Reply to: Extra hoops to get the job

[Sockpuppet]

but of course the savvy amongst us know that we can't afford (literally) to be so nonchalant anymore.

What interesting hoops have others been asked to jump through, have you been asked to do homework - did you accept or decline?

Not seeing that many more hoops. I was asked if i'd do a few days free for a client. I said no.

[Board Game Geek]

For those that have been taken advantage of in this way, and are able to, can you name the companies involved ? (eg, you've left)

I don't want to give any business to such companies for a number of reasons.

[Ivor Bigun]

It says that the market is heavily saturated and there are a lot of contractors with good experience (6-10+ years) applying for roles.

Agreed

My CV also shows success having worked for some of the biggest companies in the world on some of the highest profile websites - unfortunately this is irrelevant in a saturated market.

In the end, congrats on getting the gig.

All I'm trying to remind you is that doing the unpaid work didn't get you the gig on its own. There are other factors:
- Can you do the job?
- Your availabilty
- Your rate
- Your quality of work
- And after taking all the above in consideration, they liked you enough, or thought your face fit.

Doing unpaid work worked this time, but it won't work if someone else is better than you in the other areas.

Just MO

[Amiga500]

Never had to do anything - If asked, I would have said
"Certainly, my rate will be"......
There is nothing wrong with expecting to be paid and my CV shows success anyway.

IMO, the fact that you've been asked to prove yourself says more about you than you realise.

It says that the market is heavily saturated and there are a lot of contractors with good experience (6-10+ years) applying for roles.

My CV also shows success having worked for some of the biggest companies in the world on some of the highest profile websites - unfortunately this is irrelevant in a saturated market.

[Amiga500]

I had to do one the other day - for a car manufacturer. Spec was to produce a website and marketing strategy for one of their models.

This was to be even considered for an interview i.e may or may not be interviewed based on i what i produce. Totally grim, took me a good half a day to produce the site.

Wierd thing is that the role isnt for either marketing or web design!

Did you get feedback?

[BrowneIssue]

So the agency kept sending candidates, even though they knew what was going on?

This was for a permie role; they had advertised in the newspapers. Five of us did presentations over one or two days.

I had had to buy OHP sheets and all sorts. One was to provide a number of copies of the slides and handouts, all at one's own expense.

As I said, I'm older, wiser and more cynical now.

Not so cynical as those bastards though.

[MPwannadecentincome]

For a South London housing association I had to produce a project plan and other stuff then do a presentation on how to set up a new housing system.

They admitted at the end of the interview that there was no job, they just wanted free consultancy.

Five of us had fallen for it.

I'm older, wiser and more cynical now.

So the agency kept sending candidates, even though they knew what was going on?

[Ivor Bigun]

What interesting hoops have others been asked to jump through, have you been asked to do homework - did you accept or decline?

Never had to do anything - If asked, I would have said
"Certainly, my rate will be"......
There is nothing wrong with expecting to be paid and my CV shows success anyway.

IMO, the fact that you've been asked to prove yourself says more about you than you realise.

[Durbs]

They admitted at the end of the interview that there was no job, they just wanted free consultancy.

How long did you serve for the assault charges?

[BrowneIssue]

For a South London housing association I had to produce a project plan and other stuff then do a presentation on how to set up a new housing system.

They admitted at the end of the interview that there was no job, they just wanted free consultancy.

Five of us had fallen for it.

I'm older, wiser and more cynical now.

[Durbs]

I had to do one the other day - for a car manufacturer. Spec was to produce a website and marketing strategy for one of their models.

This was to be even considered for an interview i.e may or may not be interviewed based on i what i produce. Totally grim, took me a good half a day to produce the site.

Wierd thing is that the role isnt for either marketing or web design!

[ace00]

Am I the only one here that had to look up "heuristic website evaluation"?

No. What's a "heuristic" anyway? Is it some kind of beaver?

[HairyArsedBloke]

Personally I'm getting more satisfaction by listening to agent bulltulip.

TEKSystems (wow they sound good) told me they were different because they form a relationship with the contractor not the client. As a result they need to take 2 technical references in order to do some pre-initerview vetting. Bwah ha ha.

Some cockspanner then tried to talk me down from the lofty heights of £20 an hour. Had I known that rate I wouldn't have even hit submit.

Now I get rid of them by telling them to drop their margin, usually works pretty quickly.

[Moscow Mule]

Am I the only one here that had to look up "heuristic website evaluation"?

I might have to study this myself

I wish somebody writing http://www.britoval.com/home/surrey-cricket had studied it.

It's a f'in nightmare

[Amiga500]

True - but a few thousand words sounds a bit much. Surely you'd write in general terms about what needed doing and submit it with the estimated cost of doing the work?

The job is through an agency with a daily rate so it was not really a situation in which you would give an estimate for a set piece of work. I think the idea behind the exercise was to see who could pull their finger out and deliver something within a deadline (I had one day to complete the piece incidentally).

As mentioned earlier consultants often work without charging, after all our customers are our clients and so giving a bit extra can't really hurt. As I said the cynical 'holier than thou' contractor attitude of the past is probably wearing a bit thin in current economic times.