Turned down a contract

[norrahe]

our time will come

If only, I've refused rates that were simply insulting and all I'm noticing is said rates getting lower and lower.

Even in the depths of 2008/early 2009 the rates were still decent!

[Scary]

I'm doing you a favour by not taking tulipe rates. Only when lots of people refuse the low rates will the rates go up.

That's when there's no one local who'll do the job at "market rates" so they ship in Bob.

[scooterscot]

I hope those modellers don't come from the City!

I'm talking about real mathematical modelling where I'm constructing formulae to perform calculations not some pre-programmed box which you punch in some numbers.


I actually met a guy recently from the city, a mathematical modeller, I was staying in his new business, a B&B, a very nice one at that.

[Mich the Tester]

I'm talking about real mathematical modelling where I'm constructing formulae to perform calculations not some pre-programmed box which you punch in some numbers.


I actually met a guy recently from the city, a mathematical modeller, I was staying in his new business, a B&B, a very nice one at that.

I think part of the trouble in Holland is that the big ‘system integrators’ like Crap Gemini, Logicack, Cackcenture and so on sacked a whole load of people last year and those people have been going freelance involuntarily; with no experience of running their own businesses they think 45 euros per hour is a lot of money because they haven’t done the sums to work out the costs of running a business. Once that lot go broke, as quite a few are, maybe they’ll go back into permiedoom and life will improve for the contractors.

It's also the case that straightforward ISTQB/Tmap certified testers are very easy to come by and are a commodity; the price goes down all the time. People with broader experience of other testing approaches and in depth knowledge of some technology or sector are a different kettle of fish. My current clientco spent several weeks trying to find someone with the right mix of experience and interviewed lots of these standardised lemmings before I was introduced via an old clientco.

[cojak]

Folks/agents who are obsessed with making a quick buck, those folks me dears are in for the biggest shock of all.

I sooo hope you're right..

[scooterscot]

I sooo hope you're right..

My reasoning stems from the taste the new behaviour of agents is leaving in the client's mouth.

Yes the agent gets me on site, yes they are making bucks but I don't believe the attitude has a future. I've never heard clients talk so openly about agents before until recently - and the talk is not pleasant.

Many of the folks I work for are tied by some corporate policy. Only recently I've had a manager challenge that position on my behalf so I'm working offsite. I would never have had this favouritism a few years ago.

I'm very certain progress will only be made very slowly, the realisation of this is what needs to be understood and understood quickly before the country digs itself even deeper.

[Mich the Tester]

I've never heard clients talk so openly about agents before until recently - and the talk is not pleasant.

whs

[doodab]

Yes the agent gets me on site, yes they are making bucks but I don't believe the attitude has a future. I've never heard clients talk so openly about agents before until recently - and the talk is not pleasant.

My recent experience is similar. The clients know it's not us who is screwing them, and we know it's not the client screwing us. Who does that leave?

[ChimpMaster]

My recent experience is similar. The clients know it's not us who is screwing them, and we know it's not the client screwing us. Who does that leave?

The problem I am seeing, even with having given many years of trust-building valuable service, is that when it comes to cutting costs the client will dump you like a diarrheic turd when Bob shows his face.

[CalmEddie]

I've noticed a similar trend in the whole margin territory for the past 12 months now.

Me too. It's really getting in the way, especially on the bench. I keep seeing the same thing. My CV is put forward to the end client for a job I can do standing on my head. I don't get called for interview. It goes nowhere.

Then the agent gets sacked or something, because next thing, the same job is re-advertised on the boards. Just one scenario of many.

My problem is that my expertise is at a higher level with a higher rate, but with the margins bringing the rate down it puts my CV in with a load of aspirational people. Junior project managers who really only manage day-to-day tasks.