Re: CoBOL and Contracting (Was: All X'0D' lost during...)

On Mon, 4 Aug 2008 13:11:22 -0700 (PDT), "klshafer@xxxxxxx" <klshafer@xxxxxxx> wrote:

Also, there can be multiple posts by
multiple agencies for the same client slots. What to do in "choosing"
the "right" agency?

Apply to ALL the agencies. Maybe one will think you're suitable while the others don't.

I used to make that mistake. I'd see a good sounding job in Keokuk and think 'Oh, I
already applied for that job.' Yeah, but to a different agency. I once applied to five
agencies for the same job. One got me an interview; I didn't hear from the other four.

The agency will always call before submitting you. If another agency calls later, just
tell them you've already been submitted for that job.

Agencies will tell you double-submission is a mortal sin. Nonsense. If a client DOES see
the same person from two agencies, he'll keep the cheaper of the two and discard the
other. THAT's why agencies don't want you to do it.

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.

It's a numbers game. The more eyes see your resume, the higher the probability of a hit.

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.

How do you handle jerk recruiters? Do you hang up or do you play their silly game?

I don't know the right answer.

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.

Some advise calling every other day for a progress report.

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.)

Ask for the recruiter's direct phone number. If he can't or won't give it, he's either
working from a boiler room, fishing or calling from a shack in some third world country.

Some recruiters are themselves contractors. They're not at the agency and are not involved
with submitting you. They simply don't know about your progress. In those cases, you'll
often get a second call from the account exec or other agency rep. He's the one to ask
about progress.

.

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