I have been doing contract work for about four years now and I have been trying to get a permanent position for well over a year. Last week I did an interview for a job that would have been perfect. It was even very close to where I live... within a five minute drive.
This morning I got feedback and they really liked me, but decided to go with another candidate. Apparently he was someone who was extremely over qualified with far more years experience than the average developer... but was willing to work for the same pay.
Damn the job market sucks. I sure wish someone would slap those damned news commentators who keep saying that the recession is over. Trust me... it is nowhere near over. To add insult in injury, it is being projected that by the end of 2004, 10% of the technology and development jobs will be shipped to countries where people work for pennies on the dollar. My inside contacts tell me that Verizon is already starting to move most if not all of their software development work overseas... for years they have been one of the best places to work. They were constantly bringing in large numbers of people and keeping them for years... now they are being dropped. I also have a friend who used to work at WorldCom (yes, THAT WorldCom) and still has contacts inside... every week or so she tells me that yet ANOTHER bunch of people are being laid-off.
That's odd... I seem to recall everyone at college telling me that I would not have to worry about my job being shipped overseas because I was getting an education.