Technical Tests - before cv submission

[Fred Bloggs]

Since unwittingly (as newbie type) giving a "potential client Co" all the information they needed to do the work without me, I'm now very, very careful what I do without payment. If a conversation seems to be heading in that kind of direction now, I openly declare "you need to pay for that kind of information". It hasn't prevented me winning work either, so far.

[chicane]

There are LOADS of contractors out there who have been doing it for years and still suck. They rely on companies assuming they are skilled due to how much experience they have.

WHS - experience isn't any indication of delivery capability. I know junior permies in my field on 20k that are better than contractors with 8 years under their belt.

Does that include big contractors (Logica, EDS etc.) or just small ones?

No need to be silly - we know the discussion is about one man bands.

Since unwittingly (as newbie type) giving a "potential client Co" all the information they needed to do the work without me, I'm now very, very careful what I do without payment.

Fair point - I've only once been asked to perform a technical test and it was clear that there would be no benefit to the client from me taking it. I'd run a mile if I perceived any potential benefit to the client.

If clients don't try to exploit the situation commercially, technical tests are an ideal way to filter out the cowboys from the genuine professionals. Again, 9 out of 10 candidates at current ClientCo don't come up to scratch in the technical test - and this isn't a particularly challenging test either.

[jmo21]

I love how people scoff and say "try getting your plumber/spark to do that" etc

£200 for an hours work (or whatever), or £60,000 for a 6 month contract

Might be less per hour, but the outlay overall is vastly different. Yes, they can get rid of you, but it still wastes time and money

Also, the person setting the test would usually know plenty about what they are testing. The average person wouldn't know what to ask a plumber/electrician.

The DailyWTF reference is spot on too......there are plenty of people in IT who are utterly hopeless and can bluff their way way through easy interviews. A technical test can easily weed out the chaff.

Happened to me last year, 5 minutes into a phone interview, and it was clear that I didn't have the particular experience they were looking for (I barely had heard of what he was asking about) - they thanked me for my time and that was that. Saved a half day of my time, ironing a shirt, travelling to a face to face etc

[Turion]

I would never do a tech test now, even at interview. I'm pretty much a subject expert now, but even in my junior days this was virtually unheard of for contracts. Seems to me that for junior roles, contracting is not worth the hassle for the rates on offer.