[IxDA Discuss] More interactive jobs / less interactive talent ? [back to the ?]

[Katie Albers]

Well, as you can already tell, this brings up a lot of
questions. But here's my take on some parts of it.

I come at this from the point of view of a User
Experience Designer with 12 years' experience (Yes, I
was designing user experiences back before imagemaps.
It was much simpler then) who's been working as a
contractor since '99. My educational background and
early work is usability centered, but over the years
I've moved from doing everything myself to a more
strategic oversight role all the aspects of user
experience. 

1)Tell me where the job is. I'm always getting
inquiries about really wonderful jobs, but they're
located someplace I don't want to move to. This
information often takes forever to get from the
recruiter. 

Which is related to ...
(2) If it's a contract position that is would require
me to work out of town, then keep in mind I probably
don't want to move for a short term position, and I'm
not willing to pay for my own travel in these cases,
either. So the company had better be willing to pay
travel and lodging for me *in addition* to an adequate
hourly rate. 

(3) Stop making me guess what the rate is. I've
started hanging up on recruiters who want to go
through the song and dance of "I don't want to waste
your time, so tell me what you're getting." Well, I
don't want to waste your time either, so tell me what
you're offering. The worst part is that this ploy is
invariably followed by a discussion on Why You Want
This Job Even Though We Can't Pay You Anything Like
What You're Making. Or my favorite discussion: Why You
Aren't Actually Worth That Much.

(4) Read the resume. I am driven insane by recruiters
who call or email me and say they've seen my resume
and I look like a great match for X. Could I email
them a resume? This is usually followed by a call
which starts with questions like "How many years'
experience do you have?" a question answered in the
first line of my resume.

(5) Make sure you really understand what your client
needs. Do they actually need someone who's an expert
in Photoshop or did they just happen to have someone
in that position before who was. And incidentally --
Yes, everybody is writing job descriptions that could
be filled only by daVinci, but nobody wants to pay
him.

5a) In general, learning tools is fairly easy. As an
independent contractor and consultant I've had to
learn new tools on every job I've done. If you
understand the problems and requirements of the
position, learning the tools is easy. 

5b) Clients need to be extremely clear on what they
need a person to *do*, rather than giving laundry
lists of required tools. On the recruiting side, that
means you get the entertainment of staying abreast of
changes in the field; how the definitions of positions
are evolving; how other companies define similar jobs;
etc.

In any case, apart from the long term process of
creating a qualified applicant pool...that's what I
can think of that would make it easier for me to work
with recruiters.

Katie
 
--- "Wunderlich, Judi" <jwunderlich at aquent.com> wrote:

> Here in Chicago I am definitely seeing more
> interactive jobs, both permanent
> and contract, and less people available to fill
> them. My colleagues around
> the U.S. are seeing the same thing.
> 
> What about everyone on this list who hires or
> recruits? Do you agree,
> disagree, have any observations?
> 
> And, most importantly, is there anything we, who
> need talent, can do to
> address and solve this?
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Judi Wunderlich
> Director of Recruiting
> A Q U E N T 
> 8410 W. Bryn Mawr, Suite 600, Chicago, IL 60631
> Phone: 773 695 9564
> 
> 
>
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