James,
Being an old hand at being a professional slut and having dealt with
many pimps and even once been shafted 35%, I think I'll save you some pain
and give you a little advice. :)
Quite simply - pimps are tools. Some of them are nice, some are not, some
you may even become friends with after being pimped by them..
However, never, ever consider taking a contract at a place that's not
close to home without at least 2 weeks of cash in your pocket and a return
ticket home by some means. If you did the work and they didn't pay you -
you can pull out a lawyer or call a friend (hell, email SLUG and you'll
get a dozen replies!) who will point you to a variety of organizations
that deal with nasty pimps..
In terms of finding work - as I said, if you don't have a reputation in
the industry - then pimps are your best bet. But use the following ruleset
when dealing with pimps:
1. Have a professional resume - nobody wants to know that you got a merit
certificate in primary school and worked at McDonalds when you were
14. Put it in a format pimps understand - keywords with your skillset
etc.. Make sure you leave your age out - for some jobs the pimp will think
you're too young, for some, they might think you're too old. Let your
client decide - not the pimp.
2. Check out Jobnet - search for suitable jobs - pick a bunch of positions
from at least 5 pimps - and send your resume in regards to those
particular positions or similar. Make sure you believe you can do those
jobs.
3. Unless you have shitloads of time to kill and nothing better to do -
make sure you don't turn up to pimp interviews - you don't need to see
the pimp if you're good for the job.. you want to see the client.
4. Sell yourself! Make sure you talk with a set of balls like
Schwarzenegger. Be firm. Know what you want. Show no weakness.
5. Avoid the larger agencies who have bulk deals with larger players
like [EMAIL PROTECTED] they will screw you down with all their might. And
other larger ones like Morgan/Banks will offend you with their we are the
best attitude and shaft you more than the smaller players.
6. Make absolutely sure that you know your stuff (relative to the clients'
requirements) :)
7. If the concept of a pimp offends you - don't hesitate to call the
client direct - do some research on a few companies and find out what
their corporate structure looks like, ask around and find the manager who
would need someone like you and call/email them.. Large corporations
(especially carriers) love hiring enthusiastic grads etc..
8. Good luck. :)
//umar
I am a young programmer looking for work and I welcome genuine job postings.
I am very clueful indeed, but clueful in programming and not anything else.
I didn't know about the jobs on linux.org.au until today.
I am not stupid by any stretch of the imagination, however I have no idea
where to look for a Linux job other than on this list (and today as I found
out, on linux.org.au).
I agree about agencies however. I don't like them - wouldn't trust them as
far as I could spit. I got burned by an agency at just 19. They left me in
Melbourne with no money for 5 weeks, refusing to pay me early on. I had to
beg for money just to buy food. This was insulting and I will never recover
from the experience. This agency was called Peoplebank, in Bourke Street,
Melbourne.
--
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