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Reply to: Finding work

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Previously on "Finding work"

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  • northernladuk
    replied
    Originally posted by Charles Humphrey View Post
    Hi all,

    I really would like to get into contracting, never done it before, well not as a full time gig. I am a pretty seasoned C# backend developer having worked for the same company as a perm for almost 20 years, I recently moved jobs as where I was looked like it was going bad and a role came up that was super attractive to me, now 3 months in, it's not what I want, I have thought about contracting for years, but have had the security blanket of almost 20 years at one place.
    That's not really a security blanket as such. It's good experience that will help you as a contractor. The money you have behind you is your security blanket. If you can't find work, you have no income.

    That said even with 20 years behind you you are still a risk. You have no experience being a contractor so will likely be passed over with the gigs going to people that have already contracted. They will be used to the flexibility, hitting the ground running, work independently and the like. That's your main struggle. The second and probably your biggest killer is you have a notice period. Every one of my contracts in the last 10 years have needed me to start the first Monday after the interview. You simply cannot do that and very few clients will be willing to wait for your notice to end. That's not adding the risk you might change your mind or get something better in that period.

    But, how do you find work? I have fired my CV off and as yet heard little back, as I am still a perm, it's hard to chace agencies all day as work will notice... or am I just being impatient...

    I have been contacted by an agency, and they have something lined up, I guess I just need to be patient...

    Any advice is welcome, thanks in advance.
    This is the way of a contractor. You have to fire and forget.. possibly for long periods of time. If the agent want's you they'll chase you. It's generally pointless chasing agents. They make their money from us so if they can make money out of us they'll crawl over hot coals to contact us. We do hold a bit of power in this area.

    So yes, patience is key and with the hurdles you have you are going to have to be much more patient than most I am afraid. It could be many weeks or even months before you even hear back, let along bag something.

    Leave a comment:


  • cypher
    replied
    Having just landed my first contracting role all I can advise is apply to everything you feel confident that you can deliver on.

    Be willing to work away from home rather than within your local area.

    Be prepared to do a few interviews and get shot down for not having the experience required. That really pissed me off as my CV covers my experience. Lost weeks of time to interviews for roles that I could tell straight after they started talking they were out to trip me up rather than have a serious discussion.

    Starting out its about building contacts and getting a few delivered projects under your belt. At least that's how I see it.

    Leave a comment:


  • Charles Humphrey
    replied
    Probably a daft question...

    Hi all,

    I really would like to get into contracting, never done it before, well not as a full time gig. I am a pretty seasoned C# backend developer having worked for the same company as a perm for almost 20 years, I recently moved jobs as where I was looked like it was going bad and a role came up that was super attractive to me, now 3 months in, it's not what I want, I have thought about contracting for years, but have had the security blanket of almost 20 years at one place.

    But, how do you find work? I have fired my CV off and as yet heard little back, as I am still a perm, it's hard to chace agencies all day as work will notice... or am I just being impatient...

    I have been contacted by an agency, and they have something lined up, I guess I just need to be patient...

    Any advice is welcome, thanks in advance.

    Leave a comment:


  • rogerthedodger
    replied
    A very good old pal of mine has been an independent for about 25 years and has bagged ALMOST ALL his contracts through direct approaches to potential clients, using snail mail i.e. brief letter plus CV........simple.......no messing about with adverts, no messing about with recruitment agencies.

    Leave a comment:


  • Spikeh
    replied
    I'm struggling to find work for the first time ever at the moment - I used to stand out, and I'm not sure why I don't any longer.

    Trying to get work via networking, jobserve, reed, direct agent contacts, and a fair few freelancer websites. I'm getting interest, but all jobs fall into the following:

    * Project "cancelled" after interview stage
    * Position filled internally
    * No response from agent whatsoever - even after chasing on the phone every day
    * Client's expectations are WELL out of sync with reality (i.e. budgeting £200k for a £2m project)

    I closed down two other businesses a few years ago because my contracting / freelance was going so well and I just didn't have the time for them.That'll show me, eh?

