Hey Folks… First let me apologize for not contributing more here. People here have been exceptionally helpful and I’ll try to do better in returning the favors.
That aside my main project is now on Autopilot… and I’m looking for Contract work for a year… maybe 2. For the last 3 months I’ve been up and down LinkedIn / Dice / Indeed / GlassDoor … Holidays aside all I’m getting is recruiters left and right that fail at 100%
My resume is in good order and when I manage to get a US Domestic Inhouse Recruiter things go well… But I’ve turned down 3 offers because they insisted on : On Site and I’m Remote Only…
When I came here looking for DEVs to help me on a big project about 2 years ago… Everyone here was booked solid…
I have 20+ years in CF Full-Stack / MS SQL / Windows|Linux … Yet … I’m obviously doing something wrong…
My friend who is in Aerospace said the job market is so infested that all his work is coming through people he knows (aka his social network Not TickTock ya). I’ve been running solo for so long I never bothered to build one.
I’m US Based… maybe I should be looking overseas such as UK … ?
Would anyone care to share where you pick up Remote Work… Contract or otherwise… ?
Hey Jay
I built up my network through doing conferences and what have you. I only used recruiters a long time back and they were okay.
With regards to the UK I think it’s a good chance, but be ready for a drop in rates compared to the USA. And I am not sure what the restriction on Non-domiciled contractors is.
I wish you the best of luck , it’s a noisy game out there
First, its never too late to build a network. Many CFML devs on LinkedIn are likely to connect with you if you reach out for connections there.
Second, a couple of options for finding CF work:
https://www.getcfmljobs.com/ - usually has the most recent job postings from around the world. Scroll to the bottom and click Contract or Freelance if you’re particular interest is in those types of arrangements.
There are several other such ‘freelance’ sites out there that may or may not have CF work, again primarily competing against non-US based devs - a good search for ‘freelance coldfusion’ might turn up those sites that have CF work.
You can also reach out to some of the common companies involved in CF work to see if they have any place for you. CFWebtools.com, webapper.com, Find ColdFusion Development Jobs and Clients (Pomegranate), Careers (Ortus), etc. A Google search of ‘coldfusion development service’ or similar search terms will likely turn up other companies in the market, etc.
In the meantime, consider spending some of your free time helping with open source coldfusion projects (Search · coldfusion · GitHub), or documentation GitHub - foundeo/cfdocs: Repository for the cfdocs.org site., which will also help build networking connections and give you exposure in the community. Additionally it gives you code and/or docs you can point prospective clients/employers to for review. It’ll also keep you fresh and may help learn some new functions, patterns, etc. along the way that you can implement in your own work.
Participating in CF Slack will also lead to exposure and networking opportunities in the community.
Hopefully some of the many US contractors will look over the ocean and hire some European CFML dev on remote? when I look at the US market, I see lots of cfml jobs over there, while here in Germany even the last formely well known site cfml.de with a job category is now giving a 500 error for a while now.
I’ve also been on my own for long time, now wanting to network too! Looking forward to see some of you live in Munich this year!!!
Yes I heard of the CF SLACK channel… I need to try that again.
I understand what your saying about networking and getting involved in communities… At the same time I think I speak for many when I say my life does not revolve around ColdFusion or Lucee. Everyone has their hobbies and if CF/Lucee is yours that’s all good. I’m just explaining people like me. And while I do stop in here from time to time… I do not speak unless I have a clear answer.
For me… I either know something or I don’t… and when I don’t I keep my mouth shut rather than send someone chasing things around. Thus my lack of social interaction.
One of the main problems is mentioned by : andreas is that there LOOK to be many jobs in the US… But over 90% are FAKE and when I say FAKE I mean the jobs are reposts by recruiters or recruiting agencies that copy job posts and run interference between the hiring company and the candidates in an attempt to Snatch a commission.
LinkedIN is now Absolutely Infested with recruiters of all sorts mass spamming all job boards. The Job post from the actual company gets buried in this dumpster fire on a cesspool. This is across all sectors of business… and most heavily in the Tech sector because of the high annual salaries compared to what most recruiters/staffing agencies go after.
It’s rare that I look for work ( Usually I just pass the time with a vacation ). But this time around I have discovered an entire WORLD of Recruiter Infested Insanity that I never knew existed. Well, I knew it existed but I didn’t know it has Decimated the job market.
