Does anyone know of any jobs going in the IT sector locally? Im A+ Certified nearly N+ Certified (oinly just decided to do qualificatiosn for some reason) however i do have 10 years experience hands on wither Micrtosoft exchange active directory, troubleshooting desktop support etc. Does anyone know what the current market value is for someone like me? Im also Fully proficient in CAD and have also been a draftsman as well as being systems administrator / IT Manager for the company i work for now

hi hope you can help me but are 2 computers have had all our emails removed from our inbox & dont no why ? can some 1 help please any ideas thanks

Need more info ie what email prog are you using? Outlook outlook express who is your email provider are you sure they haven't just been archived?

you looking for contracting or perm? I'm looking for a contractor with advanced AD & Exchange skills at mo. If contractor are you with an agency?

Im testing the water at present Neil, currently nearly being made redundant however rumours have it that we are getting bought out by another company. Im not wiht an agency but i am currently seeking work but would probably be looking for a permanant role rather than contracting but ill probably be flexible on that. Depending on what happens with the company im in at the moment nextr week. Who is it you work for? What type of role (tasks) is it that you are looking to fill exactly. Im currently in the process of drumming up my CV however its in its early stages as ive worked for the same comapny for 12 years in many different roles so im finding it a mammoth task to complete.

I work in goverment and employ a mixture of perm and contracting staff. The perm roles are typically revenue funded and have to follow the organisation's recruitment policy, taking longer to fill. Any perm roles must be recruited in a fair way through open competition, so it is impossible to just give an individual a job, although they can be invited to apply along with everyone else.

Contractors are different as they are capitally funded, typically out of projects. This is where we buy in a set skill for a specific length of time.

My organisation uses Reed and we prefer most contractors be signed up through them as Reed are managed on a corporate level. This is largely for billing and administration purposes. I would typically give Reed a description of what I'm looking for and then would send me a load of CVs. I would invite telephone interviews for candidates I thought were suitable. If I liked any of them, then I'd call them in for face to face.

If you went down the contracting route, I would suggest getting Microsoft and other technical qualifications as a bonus. Prince2 and ITIL doesn't go a miss either.

Thanks for all the information neil I'll sign up with reeds and will definitely be doing further certification, however with redundancy looming funds are tight and with the costs of the certifications Im hoping I will not be in a catch 22 situation where I can't actually afford to pay for them. I'll have to send my cv off fir review to someone. I have been employed as a draftsman fir the past 12 years but also for ten of them I have been the systems administrator aswell as looking after my own contracts, only for 40 users though so not a mammoth task. But I excel in the IT part as I'm actively interested in it both in and out of work, geek I know. the drafting and procurement side of my job I'm totally disinterested in and have no will to continue with this path. Many thanks for your input, may I also ask a favour that I may call on you if I require any further advice? Best regards Phil

Forgive the spelling and grammar I was typing this on my phone

Try for a permanent job,contracting is not for anyone who can't take a phone call and get told don't bother we have our own guy in tomorrow,basically you take the bad times with the good times,which is ok if you have a few pennies saved up,as you may only get a few days work during the week or you can be on a site for a year,good luck with your endevours.

Any idea on what salary wage expectations I should have?

we've looked after our good contractors and many of them have been working for us for a long while. I treat my boys similar to the permanent members of staff and in return, I get their advice, respect, commitment and honesty.

A number of the staff we've used over the years have been experts in their particular fields and the work that one guy did for me even impressed Microsoft so much that they said our Active Directory was the best designed that they had ever seen.

The contractors find the work really interesting; I'm an Exchange/AD boffin by trade and we recently joined seven seperate email systems together, sharing 3 namespaces with LDAP routing which was pretty cool. A couple of contractors worked with me to do this.

Rates for IT contractors typically range from about £35-£60. With about £40-45 being a typical rate. You might think this is a lot of money and it is but;

1) you get no holiday pay
2) you get no sick pay
3) service doesn't matter
4) you can be on two week's notice
5) No pension
6) proceess your own financies, including Tax and NI

Whilst it may sound expensive for an organisation, it's not in real terms due to the lack of liability and the easy way specialist skill can be supplemented. A good contractor in my eyes can be far more effective than a partner or supplier as they won't cry out for extra charges, bury you in paperwork or complain that something is out of scope.

In being a contractor, you must have faith in your skills and abilities. It's important to have some money set aside and be willing to do a bit of travel in some cases. You don't need the qualifications, but it's always a bonus.

Reed typically advertise through jobserve and carry out all the checks and references on our behalf.

I contracted myself for many years and I liked it because you don't typically need to worry too much about your invoices being paid if you work for a big place.

P.M. me if you need any advice.

I would say from zero to whatever they are offering for the contract you are hoping to do,most IT jobs have been outsourced and what's left is in a highly competitive market with most of the money going to the agencies,If you have any other skills away from IT I would honestly say go that way,be aware who you will/won't be working for if you go ahead and do IT contracting,also check out IR35.

I've been employing contractors for over ten years and most of the money doesn't go to the agencies in terms of the individual contractor. The agencies do take a cut out the hourly rate, but that doesn't matter as the contractor is paid the rate that we state, the agency fee is an additional cost that we pay seperately.

If I pay a contractor £40 p/h then that's what THEY get. Look on jobserve to see what's out there. Most of the stuff is in house in my line of work and not outsourced.

You won't need to worry about IR35 unless you've contracted somewhere a very long time. Most contractors invoice through their own business or umbrella company and it goes without saying to seek independant financial advice on the best way to operate your business affairs and tax; any accountant should be able to do this for you.

Sometimes employers offer to pay some retraining costs as part of any redundancy package - bear this in mind and ask the question of your HR manager.

Brilliant thanks Neil, going to have to spruce my CV up a bit i think, ive never worked in a sole support, IT enviroment so not to sure where i stand with experience as far as getting a job in this field lies. Contracting may be the way for me to go though as there do not seem to be that many permanent roles in this sector. Many thanks once again

I believe that part of finding work in IT is deciding where to pitch yourself. In my experience, it's best to focus your efforts on individul jobs. Don't go with the approach "If I throw enough shit at the wall, something will stick". Give each application the attention it deserves.

Taylor your CV for each individual job that you apply for and always attach a covering letter with a brief summary of why you think you are suitable for the role.

Always pay close attention to what the employer is asking you to do to apply; if they want an application form filling in, then do it and don't send your CV if it's not being asked for.

Consider the person reading the applications. I had to sift through over 100 one weekend so try not to waffle on. Use bullet points to highlight things. Remember that people may skim read so it's important to make the important bits stand out. Use examples of previous work where necessary.

Get yourself a system together as you may attend a number of interviews. I create folders for each job I apply for and put all the info; job advert, any applications I've downloaded and any research I've done for the role. It's important to do this as you may get called to interview and not remember what you've applied for.

Seek feedback wherever you can and make a note of what the person has said. I like to apply for some roles to get back into the mood of job hunting, I'll hash a few interviews up to get confidence to apply for better roles.

General confidence is a must so I try to get my girlfriend to ask me questions that I might expect in an interview.

Good point Neil.

Try getting that sort of money for cutting metal, Most of the above numbered points can be applied to any jobs these days.

Yes, it does make you think.

One of the things that I've noticed that is different is the ability to kick up fuss and being vocal when you don't agree with something. Perm staff can do this easily and raise objections, it is extermely unwise for contractors to do likewise. Many contractors prefer to raise objections by proxy, influencing another perm member of staff.

Contracting aint for everyone, but it will all depend on your outlook towards work.