Did you know that in 2005 the accepted statistics showed that there were 11 000 recruitment agencies in the UK? How can you know which of these deals with IT Contractors? Who out there specialises in IT Contracting, or do they simply dabble in it along with secretaries and labour workers? Do you know which are the good ones, or the ones who will take your career seriously? Which of these have a good reputation?
Being a big agency does not mean they have the correct resources, or client market sector to serve your needs. Some of the largest agencies who manage busy IT Contracting desks still only hold approximately 3% of the IT Contracting market - simply because there are so many players in the field.
Marketing your skills and abilities is one of the key factors to gaining the best contracts in the UK. Getting a job in the UK is one thing, but getting the RIGHT job, and at the RIGHT price - is important. You need to manage your time in the UK efficiently and make the most of your opportunity.
Through our association with a leading IT Contractor Marketing and Service Provider based in London, we ensure you are actively marketed to the correct recruitment agencies, so you are assured of getting an inside advantage against the other players out there.
London is not the only place where you will find good IT Contracting opportunities. But London is where everyone starts off, and London is also the most competitive and demanding. Scotland, for example has a very active banking and finance sector that is often overlooked by eager new arrivals. The midlands areas of Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham offer great opportunities for developers in all market sectors, and the added bonus of some serious football matches on your doorstep. The South West regions all the way down to the coast, as far as Southampton offer good working opportunities along with a lifestyle more suited to those who enjoy the outdoors in their leisure hours. And if you are partial to a bit of the black 'n white stuff known locally as Guinness - why not consider Northern Ireland. One of the major benefits of working outside of the main London catchments area is the dramatically lower cost of living. Housing can easily be half the price of that in London areas, transport costs can be reduced dramatically, and the people are wonderfully hospitable.
WHAT SKILLS ARE IN DEMAND?
We get asked this question all the time, and there is no one single answer unfortunately. Developers will always find it easy to market them selves and find a job, as their skills are specific to a project. Administrators and support people will find themselves up against more competition in general, but those who have studied a little further and specialised in an area, ie Cisco, Unix or security will have an advantage. Business Analysts, Project Managers and department seniors will find that specific market sector experience is important in their job search.
But most important to remember is that the current "hot" skills and demands are constantly changing.
Here are the latest high demands as at: August 2006
1) .NET 2 Framework - HIGH DEMAND.
2) C# with .NET framework, OO and SQL. Bonus if have some experience of Java.
3) Java, J2SE, J2EE, Stuts, Spring. Webservices demand on increase.
4) Administrators - Unix, Solaris, Microsoft Specialists, Server admin, Webserver admins.
Thinking of working in the UK? Seeking IT Contracting work?
With Tribe you can have it all ! !
Do you have C#, C++, .Net with sound RDBMS skills (Oracle/SQL Server) ?
Ideally with a minimum of 3 years commercial full life-cycle software development experience, with experience in the design, development, testing and maintenance of large-scale application software built around Microsoft core technologies.
