Can anyone share their experiences being a contract software developer working in London?

I'm a Canadian who has lived in Manchester since 2001 and I finish a Ph.D this fall. I've been a software engineer for over a decade now and I've worked on a number of research software projects. I'm thinking of trying to go back to doing industry work. I'd like to move down to London and I'm just wondering what the market for contractor programming is like. I've been building Java applications since 1997 and I don't know how portable that is anymore. Which sectors of the software development market have promise? How do you find out whether a contracting outfit is dodgy or not? Does anyone have any advice in general on trying to find IT work in London? I got the impression that when the recession hit in 2001 the IT market slid. I'm not sure how accurate the claims are that more jobs are being outsourced abroad. Thoughts?

Can anyone share their experiences being a contract software developer working in London?
Although not as good as pre-2000 the contract market has picked up alot and there are plenty contract Java development positions available in London, as long as you have some good recent experience and a desirable skill set.





Best place to look for contracts is www.jobserve.co.uk. Have a search on there, you can gauge what skills are in demand and what the going rates are. Be warned that a lot of jobs posted on there are not real jobs, just CV grabbers from agencies.





As for dealing with agents - don't trust any of them! Have a look at http://www.itcontractor.com/Articles_IR3...


for some common agency tricks to avoid.





Good luck!