seeing how many buzzwords in the jobserve ads are in your CV, being flexible on location and posting your CV to the job boards 5 times a day?

Green shoots they say. Something will come in at the last minute when you least expect it.

What's your ideal gig?

[gingerjedi]

I'm in a contract. I don't want to even think about going permie. FFS I'd rather shave my balls with a hedge trimmer than work for a dipstick who asks these stupid interview questions.

I'm not in a contract. I don't want to even think about going permie. FFS I'd rather shave my balls with a hedge trimmer than work for a dipstick who asks these stupid interview questions... but needs must and if it's the only option.