I just checked my email this morning and noticed the latest email from the most recent recruiter to jerk my chain. This time it was Maurice Boggs from Teksystems. He is about the fourth person I have spoken with from over there. Every time they call they say I was referred to them by the same guy from two years ago. They never bother to update their system to reflect that I even exist as a human being. Just someone who was referred to them a couple of years ago.
Maurice mentions he has a senior Lotus Notes/Domino developer opportunity available and asks was I interested. I give a big eye roll and mutter some curse words to myself and then work up the best smile I can.
“Hey, I’m always interested in any opportunities that come along,” I tell him. “Ya’ll should already have my resume. I’ve sent it about three times in the past four months. I recognize Teksystem’s phone number on the caller ID Ya’ll call so much. ”
“No I don’t think we have it.”
“Alright, I’ll send another one,” I say, still with the big smile.
“Great, we have a position…” and he reads off the standard job req for a senior Lotus Domino developer.
“That’s not for Very Toss is it?” I ask.
“Uh, yes it is,” Maurice says flatly, his hopes for an easy commission sinking before his very eyes.
“I interviewed out there about six, seven months ago. First with the HR lady, then with the young lady in charge of the Lotus group,” I tell him. “Never heard anything back, not even a no thank you. I think the last person from Teksystems who contacted me was peddling the same position, as a matter of fact. ”
“Really? Did you talk with so-and-so?” he asked, naming the young lady I interviewed with.
“Yes, that’s her. I heard the job was cancelled.” I said in a deadpan.
“Oh,” Maurince deadpanned back.
“A friend of mine said he interviewed with the same person about nine months before I did, for the same position. He never heard anything back either. I know he’s a very good developer because I did a big job for him while he worked at Enron.”
“Well, uh, I think they at looking for a specific type person for the position.”
Huge eye roll. More mutterings. That is called discrimination when a white guy does it, I’m thinking. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“If they are still looking to fill the permanent position, then obviously I am not the right type for that. If they need someone to come out for a couple of months on a contract basis and knock out some work, tell them I’m available for fifty,” I tell Maurice and terminate the call.
I have had exactly one deal work out with these nitwit recruiters in the last two and a half years and that was from an outfit in New Jersey. I wont hardly deal with them anymore. But I am not through with Maurice yet. Or, he is not through with me. He calls back the next day.
“Hey, Don, I have another ‘opportunity’ at Exxon-Mobile.” Maurice then proceeds to re-read the standard job req for a senior Lotus Domino developer. “Do you have those requirements?”
Big fucking eye roll. He has no clue that he just read an almost word-for-word job description as the one for Very Toss. Not only that, there has been a standing Exxon-Mobile job req out there for as long as I can remember. Which is a long damn time.
“Yes, I meet those requirements.” I said with no trace of a smile. I asked a few questions about the “opportunity”. Maurice knew shit. With the corners of my mouth beginning to turn down just a bit I say, “Okay, I guess just send the resume.”
Usually I just tell them no thanks. But now I figure, what do I care? The knock on Exxon-Mobile is that they don’t treat contractors very well and that they want really cheap labor. Like $30-35 per hour for the senior position. I don’t mind getting treated like shit, but I wont do it for less than $45 and I always ask for fifty first. Even at that rate it is 2/3 what I used to make.
I have heard people say and I have probably said it myself, the days of making the big bucks in the consulting/contractor business are over. That may or may not be true. It is probably true for the near future, especially in the Houston market. But, if it is true that those days are over, it is also true that the days of having Don Callaway sit in a cubicle figuring out how to write sophisticated software to solve complex problems are over as well.
We are still not done with Maurice though. He calls again the next day. Before he said a word, I almost asked was he calling about an opportunity for AIG? Of course he was. He read the standard job req for a senior Lotus Notes position.
“Yep, that’s me,” I assure him.
“This job is a six month contract and it requires CLP or PLCP certification,” I’m informed. “You have that?”
For a brief moment I stand there in stunned silence. Obviously he hasn’t even bothered to read my resume. “Yeah, I’d probably have that on the resume if I had it,” I tell him. “I’ve been working with Lotus Notes/Domino since Beta 3, before it was even a viable commercial product. Twelve years. Anything that anyone wants to do with Domino, I’ve probably already done it twice.Tell these people if they need someone who knows what they are doing and who can knock out a lot of work in a short period of time, I’m available for fifty.”
“Can you send some references.”
“Goodbye.”
And therein lies the problem. Either they don’t need someone like me. Or they don’t know who I am. With idiots like Maurice and Teksystems representing me on the majority of work that comes availble, it could just as likely be either case.
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