Jan any good for finding new contracts?

[Scrag Meister]

Hi current contract ends December 22nd and was just wondering what your experiences of trying to find a contract in January?

The book, contractor handbook, says it's a good time, jan/feb??

Should I get ready for some rubbish daytime telly?

Cheers in advance

I'd torrent for some decent movies and boxsets, and steer clear of the normal daytime dross.

Definitely nothing before the year end, then it'll be a few weeks of searching, maybe interviews, clearance and paperwork. Depending on industry.

So I wouldn't expect to be starting before February if anything goes really well.

[northernladuk]

Not sure I'm with you. That graph shows 8 Januaries, of which 6 look like an uptick, and 2 ('09 and '12) go down.

But the gap between the lines is 6 months so mentally divide it up by 6 and yes it goes up but by a tiny amount compared to the rest of the 6 months. Just because something goes up from the trough doesn't mean it's good. It means it starting to get better from the worst. I wouldn't say that means January is a good time to be looking.

For the OP's interest it is graph from IT Jobs Watch, Tracking the IT Job Market and doesn't include linkedin, word of mouth etc. Just a scraping of advertised roles on IT recruitment websites.

The graph above shows developer trends. I looked at a couple of others and they look markedly different but January is never a great month. As many have said it doesn't mean there aren't any though so get stuck in with the same gusto as any other time of year IMO.

[doodab]

Mid January onward is usually OK as you have all of the stuff that got put on hold from mid/late November until after the new year plus people in big companies get a handle on how much they have to spend in the last quarter in order to not come in too far under budget.

[thunderlizard]

Nope, ******* horrible. Next.

Not sure I'm with you. That graph shows 8 Januaries, of which 6 look like an uptick, and 2 ('09 and '12) go down.

[Gentile]

Nope, ******* horrible. Next.

For developers

I'm not sure where they get their figures from, but anecdotally I always found January to be about the best month to pick up a contract in. People are just coming back from their two-week Christmas break, so they don't have anything else on their desks the first day back. And there's a sense of starting afresh with the New Year just gone, and an attendant tendency for people to finally get moving on that project they've been putting off starting for months and months.

That said, there are no guarantees in this game, and you can pick up a contract or have a dry spell at any time of the year.

[northernladuk]

Nope, ******* horrible. Next.

For developers

[stek]

Jan any good for finding new contracts?

There's fecking tuliploads of roles available in January (and February if truth be told)!

Anyone who cant pick a job up in Jan \ Feb is really not trying.

What about Santa impersonators? They might struggle in jan unless aiming for the Orthodox market..

[BolshieBastard]

There's fecking tuliploads of roles available in January (and February if truth be told)!

Anyone who cant pick a job up in Jan \ Feb is really not trying.

[thunderlizard]

January is famously one of the better months.
Having said that, if you're Tesco or Ford then you're big & bland enough to plausibly blame the economic cycle for your lack of sales. If you're a freelancer, then it's much more about your individual marketing skills and good old fashioned gumption.

[minestrone]

My current gig started in Jan.

Hiring at that time does happen despite what people say.

[pc1980]

Hi current contract ends December 22nd and was just wondering what your experiences of trying to find a contract in January?

The book, contractor handbook, says it's a good time, jan/feb??

Should I get ready for some rubbish daytime telly?

Cheers in advance