Reply to: Excrement agencies and agents

[northernladuk]

I also never work late / long hours unless absolutely necessary.
Start early, finish early is another mantra of mine, you can't do that without getting tulip done.

I got a load of tulip done. It's a fact. Only the other day I saw my client manager showing his boss my work and saying it's a load of tulip. Booooom...

[mattfx]

No you slightly misread that, I like to have a laugh and be friendly etc.

However, I have no problem with speaking about issues objectively and sometimes very critically.
Sometimes this rubs others up the wrong way, but never permanently.

The overall result is what's important, you can do the cuddly bit after an issue is actually sorted.

I also never work late / long hours unless absolutely necessary.
Start early, finish early is another mantra of mine, you can't do that without getting tulip done.

Sounds like we like to conduct ourselves in similar ways! Late and long hours is usually the result of poor planning or failure to re mediate something in time, which I appreciate isn't always our fault, you can lead horses to water etc.

I had to fairly bluntly explain to an "experienced" engineer what a Distributed File System was today, after he asked what IP address he should use to map someone drive... I never have qualms with silly questions, but only a few minutes beforehand he had been bragging about a resilient file server migration he did whilst he was at BA a couple of years ago.. Hmm.

[MrMarkyMark]

Well then the whole "get tulip done" mantra is your brand so to speak - clearly your clients buy in to that attitude. No-one said you have to be well liked by others

I never got the whole LinkedIn thing until I started using it in anger recently - I've found it very, very useful.

No you slightly misread that, I like to have a laugh and be friendly etc.

However, I have no problem with speaking about issues objectively and sometimes very critically.
Sometimes this rubs others up the wrong way, but never permanently.

The overall result is what's important, you can do the cuddly bit after an issue is actually sorted.

I also never work late / long hours unless absolutely necessary.
Start early, finish early is another mantra of mine, you can't do that without getting tulip done.

[mattfx]

Depends on your POV.
I tend to be anonymous online but reachable via a tech forum I have written for, for many years.
Linked in was never for me and I have a facebook that hasn't been used for 6 years, or so, in fact some people thought I was dead

As for being yourself, past clients usually bring me in to get things moving, kick a bit of ass etc. they already know what they are going to get.

Doesn't always make you popular with all, but I don't really GAS about that

Well then the whole "get tulip done" mantra is your brand so to speak - clearly your clients buy in to that attitude. No-one said you have to be well liked by others

I never got the whole LinkedIn thing until I started using it in anger recently - I've found it very, very useful.

[MrMarkyMark]

Whilst I do subscribe to "business is business" when it comes to things like getting paid, knowing your worth, etc... Everything in today's market is shifting toward being personal and personable. Having yourself as a "brand" on social media and being appealing to people by being yourself. Anyone who has read the first chapter of a marketing book published in the last couple of years (which, if you're such a good "businessman" you should've done, right?) would know that.

Depends on your POV.
I tend to be anonymous online but reachable via a tech forum I have written for, for many years.
Linked in was never for me and I have a facebook that hasn't been used for 6 years, or so, in fact some people thought I was dead

As for being yourself, past clients usually bring me in to get things moving, kick a bit of ass etc. they already know what they are going to get.

Doesn't always make you popular with all, but I don't really GAS about that

[mattfx]

Whilst I do subscribe to "business is business" when it comes to things like getting paid, knowing your worth, etc... Everything in today's market is shifting toward being personal and personable. Having yourself as a "brand" on social media and being appealing to people by being yourself. Anyone who has read the first chapter of a marketing book published in the last couple of years (which, if you're such a good "businessman" you should've done, right?) would know that.

[radish2008]

agents find people for jobs. not jobs for people.

[quackhandle]

What part of my posts did you mis-read before dribbling that onto your keyboard?

qh

[craig1]

So the agents that you fired off a quick 'no thanks' email aren't going out of their way to help you out, that's weird...

Why not try the ones that you actually gave business to, rather than the ones that you rejected?

It sounds like you would have benefited from building a few more relationships with agents while you still had some leverage, alas something to think about for next time.

What part of my posts did you mis-read before dribbling that onto your keyboard?

I'm asking for courtesy. If I had no roles for people then they'd get a polite note saying so. If people were near me and I had time then I'd go for a coffee with them, I understood that I was getting the benefit of their contractor market knowledge in return for my knowledge of my sector knowledge, fair swap. Even those who regularly spammed me with contractor CVs for irrelevant roles got polite responses.

The agencies who made an effort to reciprocate with a relationship with me have benefited just as much as I have over the years, if not far more.

The one time I required a bit of help, the one-way agents made it clear to me that they didn't want to talk, the good agents have helped immensely to the point that I start my nice new contract on Monday, a massive two weeks from leaving my old job. Those one-way relationship agents are now into no-way relationships, their choice, alas something for them to think about next time they decide that politeness should only be one way. All while those agencies who went out of their way to help are now even more reinforced into me using them in future for my staffing and contractor requirements.

Contracting is personal, business is personal.

[Agent]

So the agents that you fired off a quick 'no thanks' email aren't going out of their way to help you out, that's weird...

Why not try the ones that you actually gave business to, rather than the ones that you rejected?

It sounds like you would have benefited from building a few more relationships with agents while you still had some leverage, alas something to think about for next time.

[craig1]

Man up or go perm. It's nothing personal. Business is business.

It's nothing of the kind. Contracting is an entirely personal thing, otherwise agencies and clients would take the first candidate on the list, and contractors would go to the first role they see.

Business is personal. To think of it otherwise is to think of contractors and clients as faceless generic widgets. I take my work intensely personally, that's what kept me in business as a contractor for a very long time and very successfully as well.

In the last three years, I placed over 50 contractors in total, all through three agencies I trust to treat contractors well. The agencies I know who'd tried to stiff me as a contractor got nothing but then business is business. The agencies who ignore me now will get ignored in return when I get my next role, their choice.

I do admit though that I hold a grudge longer than an Irishman looking at a potato.

[Lockhouse]

Man up or go perm. It's nothing personal. Business is business.

[craig1]

I've got a few agencies that I trust and have done plenty of good business with. They look after me in and out of contract, keeping up to date just for the sake of keeping up to date. I'd be happy to name some of them, if I could remember whether that's acceptable here.

I have a few others who do their best but are let down by struggling admin or over-aggressive targets put on them, I won't name them as I doubt the companies would be anywhere near as good if the individual recruitment agents I know left.

Other agencies have done the bait & switch trick "oh, that term is interpreted THIS way, not THAT way", ignored me when they didn't need me and outright lied to me. I would name & shame but then I wouldn't want to give them the publicity that even that would bring them.

[MrMarkyMark]

There are literally less than a handful that have looked after me properly.

However the ones that have, have treated me to decent meals, drinks, invites to parties etc. This still occasionally happens even though I haven't used that agency for the last 3-4 years.

These are usually account managers rather than the bottom of the food chain though.

[Hobosapien]

Welcome to the party pal. Agents are only of use when you're looking for work. The rest of the time ignore them like they ignore you.

I don't even reply to emails and change my business only mobile number every year or so to cull the build up of parasites.

I rarely hear from the agents even when I'm in contract via them, unless I 'forget' to submit a timesheet (usually on holiday so nothing to submit), so I have no qualms about treating them as a service when it suits me and ignore at all other times.

I'm sure they're not losing any sleep on my cold attitude towards them.