Thursday 18 April 2013

Ruby/Ruby on Rails Development: Brief Job Market Overview 04/2013


To introduce myself to those who read this and haven’t spoken to me before …I’m Rhys Evans, a London based recruiter who’s been helping Rubyists all over Europe find new challenges since 2007.

I’m pretty active within the London Ruby User Community and my company, www.AdRocGroup.co.uk are pleased to be supporting The Scottish Ruby Conf  as a Gold Sponsor this year.

I work with a wide range of Ruby on Rails teams based in the UK & Europe who are constantly looking to hire exceptionally talented developers, developers who will help them deliver some of the largest Ruby on Rails projects around to date.

My contact details are:

Skype: rhysyevans
Tel: +44 (0) 208 279 9482
Mobile: +44 (0) 7711 350 121
E-mail: revans@adrocgroup.co.uk
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rhysy

The below is a few observations/opinions based on things I’ve experienced this year as someone who spends his days/weeks/years speaking to 100’s of developers/employers in the Ruby/Ruby on Rails community…..

Please feel free to get in touch directly with any comments/feedback on this post…………….If you think  someone else may benefit from the info – feel free to re-post/pass it on to them.



To say it’s been a crazy start to the year is the understatement of the century. (Where do I start?)…………….. Let’s kick off with the……..

The Contract Market

In my opinion, the contract market in London isn’t as buoyant as it was this time last year…. How can I back up that statement? I have more contractors calling me for work, than I have employers asking me for contractors….

That’s not to say there isn’t contract work available, there is…. However with the increase in the number of contractors available, compared to the employers needing short term resource for project work, the average daily rates have dropped slightly from c£450 per day to £350-£400 day depending on you experience, the client, the contract length and flexibility of remote working.

Don’t panic though – with the new tax year underway, new budgets amongst our partners being released over the coming weeks and the shortage of permanently employed Rubyists looking for work in London – they’ll be a steady increase in demand over the coming months.


The Permanent Market

The job market is crazy….. I’ve never seen such a huge gap between the demand for Rubyists to join employers on a permanent basis and the lack of people looking for a new gig. The companies who ARE successfully hiring experienced Rubyists on a permanent basis seem to have a few things in common. In addition to salary, they offer:

1.      Flexible working
2.      Challenging/complex project work
3.      Personal development time
4.      Expenses paid industry related events (Bacon Conf/Scottish Ruby Conf/Euroko etc etc etc)

So if you’re a company hiring, take note of the above – or you’ll continue to struggle to attract top talent ;)
Permanent salaries are rising, the average salary Rubyists obtain via us is c£58,000 – up 25% based on the same time last year but in my opinion, this still is low considering the demand for talent is at an all-time high.
Why have salaries jumped up 25% on last year? It’s certainly is due to the sharp increase in demand for talent, but also the fact companies are more likely to be hiring at a senior level, as opposed to training up junior developers at the moment.

Currently:

·        80% of the openings with our partners are paying over £50,000
·        30% of the openings with our partners are paying £60,000+
·        The highest salary we have on offer for a “Senior Developer” is c£80,000 at this moment. 

It’s good to see the salaries finally rising in London; however we’re still way off the salary ranges which are available in the likes of Barcelona, Hamburg & Berlin. This makes it difficult for London based companies to attract/compete to hire Rubyists from other Ruby hubs in Europe.


To wrap things up until my next blog post “The does and don’ts when looking for a new Ruby job…” -  If you want to make contact and discuss the above, please do – I don’t bite and would appreciate the feedback…… Of course if you’re actively looking for a new gig…… I’m 99.9% sure I can help put you in contact with the people you should be speaking to, so again, do get in touch.

Thanks,

Rhys

Saturday 13 April 2013

Are you a Rubyist looking to re-locate to London, UK?


I’m interested in speaking to a number of Rubyists regarding a range of jobs available with various partners who are based London, UK.

Who am I?

I’m Rhys, a recruiter who’s been helping smart/savvy Rubyists all over Europe find new challenges since 2007. I’m active within the London Ruby User Community and my company are also pleased to be supporting The Scottish Ruby Conf this year.

I work with the some of the smartest Rails teams in the UK & Europe who constantly looking to hire exceptionally talented developers, developers who will help them deliver some of the largest Ruby on Rails projects around to date.

Who I’m interested in speaking with:

·        Rubyists - £45,000 - £80,000
·        DevOps Engineers (with solid Ruby/Ruby on Rails experience) - £55,000 to £65,000
·        Node.js Developers – up to £65,000

Companies I work with:

·        Start up’s who have secured multi-million £/$/€ funding
·        A number of SME’s from The Sunday Times Tech Track 100 list
·        R&D/Prototyping teams within global dotcoms

A small selection of the openings our partners have can be found here: http://adrocgroup.co.uk/hot-jobs

YOU’RE IN SAFE HANDS ;)

Here’s what one Rubyist said about his experience in using me to re-locate from Milan, Italy – to the UK recently:

“Being a Ruby developer I couldn't be any luckier in relying on Rhys. He is completely professional and in the same time empathetic with who is looking for a new job. My experience with Rhys was amazing, after an informal talk with him, he managed to bring my profile to the attention of those companies who were searching exactly for people with my knowledge and experience. No waste of time, no endless time waiting for answers. He helped me with interviews, and even with relocation.”

What next?

