Might as well break the seal...
I figured I'd document my transition from American Software Consultant to European Software Contractor... But it's been almost a year since coming up with this idea so I'll have to catch up.
My wife is a full-timer for a financial and is relatively safe from the dreaded ax, so with her getting the benefits, I've always been inclined to be a consultant. I've resolved to continue being/running a consulting company (as I did in America).
The Job Search:
I first arrived in London last Sept. I don't know anyone, have no contacts and really didn't know where to start. Back home I would start by contacting friends and former colleagues for leads and usually that would be enough to land my next gig. Here I have to start from scratch.
One of the major things that I've found is that the London market is enormous! There must be about 300 headhunters in the City (one of the secrets is that many of them are owned by the same company... more about that later). So, first step, fish through the JobBoards. I found 3 major contracting job boards that most of the headhunters use.
- www.jobserve.com
- www.jobsite.co.uk
- www.cwjobs.co.uk
Open reqs are posted in the morning and usually shortlisted by the afternoon, so it's a process of fishing for matching reqs, sending your CV, then calling to get your Resume(CV) noticed. If you call 1 day late, the job is usually gone.
It's tough to land the first contract, without a London company on your CV (resume), it's tough to make the shortlist. I've found that some companies are sometimes more responsive to resumes sent directly to the contact persons email rather than uploaded to the job board system but that's not always true, your mileage may vary.
Rates:
Rates here are mostly quoted as "per day" not "per hour" like in the states and the normal work day is 7.5 hours, but just like at home the normal workday can be expected to be 10 hours, but again, mileage may vary.
Resume/CV:
Resumes are called CVs here, CURRICULUM VITAE but the format is pretty much the same as in the states. The only exception is that the market is so competitive that your CV has to be tailored to the job your going for, otherwise you won't make the shortlist. If the Req describes the need for C# with Serialization, Ajax and Telerik controls, you better point out where you used each one of the specific technologies.
That's all for now, to be continued