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| CURRENT SECTION :: Market Reports | UK's most visited IT Contractor Site - 250k unique visitors March 2008 |
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For those of you old enough to remember when TV broadcasts didn’t offer 24 hour service, you might recall how your TV screen would suddenly blink out and be replaced by a white dot and a loud “ooooo” sound. If you’re even older, you’ll even remember that the National Anthem was played just before that. And if you’re really, really old, you probably stood up when the National Anthem was played… I even remember when you couldn’t even get BBC2… What was that all about? Well, our site has been undergoing a major upgrade, and like most major upgrades, it’s overrun. It didn’t help that our ISP decided to upgrade at the same time (without us knowing) and so I’m afraid that we are unable to provide you with stats this week. I do promise that next week we shall be back on form and analysing the world of Apple and media generally. This is the place to click the “back” button if you were expecting job stats. There aren’t any this week. Sorry. For those of you who’ve carried on, I noticed that one of the discussion threads was about the worst interview you’ve ever had. I thought I’d share with you one of the funniest interviews I’ve ever had. I swear this is true – and if either of the interviewers recognises this – please contact me – I’d love to know what you’re up to! To put you in the picture, I had tried to set up my own business and it didn’t work out. I was almost desperate for income. This was just before Christmas in 1982. Yes, I do realise that some of you reading this were still trying to get to grips with the lyrics of “Heads, shoulders, knees and toes” around then. Anyway, I got a call from an agent asking if I would be interested in going to an interview for a contract. Obviously, I said yes. The company was based in Maidenhead and were converting US-based accounting software for the UK and European market. I won’t give any more clues about the company apart from that. Oh – all right – they were called Peachtree Software. So, my CV was sent to them and they seemed to like it and invited me for an interview. So I went. The offices were quite smart, with security-controlled swishy doors, and I introduced myself and was told to wait in the lobby. After a little wait, I was met by a friendly and attractive [...] Now – I’m off into a tangent here, but one that I feel is extremely relevant. The person who met me and subsequently interviewed me was female. So who wants to fill in the missing word above? Some options:
So, whatever, there was someone who was going to interview me who was lacking in Y chromosomes, even though her genes outnumbered me 23-22 on the X scale. Is that politically correct enough? Anyway, on to the interview. We went into one of their meeting rooms and the table looked like a shark had bitten a corner out of it. She told me to hang my coat up – only there weren’t any coat hangers. I told her that I would hang it horizontally and laid it on the floor. Then I sat down. The interview started: various technical questions about MS Basic (I told you it was ages ago) etc etc. I seemed to do quite well. Then the interview went like this: SHE: Have you seen the balloon dance? ME: No – but I’ve heard about it. [The Balloon dance became known on OTT – a post-pub programme on Friday nights. The programme featured Chris Tarrant, Lenny Henry, Bob Carolgees, John Gorman and Sally James. The balloon dance itself featured two naked men with a number of balloons that seemed to burst with alarming regularity.] SHE: Shame. [pause] Do you wear tight leather trousers? Bear in mind here that I really wanted this contract. ME: Erm… no. SHE: [Sadly] You don’t? ME: [Deciding silly is the way to go – I’ve already lost the interview] No – I prefer tight leather shorts. SHE: Why? ME: Because I’ve been told I’ve got good legs. At this point she told me not to move and picked up the phone. She called a colleague of hers and she came into the room too. SHE: He says he has good legs. SHE2: Well, come on then: show us… What do I do? I’m very tempted to call their bluff and drop my drawers but, like I said, I needed the contract. So I rolled up one trouser leg SHE2: Not bad, not bad. To cut a long story short, I got the contract and spent 9 months working for them. Apart from being the highest paid Frisbee player in the world, and tending to virtual hamsters, it was the best contract I’ve ever known. As a postscript: The agent phoned me the day after the interview and told me that they wanted me and were willing to offer £23 (remember this was 25 years ago). As this was my first contract I assumed that this was a daily rate and told the agent that I couldn’t accept that. He got back to me saying that their top rate was £25/hr. My brain suddenly shot into reverse. T-w-e-n-t-y f-i-v-e p-o-u-n-d-s p-e-r h-o-u-r??? WaHaay!!! That was my introduction into contracting. So – please accept my apologies that this week’s article hasn’t given you any statistics but normal service will be resumed next week. Best regards, Alan Potter Alan.potter@webalertz.com www.webalertz.com May 6, 2004 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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