2010 - Looking for a new contract

[SBK1972]

Finished my contract begining of Dec 09, decided to take Christmas off as it was my son's first, and so Jan 2010 is here :-)

Any others in the same boat ?? Im so hoping this year will be better than 09. Doing a search for jobs through Dec and today, couldnt find much for a Solaris admin in the South East :-(

Here's hoping, fingers and toes crosssed.

Simon

[MrHelpful]

Im in the same boat but off snowboarding in less then a fortnight so ideally looking to start early Feb. Just finished my stint at the end of Dec.

Useful websites I have come accross are:

cwjobs
glassdoor.com (company reviews)

Any other websites - peeps would like to recommend

[XLMonkey]

Good luck. I doubt if there'll be much in the in-tray today (everyone back from hols), but by the end of this week things should be looking a little better.

[DocP]

Jan = Dead

Not expecting much activity until new FY. Then we'll know what 2010 will turn out to be.

[SBK1972]

NFY? God, I hope I managed to get one sooner as the old war chest isnt looking good. Also, I dont think I can take 2/3 months at home with the Mrs !

SBK

[Tarquin Farquhar]

Not expecting much activity until new FY. Then we'll know what 2010 will turn out to be.

Probably worse than 2009.

[norrahe]

Probably worse than 2009.

Depends on the industry. Generally it will be slow.

This week will be a catching up week for pimps and then the calls will start next week.

[Grinder]

This week will be a catching up week for pimps and then the calls will start next week.

I received several "we have potential opportunities for you - please fill in our on-line questionnaire" emails.

I even phoned one of the contacts up to discuss but predictably they never phoned back. Clearly they are just treading water until the year gets started.

I think I'm going to invoice them for wasting my time.

[BolshieBastard]

Finished my contract begining of Dec 09, decided to take Christmas off as it was my son's first, and so Jan 2010 is here :-)

Any others in the same boat ?? Im so hoping this year will be better than 09. Doing a search for jobs through Dec and today, couldnt find much for a Solaris admin in the South East :-(

Here's hoping, fingers and toes crosssed.

Simon

Yep, finished a three and a half year stint with the same client in December. Had been thinking of making a move as had been there longer than I really wanted to be but with the market and all that stayed. No rate cuts either1

But the budgets finally ran out and they released ALL contractors so decision was made for me.

Not in that much of a rush to get another role although mindful of the current market state Im on the lookout for suitable roles. I expect to find something by middle of February if Im honest. Got an iron in the fire that may come up earlier though.

I know contractors who take 4 - 6 week hoildays plus the bank holidays when they are working a role. I dont and only take the BH's so this is my first break in over three and a half years.

[Not So Wise]

Probably worse than 2009.

Unless something major happens doubt it, companies can only hold off on new IT projects so long before the business starts screaming and most IT Dept's have been operating at bare minimum budget for 12 to 24 months now

New financial year should be definite improvement over 2009, but nowhere near the height of the boom. But on the flip side there are a lot less so called contractors out there now, so the competition should be down.

Until then things will probably quietly tick along until late Feb when we will start to notice a increase of contracts being advertised (but most them will be feelers for projects that will not start until after April

Only thing that might mess everything up is if too many large retail companies announce they are going tit's up in the next month or so and the press milk it too hard. A few are expected and can be handled, too many though could be very very painful