2008-01-30: How to use Contracting Companies to Find Work

Trying to find work through contracting companies can be as annoying as all hell.

• Recruiters are often laughably ignorant about technology. As likely as not, the recruiter's previous job was selling custome jewellery at the flea market, or something like that. Don't expect a recruitor to understand that Solaris is a type of UNIX.
• Recruiters often seem unwilling, or unable, to create a reasonable job description.
• Recruiters lie to you. They bait-and-switch. They find excusses to not pay what they have advertised. They constantly work to make you feel that they have a job for you, then they just seem to drop the ball - you never hear from them again. They try to portray themselves as technology companies, but they are not.
• Recruiters pretend to be finding you a job, but actually they are just gathering data for their database. They post fake job requirements on the internet just to build a database of resumes. They acquiring resumes for no other purpose but to research the companies listed on them. They ask for your references just to get contacts. They ask for your salary history just to gather statistics on what certain jobs pay. They will tell you that you are not right for a job they posted, then ask you if you know anybody else who might have similar qualifications.
• Recruiters waste your time on skill-assessments, and other BS. They send you to interviews that clearly do not fit your skill set.
• The recruiter's idea is that *they* are in business but the technologists has no business of his/her own; general looking-down upon technologists as being bit players.
• And I could go on.

But, bottom line, contracting companies will find contracts for you. Also, if you are working with a reputable contract company, at least you can be sure that you will be paid. There can also be legalities involved that can prevent you from taking a certain job as in independent contractor. So, as annoying as they can be, it is not always a bad idea to work for a contracting company.

Here are some techniques you can use to help you deal with contractors.

• Never do a skill assessment - it's pure BS designed to waste your time.
• If they say: “we have lots of jobs” hang up, you want the contractor who has one job for you.
• If you suspect that a job does not fit you, don't go to an interview - it wastes your time, you feel like a fool, you make a bad impression, and you don't get the job.
• Get a reasonable salary range, never settle for “it depends on your skills.” Be wary of recruiters who try to downplay your credentials, they typically want you to work for much less than they advertised.
• Try to get a job offer before you give out references.
• In my experience, the more a contractor company wants to jerk you around, the less likely that company will find you a job. My best contracts were from 8PM phone interviews, where the client company wanted me to come in for work the next day. When somebody wants to hire, they hire - they don't screw around.

All of the above is based on my own experiences, and observations. I hope this is helpful. Good luck with your work search.