Reply to: Anyone fancy a gig in Europe?

[The Agents View]

I assume in this case TAV is intending to put himself in the middle of the deal, and sign a contract to supply X to his client, where X is the services described in the spec. Surely it must help to at least pretend to understand what X is, if you're going to sign a contract to supply it?

I agree. Ordinarily, I would know far more - but I'd also not be posting the opportunities on here, as I'd have them covered and sorted.

This is a requirement outside of my usual space, and whilst I've done a bit of research in order to at least hold a conversation - but it's not feasible for me to try and become an expert in the space of a few days. To be honest, I don't need to know the ins and outs of it though - The stuff I do know in depth, I do as a value add - not because I need it to do my job.

HTH

TAV

[Mustang]

.........who is prepared to work in Sweden.

FYI, I worked in Sweden for 4 years. A few points to consider on both sides...

• Sweden can be expensive but not as scary as people think. It varies according to what you are buying. Some things are expensive compared to UK others are not.
• Sweden is very beautiful - both people and places!
• The Swedes are very friendly people
• It is important to get all the official paperwork completed to give you a "personnummer" and other things.
• Accomodation is reasonably priced but very hard to come by, especially in Stockholm. There is a black market but this can be pricier.
• Public transport is good and efficient
• It gets bloody cold in winter; worst I had was -25degrees!
• Snow can last for 4-5 months.....
• The dark nights in winter take some getting used to - the long days in summer are better but equally take some adjusting!

Bottom line: Sweden is a great place but, long term, is not for everyone.

HTH

[thunderlizard]

I assume in this case TAV is intending to put himself in the middle of the deal, and sign a contract to supply X to his client, where X is the services described in the spec. Surely it must help to at least pretend to understand what X is, if you're going to sign a contract to supply it?

[SueEllen]

Blimey - I never thought I'd see a response from you that came down vaugely on my side of the fence!!

I think you're going soft on me

Not going soft on you at all.

Just pointing out it's not possible to know everything.

[The Agents View]

They aren't expected to write the spec.

The manager recruiting should either write the spec themselves or get someone in the team who knows what's needed to write it.

HR/agencies job is to filter CVs against the spec.

The issues are when HR/Agency word match exactly to the spec, when they receive a cr*p spec from the client or the client has unrealistic expectations of the skills pool.

Blimey - I never thought I'd see a response from you that came down vaugely on my side of the fence!!

I think you're going soft on me

[SueEllen]

You have summarised in one sentence why agency (plus HR) staff are a complete waste of space.
"No, I didn't write the spec, and to be honest, I also don't understand it"

They aren't expected to write the spec.

The manager recruiting should either write the spec themselves or get someone in the team who knows what's needed to write it.

HR/agencies job is to filter CVs against the spec.

The issues are when HR/Agency word match exactly to the spec, when they receive a cr*p spec from the client or the client has unrealistic expectations of the skills pool.

[The Agents View]

You have summarised in one sentence why agency (plus HR) staff are a complete waste of space.
"No, I didn't write the spec, and to be honest, I also don't understand it"

Sorry to correct you - but the ones of us who are a waste of space, are the ones who try and pretend like we know every in and out of the role, and everything about what you do.

As I clearly stated, in my first or second post, this is for a long term relationship of mine, who uses me to provide Project and Programme level specialists. In those circumstances, I am generally head hunting, and therefore, I would know every detail of every single part of the project, and every element of where the project has come from , where it is going, what tech is involved, what the stakeholder resistance is like, etc etc. The fact is, that my client trusts me, and as such, has asked me to look at something a little out of the ordinary, on the basis of work I've done previously.

I have been VERY clear on this situation, and open to feedback and suggestion - what you seem to fail to understand, is that I'm offering an opportunity here - something I'm not usually in a position to do.

I'm not telling you I'm a specialist in Architecture or Technical disciplines - but you will also note I've not pretended to be.

You've gotta love the hostility to those of us who provide the majority of you with your living though huh?

I'm sure you'd be happy to blow smoke up my $rse if I had a job spec that looked vaugely like you could do it, and had a £2000 day rate for it........

