Where are all the hardcore contractors

[Fronttoback]

Maybe because being a jack of all trades but master of none is not actually that valuable in todays market?

So say i want someone to develop - why would I also want to pay them to be able to do lots of other things - I want someone to develop 8 hours a day not spend 8 hours a day braying about how good they are...

That's quite a modest pitch you have there. What about recalibrating yourself amongst a higher level of performer.
How about lifting yourself out of the tedium. Reach for the stars and become one.

Only last week I was talking to the CTO of a major open source software vendor (he makes his money from books on his software). Over breakfast whilst we discussed my major successes over the past 20 years he commented on how he simply can't get a decent PM these days. He said that in the days of agile there is no longer a need for a PM. Apparently testers are now being promoted to scrum masters and doing the job on PM. Well, my jaw hit my smoked salmon as I learned that two pillars of the software community: testers and PMs had almost become optimised out.

[woohoo]

Maybe because being a jack of all trades but master of none is not actually that valuable in todays market?

So say i want someone to develop - why would I also want to pay them to be able to do lots of other things - I want someone to develop 8 hours a day not spend 8 hours a day braying about how good they are...

Wow I can only imagine the dregs that you hire.

[bobspud]

That's quite a modest pitch you have there. What about recalibrating yourself amongst a higher level of performer.
How about lifting yourself out of the tedium. Reach for the stars and become one.

Only last week I was talking to the CTO of a major open source software vendor (he makes his money from books on his software). Over breakfast whilst we discussed my major successes over the past 20 years he commented on how he simply can't get a decent PM these days. He said that in the days of agile there is no longer a need for a PM. Apparently testers are now being promoted to scrum masters and doing the job on PM. Well, my jaw hit my smoked salmon as I learned that two pillars of the software community: testers and PMs had almost become optimised out.

Yeah well testing went down the pan with offshore teams. When the the clients found out that the bobs that were being flogged into them to do testing were crap they gave up and just lobotomised the better testers to make scrum masters and invented test driven coding to make the developers write their own tests...

Generalist is where it is for most people now.

[MrMarkyMark]

Yes I can talk to sales guys without folding. Yes I can box in the gym with traders. Yes I can banter with the developers - because
I know their game. Describing a concept , I can flip between multiple levels of abstraction in the same sentence. I can sell the same piece of kit into a developer , a quant, a trader , an accountant, whatever. I can do bits and bytes but also a polished sales pitch..anyway, enough about me.




So I'm back on the trading floor. Dominating the scrums. Flexing with the business. Yeah. I'm back. Bigger than ever, and twice the bar presence.

No, please carry on...............Oh hang on, you just did

You sound like a true natural genius, too good to worry about all us plebs, on here.

How many K, a day are you pulling, I bet its a real lot

[northernladuk]

No, please carry on...............Oh hang on, you just did

You sound like a true natural genius, too good to worry about all us plebs, on here.

How many K, a day are you pulling, I bet its a real lot

Why are you feeding the trolling sockie?

[MrMarkyMark]

Why are you feeding the trolling sockie?

Well hung over this morning, its about all I manage currently.

[WTFH]

Well hung over this morning, its about all I manage currently.

Now that answers the OP's thread title.
Most of us top-dollar hard-core contractors are still hung over and yet also invoicing this morning. Give it 3-4 hours and the others will be along shortly.

[original PM]

Wow I can only imagine the dregs that you hire.

I am confused - if you wanted to get some code done and you hired a coder would you just expect them to spend say 2 hours coding and the next 6 hours not coding?

I am not saying that I do not want the people i hire to have a rounded skill set what i am saying is I am not interested in the other skills of the skills I need are coding...

It's like if you wanted a wall building - do you want to hire someone who can lay bricks for 8 hours or someone who will lay bricks for 2 and then dick about for 6 trying to show you their other great skills.

[MrMarkyMark]

Now that answers the OP's thread title.
Most of us top-dollar hard-core contractors are still hung over and yet also invoicing this morning. Give it 3-4 hours and the others will be along shortly.

Indeed.

Luckily I was in better condition than the Client Cos boss, he looked suitably impressed with my 8AM arrival, this morning, when he arrived later

[NotAllThere]

Now that answers the OP's thread title.
Most of us top-dollar hard-core contractors are still hung over and yet also invoicing this morning. Give it 3-4 hours and the others will be along shortly.

Actually, the really hard core ones are sitting at home in their dressing gowns, hungover, with a cold, about to take a nap, and still billing.

I think FrontToBack is a bit of a small teaser.