Word matching agency methods. . .are they letting the industry down?

[northernladuk]

The bold bit is a strange one and I don't know whether it is common issue or not. I seem to get employed with a nominal job title but the client seems to use me in a number of different roles as time goes by or in several roles at the same time. I often get a contract to collect requirements, then get asked to project manage the requirements into fruition and then get to be the lead tester. For me this makes sense as you get some continuity and everything that comes with that. But it it isn't straightforward to document the multi-skilled nature of the work in the CV. Also, I wander through a lot of different types of clients: avionics, finance, insurance, medical etc. Again, agencies like to put you in a box as you are easier to deal with that way. Clients used to view this as an advantage. You bring new ideas from other industries. I don't find it thought of that way any more. I find that you are expected to be a "one trick pony". However, that attitude melts away when the client experiences what you can do. Maybe that is a trust thing. . .


TT

Oh dear

I don't even know where to start with this one... Can someone else take this one on please. Mal maybe?

[TransitTrucker]

Oh dear

I don't even know where to start with this one... Can someone else take this one on please. Mal maybe?

Now you have got me worried.

TT

[kevpuk]

Arguably, the essence of contracting is to provide specialist skill(s) to a given deliverable - if you start dabbling in various (un)related aspects of ClientCo's business - you know, keeping busy, helping out, filling gaps, covering leave - you are very much a disguised permie and the Hector's nose will start a-twitching.....

[TransitTrucker]

Arguably, the essence of contracting is to provide specialist skill(s) to a given deliverable - if you start dabbling in various (un)related aspects of ClientCo's business - you know, keeping busy, helping out, filling gaps, covering leave - you are very much a disguised permie and the Hector's nose will start a-twitching.....

Hmmm. Interesting.

I agree with the bit about specialist skills. But that specialist skill is IT Consultancy. Should I make a habit of walking after the job in hand is finished because it will make it easier for the agency to understand what I do? IR haven't been an issue.

[northernladuk]

Arguably, the essence of contracting is to provide specialist skill(s) to a given deliverable - if you start dabbling in various (un)related aspects of ClientCo's business - you know, keeping busy, helping out, filling gaps, covering leave - you are very much a disguised permie and the Hector's nose will start a-twitching.....

Well there is a huge IR35 fail for a start. He is just acting like a permie helping out. No clear deliverables, being directed by client and that is just the tip of the iceberg I expect.

The point I was looking for was why he might not find work quickly. Clients want a specialist with years of experience in exactly what he wants him to do. Not a good general guy. All the skills you have he doesn't want are wasted. Funnily enough this is why keyword searching is a good start for agents. They have a specific task so why not match with keywords to specific CV. It is hardly surprising keyword searching won't work for your CV if you have flitting around jobs. If a client wants a SaaS expert and your CV only has 2 keyword hits it is going to get ignored next to the SaaS specialist who hits it 35 times.

[TransitTrucker]

Well there is a huge IR35 fail for a start. He is just acting like a permie helping out. No clear deliverables, being directed by client and that is just the tip of the iceberg I expect.

The point I was looking for was why he might not find work quickly. Clients want a specialist with years of experience in exactly what he wants him to do. Not a good general guy. All the skills you have he doesn't want are wasted. Funnily enough this is why keyword searching is a good start for agents. They have a specific task so why not match with keywords to specific CV. It is hardly surprising keyword searching won't work for your CV if you have flitting around jobs. If a client wants a SaaS expert and your CV only has 2 keyword hits it is going to get ignored next to the SaaS specialist who hits it 35 times.

Surely the "one trick pony" is the guy that won't find work. Or end up travelling to Timbuktoo. I don't consider myself a generalist. It is just that I do a wide range of specifics. There is a difference. I totally agree about the keyword hits issue though. That is working against me. If my CV was suffering from repetition, I'd factor that element out. If the automated search was counting the occurrences of a word in the CV it would find it only once. That is good engineering writing practice but poor organisation for word search software.

