I don't know about you, but isn't contracting a fine line between under-selling and over-selling your skills?
You find yourself on the phone to an agent or a prospective client and you've got to be able to say whether you've got the experience for a role literally within a split second of them asking you; otherwise they detect hesitation and won't have confidence in you. You have to say "yes I can do it" almost by default unless the skillset asked for is obviously way out of your area of expertise. But the trouble with this is that you get put forward for roles you are not suited to.
I've just come off the phone after being royally screwed over on this.
First question: "Have you ever installed X on Windows Server 2008?"
My thinks "I can't bloody remember. I think I did something with it on 2003 but it was a long time ago".
Then you get the rationalisation stage: "well there can't be much difference between 2003 and 2008 - I could probably work it out, and the client is in a rush. Go for it"
My answer: "I've certainly installed it on 2003, but also once on 2008" (a little white lie, but let's keep the client happy).
Then a deluge of technical questions: "What's a mount-point" What's a ABC, what's a DEF. They really did need an "expert"!
AAggrhhh!!
I gave up and said I didn't think I could help them.
You find yourself on the phone to an agent or a prospective client and you've got to be able to say whether you've got the experience for a role literally within a split second of them asking you; otherwise they detect hesitation and won't have confidence in you. You have to say "yes I can do it" almost by default unless the skillset asked for is obviously way out of your area of expertise. But the trouble with this is that you get put forward for roles you are not suited to.
I've just come off the phone after being royally screwed over on this.
First question: "Have you ever installed X on Windows Server 2008?"
My thinks "I can't bloody remember. I think I did something with it on 2003 but it was a long time ago".
Then you get the rationalisation stage: "well there can't be much difference between 2003 and 2008 - I could probably work it out, and the client is in a rush. Go for it"
My answer: "I've certainly installed it on 2003, but also once on 2008" (a little white lie, but let's keep the client happy).
Then a deluge of technical questions: "What's a mount-point" What's a ABC, what's a DEF. They really did need an "expert"!
AAggrhhh!!
I gave up and said I didn't think I could help them.
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