So that 90% that I mentioned about the Fake Jobs Posted in the US… Is just a TOTAL BS World of recruiter SPAM. I also found articles as far back as 2016 where developers in he EU were pissed about this. We’ve reached a point in time where anyone with internet can bust into another country… programmatically scan the job board… and setup their own post for the same job. So the post is essentially FAKE as the recruiter tries to intercept for a commission… and the hiring companies are flooded with those people saying : “I’ll bring you the Best candidates… for a fee”.
The Reality is… They are only matching keywords on a resume and SPAMMING it over to the hiring company hoping to get a commission. So… Basically All Telemarketers have been Reincarnated in the form of Job Recruiters. And it’s hard to get an accurate opinion on Recruiters from Companies and/or Candidates because it’s apparently a multi billion USD industry that pumps out mass amounts of online literature… enough to bury the True Opinions.
Here is 1 good article that lay’s out the situation
1 Major Indicator that 3rd party recruiters are Not wanted comes from Indeed.com who has recently BANNED 3rd party recruiters or agencies. But I have a feeling the spammers will get around it. Most are overseas… The only progress I have ever made was with US domestic recruiters which are few and far between ( perhaps a bit of Carma there as their market has been invaded by overseas mouse-jockeys )
In closing it is only fair to say that there is a Clear Difference between
Headhunters : Internal Corporate Head Hunters who often take the title Talent Acquisition
Staffing Agencies : Companies that do background checks, testing, benefits (if any are to be had) for volume labor.
And the3rd Party Recruiters that are essentially Digital Parasites with no skills other than clicking a mouse and telemarketing. 1 Search on youtube and you will get a Face Full of Marketing from these people.
Ultimately : Are they just people trying to make a living…? That’s up for individuals to decide. Most people on this community are established TRUE Seniors in CF/Lucee (opposed those who just write it on their resume)… so we may be a bit biased in our opinions.
Now I remember trying to join the CF Slack channel…
I couldn’t get in…?
is it invite only or do I need a link?
I want to be constructive, I was a very active CFML Full Stack Developer for a long time & yes I did other languages but CFML I enjoyed. I got burned out in Silicon Valley and moved abroad, I work as a Biz Analyst by trade, I am three breaths away from retirement, but I still love to keep my pen wet with Lucee. I’ve been in IT since 1986, I’ve seen a lot and I’ve taken notice. I’ve hired and been fired j[It rhymes]. I’ve had many many conversations on both sides about jobs hunting and talent hunting over the years. There is no one pat answer but I suggest the follow:
Build you own website, promote yourself on that website, put a blog on it, talk as much as you can about all the different types of things you’ve done with CF/Lucee. Have link to your LinkedIn. Make clear that you are only able to work REMOTE. Do the SEO thing on it and I highly suggest you spend about $100 bucks a month buying ADSENSE traffic for it. Oh, you think I’m nuts. Okay I’m certified nuts but google runs the web and that is where traffic exposes you. There may be every day some new manager who just enherited the company’s CFML site and they don’t have a clue on how to find talent FAST! SO they will google it.
Take your next vacation to a good CFML/Lucee Conference, perhaps in Europe [not saying go there first], have your phone ready, have a few biz cards, pump every hand of every CFML degenerate that will talk to you. Make some friends, even if they don’t need you , they can pass your info on or hit you up with a lead. I highly recommend thinking about this point, take some vacations to these conferences. Network.
I am semi-retired as a coder and I can testify that anyway you can breathe and not have to deal with a ‘recruiter’ is a day of sunshine. I avoid recruiters like they are the plague… just like Joy Behar… a total waste of human flesh.
Contribute to some content that focuses on CFML but you got to let people know you exists, you can’t be a wallflower and get to dance. Second comment, do something germane to current interests. Show how to integrate CFML/Lucee with other hots topics like crypto exchanges, AI api’s blah blah
I apologize to state this but … oh I really have to recommend this… you need to develop exposure in the 200 mile radius of Washington D.C. There is SO much ColdFusion use in that region it just never goes away and it pays fair. I admit there are hurdles that I won’t get into here. Biggest problem, everyone in gov wants to build an empire, they want a warm body consuming budget so that they can ask for more budget next year. But, things are going to change in the coming years IMHO so this won’t help you today, but maybe in a few years.
when I look at the US market, I see lots of cfml jobs over there, while here in Germany even the last formely well known site