    Leave a comment:


  • BlackCountryContractor
    replied
    Originally posted by Gbeer7 View Post
    After my first post last week a lot of the replies were saying, contracting is different, you have to find the work. I've only been a contractor for a year, 16 years as a permie, and both my roles came about from agencies approaching me.
    But being fresh faced in the contracting world, I'll be interested to know how people go about getting contract roles. Job boards, contacting companies direct, speaking to former contract friends ? I would really value people's views and advice, hoping it will help me.
    Don't get region locked when building your CV/looking for work, be able to demonstrate you can work in multiple regions which will open opportunities and jobs as you go along (don't put down details of your address on your CV , let the agency ask for that or just put down your home region along with the other regions you might want to work in which you can utilize for what I will say next). Talk to family and use their place as a starting jump point (if they live near the desired job application region), even if you can only stay there for one night then simply BnB it and put it in as overhead costs for work (e.g. fuel & food etc).

    I have always found work through this method and originally I tried to get work locally but it meant I got benched for months at a time chasing down contracts which quickly got filled up. The good old days of work been aplenty for contractors have gone now and with the market been smaller and crowded, your first priority is to get a paycheck as a contractor first and foremost even if it means you might have a 1-2 hour drive for it.

    Leave a comment:


  • PerfectStorm
    replied
    Jobserve, all day every day. Has by far the largest feed of jobs, people need to work on their search criteria if they don't think it works.

    Leave a comment:


  • quackhandle
    replied
    Despite what some on here say about it, I have found LinkedIn to be good at gaining contracts, I got my last two from LI.

    It depends on how you set your profile up. I went on a one day course from a guy who told me how to get the most from LI without paying a subs for it.

    qh

    Leave a comment:


  • jerryatrick
    replied
    I am just returning to contracting after a few years of permie and befire that a nice, stable contract and things have changed significantly. It took me about a week to realise that simply sending the CV in for roles wasn't going to cut it like the good old days. So, it is on the phone chasing agents and letting previous contacts know I am available. Apparently I am lined up for 2 interviews but have yet to have the details of when.. either I am being dragged along (but cannot see any purpose in doing this) or things just are moving slowly for the hirers at the moment.

    The agent of one of the companies that want to hire me said there werre some two-hundred responses to the role of which about 80 where credible on paper.

    Startting to call previous contacts...

    Leave a comment:


  • MrMarkyMark
    replied
    Originally posted by Gbeer7 View Post
    Any recommendations ?
    Depends what you do really.

    Generally you have to build these contacts up yourself.

    Leave a comment:


  • Gbeer7
    replied
    Originally posted by BrilloPad View Post
    Jobserve is a waste of time these days.

    Personal contact with agents. There are some good ones out there - though they are hard to find among the dross.
    Any recommendations ?

    Leave a comment:


  • BrilloPad
    replied
    Jobserve is a waste of time these days.

    Personal contact with agents. There are some good ones out there - though they are hard to find among the dross.

    Leave a comment:


  • lukemg
    replied
    So, Jobserve, Jobsite etc are still worth a look BUT you have to get in there quick so they aren't swamped by responses, soon as the agent gets 3 or 4 and a couple in reserve they will stop looking at the replies... Sign up for email notifications and log a CV on to the sites too (and refresh every week or so - they filter on when the CV was added).
    However - Recently, I have seen vast majority of contracts going to previous contacts of the person hiring OR recommendations from people in their team. Same goes for names sent in, people on the team who know them are giving feedback, often just a yay or nae. So your previous contacts are very important, find them all on Linked in and baltantly state you are looking for work in whatever type of job.
    Linked-in needs to be up to date too, state available for work and make sure it shows a coherent track record in your work area (a bit of creative job titling helps here).
    Expect no feedback, no call backs from agents unless you are in, b***sh*t fishing from agents (including trying to backfill any role you are leaving) and make sure you are ready when the call comes in to sell yourself at interview (shrinking violets need not apply).

    Welcome to the game...

    Leave a comment:


  • Gbeer7
    started a topic Finding work

    Finding work

    After my first post last week a lot of the replies were saying, contracting is different, you have to find the work. I've only been a contractor for a year, 16 years as a permie, and both my roles came about from agencies approaching me.
    But being fresh faced in the contracting world, I'll be interested to know how people go about getting contract roles. Job boards, contacting companies direct, speaking to former contract friends ? I would really value people's views and advice, hoping it will help me.

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