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State of the market

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    Depends...

    Originally posted by gricerboy View Post
    Honestly, I've never heard such a bunch of Cassandras! Talk about the glass being half empty lol!

    I'm in .Net / sql development and the .Net market is presently booming. Ok, rates aren't that great but I'm coming to the end of my 3rd 3-monther since December having had only 1 week on the bench. Contract is up Friday week and I fully expect to walk into something the following Monday. Maybe you think I'm over optimistic but unless things have changed in the last couple of months whilst I haven't been looking then my pecker is well and truly UP at the moment!
    People in work see the market as being good/bouyant and tend to suddenly gain the perspective of one of those economists hauled out for the TV cameras telling us we're in for a period of growth. People out of work, conversley, tend to be more pessimistic.

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      Originally posted by larry View Post
      People in work see the market as being good/bouyant and tend to suddenly gain the perspective of one of those economists hauled out for the TV cameras telling us we're in for a period of growth. People out of work, conversley, tend to be more pessimistic.
      It's not even being in work them makes you see the market as good/bouyant if you only on the bench for a short time and your phone is ringing constantly with relevant opportunities then you will see the market as good.

      If you are out of work and the phone is silent/you get rung up by agencies offering you permie work then you see the market as bad.
      "You’re just a bad memory who doesn’t know when to go away" JR

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        Verbally accepted a 12 month contract in Manchester, am a happy bunny!
        Originally posted by Stevie Wonder Boy
        I can't see any way to do it can you please advise?

        I want my account deleted and all of my information removed, I want to invoke my right to be forgotten.

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          Originally posted by SimonMac View Post
          Verbally accepted a 12 month contract in Manchester, am a happy bunny!
          congrats!

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            Originally posted by craig1 View Post
            Thought this would be the best place to stick this.

            Start my new contract on Monday in Edinburgh for a nice company with a good reputation. Probably the hardest gig to get in my entire contracting career!

            12 people for first phase interview, 4 for second phase. Second phase was presentation to senior managers on how I'd exploit my prior expertise to deliver their project successfully followed by panel style Q&A session.

            Then agent wanted to knock down my rate following offer because "the client wasn't sure my experience warranted the rate". I held out and promised to raise this with the client, this prompted lots of back-tracking and panicking from the agent trying to get me to not do that due to "commercial sensitivity", in other words, he was bluffing and trying to up his margin. If anything, my experience warrants a far higher rate but I'm not going to grumble too much considering I actually have a role in these quiet times.

            Then the contract was the worst thing I've read. Probably got a first-year law student to draft it and they got exceedingly snotty when I presented them my requirements for change. They couldn't even understand that I wanted more than just "contractor" in my description of duties. Also, on payment terms, they wanted to leave that blank and couldn't understand why I didn't "trust them" when wanting 7 calendar days listed formally as payment terms.

            Ah well, a twelve month contract will hopefully see me through to a more buoyant market when I can ignore the cowboy agents.

            Edit (all below added)
            The market has been a right stinker while applying. Agencies acting like chuggers on London streets. Clients acting like they can bully you because they know the state of the market. Fighting for agent attention through the "F5 apply" group of Jobserve browsing unemployed people. Fighting for agent attention through the newly-redundant (last 24 months) people who are trying the contract market out of desperation. It'd better improve as there are lots of people out there right on the bread-line and benched for far too long.
            Quoting myself here as an update: I must apologise to the agency for disputing their paying prowess... Invoice submitted Friday 14th for my first week, paid into my account today, their accounts team are very professional both by email and on the phone despite having funny northern accents. The rest of their admin and contract stuff is still crap though and they're getting no public praise

            In my narrow niche markets, I'm still getting at least one or two calls per day from credible agencies wondering about my availability. A lot of clients seem to have realised that their crap infrastructure needs to be updated before it gets Listed status due to age.

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              Originally posted by SimonMac View Post
              Verbally accepted a 12 month contract in Manchester, am a happy bunny!
              Moss Side? Hulme? Gorton? Longsight?

              M/cr has more rough areas than err, Baghdad.

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                Also posted this in another section but I am getting 4-5 calls a week from good name agencies with definate sounding roles. I'm in the ERP & Integration Programme management arena.

                Lots of emails too for PM roles.
                Sval-Baard Consulting Ltd - we're not satisfied until you're not satisfied.

                Nothing says "you're a loser" more than owning a motivational signature about being a winner.

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                  Interestingly enough, heres another one come through... Project manager Required - London, Prince2, Infrastructure

                  PM me if you want the full details.
                  Sval-Baard Consulting Ltd - we're not satisfied until you're not satisfied.

                  Nothing says "you're a loser" more than owning a motivational signature about being a winner.

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                    I just completed a 1 day 'lift and shift' contract to get my SC clock renewed, I wasn't looking forward to doing such demeaning work and was expecting to be working alongside a bunch of neanderthal numpties but was quite surprised to find Systems Architects, Network Engineers, Migration specialists etc.

                    That represents the true state of the market... still desperate.

                    It is my firm belief that the candidates getting as far as interview for permy roles are probably much better than the existing staff in many cases, I find myself getting congratulated for securing an interview these days.
                    Science isn't about why, it's about why not. You ask: why is so much of our science dangerous? I say: why not marry safe science if you love it so much. In fact, why not invent a special safety door that won't hit you in the butt on the way out, because you are fired. - Cave Johnson

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                      One day

                      I am sure one day soon, I will pack it in, no more in the rat race. Will pity those for the state of the market or rate or hours or commute. Have my small piece of land and grow my own potato.................or raise chickens, bit more tasty.
                      Oh no my PM wake me up from my dream !!!

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