If you’re interested in making contact and re-locating - get in touch via:

E-mail: revans@adrocgroup.co.uk
Skype: rhysyevans
Tel: +44 (0) 208 279 9482
Mobile: +44 (0) 7711 350 121
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rhysy 

**Please note, that although we do have remote work available from time to time – the current positions open require you to be based onsite, in London, UK. Although our partners can help with re-location, they are unable to sponsor work permits at this stage.**

All contact is strictly confidential.

Thanks,

Rhys Evans

Monday 18 March 2013

Everyone wants to hire a Rubyist


As I’m sure you’re aware, the job market for Rubyists in London are as buoyant as ever. Being the 1st recruiter in the UK to commit 100% of my time in helping employer connect with Rubyists, I’ve always been busy. However with the huge rise in popularity of Ruby/Rails as primary language/framework amongst start-ups, SME’s and now global dotcoms - the demand for talent amongst our existing and new partners has jumped almost 40% compared to March 2012, with 85% of our openings now paying £55,000+.

With this in mind, I’m looking to touch base with existing contacts and expand my existing network to speak with people about some of the projects our partners are working on.

Here is a link to a few positions our partners have available in London: http://adrocgroup.co.uk/hot-jobs 
  
We also have partners in Dublin, Hamburg and Berlin who are keen to speak to experienced Rubyists.

If you’re interested in an informal chat about any of the employers above or want to have a general chat about the Ruby job market, please feel free to get in touch – if you’re perfectly happy, but know someone who is interested in looking at their options, please see this link so you can register for your reward for referring them: http://adrocgroup.co.uk/refer-a-friend - we’ve paid out over £3000 so far…..and it’s our favourite way to find people outside of our immediate network.

Thanks!

Rhys
Rhys Evans
Director
Connecting Ruby on Rails Developers and employers since 2007.


81 Rivington Street, Shoreditch, London, EC2A 3AY.

DDI: +44 (0) 208 279 9482 | Mob: +44 (0) 7711 350 121 | E-mailrevans@adrocgroup.co.uk

GOLD SPONSORS OF THE SCOTTISH RUBY CONF | 12th - 13th MAY 2013


Thursday 17 January 2013

What our clients/partners say about us……




Sean Williams - Technical Architect 

“Rhys supplied Rails developers at Gamesys. Proactive, personable with good roots in the ruby community made Rhys a pleasure to work with. I would certainly use Rhys again and can thoroughly recommend him to anyone requiring great candidates.”

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Gemma Adey – HR Manager

“Rhys has played a large part in growing our development team. He understands our business well and I can trust that every candidate we receive would be a good fit for both our roles and company. Rhys he clearly knows the Ruby market well and keeps me updated as we continue to work in partnership.”

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Lukas Oberhuber - CTO

“Rhys has consistently found me excellent developers with tricky to find attributes and qualities.”

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Adam Smith – Managing Director

“Rhys is one of the few recruiters in the area that can sniff out a good Ruby on Rails developer. Many recruiters claim to 'understand' what we need, but few live up to the promise. Rhys seems to get it right every time - placing superb developers who slot smoothly into our existing culture.”

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Romain Eude – CTO

“Whilst sourcing Ruby on Rails for us, Rhys has demonstrated efficiency and reliability in his service and in the candidates he has put forward. He is very dependable, which is a great quality in the recruitment space.”

What Ruby on Rails Developers say about us……..




Stevie Graham - Senior Ruby Developer/International employee #1 @ twilio

 “Rhys has worked in the Ruby space for years and knows literally every quality Ruby developer in the UK. If you’re a company looking for quality Ruby developers he will help you find someone you probably wouldn’t find on your own. On top of that he's a great bloke that you can trust, which also sets him apart from other recruiters. 

On the other hand if you're looking for work, you should always give Rhys a call.”

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Martin Sadler – Senior Ruby Developer /Creator of Workingwithrails.com 

“Rhys has been in the Ruby on Rails scene for as long as I can remember. 

He is a breath of fresh air compared to many recruitment agents in this field. Very personable, hardworking, and extremely pro-active.  If I'm hiring or looking for a new role I wouldn't hesitate to make Rhys my first port of call.”

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Sam Phillips - Head of DevOps 

“I've been in contact with Rhys both as a candidate and as a referee over the last few years, and my experience in that time has been excellent. He is always straight-talking about the roles he's working on, and by understanding the subtleties of what his clients are looking for, only recommends candidates that are actually suitable - a rare thing! 

He's friendly, easy to talk to and pragmatic in his approach - focused on getting the right people into the right roles, rather than meeting targets at all costs. Recommended.”


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Tony Daly - Senior Ruby Developer/Team Lead

 “I've experienced working with Rhys both as a candidate and as client and have had nothing but success. Rhys is honest and understanding recruiter and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him to developers and clients.”

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Dan Nuttall – Senior Ruby Developer

“Rhys is an example of that rarest of breeds; an honest recruiter. He has a genuine interest in placing you in the most suitable role for you, regardless of whether he will profit from it or not. 

He is the only agent I actively seek out when I am considering a new role for myself or when recruiting for my own team.”

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Brent Greef – Senior Ruby Developer

“Rhys is the top Ruby on Rails recruiter that I have worked with. He has a deep understanding of the industry and is really focused on placing people in roles that are really suited to their skillset. He is a great resource for honest information and advice.”