Win-Win-Win
Where I work, we have a core value called “simultaneous promotion of all interests.” That means that it’s my job to not only make the client happy, but also to make the person I place there happy, and also to do what’s good for me and for my employer. In other words, I’m to make sure I find that magical point in which the person I place with the client is happy with the work and what they’re being paid, the client is happy with the quality of work being done and the bill rate they’re paying, my employer is billing a fair price for the service we provide, and I don’t have a client or talent making my life hellish.
Sounds good, yes?
Well, that also means that if I have a junior-level help desk position open, and my choices are A. A junior-level help desk person, and B. A network engineer/database administrator, I’m going to lean toward choice A. Why? Because unless it’s a short-term fill-in sort of job, my client wants someone that isn’t going to get bored and quit. I’d rather place the person who is a perfect match and will be able to use the experience to advance his or her career than the person who is massively overqualified and who will constantly be trying to get something else that’s a better match for their skills.
I’m not against the idea of people taking whatever they can get while they look for something better in principle, but if I have the choice, I’m going to place the person whose experience level is the closest to the requirements of the position, because then:
- my talent is pleased to have something good to put on his/her resume
- my client is pleased to have someone with a low turnover risk
- I am pleased at the lower likelihood of having to refill the position on short notice
- my company is pleased that the client and talent will be loyal to us for future business opportunities.
Thus, if you call me and tell me you’re a network engineer who also has three eyars of Oracle DBA experience, I’m not going to put you in a help desk position unless I’m all out of help desk people to fill the job with. So don’t argue with me about it.
