Life on the bench: in my dressing gown

[Tarquin Farquhar]

Ah.

FORTH.

Or Postscript:

Fist clench agent face find hit showpage

[Sysman]

Well, the whole point of the CLI around which .NET is built was to allow multiple language implementations. Given that there's a lot of legacy COBOL code around, it's not surprising that there's a CLI-based implementation.

There are a great number of languages implemented around the CLI, including such delights as Scheme, Haskell, FORTRAN, Oberon, and of course LISP

Before I read that, CLI meant Command Line Interface

VMS had the essence of Common Language Infrastructure 30 years ago with the VAX Calling Standard. You really could mix routines written in any language you fancied because they all had a standard call interface.

[RichardCranium]

       PROCEDURE DIVISION.
       MAIN-HAPPINESS.
           PERFORM SMACK-GIT.
           STOP RUN.

       SMACK-GIT.
           CLOSE FIST.
      *    yeah, I know, but syntactically it is fine.  :-)
           MOVE FIST TO AGENT-FACE.
           EXIT.

[Julius Caesar]

Before I read that, CLI meant Command Line Interface

VMS had the essence of Common Language Infrastructure 30 years ago with the VAX Calling Standard. You really could mix routines written in any language you fancied because they all had a standard call interface.

Same with MVS.

MVS has a standard subroutine calling convention which can be traced back to the early days of System/360

[RichardCranium]

Earlier today I had a 25 minute phone call with an agent.

He called me about a role and gave me the what felt like a telephone interview.

The client wants: PRINCE2 Practitioner with some years of experience running projects, ITIL including implementation of systems into strict ITIL environments, very good knowledge of setting up service management and service delivery environments, significant public sector experience, experience of an ISO 9001 environment, infrastructure experience, experience of working in a safety critical environment, business analysis, Oracle DBA experience, SQL, MS SQL Server, staff management experience, gazetteer expertise, my own niche area, plus some other bits. I ticked every box (even if one or two of the ticks were in pencil ).

It is to run an in-house team for some famous name company but also client facing, presentations to board level, database and application support, travelling to client sites, systems implementation, systems development and maintenance and data analysis.



Then he tells me it is permie. £28k.

Salary? No: £28k 'package'.

But he was really excited that he'd found someone at last who who ticked all the boxes. Except one: I'm not local. I live 50 miles away (of which over 45 miles is motorway). So I point out that my CV shows I have worked all over the country and said I'd just move; I'm only renting.

He wasn't convinced that someone would actually consider moving for a permie job.

Eventually he said he would send me details; I am to respond before the end of today.

I am still waiting for the email from him...


I've decided it was a wind-up. So, which one of you rotten sods was it, eh? Or was it a frustrated agent with nothing better to do? Or was it SneakyS getting his revenge?

[suityou01]

Earlier today I had a 25 minute phone call with an agent.

He called me about a role and gave me the what felt like a telephone interview.

The client wants: PRINCE2 Practitioner with some years of experience running projects, ITIL including implementation of systems into strict ITIL environments, very good knowledge of setting up service management and service delivery environments, significant public sector experience, experience of an ISO 9001 environment, infrastructure experience, experience of working in a safety critical environment, business analysis, Oracle DBA experience, SQL, MS SQL Server, staff management experience, gazetteer expertise, my own niche area, plus some other bits. I ticked every box (even if one or two of the ticks were in pencil ).

It is to run an in-house team for some famous name company but also client facing, presentations to board level, database and application support, travelling to client sites, systems implementation, systems development and maintenance and data analysis.



Then he tells me it is permie. £28k.

Salary? No: £28k 'package'.

But he was really excited that he'd found someone at last who who ticked all the boxes. Except one: I'm not local. I live 50 miles away (of which over 45 miles is motorway). So I point out that my CV shows I have worked all over the country and said I'd just move; I'm only renting.

He wasn't convinced that someone would actually consider moving for a permie job.

Eventually he said he would send me details; I am to respond before the end of today.

I am still waiting for the email from him...


I've decided it was a wind-up. So, which one of you rotten sods was it, eh? Or was it a frustrated agent with nothing better to do? Or was it SneakyS getting his revenge?

Tinkles. Definately Tinkles.

Gogetim.

HTH

[cojak]

Had my first conversation with an agent.

It did not go well. (I'm very rusty at this I've just discovered.)

It was stilted and I was floundering a bit ("no I haven't got financial experience - your ad didn't ask for it").


Still - it was excellent practice for the next one.

[RichardCranium]

Had my first conversation with an agent. It did not go well. (I'm very rusty at this I've just discovered.) Still - it was excellent practice for the next one.

Never worry about how the conversation with a pimp goes. When they hang up the 'phone you cease to exist in their head as they move on to the next victim / role.

I have had calls with agents where they have made me feel inept, incompetent, stupid or even childish. That is because they have used sales techniques to make me feel that way so they can control the conversation and, therefore, any subsequent negotiation. They are trained in how to do this; it is the same as a car sales person or hi-fi sales person saying "No, you don't want that, trust me. What you need is this." It is all part of the game to them. With practice come familiarity and experience and you get the hang of how to deal with them.

And very occasionally you get an agent who has had some proper, professional sales training. They bring you out of yourself, work with you to highlight your strengths, make you feel big and confident and at the end of one of those calls you feel you could win any gig in the world.

It's not you. It's them. And they make tens or hundreds of calls a day - it is their job. They are very good at controlling telephone calls.

There is nothing wrong with deciding to dedicate an hour a day specifically to phoning up agents about gigs just to get the practice in. Do it for gigs where you are only a 50% fit. This will help you practice selling your strengths and glossing over or bigging up your weak areas. The agents you manage to speak to won't blacklist you for trying to speak to them but you will gain experience and confidence (including in how to get past the 'gatekeepers'). If you do it with the mindset that you don't actually want any of these gigs, then it is just an investment of some time in exchange for free experience.

[cojak]

It's not you. It's them. And they make tens or hundreds of calls a day - it is their job. They are very good at controlling telephone calls.

There is nothing wrong with deciding to dedicate an hour a day specifically to phoning up agents about gigs just to get the practice in. Do it for gigs where you are only a 50% fit. This will help you practice selling your strengths and glossing over or bigging up your weak areas. The agents you manage to speak to won't blacklist you for trying to speak to them but you will gain experience and confidence (including in how to get past the 'gatekeepers'). If you do it with the mindset that you don't actually want any of these gigs, then it is just an investment of some time in exchange for free experience.

Cheers Dickie, much needed advice.

[AlfredJPruffock]

It is a paradox of life - them that have - gets.

I have had over the past week three emails from agents whom Ive worked with in the past (all for genuine active positions) in my field - however as I am booked up for the next nine months I've had to graciously decline.

At least it indciates some kind of increase in demand - two out of the three are for the Financial sector - for what its worth.

So for the benchees - nihil desperandum.

Never despair - and Don't give up.