Fleeing the Antipodes.

[TheBellman]

G'day.

I hope that these are not frequently-asked and -answered questions, however I'm going to ask them anyway.

I've been working in IT as a permanent or contract worker in Australia since the late 80's, when hair and shoulder pads were both big. I've primarily been a developer, with stints as an Ingres DBA, and for the past seven six years been playing in the J2EE space on the server side. My intention is to move to the UK for at least a few years sometime around December or January.

Question the first: If I'm seeking contract positions, is it better to contact agencies with my resume before I head over to the UK, or is it better to apply for work through the various job boards?

Question the second: If I'm contacting agencies, are there any that are particularly well regarded, or particularly should be avoided?

[northernladuk]

Question the first: If I'm seeking contract positions, is it better to contact agencies with my resume before I head over to the UK, or is it better to apply for work through the various job boards?

Nearly all the roles on the job boards are from agents anyway so best to stick to them. You could blanket the agents with your CV but don't hold your breath for a proactive response.

Question the second: If I'm contacting agencies, are there any that are particularly well regarded, or particularly should be avoided?

I don't see in the current market you can avoid to be too fussy. One guy can have a nightmare with an agency that 100's of other are quite happy with. Can you turn down work just because you hear and agent isn't that good? I know I can't.

Do a search on here for the agent as they have pretty much all be mentioned at some point. Do some research on the agency on the web and then if you are really stuck ask on here but personally I would not turn down work from an agency just because another person has a personal gripe with them without a lot of my own research.

[Wanderer]

Question the first: If I'm seeking contract positions, is it better to contact agencies with my resume before I head over to the UK, or is it better to apply for work through the various job boards?

I get my work through Jobserve, there are a few others out there but that's the way to do it. I wouldn't apply to an agency unless they were offering a job I was interested in.

A resume is usually called a "CV" here.

Question the second: If I'm contacting agencies, are there any that are particularly well regarded, or particularly should be avoided?

No they are all tulipe, we barely tolerate them. If you have worked through any multinational agencies in Aus then you might be able to get them to introduce you to an agent over here. Really, the only useful agent is one that has a job for you.

Check out itjobswatch or jobstats for an idea of how much you can make here. With your experience, I'd say the high end of these rates would be achievable in London.

Probably a good time to come here too since the AU$ is so strong against the GBP, though coming here in the middle of the winter is going to give you a fright.

[SimonMac]

My advice would be stick to a single job board, there is so much overlap on all the different boards that there are times I have found my self chasing gigs that I have already been put forward for!