Re: Ending the Madness

[John Posada <posada -at- FAXSAV -dot- COM>]

Maury...

> A question to all the contractors out there: when you have walked into a
> contract for which you have not been given accurate information, whether
> because the contracting firm did not give you the information or because
> the client decided to change the rules without telling anyone -- and the
> truth may never really be known about either -- what happens? Do you just
> take it? Do you walk when you know you've been had? What do you do?
>
I was sent to an assignment (really big name organization...EVERYONE on the
list would recognize the name) by a contracting agency and after 10 minutes
of discussion, realized that what I was told was completely different than
what I was hearing from the client. I immediately informed the interviewing
committee (yes...committe) that I was sorry, but the job was different than
I was led to believe, and that I didn't want to waste their time and mine
with something that would make neither of us happy.  They appreciated my
opinion, we friendly-talked for a few minutes, and ended the meeting on good
terms.

I immediately went back to the agency (I was REALLY pissed), confronted the
recruiter with my observation, questioned the recruiter how could things be
so different, of course everything was denied. I then told the recruiter
that based on the situation, I was never going to be working for one of the
two parties for the rest of my life...therefore,to get the client on the
phone, put me on speaker, and we go about "resolving" the issue to find out
who misrepresented the situation.

By the time the meeting was over, I understood who it was and there is one
less organization out there who has to worry about hiring me. :-)

You tell me if I think you should "bow down".

However....be sure that you aren't basing this opinion on what you would
"like to believe" you were getting into. Make sure that the differences are
real, specific, and not imagined in the heat of rage, because as my story
ended, you and one of the parties will never be dealing with each other
again.


John Posada, Technical Writer (and proud of the title)
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