CoBOL and Contracting (Was: All X'0D' lost during...)
- From: "klshafer@xxxxxxx" <klshafer@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2008 13:11:22 -0700 (PDT)
On Aug 4, 5:34 am, docdw...@xxxxxxxxx () wrote:
Goodness, a veritable gem of dialogue deeply situated in the otherwise
Technical Discussion... And an opportunity to learn how to change the
Subject Line within the Google web interface. Have I succeeded?
[snip]
Mr Wagner and I seem to have remarkably similar experiences in this
matter.
I have some bona fides to add to the mix - I've done only contracting
for about 35 years, with only a couple of short detours as a W-2, the
latest of which was during the Great IT Famine of 2001-2002, where I
had to accept "employee" status. One does what one needs to in order
to survive. When the opportunity presented itself, I returned to
"contracting".
Mr. Wagner: >Posting it on DICE and maybe Monster is more efficient.
Doc:
I prefer to deal with the people I've already dealt with, if only to make
things easier on my references. Have you ever gotten a good hit from so
public a posting?
I've used both Job boards. Yes, it is very efficient at obtaining
recruiter / agency inquiries. Sometimes "too" efficient, because the
agencies are not particularly adept at doing their "screening", so it
can be time-waster as well. Also, there can be multiple posts by
multiple agencies for the same client slots. What to do in "choosing"
the "right" agency? Such are the problems of "going back to square
one." Soliciting repeat business and polling your informal network of
past co-workers avoids some of those problems, but doesn't always
result in a "hit". So we all need to have as many different "arrows in
our quiver" as we can manifest. What works for others might not work
for me, but hearing of what works for others can compensate for a lack
of imagination on my part.
All worthwhile comments from everyone; thanks for all your
observations. Given time, I may Reply to some of the specifics.
Til then, I contribute this: I believe it worthwhile for one to think
about what your interaction style, your "boundaries", and "what is
important to you". This sounds trite, but I believe it to be true, and
transcending some of the mundane "technical" issues.
For me, it took about thirty years to distill all this down to what I
call my Rules of Engagement. I've gone minimalist, reducing them to
two:
Rule 1: Rate and Terms are negotiable; professional courtesy and
respect are not.
Rule 2: In consideration of my submission of my resume, you will keep
me informed of all progress, or lack thereof, of my submission to your
client.
I now "require" an Agency to verbally agree to these before I e-mail
them my resume. I believe it is okay to be _insistent_, if what you
are insisting upon is eminently reasonable.
What should be emphasized here is that Agencies may "use" your
Resume / CV in any number of ways: for a specific submission for
specific slot to a client, to build their resume database, to include
in a fat proposal to a client under a section Our People, trolling for
skills / rates (as duly noted by DD to the job posts without rates),
and other reasons. So offering your Resume to the Agency is giving
them _something of value_ - it is not only reasonable, it is almost a
_duty_ to your fellow Contractor Peers, to require _something_ in
return. That _something_ should be the promise to _keep you informed_.
Can we think of anything else we could require in the "exchange"?
(I've not come up with anything else.)
Insisting on these Rules of Engagement is one way I filter out the
trolls from the real job posts. It helps.
Ken
.
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