[rescue] Re: Career Rescue

[Gregg Mackenzie]

> From: Brian Hechinger <wonko at arkham.ws>
> 
>> Have you guys considered contracting?  I don't know about
>>
> i was laid off from both of my last two jobs since i was a contractor and
> therefor the first in line to get canned.  so yeah, i've done contracting,
> and in both cases it has gotten me screwed.  :)

Whether or not you got screwed kinda depends on how you look
at it.  I've been downsized, rightsized, surplused, laidoff,
reorganized, RIFed, and simply "let go."  The first few times
it felt a little like screwing, because I was raised to
believe that if you're good to the company, they'll be good
to you.  That may've been true in a different era, but them
days're GONE, baby!  These days, the corporation is a coyote:
if it gets caught in a trap, it'll chew it's leg off to save
itself.  Labor is one of the legs.  You may be Brian to your
boss, and maybe even your boss's boss, but to the corporation,
you're just labor, a line item on a spreadsheet.

I changed my attitude about being canned and I'm a happier
person now.  It's an opportunity for me to move on, head off
in a new direction, learn something new, and meet new people.

--

> From: CARL.P.HIRSCH at sargentlundy.com
> 
> Sounds like scabbing to me.

If I were taking a striking worker's job, crossing a picket
line, doing the work of striking workers, handling scabbed
products, or ignoring labor boycotts then I'd be scabbing.
If you're fired (laidoff, downsized, etc., etc.,...see above)
and I come in to do your work for less money, then I'd be
scabbing.  But if they fire you, and then hire me to complete
your work (typically for more than it cost to employ you) and
then I'm gone when the work ends, how is that scabbing?  In
the end, we're both gone and the job no longer exists.

> Not having issues with you here, but rather with employers.

Employers are coyotes (see above).

--

> From: "Fogg, James" <JFogg at vicinity.com>
> I have used contracting as a tool to gain valuable experience, but I have
> found it to be demeaning and unfulfilling. My contracts tend to pay less and
> the company doesn't place any value in you. The worst aspect is that other
> employees look at you as "the scab", "the peon" and "the fast moving
> competition".

I'm not too proud to do whatever shitjob noone else wants
to do, and doing the shitjobs well is often how I start
earning the trust and respect of the employees.  If a
company wants to use me as an $80 per hour tape monkey, no
problem, it's their money.

I gave up on trying to get fulfillment and self-worth from
my job.  Unless you invented the internet, cured cancer,
discovered the G-spot, or created sunhelp.org, what will the
work most of us are doing right now mean when we come to the
end of our days?  Or, even in a mere 5, 10, or 20 years?
For most of us peons, it'll mean squat to 99% of the world.

--

Again, contracting, consulting, or whatever isn't for
everyone.  It's just a suggestion for those who are, uh,
apprehensive about finding their next "real job."

(Maybe this should move to geeks.)

later,
Gregg Mackenzie
gmackenz at ball.com