Hi All,

Just reaching out to see if any of you can help me. I'm an IT contractor of around 20 years now, all things Digital and have held many roles as Project Manager, Business Analyst, Scrum Master etc but find myself for the first time out of contract..!!

I'm not about to sell my house (or worse still the Rangie) but am a little worried that there are not many jobs out there (in London) or there are a huge amount of applicants applying as I've not had any luck yet (3 months now).

So, if any of you kind folks are in the same game as me and know of, or in need of yourselves, a contractor with my skillset, i'd be eternally grateful for a heads up from you.

CV available on request as I don't really want to post it on here.

Hoping one of you may be able to help. (and hoping i'm not breaking any forum rules with this post)

Thanks..! Ash
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2016 SDV8 AB

What's your area of expertise? Send me a PM if it's storage. Got - 2017 SDV8 Autobiography in Loire Blue
Had- 2008 TDV8 Vogue SE in Java black
Had - 2007 S/C in Stornoway Grey

Hi Alan,

All things digital - mainly i've specialised in online applications/intranet/web/cms.. Done loads of intranet roll outs and on boarding (SharePoint/Vignette/Documentum) plus many data applications.

Based in Banking (6 1/2 years) and Pharma Industry (12 1/2 years)

Not sure if that helps..?

Cheers

p.s. Can't attach docs to PM so if you ping me your email address I can send yo a CV if you need one. Ash
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2016 SDV8 AB

Not helpful I know but one of my friends is an IT contractor and has found himself in a similar situation, too many folks and too few jobs.

Hope you get something soon  There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
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Thanks - whats worse is that its the first time i have been out of contract for the best part of 20 years. I've not been a typical contractor I guess as I've only had 4 contracts in all that time. First one was 12 1/2 years!

Some tell me that at least I've had a good run but it doesn't help me

This might be normal for "us contractors" but it isn't for me and feel very strange and actually very worrying. Ash
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2016 SDV8 AB

On the plus side though - It has made us "tighten our belt" and look at our outgoings..

Wow - is all i can say - just how much we were spending/wasting each month on stuff we didn't need. I've also changed a few things like SKY TV and broadband

We were paying £74 a month for sky TV and £77 a month for BT fibre infinity 2 broadband/phone/line rental..!!!

Now paying £72 per month to Sky for all of it moving onto their SKY Fibre BB and phone - Just goes to show we, the general public, have to keep on top of these things cos the suppliers will not tell you the best deals out there.. (a bit like car insurance renewals I guess) Ash
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2016 SDV8 AB

The world is changing as the laws change - we used to have loads, but an independent contractor is very rare these days.

We are a US firm, so apply co-employment rules globally - so max of 12 months and you're out - therefore we only take people with very specialist skills for very specific projects - everyone else is from a managed service type vendor where their employer is clearly not us.

The idea of a 1 man company just looks like too much of a tax fiddle now.

I had that co-employement issue a few years back when working for HP, but then you went away for 3 months and then they would take you back. Then they decided to bring in a middle company and fecked it all up.

Been with HDS for 4 years now and just been renewed for another 1  Regards
Mark

2012 Westminster
GONE - 2007 Java Black FF Vogue, with Ivory interior

comports wrote:

Hi Alan,

All things digital - mainly i've specialised in online applications/intranet/web/cms.. Done loads of intranet roll outs and on boarding (SharePoint/Vignette/Documentum) plus many data applications.

Based in Banking (6 1/2 years) and Pharma Industry (12 1/2 years)

Not sure if that helps..?

Cheers

p.s. Can't attach docs to PM so if you ping me your email address I can send yo a CV if you need one.

What you're seeing at the moment Comports is a massive exodus from public sector contracting and this is why there are a large number of applicants for every role going that isn't PS. I personally know 8 guys who are doing exactly this. You will probably know that the government have started taxing their contractors as PAYE (without any of the PAYE benefits though) so pretty much all of them are leaving as they secure other positions.

I've been contracting for years and you are right, plenty of roles but huge numbers of applicants right now. I'm looking to go to Germany for my next gig. Better money, no UK government junk to deal with and plenty of beer.

Keep going, there are roles out there. Just be like a good mate of mine, make a point of sending out 20 CVs a day. You will know the job boards well enough. Set them up for immediate notification if a new role comes live and once you've sent a CV give it 10 minutes to arrive and follow it up with a phone call.

Agencies. Good, bad and ugly as there always have been. Find half a dozen decent ones and call them every day.

Are you open to travel / staying away ?

Hi MZ

Thanks for that - I agree with everything you've said. Mix in a little Brexit crap and now a pinch of General Election on top of the IR35 issues and everything has been stirred into the pot... Not a great time to be out of work.

To your last point, yes I'm more than happy to travel - I posted a few weeks ago about a place to stay in Edinburgh as there was a possible role going up there - alas I didn't get it.... But needs must so yes - I'm open to anything right now.

Cheers Ash
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2016 SDV8 AB

Wow Comports......... 12.5 in one contract !!! You're not "Artic Systems" per chance ??
under IR35 the revenue would nail your balls to a fence for that nowadays.....

You're no alone though... I'm a contractor in the Oil and Gas Sector and not only had 4 months out last year but have had to reduce my invoice rate by nearly 40% over the last 4 years..
I spent 15 years on the Ex-pat circuit and it's the same globally, not just here..... I was contacting people in India, Brazil, Emirates and even all the 'Stan's..... (saying that I'm now on a long term Kazakhstan Project)

As has been said before too many people, too few positions.... Hope something comes up... Keep battering the agents... Regards
Mark

2009 D4; 1993 Classic 3.9 VSE

If you can do PM work there is usually one or two of those contracts popping up a few times a week on the various birds but I agree over the last year it's got decidingly worse and Perm positions are looking more attractive day by day. Obviously they don't pay as well and the tax side of it as well but they have almost as much job security these days. The other thing I've heard and now experienced is that when it comes to contractors they will bend you double over backwards and if you don't say yes sir to everything it's easier for them to just show the door and get someone else in.

All in all it's not looking good going forward as even when you try to get something on a lower technical level that's short term to keep the money coming in and stay busy the usual response is "over qualified" 😢 FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
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I am in recruitment, so happy to help if i can. I may know of a small start-up, Managed service provider based out your way-
If you pm me your details i will send you an email with their name. I have said i will offer help them pro bono, so you will need to contact them yourself, if suitable. If you would like some advice on your cv, again happy to help.
Hope that helps. 2011 5.0SC Santorini Black
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