Intro + current concerns + your feedback

[Milkyway]

+1 to this.

+10

Thinking that we all voted for this sh*t lot into power this May 8th, it just baffles me!

[northernladuk]

My advice to any permie looking to go contract would be to sit tight for the next 12 - 24 months.

There are some major proposals and changes in the air which if all come to fruition, will quite literally kill off contracting.

And even if only one or the other proposal comes in, we could well see the difference between permie income + benefits compared to contract income - associated costs & bench time mean its dubious whether there's any benefit contracting at all.

Sorry to sound glum but that's how i see it.

+1 to this.

[BolshieBastard]

My advice to any permie looking to go contract would be to sit tight for the next 12 - 24 months.

There are some major proposals and changes in the air which if all come to fruition, will quite literally kill off contracting.

And even if only one or the other proposal comes in, we could well see the difference between permie income + benefits compared to contract income - associated costs & bench time mean its dubious whether there's any benefit contracting at all.

Sorry to sound glum but that's how i see it.

[northernladuk]

CV writing here here IT Contractor CV Writing: Advice and Guides for UK Contractors

Wish I could have sent this link to the applicant I got who's CV crossed my desk today. 6 pages long but by the end of the first page all I knew was he had a degree, Prince Foundation, he had a driving licence and he was a UK citizen... Oh and a full page of profile junk. It's only until I got to page 2 I actually found what his skills were and by page 4 I gave up and checked his LinkedIn where I found not one of the job titles on there matched his CV..like not even remotely close. Complete fabrication, 5 pages of it...
Stern letter off to the agent to do her job better or we would be going elsewhere.

The nightmare continues.

[northernladuk]

No - the second gig is the hardest

Good spot and yes this does seem to be the consensus.

[TheFaQQer]

The first gig is always the hardest as you are a risk compared to seasoned contractors and the market is pants and will probably get worse before it dies completely in the next year or two. You are doing nothing wrong. Just have to play the waiting game now. 5 days is nothing... Come back and give us an update when you are in the same boat in 4 weeks and we might tell you to start worrying a little at that point.

No - the second gig is the hardest

[cojak]

CV writing here here IT Contractor CV Writing: Advice and Guides for UK Contractors

[northernladuk]

Hi CUK (great community of people + killer content) -

After 6+ years in Retail, ranging from Enterprise BA, Architect, Governance/Strategy, Digital Media, and recently as Sr. Data Consultant; spread across US and now London (2.5 yrs). I've done prior contract work in the US and once in the UK (direct). I should mention that I have UK+US passports.

You could but I am not sure why you would. I'd be more interested in your view on gladiators and your radiator bleeding technique.

I left my permie role and went on holiday for a month and have been on the market now for 5 days. On average, I'm applying for 10-15 roles a day, only ones that are relevant. In this time, I've been contacted by 5x agents representing the role (6-8% hit). 3 of the times my CV has been forwarded to the client - no interviews yet!

10-15 roles a day? Really? I'll bet there is a problem there. I find it hard to believe there are that many roles that you are an absolute fit for in this market. Every role you apply for fits your skill set exactly? Non of this 'I could do that' or 'I've done a bit of that in some role' and so on. You have current and relevant demonstrable skills for that role on the front page of your CV? I don't know the roles you mention but would I be right in saying they are not directly related so could look like a jack of all trades to a client rather than someone that's been doing the same role for a long time?

My "5 pillar strategy" to-date has comprised-of:
1. get my CV on many relevant job boards and LinkedIn up-to-date,
2. CV + alerts on pertinent agency sites,
3. religiously monitor JobServe/agency sites daily from 8 AM - 3 PM and hit apply on applicable roles w/in 10 min. of a posting (I keep track to NOT double submit on a role),
4. call the agent on submissions, when the job spec. aligns perfect to my xp+skills+rate, and
5. network with 2x contractors on the bench, sharing info. about the market, agents, clients.

Sounds good.

