Wonderful afternoon :rolleyes:

[nomadd]

I meet agents regularly; this one was just even more useless and even more turdy than the rest.

Tip-o-the-day: stop meeting agents.

[EternalOptimist]

the agent sound like an eejit. ring him up and tell him that peas are legumes , in a funny voice, then hang up on him

[Mich the Tester]

At least your expectations are now set should you ever have the misfortune to meet another agent.

I meet agents regularly; this one was just even more useless and even more turdy than the rest. In fact, I suspect the client thinks the same of him now.

[SimonMac]

Yes, you would, but you have the bonus of working for a charming, handsome, witty and charismatic test manager

Who do you know?

[TestMangler]

I do, although as long as I don't have to slum it as a Test Monkey

Yes, you would, but you have the bonus of working for a charming, handsome, witty and charismatic test manager

[nomadd]

..but the agent; what a useless turd.

At least your expectations are now set should you ever have the misfortune to meet another agent.

[SimonMac]

Fancy a gig in West Yorkshire Mitch ?

I do, although as long as I don't have to slum it as a Test Monkey

[TestMangler]

Yes, but it was tulip. What an utter tosser. Clearly he hadn't bothered to really find out what clientco needed, which made it an embarassment for both parties, and then arranged for me and the other candidate to sit down together being civil to each other; all credit to the other candidate, we both did that, but the agent; what a useless turd.

Fancy a gig in West Yorkshire Mitch ?

[psychocandy]

Cant stand interviews where some guy sits there and asks totally obscure technical questions because they think that their work is the most complex in the world!

Not being funny but OK - just because I cant remember the exact command you'd use in your obscure little setup means nothing. I can find it in about 10 secs on google.

Wish clients would focus more on getting the right person in a role rather than trying to get someone who ticks all the technical boxes.

[Gentile]

...Oh and the standard spiel of 'our business is very very complicated, do you really think you can learn about it quickly' (well that;s one of the core skills of a tester and everyone thinks their business is complicated, so yes, is what I was thinking). Then questions about 'why are you looking for tester jobs when you've been a test manager; is that just caused by the market', 'no, I am a tester; sometimes I do test management, some times I do testing, sometimes I give courses or individual training; these are the skills of a professional....

Always a red flag that one. It usually means they don't really understand their own business or what it is that they actually want themselves. By contrast, people that work in genuinely complicated fields are generally confident enough in their own abilities to know that they'll be able to communicate what they want to you, without you having to become the rocket surgeon they are in their own field.

As for the agent meeting you and another candidate, and critiquing you in front of them? - what an idiot. Tbh, I'd have walked at that point.

[Mich the Tester]

Did the agent buy the coffee?

Yes, but it was tulip. What an utter tosser. Clearly he hadn't bothered to really find out what clientco needed, which made it an embarassment for both parties, and then arranged for me and the other candidate to sit down together being civil to each other; all credit to the other candidate, we both did that, but the agent; what a useless turd.

[SimonMac]

Did the agent buy the coffee?

[Mich the Tester]

Did you mess up the SQL Server 2008 question too?

No, that's a different gig.

[doomage]

Did you mess up the SQL Server 2008 question too?

[Mich the Tester]

Interview this afternoon. Turned up at agreed location to meet agent 1 hour before interview; agent turns up late, and then says 'hope you don't mind, let's have coffee and wait for the other candidate'. Hmm, OK, so we sat down and the other candidate arrived and is introduced to me; both of us obviously felt rather uneasy about this and the agent says 'I hope you don't find this strange', to which I could have replied 'yes I find it very strange, deeply unprofessional on your part and rather stupid to make both of your candidates unnecessarily nervous before the interview.

Agent then tells me about the gig, seeing as they called me without me seeing an ad, and says 'actually they think you're not really technical enough, but they agreed to interview you'. Then I get to the interview and am confronted with 3 people sitting opposite me asking lots of questions that really were directed at exposing my supposed lack of technical knowledge (they failed), and then told me they know nothing about testing but they'd selected a test tool and do I have experience with it? Erm, no. Oh and the standard spiel of 'our business is very very complicated, do you really think you can learn about it quickly' (well that;s one of the core skills of a tester and everyone thinks their business is complicated, so yes, is what I was thinking). Then questions about 'why are you looking for tester jobs when you've been a test manager; is that just caused by the market', 'no, I am a tester; sometimes I do test management, some times I do testing, sometimes I give courses or individual training; these are the skills of a professional.

Well never mind, 2 hours wasted, none the wiser, shall go for a bike ride later then down the pub for a drinky and a good meal.