SPUG: recommendations for job sources?

Patterson, David S (Pat) davidpa at avaya.com
Thu Jan 11 12:16:42 CST 2001


I've got to chime in here.  When I got out of the military in 1992, I
contracted for projects thru 8 different agencies until mid-1999.  Each
time, I made a deal with the agency that I could live with.  Each time, I
worked hard on the client companies' projects.  Each time, I got a lot of
experience on diverse areas of software development and improved my skills
and beefed up my resume.  Each time, I made more money than I did on the
previous project.  I did not make the mistake of believing that the
consulting agencies were anything more than a job broker.  When I finally
decided to commit to full time employment at my present firm, they were
already familiar with me and my skills and made SEVERAL offers of employment
to me, eventually making me "an offer I could not refuse"...  I'm now making
3 X what I made in 1992, with full benefits and vacation to boot.

Bottom line.  There's nothing wrong with being a contractor.  There's
nothing wrong with working for an agency, as long as they live up to their
end of the agreements they make.  Don't begrudge them their cut if you can
make a deal with them that you can live with.  Contracting can be a vehicle
to gaining lots of variety and experience in your career.

FWIW,
> 	---
		"rw-rw-rw-: The file protection of the beast..."

> 	D. S. "Pat" Patterson
> 	Software Engineer
> 	Avaya, Inc.
> 	6464 185th Ave NE
> 	Redmond, WA  98052-6736
> 	425-558-8672
> 	888-501-4835 Pgr
> 	davidpa at avaya.com
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Joe Slagel [SMTP:slagel at geospiza.com]
> Sent:	Thursday, January 11, 2001 9:26 AM
> To:	spug-list at pm.org
> Subject:	Re: SPUG: recommendations for job sources?
> 
> > If you go this route you want to be careful in selecting your agency,
> and
> > find one that will take the same care in selecting you. You want an
> agency
> > that takes the time to screen its applicants and find good fits for them
> as
> > opposed to someone whose primary interest is in finding warm bodies to
> fill
> > its job orders.
> 
> Good point, I guess I should restate my eariler opinion, and say the you
> want
> to be *really* careful about what agency or agencies you choose to use.
> Most
> of them are good and can place someone at a good job, but there are ones
> out
> there that are very unreputable.  I think people looking for new positions
> are
> better off just doing a little bit of research and trying to contact
> companies
> directly.   Should a match occur, it's a win-win situtation for both the
> employer and job hunter because the employer doesn't have to pay a
> recruiting
> fee, and the job hunter is in more control of the terms and price.
> 
> But then again, if you are in a hurry or looking for the quickest way to
> get a
> large number of offers, I guess a recruiting firm is the way to go.
> 
> - Joe
> 
> --
> Joe Slagel
> Geospiza, Inc.
> 3939 Leary Way NW, Seattle WA 98107
> (206) 633-4403
> slagel at geospiza.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
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