"The chat"

[beaker]

Had "the chat" with the client today... you know the drill.

"Finance are cracking down on costs... and we're over budget... ideally we'd like all of our people to be permanent... would you be interested in going permanent?"

"No I'm happy doing what I'm doing (why would I want to earn half as much?)... I might be interested in a more senior position available (like being your boss or if you give me some equity!)"

"Oh we don't have anything like that at the moment. Anyway we'd like to hold onto you and can you stay around for another 3 months?"

"Sure..."

Same old same old *yawn*

Oh to be young and free...

[King Cnvt]

I've had that "chat" a few times.

Always amuses me.

You just have to smile, nod, listen, be polite and then say "Overall I'm happy to stay an independent consultant".

And then sign the next extension contract at 3x permie salary.

[thunderlizard]

I had a variant on it once. The client's staff were all having to reapply for their jobs and for some odd reason a confused director scheduled me in for a 1 on 1 too, probably at the insistence of a HR moppet. It went something like this (neither of us could keep a straight face).

him: Hi Thunderlizard. This meeting is just for me to say that you probably don't want to apply for any of the jobs, but even if you did, since you're not already a staff member, you wouldn't get one.
me: Correct. Thank you for your time.

[VectraMan]

The phrase I always remember from the first time I heard "the chat" was "it depends on the lifestyle you want".

My client is cutting costs and getting rid of the permies, but seem happy to keep me.