MarkO

Morning all.

Well, it seems that the Scotland move couldn't have been timed better, as I had a word with my boss yesterday who told me that (as I suspected might happen) the project is going to be wound down. Unfortunately, it's not going to happen in March as I expected - it's looking like my contract might end at the end of December. We'll find out for certain in an emergency meeting being held at 2pm this afternoon.

It's all stemmed from the head office investigation last week; they're on a cost-cutting drive, and since our project hasn't really done much since March it's not overly surprising we're going to be a target. I guess I can't really complain, since I've had basically no real productive work to do for around about 9 months this year!

So, the job-hunting starts in earnest today. Anyone know of any NT C++ development requirements?

If anyone has any contacts in any Scottish companies whom I can approach directly (rather than having to go through agencies, which obviously it's best to avoid) I'd appreciate it. Also, I know I've asked this before, but if anyone could furnish me with the details for any Scottish agencies, that would be very helpful.

Pffff. Guess this means that there's a good chance I might actually have to do some bloody work in the next few months. I suppose it's also a good opportunity for me to put my money where my mouth is regarding my previous claims that there is work out there if you're any good!


[Edited by MarkO - 11/8/2002 7:15:32 AM]

MarkO

Training? Wassat? Don't believe in training (as in "pay 4 grand for some loser to tell you stuff which was mostly self-evident"). All my development skills are self-taught.Better off with Java, really. Can't see C# catching on much. I've been playing with .Net a bit on the train home in the evenings, but not really done too much. I'm considering rewriting WebReaper using managed code and the .Net framework, as an exercise, but can't be arsed at the moment.

[Edited by MarkO - 11/8/2002 10:55:20 AM]

chiark

Good luck. At least it wasn't a bolt from the blue...

Devil's Refugee

YHM mate, but posted here too just in case....

Unfortunately mate, the chances of you getting employment direct with a firm is minimal.....

However, you can try these development outfits I'm know of.....

www.spetra.co.uk
www.cedalion.co.uk


List of useful agencies I know;

Careercare - 0131 473 7030
ASA International - 0131 226 6222
Allegis - 0131 554 2345
Badenoch & Clark - 0131 225 3130
Best International - 0131 524 9011
Computer Futures - 0131 247 3333
Computer People - 0131 228 8680
Direct Resources - 0131 473 7600
Elan - 0131 558 4800
Eurolink - 0131 220 0420
Haymarket - 0131 452 8881
Hays IT - 0141 248 5959
Leapfrog - 0141 566 9729
Michael Page - 0131 243 2900/ 0141 331 7900
Newell & Budge - 0131 332 3311
Outstep - 0131 625 3000
Parity - 0131 553 9100
Progressive - 0141 248 8555
Quantum - 0131 220 6656
Recruitment Zone - 0131 331 2731
Search - 0141 272 7701
Sourcing Partnerships - 0131 226 4931
StaffFinders - 0141 248 6898
Synergi Solutions - 0131 220 8250
Reed - Don't have anything on them

Best job sites on the web are (including any of the above with web sites);

www.jobsite.co.uk
www.jobserve.com
www.planetrecruit.com
www.scottishappointments.co.uk
www.s1jobs.com
www.icscottishrecruitment.co.uk

Best of luck !

MarkO

Cheers. Quite a few there!

Should keep me occupied over the next 6-8 weeks.

Mark Kwiatkowski

There are quite a few of us out of work maybe we should set up a Scoobynet job club?

MarkO

Better still, what about starting a DotCom company?

Amanda-Jane

Where abouts are you moving to Mark? I know you say the Borders but don't think that there will much fr you to do down there apart from have a play with the local wildlife

Amanda

marty_t3

Give Cap-Gemini a try. They have quite a few offices and contracts in Glasgow. Calanais might also have some development jobs going too (according to my brother).

imlach

We've just been informed of 80% redundancies at our large American electronics company based near Edinburgh.

We've all started looking for C/C++/whatever jobs, and I'm afraid it's pretty bleak in Central Scotland. LOTS and LOTS of hi-tech companies up here have recently offloaded, and hence there is a large bulk of very experienced C++ engineers looking for work....

Good luck, and will probably see you at some interviews!!!

MarkO

Ah well, if the worst comes to the worst I can either

a) Find another contract in London and continue to fly down and stay in the smoke mid-week.

b) Get a bar job and have a sabbatical from the IT industry, since I'll have hardly any outgoings (other than a small monthly rental payment) after Wednesday next week.

Thanks for the info, though.

uncle buck

Judging by the amount of time you seem to have to spend on Scoobynet, I'm not suprised at all

MarkO

The time I spend on SN is as a direct result of the fact that I've got no work to do, rather than the other way around. I'd love to be doing some interesting or productive development, but the work just hasn't been there. Believe me, paid dossing/surfing/emailing is great for the first 3-4 weeks, but after more than 6 months it starts to get extremely tedious.

Markus

I'm with you on this Mark. As some may have observed, my posting has dropped of dramatically, as I've had to do some work. Shocking I know, but there you have it. After a while surfing and posting just gets boring, never thought I would say that, but it is true.

Personally I'm happier now I have some work, simply as when your sitting there doing **** all you do kinda wonder if the letter P and the number 45 might be lurking round the corner.

Oh, and if a dotcom does get started then if you need any excellent Apple Macintosh support staff, let me know, I might know someone whose not doing that much

MarkO

Well, it's certainly true if you're using a WebSensed (restricted) connection.
Macs? Naah, we'd want it to be a dotcom which doesn't fail.

TopBanana

MarkO, have you done much .NET training? Things are pretty slow here too (there is some work, but not a lot) - and I'm writing a couple of apps in C# in my spare time

TopBanana

That's what I mean - self-training

Hmmm, I reckon that'll be up there with 'we'll only ever need 640kb of RAM' in a few years