iamacp.com – I Am A Computer Programmer
All about the daily work issues of a Java/J2EE Computer Programmer

I thought it would be fun to talk about the Top 2 Ways Recruiters Annoy Me. Over the past few years I have noticed a few things which really get on my nerves when dealing with recruiters.

The Top 2 Ways Recruiters Annoy Me

1. Low Wages – Nobody hates low wages but I have been recruiters send me some pretty low ball pay rates of jobs in the past. Like the recruiter in New Jersey who sent me a job description for $34 in California. Ok, I am not asking for a ridiculous wage but I am already close to that in Florida. Somebody is lining there pockets with $$$. All I ask is you offer me a fair wage. $34 no maybe $40-45. I am not stupid but maybe someone is. All computer consultants and permanent employees who take way under market rates hurt our industry and prove companies can get brains for next to nothing.
2. Not Reading My Resume - I have seen recruiters send me stupid automated messages saying something like this. Hi, I have seen your resume on Monster and I have a job you are qualified for. You’re sending me a C++ job when if you read my resume you will see I have only professional experience in Java. I understand that they scan for keywords but before you send a email read the resume. Recruiters look like idiots doing this. I have seen this happen several times.

Companies will try to take advantage of a employee when and wherever possible.  It’s becoming quite a common occurance in this economy seeing employers trying to get employees to do a job for well under market rate.  A computer programmer is a highly skilled profession that requires at least a 4 year college degree to get a job. Not to mention programmers sometimes work long hours when it gets busy (50+ is common for me in a hectic week)

These employers then expect people to have  5+ years (usually enough to get a good paying job in the past) and bill for 40 (as a consultant).  They want employees to get paid what someone of entry level status makes?

I don’t even think that that any American citizen (unless in extreme desparate need of a job) would take a rate way under market value. I sometimes think these so called jobs are geared toward foreigners  so the employer can say there are no qualified American’s to do the job.  Just the other day I got this ridiculous job posting sent to me.

Hi,

Here is a requirement that I am currently working on.

If you are a 100 % match please respond with the following details and an updated resume ASAP.

I will not be in a position to review any resumes without these details. Please do not submit resumes without these details.

Updated resume:
Contact Number:
E-mail ID :
Work authorization:
Current Location:
Rate:

Need Java DEveloper in San Jose,CA
12 Month Project in San Jose

$34hr

Product Based Development
Java/J2EE, Object oriented design, multi?threading, database usage, JBoss & Hibernate, Web Services
Definite plus – Commercial Experience in one or more of: SIP/VoIP technologies and VoIP billing systems, Calendaring and scheduling applications or Database replication specifically impacts due to network latencies and related concepts
3?5 years of commercial experience
Degree in CS or related field preferred

Thanks and regards.

Schubert Sen-Gupta

Account Manager

Compunnel Software Group, Inc.

MBE(Minority Business Enterprise)

12 Perrine Road, Suite 104

Monmouth Junction, NJ 08852

Ph: 609-606-9010 Ext 1411

Fax: 240 414 0343

Email: schubert@compunnel.com

http://www.compunnel.com

P Save trees; print only when necessary.

This recruiter can take his job and shove it.

Just when you can’t think anything can’t get worse it can and will.  Anything possible can and will go wrong working on a project almost seemingly at once. These are a list of the possible reasons why everything can go wrong at once when working on a project.

• Not Enough Information - Have you tried to program blind? It does not work. If you do not understand the task at hand there is no way that you can successfully code a project to completion. Trying to code with just a vague understanding of the task does not work. I have tried countless times to code blind but I always end up having to ask a ton of questions to successfully get the needed info to complete the project.

• The Chain Of Information – Knowing who to ask for the right information can be downright confusing sometimes. If you’re stuck on something you may have to ask a ton of people just to get the right answer to your question or something fixed. This is not fun at all. For example I was on a chat the other day where 10 people were involved over a 5 hour time frame just to get the answer to something which impacted my project from succeeding

• Configuration Hassles - In large companies dealing with improperly set up configurations and broken configurations sometimes happens more often than not. It’s not surprising when there are dozens of people working on different aspects at a time of the same system.

• Too Many Dependencies – I have worked on complicated systems where many components are so tightly coupled that if one component breaks it breaks the rest of the system. This is not really a good idea to code to that degree. It is not smart to code like that in critical systems.

These are just some of the many reasons why everything can go wrong at once.