HamishTheWagon

Hello Peeps,

Decision has been made, I've taken voluntary redundancy and me, the missus and the wee one are moving to Aberdeen ... I've an MY00 DBM wagon with a few mods

I need help with a couple of things though ..

1. what are T&C like up there for servicing? I'm using T&C in Perth just now and they are OK, a bit slow but they do get there. A bit expensive but I've had clutch master cylinder + scratched windows replaced under warranty FOC

2. The missus is sorted but I need a job otherwise I can't come and meet you all at your monthly meet as the wagon would need to go. Anybody know of anybody looking for software engineers?

I'm registered with most of the agencies but am having much more luck getting my C.V onto the right desk through mates/contacts. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

3. Any suggestions of a nice but not tooo expensive area to stay in? Airyhall/Braeside seemed OK and not toooo expensive .. any other ideas?

Cheers for any help especially with item 2
HamishTheWagon

JohnS

iTrader: (1)

1) T&C - generally very good, though can be expensive. A few people have had issues, but generally they work very hard to keep customers happy.

2) I used to contract through GT Systems on Union Street, might be worth registering with them if you haven't already. Pragma (who I used to work for (www.pragma.co.uk) always seemed to be on the lookout for good quality staff. LogicaCMG, Oracle, SAIC and EDS seem to be the main IT employers in the city, though there are lots of smaller software houses. Might be worth trying some direct ?

3) Airyhall/Braeside/Burniboozle is a nice area to stay in, and not too expensive either compared to other parts of the city. 5 - 10 minutes to the city centre, 15 minutes commute to Altens/Tullos at rush hour, 20 minutes to Dyce, and 20 - 25 minutes to the Bridge of Don. Might also want to consider the Deeside Gardens area, which as a no through road is very quiet, and houses are a bit cheaper still.

See you around soon

John

HamishTheWagon

Cheers for your help John ... much appreciated

Good to know T&C are OK as I had heard some poor things about them ... don't suppose Perth is tooo far if I'm not happy with the service I get there.

On a software side I've been to see in to see Pragma who have nothing to match my skills (they may have soon though ... ) .. why did you leave and do you know Andrew Martin? .. I'll try EDS etc

House prices are not too bad compared to Edinburgh, South Queensferry .. I'll have a drive past Deeside Gardens sometime and see what it's like.

I'll hopefully see the Aberdeen crowd in a few months at the monthly meeting

Cheers,
HamishTheWagon.

Corpulent Tosser

Hamish

Fiskens at Forfar are cheaper than T&C, I have had one service done there and found them helpful. Closer than Perth.

I live in Stonehaven,(moved there around 12 years ago and like it) cheaper than Aberdeen and with decent amenities, easy(ish) travel into Aberdeen, including a fairly reliable train service.

Good luck with the job hunting.

JohnS

iTrader: (1)

Hamish,

if budget is tight, then I'd suggest somewhere slightly out of town as CT has suggested. There's a good Impreza community in Inverurie (20 - 30 mins drive)

Pragma - don't really know Andrew, other than met him a few times at meetings. I was employed by them for 18 months, but never spent a day in the office (worked for Enterprise Oil, who then got taken over by Shell). As the project I was on came to an end, another opportunity arose, and I decided to go with that.

Fiskens are quite a bit cheaper for labour (£32+VAT ph or something like that with SIDC discount), but not so handy if you need little jobs done, or things under warranty. You need to weigh up the extra costs of driving down the road, time off work etc.

John

HamishTheWagon

Cheers folks ... I'm from Arbroath originally so could maybe tie up a drive to Fiskens with a meet with my pop ... more than likely try T&C though first.

We've done the slightly out of town thing (am doing now) so would prefer to be in town .. looks like Airyhall etc is our best bet with our budget.

I'm sure I can land a job sometime when the market picks up a bit, seems to be a bit slow just now. I have 2 months left at my current job to find something before I start spending my redundancy

Cheers for you help.
HamishTheWagon.