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OT: I'm thinking about moving from Rome to London in a couple of months. During the first months there I'd like to work part time as a programmer: I'm very expe

OT: I'm thinking about moving from Rome to London in a couple of months. During the first months there I'd like to work part time as a programmer: I'm very experienced with Ruby on Rails and Javascript/CoffeeScript and I would like to see from the inside how it works in the London startup scene, while I also work on my side project for which later I'll be looking for investors. Any suggestions about how to start looking for contract or temporary work while not residing in London? Of course I'm willing to travel to interview and/or make arrangements, but I can't leave my current job immediately.

Peroni 14y ago
Hey Dan. Drop me an email (address in my profile). I'm looking for contract ruby folk at the moment and know quite a few others looking for contractors.
- danmaz74 14y ago
  Hey Stevie. Thanks! I'm writing right now.
- lifeisstillgood 14y ago
  Really - my contacts in recruitment world say the contract market is dead in London ? Perm work is five times the volume and teams are all in house now? Am I wrong?
  - alinajaf 14y ago
    Yes, you are wrong. "Contacts in the recruitment world" are probably right about contracts with clients that use recruiters. I'm currently turning down more work than I know what to do with through my network.
  - Peroni 14y ago
    Very. I'm an inhouse recruiter myself however I used to work on the dark side as an agency recruiter. Contract work (particularly for rubyists) is still surpassing perm work.
    - lifeisstillgood 14y ago
      as a Pythonista I must ask - why Ruby?
ayers 14y ago
You could start with checking out what London companies are hiring and contacting them. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5150834 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5150834
- danmaz74 14y ago
  Thanks for the suggestion
CWIZO 14y ago
I'm in a similar boat as you :) I'm from Slovenia and I've been searching for a full-time job from here. It really isn't a problem since most companies are doing phone/skype interviews these days. I'm actually coming to London today to do a couple of face-to-face interviews and I already have one offer. So really, the fact that you are in Italy shouldn't be a problem. Look here for jobs: http://careers.stackoverflow.com/ http://careers.stackoverflow.com/ https://jobs.github.com/positions?description=&location=london https://jobs.github.com/positions?description=&location=... http://workinstartups.com/job-board http://workinstartups.com/job-board http://www.3-beards.com/jobs http://www.3-beards.com/jobs http://www.cwjobs.co.uk/ http://www.cwjobs.co.uk/ http://jobstractor.com/ http://jobstractor.com/ linkedin ... Also check out the monthly hiring thread here on HN (and you can use my bookmarklet to make it a bit easier :P https://github.com/janhancic/hnHiringFilter https://github.com/janhancic/hnHiringFilter) I can also hook you up with a good recruiter if you want (my email is in the profile).
- danmaz74 14y ago
  Thank you! How long did it take to get these interviews?
  - CWIZO 14y ago
    Depends, some companies responded in matter of hours, some in a couple of days. Some didn't respond at all (or they will eventually). So after that we usually setup a quick phone chat the same or next day. And if all went well we continued from there. You really should first decide when you'll be moving. If it's in 3 months then I think it's a bit too soon to start searching. But once you do start searching things should start moving rather quickly. Just make sure you'll have the time to answer all those emails and calls :) And try to send a large batch of applications at once so you can have as many interviews at once when you'll come to London (it's not really cost effective to come just for one interview).
    - danmaz74 14y ago
      Yes, my main problem is having to give a 2 months notice at work. I'll try find employers (or clients) that are comfortable with that. Thanks again

Peroni 14y ago

Hey Dan. Drop me an email (address in my profile). I'm looking for contract ruby folk at the moment and know quite a few others looking for contractors.

danmaz74 14y ago
Hey Stevie. Thanks! I'm writing right now.
lifeisstillgood 14y ago
Really - my contacts in recruitment world say the contract market is dead in London ? Perm work is five times the volume and teams are all in house now? Am I wrong?
- alinajaf 14y ago
  Yes, you are wrong. "Contacts in the recruitment world" are probably right about contracts with clients that use recruiters. I'm currently turning down more work than I know what to do with through my network.
- Peroni 14y ago
  Very. I'm an inhouse recruiter myself however I used to work on the dark side as an agency recruiter. Contract work (particularly for rubyists) is still surpassing perm work.
  - lifeisstillgood 14y ago
    as a Pythonista I must ask - why Ruby?

ayers 14y ago

You could start with checking out what London companies are hiring and contacting them. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5150834 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5150834

danmaz74 14y ago
Thanks for the suggestion

CWIZO 14y ago

I'm in a similar boat as you :) I'm from Slovenia and I've been searching for a full-time job from here. It really isn't a problem since most companies are doing phone/skype interviews these days. I'm actually coming to London today to do a couple of face-to-face interviews and I already have one offer. So really, the fact that you are in Italy shouldn't be a problem. Look here for jobs: http://careers.stackoverflow.com/ http://careers.stackoverflow.com/ https://jobs.github.com/positions?description=&location=london https://jobs.github.com/positions?description=&location=... http://workinstartups.com/job-board http://workinstartups.com/job-board http://www.3-beards.com/jobs http://www.3-beards.com/jobs http://www.cwjobs.co.uk/ http://www.cwjobs.co.uk/ http://jobstractor.com/ http://jobstractor.com/ linkedin ... Also check out the monthly hiring thread here on HN (and you can use my bookmarklet to make it a bit easier :P https://github.com/janhancic/hnHiringFilter https://github.com/janhancic/hnHiringFilter) I can also hook you up with a good recruiter if you want (my email is in the profile).

danmaz74 14y ago
Thank you! How long did it take to get these interviews?
- CWIZO 14y ago
  Depends, some companies responded in matter of hours, some in a couple of days. Some didn't respond at all (or they will eventually). So after that we usually setup a quick phone chat the same or next day. And if all went well we continued from there. You really should first decide when you'll be moving. If it's in 3 months then I think it's a bit too soon to start searching. But once you do start searching things should start moving rather quickly. Just make sure you'll have the time to answer all those emails and calls :) And try to send a large batch of applications at once so you can have as many interviews at once when you'll come to London (it's not really cost effective to come just for one interview).
  - danmaz74 14y ago
    Yes, my main problem is having to give a 2 months notice at work. I'll try find employers (or clients) that are comfortable with that. Thanks again