Reply to: Market Dead Again?

[Spacecadet]

Erm, can I hazard a guess that the company in question is not particularly, erm, 'profitable'?

Can I counter that guess with another guess that they are profitable seeing as how they don't waste money on potentially excess equipment

[EternalOptimist]

actually i dont consider a mortgage as debt, its long term managed debt. but i dont consider it as a 'debt' in itself.

its not like having £200k credit card debt or £200k overdraft is it now?

wait till you repossessed matey

[Svalbaard]

My current contract is up for renewal late Dec and I've had a confirmed offer of a renewal from current client, plus following discussions with several agencies I am pondering over accepting 2 interviews for other roles.

Market not looking too bad from my POV.

[Mich the Tester]

sooo bad, crap working environment, crap management, dead end job, had the promise of bonus/salary increases removed ...

...first day of the job, i didnt have a desk or even have a computer! I had to source my own computer internally, which took me 6 weeks. hahahaha to think i put up with it for 12 months as a permie is just ridiculous looking back at it now.

Erm, can I hazard a guess that the company in question is not particularly, erm, 'profitable'?

[Clippy]

actually i dont consider a mortgage as debt, its long term managed debt. but i dont consider it as a 'debt' in itself.

its not like having £200k credit card debt or £200k overdraft is it now?

What's your skillset.

[bandit_legs]

Impressive. What is your skillset?

Or don't you consider a mortgage as debt?

actually i dont consider a mortgage as debt, its long term managed debt. but i dont consider it as a 'debt' in itself.

its not like having £200k credit card debt or £200k overdraft is it now?

[Doggy Styles]

... a 200k mortgage ...

... 9 months on, i'm out of debt ...

Impressive. What is your skillset?

Or don't you consider a mortgage as debt?

[SuperZ]

I had a permie job last year, i shat myself and went permie with the early onset of the recession - after 1 yr it was sooo bad, crap working environment, crap management, dead end job, had the promise of bonus/salary increases removed - i just stood up one day and handed in my notice. Left the company 4 weeks later with no job, no contract and a 200k mortgage and wife to support - went on holiday with the missus - got myself 5k in debt, came back, picked up contract within 2 weeks of my return and 9 months on, i'm out of debt, LTD company is cash rich and im stashing the cash again and have never looked back.

Life aint worth living unless you can have some element of risk in your life.

hth



oh i just remembered something from that permie position; obn my first day of the job, i didnt have a desk or even have a computer! I had to source my own computer internally, which took me 6 weeks. hahahaha to think i put up with it for 12 months as a permie is just ridiculous looking back at it now.

It's surprising how time passes.
I'd suggest nobody takes a permie job just for the sake of having work, it would be for the wrong reasons. HOwever I understand some have to consider it to pay the bills though during the hard times in the contract market, a reason I suggest people put money aside as much as possible while contracting so you can avoid taking a crap permie job that ya hate later on.

Yes, you have to take risks in life

[swamp]

I had a permie job last year, i shat myself and went permie with the early onset of the recession - after 1 yr it was sooo bad, crap working environment, crap management, dead end job, had the promise of bonus/salary increases removed - i just stood up one day and handed in my notice. Left the company 4 weeks later with no job, no contract and a 200k mortgage and wife to support - went on holiday with the missus - got myself 5k in debt, came back, picked up contract within 2 weeks of my return and 9 months on, i'm out of debt, LTD company is cash rich and im stashing the cash again and have never looked back.

Life aint worth living unless you can have some element of risk in your life.

hth



oh i just remembered something from that permie position; obn my first day of the job, i didnt have a desk or even have a computer! I had to source my own computer internally, which took me 6 weeks. hahahaha to think i put up with it for 12 months as a permie is just ridiculous looking back at it now.

Well done that man.

[bandit_legs]

The last year and a half has been a quiet time. You sure you want to start contracting right now? If I had a permie job that was paying me money every month I'd be staying in it.

BTW, unless you can leave with zero notice you'll probably have to quit your permie job before you find a contract. Chances of someone waiting a month for you are pretty much nil unless you're in a seriously specialist niche.

I had a permie job last year, i shat myself and went permie with the early onset of the recession - after 1 yr it was sooo bad, crap working environment, crap management, dead end job, had the promise of bonus/salary increases removed - i just stood up one day and handed in my notice. Left the company 4 weeks later with no job, no contract and a 200k mortgage and wife to support - went on holiday with the missus - got myself 5k in debt, came back, picked up contract within 2 weeks of my return and 9 months on, i'm out of debt, LTD company is cash rich and im stashing the cash again and have never looked back.

Life aint worth living unless you can have some element of risk in your life.

hth



oh i just remembered something from that permie position; obn my first day of the job, i didnt have a desk or even have a computer! I had to source my own computer internally, which took me 6 weeks. hahahaha to think i put up with it for 12 months as a permie is just ridiculous looking back at it now.

[Spacecadet]

I'm still getting about 2 voice mails a day from agents.
I've not even been on the market for 5 months

[BolshieBastard]

Is it just me or have things gone backwards again in the market?

For the last 6 weeks I have noticed an increase in jobs, more agency calls and even got an interview or 2.

And in the last week I have noticed it all vanish again!

I think we may be in the middle of a "W" shaped recession and we are about to go down the second slope.....

Anybody else feeling the same?

Yep spot on.

Had about 6 phone calls last week for roles based in the north west. Only 2 or 3 actually interested me.

This week, nothing!

[Doggy Styles]

Talking to one or two of my agents, and they say things are picking up.

Recession shape: \../---\..........

where /--- continues as long as we keep printing money and borrowing hand over fist, and \...... continues afterwards for double that period.

[DiscoStu]

I hope you guys are right.

I can't wait to get out of this permie role.

Contracting it is for me as soon as an opportunity comes along.

So what are the quiet/busy times of the year then?

The last year and a half has been a quiet time. You sure you want to start contracting right now? If I had a permie job that was paying me money every month I'd be staying in it.

BTW, unless you can leave with zero notice you'll probably have to quit your permie job before you find a contract. Chances of someone waiting a month for you are pretty much nil unless you're in a seriously specialist niche.

[Scary]

I'm getting over 100 jobs/day in my Jobserve subscription (C++, all contract or perm, London or Bristol), 130 odd today. Up from less than 50/day in the early/middle part of the year. Not actively looking so I'm not if they're real jobs or just twice as many fishing trips.

ETA: out of those 100, typically 2 or 3 in the South West, 97 in London, those 2 or 3 low level C programming in defence or comms (also usually crappy salary/rate). 1 or 2 London jobs for media companies, a bit higher pay than the South West, but rubbish for London. 95-97 jobs in London and require recent investment banking experience.