Interestingly enough, with the teams I've been in the common theme has been british humor (Red dwarf refrences are all to common, espeically "Talky the talking toaster" bit). I agree with you, there is a chance of getting the " not so quite fit" person from a recruiter. I don't know what the UK hunters are like, but over here in Alberta they seem to be quite decent ( with the exception of 2). Sometimes the only way one can get into an IT position here is only through a headhunter. Getting a chance to go through the " main door" for some of these companies is about as hard as getting a chance to sing show tunes with the Pope. And like you just proved, every company is different, Honestly wish companies were like that here. Meh, I deal with the cards and play. :) My only annouyance about the head hunter route is in some instances ( like my current one), they make a good sized profit of pimpin you out and you make below that cut. very much troublesome in times like this. but hey.
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe wrote:
Eek! Well, I guess at least you get to practice the art of dark humour there.... We've had a really crap time with recruiters/agencies over the past few years - probably exacerbated with the fact we were in the freelance market in the time, and the agencies only understand the "bums on seats" model (the one thing we don't do in those engagements as it tends to be viewed very unfavourably by the tax authorities in the UK). We're very thorough when it comes to contract terms too - and they certainly don't seem to know how to handle that! Long story, but the end result is that we no longer deal with agencies, and focus on product development instead. For us, dealing with agencies proved not to be worth the stress it caused.
///////////////// Thus spake the master programmer: ``A well-written program is its own heaven; a poorly-written program is its own hell.''
