November 27, 2007 at 9:08 pm
It was one of Steve's editorial subject and I posted a question but no one answered so I posted the question here again.
For all the contractors, when do you start looking for the next job when you work on your current contracting job? From my previous experience, I cannot depend on my contracting company. For example the contracting company gets me a six month contracting job, do I start looking for another contracting job after 4 months?
What if I find a permanent job in the middle of the contract, what should I do? One contracting company told me they placed someone in a contract and after one month that person found a permanent job and left, both the contracting company and the client were upset so they made me promise not to walk out before the contract expired.
November 27, 2007 at 10:11 pm
Negotiate in a time frame. I've had an idea that I can find a job in 4-6 weeks, so I say that at 6 weeks from the end of the contract they need to either extend the contract or I'll begin looking for other work.
You should have an idea if the work is getting done, behind schedule, something that will let you know where you stand. It might not be exact, but you should ask the questions of the client so you know how likely it is you'll be extended or if you need to find something else.
November 28, 2007 at 11:04 am
Also (for the next time):
If someone is hell-bound to keep you, then make sure that they pay for said privilege. In other words, I don't think it's at all unreasonable to "charge" the client some amount extra if they want to make sure that you stay the whole time. You're taking a risk on their behalf (based on the fact that it's a short-term gig), so you should get something for that. It's not exactly fair to try to get you to stay to the bitter end, only to get $cr3w3d in the process because you didn't have a follow-on job.
If they're nervous about it - make it a lump sum at the end (just like the old retention bonuses).
Alternatively - suggest that you'd be amenable to finish the project off-hours should you find something permanent.
In a "free employment" environment, a commitment is an asset that shouldn't be given away for free.
Short of those options - I would keep an eye out, and hit the pavement heavy starting about 4 months in.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?
November 28, 2007 at 2:27 pm
I wish I have the confidence to find a job in 4 to 6 weeks. So far I haven't found anything - permanent or contract job for 4 months.
Maybe something wrong with me, I don't know why I can't get a job even there are jobs that well suited for me. I submitted my resume and did not hear anything.
Can anyone review my resume? Maybe something wrong with my resume.
November 28, 2007 at 4:03 pm
I have the same issue for a while, so I submitted mine to a professional resume writer outfit, that seemed to help with that. You might care to give it a shot - sometimes it's in the "simple" presentation/packaging stuff that you get tripped up.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?
November 29, 2007 at 2:13 am
Loner,
I would be quite happy to look over your resume for you. I have completed a number of resumes for my friends (and friends of....) and family and have had good responses from all of them. :w00t:
If you'd like me to look it over PM me or get in touch via my messenger details. 😀
Good luck with your hunting!
November 29, 2007 at 7:28 am
I was out of work 11+ months. About half way thru that experience I changed my tactics. The last two instances of job change took me less than two weeks to find a replacement job. There are several factors, some in your control and some you have no control over. My suggestion:
- reply only to the requirements, don't send an entire resume
- network, don't rely on only the internet, search for informational interviewing and build your network and don't let it dry up when you do get a job
- typically employers are concerned with one of the four major concerns (this is in addition to ability to do the job)
1. revenues
2. costs
3. getting along with others
4. quality
If you can determine from the job description or the interview what their key concern is then you can 'slant' your replies to match their needs.
- Try to phrase your replies to their questions in a short story with the following components - Problem, Action I took, Result, (PARs) this is more memorable than a bullet listing and makes retelling to their boss easier when they thing about suggesting you be hired to their boss.
- Extra credit if you practice your replies (Mark Twain said the best impromptu remark was well rehearsed)
- Extra Extra credit if you write and practice your PARs so that they have the four concerns as an aspect or slant in your story/reply/PARs.
- Don't include in your resume anything that is outside their requirements.
November 29, 2007 at 8:28 am
December 8, 2007 at 12:23 pm
4 to 6 weeks !!? In Chicago, I typically get 3 offers in the first week I am looking at $65 an hour. Have a colleague with a MS, with a focus on databases, who is an expert at Clusters ( both Windows Admin and SQL Server DBA), OLAP and merge replication, gets $70, and he beats the job offers off with a club.
SQL = Scarcely Qualifies as a Language
December 8, 2007 at 3:06 pm
I live in Rochester, NY. I start looking for a job since August and I only had a couple interviews. There are a few contracting jobs. One offered $30/hr, no way I was going to take it. The other one was only 3 month contract and they have a stack of resumes to look thru, probably it would take them three months to find that contractor.
I interviewed one company which was quite big in our area. It posted the same job in Hotjobs.com every month. My resume was submitted thru an agency and my agency called the manager if I was not suitable for the job but the manager kept saying I was one of candidate she was considering but she also kept interviewing. I just did not know what was going on, neither did my agency. It looked liked they wanted to find the 'Perfect' candidate.
I went to interview for a job which said they needed a SQL developer. I passed the first interview and then I went back for second technical interview. The guy started to ask me visual basic question. He said the job may involve in write web page interface with SQL Server. It did not say in the job description and of course I could not answer his VB question. As a matter of fact, when I went for the first interview, they already asked me if I knew VB and I said I did not. There were five people (group interview), none of them said it was important. It was more important to know SQL. I guessed not.
I begin to feel very disappointed. So even a contracting job it takes forever to find one. There are just a big pool of unemployed developers here and the company is very choosy.
December 16, 2007 at 4:36 am
It's not so bad here in London - see Jobserve.
Most of my contractor mates start looking 4 weeks before term. Until a renewal is signed, we're actively looking for the next contract, including taking interviews. Sticking to the point helps: to have back-to-back contracts whilst retaining loyalty to your current client. That's the theory...
Interviews are an essay on their own. You may be grilled for hours by a team of six, them standing and you sitting, confidently and correctly answering the swerviest swerve ball but sweat beading on your forehead because you feel intimidated by the procedure - they tell you you're perfect for the position, then you hear nothing, for days.
You have another interview, a different position, a few days later. It seems more like a friendly chat after the last one, not much techy stuff, just a couple of questions about cardinality, perhaps date arithmetic. It almost seems a waste of time, how can they know anything about the depth of your technical knowledge? You stand up at the end of the interview thinking "Oh well, at least another interview experience" - and they ask you when you wish to start. It's not until hours later that you remember chatting easily about joins, derived tables and "onion" selects, table variables, clustered indexes, running totals, "tally" tables...
Don't be put off, Loner. Stick with it.
Cheers
ChrisM
For fast, accurate and documented assistance in answering your questions, please read this article.
Understanding and using APPLY, (I) and (II) Paul White
Hidden RBAR: Triangular Joins / The "Numbers" or "Tally" Table: What it is and how it replaces a loop Jeff Moden
Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply