I'm starting to get some calls

Discussion in 'Employment & Jobs' started by tripwire45, Oct 8, 2003.

  1. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    On Monday, I was at my slave job and my cell phone goes off. It was a call from a recruiter in Florida I've worked for before. The fellow was given my name by another person at their office. He offered me a one day job doing a server refresh. Unfortunately, there was a tad less than 48 hours notice and, already scheduled for the week, I had to turn it down. I sent the lady who had given him my name a nice "thank you" e-mail saying that I'm still available, but sometimes need more lead time. Of course, it's extremely common for independent contractors to get calls from recruiters saying: "I have a job in your area. Can you drop everything and get over there in an hour?"

    Yesterday, I get a call from a recruiter from Virginia that I've worked for in the past. This time, the job isn't until next Tuesday. It's an OS upgrade on six PCs plus installing a new hard drive on their server. The job is in a town about 20 miles down the freeway from me. I said "yes". It pays in about the middle of my acceptable hourly wage range and is set for six hours max. I won't get rich, but it is another job to add to the ol' resume/CV. I went back to the office after finishing my slave job yesterday and found the boss had already scheduled me for next Tuesday (they did scheduling a day early because there's a holiday in the US next Monday where the Postal Service will be closed)> I wrote him a note asking for that day off. I haven't had a problem with them bending for me before, but it will be the first postal work day after a three-day weekend and they'll be hungry for help. Here's hoping.

    I'm posting this to let those of you trying to get some experience that things are happening out there. Keep looking and especially, develop relationships. I got those calls not only because I'm a tech in the right part of the country to do these jobs but also because I've developed a relationship with these people and a reputation that says I can do a good job. I can't stress how important it is to have those relationships for those of us who are just starting out. Hang in there.
     
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  2. flex22

    flex22 Gigabyte Poster

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    You deserve every success Tripwire.Again, I'm made up for you :D
    :hang Sure will.
     
  3. SimonV
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    SimonV Petabyte Poster Gold Member

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    Good advice Trip, You got me thinking :idea: :idea:
     
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  4. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    Flex, that's NOT what I meant! Si...let us know what your thinking when it's appropriate.
     
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  5. Jakamoko
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    Jakamoko On the move again ...

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    More good news there, Trip !

    Just to add, one guy I work with at my slave job is a recently graduated Programmer, so he and I have been helping each other out on the job front - you know, giving each other the nod here and there :wink: Actually, we've both applied for respective positions (him, Programming - me, Support) with the same local authority, so here's hoping...

    Anyway, today I went in to work, to find out Gerry (the guy) wasn't there - "Where is he ?" I asked my Boss

    He replied "Oh, I told him to go and see my neighbour, who's a recruitment consultant, for some CV advice - one call later, he's got a four week Temp job" Exellent, I thought, what a cool boss.

    "I'll have her see you as well, if you like ?" said my Boss :!: Eh, yes !!! I replied, ASAP :!:

    I then thought, what a damn fine Boss that would "help" let 2 of his 3 drivers go, because he can see their potential and want's them to succeed in the areas they're qualified in.

    I'll miss the big yellow fruit van tho'..... :cry:
     
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  6. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    It's getting better/worse/I'm confused. I had to stuggle somewhat to be able to do the Tuesday job. As I mentioned, it's the day after a three day weekend here and my boss was a bit put out. I explained that I had accepted the offer before I knew of my schedule and added that, since it's not a full day job, I'd be willing to come in and carry mail after the OS upgrade/hard drive installs were done.

    I went back to the recruiter to see if the schedule for the job could be changed at all, in case Tuesday wasn't an option...no go...it's set in stone. Fortunately, my boss was able to change the schedule around to cover med (whatta guy).

    Then, as I'm hustling to get the last of my load of mail delivered before critical dispatch, my cell goes off again. It's a local Manpower Professional I've worked with before. She's got a company here that's looking for someone to support 300 PCs, help in setting up, repair, purchasing hardware...even light bookkeeping (that part's wierd). She said she couldn't tell me the name of the company (I guess I'll find out why they're so mysterious) and asked if I'd be interested. It would be a long-term placement, which is nice. It's in a town about 20 miles away which I don't mind. The pay is on the lower end of my acceptable range which doesn't please me alot, but all I've asked for was a starting point and someplace to use my current skillset and build on it.

    I went to manpower's site but the job's not listed...must be brand new...or again, "the mystery". They want someone on board by next Wednesday which, assuming I'm accepted, won't let me give much notice to my current "slave owners". My recruiter said we might be able to work with them on that point. I'll e-mail her my updated resume and see where we go from here.

    I just downloaded all the documents and instructions for the Tuesday job, so I'll have some reading to keep me busy. Naturally, there's a conference call (dial xxx-xxx-xxxx, input your pin then say your name...then you'll join the conference). It always sound like everyone's taking inside the Batcave and they're all so serious. Mostly, they go over stuff you could put in an e-mail, but I guess the customer feels better having an interactive meeting with the techs. There's always big money behind these projects so what the customer wants...they get.

    That's the haps in my little corner of the world. Maybe, I won't be working in wireless after all...then again, I haven't exactly been made the offer of my dreams either. We'll see.
     
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  7. Nelix
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    Nelix Gigabyte Poster

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    I know what you mean about the conference calls sounding like everyone is in the bat cave........hence, our the room in which we have our conference equipment is called 'The Bat Cave' (Used to be called Meeting Room 1)and the phone itself is called 'The Bat Phone'.

    I hope everything goes the way you want it to Trip.
     
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  8. tripwire45
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    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    Update: I had to punch a 45 minute hole in my mail delivery job to attend the conference call last Friday. The first 10 minutes were spent listening to people sign on to the conference and having one of the moderators take roll. Then we went over the paperwork followed by the obligatory Q and A session. It ended with another roll taking. In the middle of all this, a few stragglers signed on causing some minor interruption.

    The project seems fairly straightforward and there's a tech support number to call if anything gets hairy. Since the office will be offline because of the upgrade, there'll only be the manager and I in the office. That's a lot better than six or seven worker bees bugging me: "When will we be able to use our computers again?".

    I'll go over the project details after it's done so I can include the hitches. I can't post the actual instructions because they're proprietary and I'd probably get sued.

    As far as the other job...as of Friday, my recruiter says she hadn't heard back from them...odd since they want someone on board by the middle of next week. Either they're behind in their hiring process or they've already got someone else in mind and are "blowing off" my recruiter (and me). I found out that it's typical for a recruiter to "hide" the name of the employer since, after all, they get a commission for a successful referral and they'd like to avoid someone like me applying directly for the job. Oh well...

    I won't hear anything else about it now until at least Tuesday.
     
    Certifications: A+ and Network+

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