If between assignments, grab the best rate you can get for a 90-day job, plan an August vacation, and hope I'm right about the market improving in September.

Don't panic. Even though things are slipping, the bottom is not dropping out. The contractors I talk with regularly are finding work, and while the market is down, most of the recruiters I talk to tell me that the fourth quarter looks okay.

What do you think?
I'd like to take the pulse of the entire Lotus Notes community, to share in an upcoming article. Please help me compile an overview of the Notes consulting market across the U.S. and Canada by dropping me a quick line letting me know how things are in your neck of the woods. If I receive enough responses to warrant a followup article, you'll see it here next month.

If you're working as a Lotus Notes and Domino Consultant for a consulting firm, please contact me at dan@consearch.com with the following information: the state you work in; whether you are a Developer, Administrator, Architect, or Project Manager; and whether you are busy or "on the bench." Feel free to send additional comments on the marketplace, your career, or any of my other career articles here at DominoPower. Please type DominoPower in the subject line.

If you're a self-employed Lotus Notes and Domino Consultant, please contact me at deb@consearch.com with the following information: the state you work in; whether your bill rate is holding, slipping, or rising; whether you're a Developer, Administrator, Architect, or Project Manager; and whether you're busy or between projects. Feel free to include your resume (I hear of contract work often). Please take a moment to comment on the marketplace or the career articles on DominoPower as well. Please type DominoPower in the subject line.

I look forward to your feedback.