[northernladuk]

You have summarised in one sentence why agency (plus HR) staff are a complete waste of space.
"No, I didn't write the spec, and to be honest, I also don't understand it"

Thats a bit harsh. How could he understand every single spec for all the roles they deal with and to be honest to some extent why should he. He is only body shopping, not head hunting. He gathers CV's that seem to fit and pass them on to client. Job done. Ok it annoys the crap out of us I admit but doesn't make them a waste of space.

[worzelGummidge]

You have summarised in one sentence why agency (plus HR) staff are a complete waste of space.
"No, I didn't write the spec, and to be honest, I also don't understand it"

[The Agents View]

Can you given any information what the architect would be architecting, without breaching client privacy? It's a bit vague and since it mentions .NET, SQLServer AND Java it's not even clear what technology the solution is going to be built on top of - in fact is this decided or part of the job sec, to choose appropriate tech?

Surprised you're not getting any interest. Maybe it could be a partly remote-working gig - 1 week on-site, 1 away, to bring costs down?

ps: you'd be amazed what effort 'professional' trolls go to. The good ones are like undercover agents, spending months integrating themselves with an online community before attacking.

Tech selection is (I believe) a part of the role - recommending the appropriate platforms on which to build the solution.
As I say, the relationship is from a consultancy, not the end client, which makes life more difficult, simply because my effective end client simply doesn't know.

At the moment, the expectation is on site all the time, but I daresay a little flexibility could be negotiated.

As for Trolling - If I had time for that, I'd spend it doing something FAR more constructive - like sticking needles in my eyes or similar......

[nfoote]

I am being of much years experence of working in latest release of Sweden using .net

My doing turnarounds is very fast and can do plenty meny.

Haha brilliant

No, I didn't write the spec, and to be honest, I also don't understand it. ...... When it gets technical, my brain starts to overheat, and I lose the will to live alot of the time.

Don't worry a second about this one, not one single person on here understands everything they'd see in their daily jobs, if they say they do they're either God or lying, or maybe in a really really boring job. I'm currently in a room of 70 odd people and I can only understand the rubbish on about 5 of their screens. Its called Specialisation; Be really good at what you know how to do and let others be really good at everything else. A Jack of all Trades is a Master of none.

[d000hg]

Can you given any information what the architect would be architecting, without breaching client privacy? It's a bit vague and since it mentions .NET, SQLServer AND Java it's not even clear what technology the solution is going to be built on top of - in fact is this decided or part of the job sec, to choose appropriate tech?

Surprised you're not getting any interest. Maybe it could be a partly remote-working gig - 1 week on-site, 1 away, to bring costs down?

ps: you'd be amazed what effort 'professional' trolls go to. The good ones are like undercover agents, spending months integrating themselves with an online community before attacking.

[The Agents View]

Contract is in Gothenburg.

I don't doubt that the rate is low for the commitment involved - if I need to, I can possibly stretch it to £550, but that would end up overdoing things for the client, and meaning I make a paltry amount on it (like 4%!) I don't mind doing that on this contract, as I say, it's for a really long term relationship, so I'll take the hit on factoring etc.

Any takers at all? Come on - Sweden is LOVELY! and especially this time of year!!

TAV

P.S. This would be a SH!T load of effort to go to, to be trolling!

[d000hg]

I went out to Stockholm on a few trips as a permie and yes it is pricey... on the other hand all expenses were paid by the client so that probably biased where we went to eat. I don't remember the hotel being too bad, certainly cheaper than London. I would take a guess you'd just be able to retain £400/day after hotel/flights if you got cheap flights, certainly in excess of £300. Personally I'd consider that lowish for this kind of work with the sting of travelling abroad, but certainly better than a kick in the teeth if you're benched, Sweden's a nice place from what I gather. TAV, where in Sweden?

The trolling comment - I don't believe this is the case for a minute, but with some of the nasty pieces of work on CUK, it's not totally impossible to imagine someone posting fake contracts for a laugh.

[Moscow Mule]

Hmmm...maybe I'll re-consider....anyone want to teach me .net theory for a few hours?? Don't tell the wife......

Out of interest, how do those of you with long term partners/wives/husbands cope with working abroad or long distances away from home? Interested from a personal point of view really.......

£525 all in is no good for travelling / flights / accom in Sweden.

As to the travelling, a weekly commute over 1 time zone is ok, 2 pushing it and 3 an absolute nightmare. My (now) wife had to put up with me being a grumpy arse the last time I had to commute to Moscow every week.