At this point, you might be wondering - right, it all sounds "reasonable-ish" progress. Personally, I'm getting really concerned at the low % hit-rate from agents, the bench is hot with seasoned contract vets, and November / December-Christmas is encroaching, rapidly.

Such is the market. A lot of people are struggling at the moment. We have a number of threads on this going.. Some are...

http://forums.contractoruk.com/gener...er-2015-a.html (don't take too much from this one though as it's in General)

http://forums.contractoruk.com/busin...iday-lull.html

and so on.

Most of the roles are available in Finance/Banking and my experience is 6 mo. from the US in 2010. Breaking into Finance might mean I will need to lower day rate and/or donkey-plebe work, which I'm happy to explore if the going gets tough (I understand it's not ideal to lower standards and definitely does NOT guarantee any greater chance of success in obtaining a role). I should mention, I'm not exclusively looking at single sectors - rather all, but worth mentioning the majority of roles are in Finance/Banking, where they want prior experience.

I'm at an impasse and I think the root cause of this has to be down to my CV not effectively showcasing my experiences + skills. I've seen the posts on tailored vs. generic CV for a role; but think my CV needs a re-think and I don't know where / how to make it "complete," so that I can tailor it in the future.

I'm running out of ideas and I might be addressing my own concerns here, with the CV being at the root cause. Is there anybody that could help offer advice on my CV and/or my approaches taken to-date?

Many thanks,
HPsauce

Welcome to contracting. The first gig is always the hardest as you are a risk compared to seasoned contractors and the market is pants and will probably get worse before it dies completely in the next year or two. You are doing nothing wrong. Just have to play the waiting game now. 5 days is nothing... Come back and give us an update when you are in the same boat in 4 weeks and we might tell you to start worrying a little at that point.

[HPsauce]

Hi CUK (great community of people + killer content) -

After 6+ years in Retail, ranging from Enterprise BA, Architect, Governance/Strategy, Digital Media, and recently as Sr. Data Consultant; spread across US and now London (2.5 yrs). I've done prior contract work in the US and once in the UK (direct). I should mention that I have UK+US passports.

I left my permie role and went on holiday for a month and have been on the market now for 5 days. On average, I'm applying for 10-15 roles a day, only ones that are relevant. In this time, I've been contacted by 5x agents representing the role (6-8% hit). 3 of the times my CV has been forwarded to the client - no interviews yet!

My "5 pillar strategy" to-date has comprised-of:
1. get my CV on many relevant job boards and LinkedIn up-to-date,
2. CV + alerts on pertinent agency sites,
3. religiously monitor JobServe/agency sites daily from 8 AM - 3 PM and hit apply on applicable roles w/in 10 min. of a posting (I keep track to NOT double submit on a role),
4. call the agent on submissions, when the job spec. aligns perfect to my xp+skills+rate, and
5. network with 2x contractors on the bench, sharing info. about the market, agents, clients.

At this point, you might be wondering - right, it all sounds "reasonable-ish" progress. Personally, I'm getting really concerned at the low % hit-rate from agents, the bench is hot with seasoned contract vets, and November / December-Christmas is encroaching, rapidly.

Most of the roles are available in Finance/Banking and my experience is 6 mo. from the US in 2010. Breaking into Finance might mean I will need to lower day rate and/or donkey-plebe work, which I'm happy to explore if the going gets tough (I understand it's not ideal to lower standards and definitely does NOT guarantee any greater chance of success in obtaining a role). I should mention, I'm not exclusively looking at single sectors - rather all, but worth mentioning the majority of roles are in Finance/Banking, where they want prior experience.

I'm at an impasse and I think the root cause of this has to be down to my CV not effectively showcasing my experiences + skills. I've seen the posts on tailored vs. generic CV for a role; but think my CV needs a re-think and I don't know where / how to make it "complete," so that I can tailor it in the future.

I'm running out of ideas and I might be addressing my own concerns here, with the CV being at the root cause. Is there anybody that could help offer advice on my CV and/or my approaches taken to-date?

Many thanks,
HPsauce