Sometimes...

Sometimes it really takes a lot to not exhibit my frustration in a manner that limits my future. But then again sometimes it just needs saying.

As a Software Tester (aka - Quality Assurance Analyst, Software Test Engineer, etc ) I do have to deal with recruiters. it is the nature of the game. Software people change jobs often and for many reasons: boredom, start up fails, established company fails or even just don't like the new guy hired above you.

When that happens, there are two ways a new position is typically found - Network and Recruiters.

Networking is pretty obvious. You spam your buddies from previous jobs and those you met in other ways and let them know you are on the hunt.

Recruiters are a good way to get the shotgun approach going and get your resume in front of many eyeballs. Usually via a website like Dice.com or Monster.com or some other resume publisher.  One thing I always check for when I use those is to make sure my resume can be disabled from view. That is hide and unhide it. This is important.

Now recruiters used to be pretty skilled and a smallish community. They worked to try and set me up with positions where there was a likelihood of a successful match.

Not any more. Now they seem to be more like car salesman working on pure commission. And that has led to a number of distasteful habits that make the few good ones look bad by association.

1) Repeat calls. They will contact you over and over again. Months later.

2) Resume scraping. One thing that makes me consider not ever using the resume sites ever again is the vile habit these recruiting companies have of scraping resumes from those sites and never updating  or removing the information. During my recent job search, I was getting calls on my home phone which hasn't been on my resume for years. I was also getting emails to an address I no longer use for that purpose. And I would get calls to my cell phone even though I had removed that as well. A number of the agents calling me admitted freely that they dug the information up from old database entries. To me, that shows a lack of respect for me in not honoring my current published contact methods.

3) Not READING the resume. Of all the things so many of them do, this is the one item that really makes me nipple up. During and even after my search (six weeks gone now) I received insistent and pushy emails and phone calls about jobs that have nothing to do with my skillset or stated career goals. At last count, my resume contains the words "Test" "quality assurance" and the like some dozen times. No where do I indicate development skills or a desire to do development work. While there is resume history regarding support duties - any human reading the resume would know that those are long past.

4) Poorly formatted, obviously cut n pasted, terribly written and in no way proofread emails. Often the language is bad enough that I cannot decipher it or it contains demanding directions regarding applications. Straight to /dev/null with that.

I am now keeping a record of contact attempts. The recruiters I talked to and tried to work with - I keep the contact info. Violators of 1, 2 and 4 get ashbinned. Violators of number three get listed by name and company in my file of "Rule 3 Violators". What I will do with that, I don't know. Maybe, someday, I will post the list here by company and point out the failings with great derision. Today I got two new ones for "Rule 3 Violators"  -

The first blew it right in the subject - I do not do IIS support. Not because I don't like it or because I don't want to. Hell I love support. But because it states clearly on my resume that I do testing. And, frankly, support pay rates are pretty low comparatively. In addition the email contains a number of violations. it is a form. an auto email. in other words SPAM. It even provides a link for me to "opt-out". That REALLY pisses me off. I didn't ask to be on the list. You don't have any right to assume I want to be on a list.  The email also directs me to click a link and paste my resume in the link form. First, you already have the damn thing. I don't need to send it again. Second, the link isn't in the email. You aren't gonna get me to respond to one of those. And I doubt any experienced and qualified people will.

The second is for a position as a developer. I'm no developer. I sometimes write tools or scripts for testing. But I ain't no developer. Again...you didn't read the damned resume. And once again it claims they have a right to spam me because I posted my resume somewhere. Screw you. The part I love though is that the email is (as is typical) coy about who the client firm is for the contract work. Then it says at the bottom "if you are an employee of XXX, disregard this email". Hmm. Maybe I should contact that company's HR department and tell them my feelings?

You hard working, good, respectful folks who work to match talent with jobs - my hats off to you guys. There are too few of you. And you are being dragged down and eclipsed by idiots like those I note above.

Poly-Sci Season Musings

Forgive me, this one isn't planned out so I may not wax as eloquent as usual.

Like many I have been watching the candidates game their ways to the brass ring and into the high chair of office. And some things I see disturb me.

Like many folks, I have a particular loathing for what the GOP has become under the tutelage of certain media that panders to them and highly placed members of that party. So then the choice for me becomes - Do I participate in electing a black man or a white woman? But even that makes me queasy because those qualities are precisely the lowest qualifications anyone should be looking at. Then a friend who is a contemporary of mine with regards to age and experience pointed out that if Hillary becomes the President, we/I will have been under the presidency of either a Bush or a Clinton for our entire Presidential voting careers with no chance of not having one of them until we are in our 50s. Ech. Talk about a ruling class, precisely what the Founding Fathers did not want.

Or would Chelsea be old enough to run by then? eek.

At any rate, that is not really important. Or it shouldn't be when interviewing a prospective employee for the position. And yes, we should be considering it in that fashion - they are interviewing for the job. Which brings me to another point - the Wright Stuff.

Yes Pastor Wright has said and continues to say shocking, angering and flat out wrong things. For one - that is a religious leader's job. It is in their positions DNA to excite, harangue and downright frighten people into doing what is "right". But that isn't the point. I would be much more excited and angered at the prospect of any religious leader influencing my Presidential Employee. No, more what annoys and frightens me is the weight that so many place on what he says when clearly Obama is not influenced by Wright and acts in direct contradiction to Wright preaching. So let me ask this, is Obama the only person in the entire country who has had a friend or associate whom he likes and enjoys, yet disagrees most strongly with his opinions? I know the answer is no - because I have more than a few friends whom I enjoy, love and hold close who also have opinions that make my blood boil. So does my wife, her ultra-right conservative pal comes to mind. And though our debates are lively, and sometimes they may embarrass when voicing those opinions to other friends of ours who hold opinions closer to my wife's or my own - but that doesn't make either of us change our views or cripple our ability to make our own decisions. So I know of at least three people who have friends like that yet aren't robots who obey other's programming.

So my cynicism is in full trot these days. My cynicism about the ability of regular folks to think for themselves. My cynicism that any candidate will actually do something radical like kick corporate interests out of politics. Oh lordy wouldn't that be lovely?

I must be an odd duck. maybe I didn't play enough sports as a kid. Maybe I don't spend enough time watching sports as an adult. But I really don't get the "My team must win at all costs" attitude that so many seem to have. I don't understand the behavior that requires me to take an opinion and hold it to the bitter end, despite all reasoning that shows it is wrong. And we reward people who do just that. I don't get it. I really don't. Are we really that stupid as a nation?

I hear so much from the bitter Democrat race about "kicking corporate influence and influence peddlers out of Washington" and "Washington must change". Oh Really? I doubt any of that will actually happen. But lets see it. Put your dukes up, sucka and prove it. Tell you what - I have long fantasized about sitting in that chair and doing just that sort of thing. So let's see the goods. Do one thing - Veto any and every bill that gets tainted by lobbyists. That would be a lovely start. Oh and then follow that up by vetoing any and every bill that has any form of "rider" on it. If a bill is about military spending and it has a provision about searching people - can it. and if it wont survive an override - if two thirds of the legislative branch can't agree on it, then it clearly isn't a good law. And here is another - sign any law that not only meets the former requirements and also removes existing laws. We have too many as it is. And for another - any time the legislative branch says that a law has to be the way it is because otherwise corporate interests wont accept it - veto. The Airline Passenger Bill of rights come to mind. I actually heard some senator say that it had to be weakened so that the Airlines would accept it. Say what? That is utter bull. They will accept it, because it is the goddamn law.

And there is more where that came from. But that would be a helluva start.