[northernladuk]

Surely the "one trick pony" is the guy that won't find work. Or end up travelling to Timbuktoo. I don't consider myself a generalist. It is just that I do a wide range of specifics. There is a difference. I totally agree about the keyword hits issue though. That is working against me. If my CV was suffering from repetition, I'd factor that element out. If the automated search was counting the occurrences of a word in the CV it would find it only once. That is good engineering writing practice but poor organisation for word search software.

Not at all. The client wants a specialist in a field to provide a specific piece of work so a one trick pony is exactly what he wants. If a client wants someone to come in to do some service introduction he wants someone that has years and years of service introduction. The guy that has done a bit of SI here and there and lots of PM/BA work in between will come a very poor second. Another way of putting it is a client (or agent) has a role for SI manager. He has the CV of a guy who's last three roles were SI Managment and yours where you did it one, maybe two gigs ago. Who is he going to pick. The agent can see within half the page the first guy is perfectly suited. With your CV the agent has to waste time looking for the one gig you did on page 2, which he won't bother doing as he can't see it in the first half page scan.

[TransitTrucker]

Not at all. The client wants a specialist in a field to provide a specific piece of work so a one trick pony is exactly what he wants. If a client wants someone to come in to do some service introduction he wants someone that has years and years of service introduction. The guy that has done a bit of SI here and there and lots of PM/BA work in between will come a very poor second. Another way of putting it is a client (or agent) has a role for SI manager. He has the CV of a guy who's last three roles were SI Managment and yours where you did it one, maybe two gigs ago. Who is he going to pick. The agent can see within half the page the first guy is perfectly suited. With your CV the agent has to waste time looking for the one gig you did on page 2, which he won't bother doing as he can't see it in the first half page scan.

That makes perfect sense. I guess I score when the client needs a wide field of experience and wants one person to plug a lot of holes in his organisation. I have seen roles advertised for BA/PM cross-overs recently. My last role was PM, Information Architect, supplier manager, ITIL service designer and acceptance test manager. The client recruiter was an ex-Barclays senior manager working for the government. I got the role because of my breadth of skills. I guess the client calls the shots and many of them only want a single specific skill. The agency business model is set up to handle that sort of client and it may take them out of their comfort zone to deal with me. That is life. I get time to do the decorating. . .

[northernladuk]

That makes perfect sense. I guess I score when the client needs a wide field of experience and wants one person to plug a lot of holes in his organisation. I have seen roles advertised for BA/PM cross-overs recently. My last role was PM, Information Architect, supplier manager, ITIL service designer and acceptance test manager. The client recruiter was an ex-Barclays senior manager working for the government. I got the role because of my breadth of skills. I guess the client calls the shots and many of them only want a single specific skill. The agency business model is set up to handle that sort of client and it may take them out of their comfort zone to deal with me. That is life. I get time to do the decorating. . .

Unfortunately I have a hard time believing this. Most of those skills are so unrelated it isn't true so can't see how it has any bearing on a single role. My initial thoughts when I see that list is you are probably barely adequate at any of them. No manager would expect someone to be able to plug holes of those skills in a single gig.

And if you didn't pick up, permies fills any gaps in as directed by a client. You are a contractor and fulfil a detailed set of deliverables.
Looking acting like and being treated as a permie puts you inside IR35. I hope you are with a brolly, accounting for inside IR35 or are a very sound sleeper.

[TransitTrucker]

Unfortunately I have a hard time believing this. Most of those skills are so unrelated it isn't true so can't see how it has any bearing on a single role. My initial thoughts when I see that list is you are probably barely adequate at any of them. No manager would expect someone to be able to plug holes of those skills in a single gig.

And if you didn't pick up, permies fills any gaps in as directed by a client. You are a contractor and fulfil a detailed set of deliverables.
Looking acting like and being treated as a permie puts you inside IR35. I hope you are with a brolly, accounting for inside IR35 or are a very sound sleeper.

I think we live in parallel universes. I would say that a jack of all trades is a master of none but at the same time I also don't always see enormous productivity, efficiency and/or expertise from those dedicated to a single function.