IT Staffing Firms

[IndyColtsFan]

He poor and jelly.


no one could possibly make more than our m3 driving friend here; 'cause you have to be a real man to do roids and cheat on your wife.

Do you even lift, brah?

 

[cliftonite]

I'd love to see the 1099s on this bullshit.

What is so hard to believe about this? Ive seen invoices for QA contractors ~ 120 to 150 per hr so it isn't far fetched.

 

[Tweak155]

Yeah I mean $80/hr is reasonable... when you're on 1099 you have to assume the person is paying for their own medical benefits, self employment tax, etc. It's just a bonus since he's already getting benefits through employer. The rate seems perfectly fine.

 

[sze5003]

I still get calls from various contracting firms. Im in a full time job now that I found on my own.

I had many interviews with recruiters. Robert half in my area sucked really badly. They were not technical at all. My resume out of school and after working a year and a half while in college before graduating had asp.net and c#, JavaScript, basic ui crap. They had me take a test on MS certification questions and Unix....

The others like k force almost got me a job full time..the company called me to come in three times. I think it fell apart when the recruiter was suppose to negotiate my salary. Well the recruiter screwed it up and the company also never knew what happened. Months after I was in my full time job which I work now, the company reached out to me on their own, the IT director emailed asking if I was still looking for work.

So if you don't mind contracts go for it just be firm, don't go to any interview they throw at you. Half of them are not so technical. I had one interview where I looked like a full retard because the experience they were looking for was 5-10 years and Here I was 1.5 years experience drawing shit on a whiteboard for the hiring managers not having any idea why they were asking me what the questions they asked.

 

[Worthington]

I have decent experiences with Apex from that list and that's it. Did not like RH or TeK (back in my younger years). Never interacted with K-Force.

Currently using Technical Advantage Resourcing and have been for years. They have been the best I've interacted with. Not sure how much of that is because a lot of them are from my companies old in-house staffing dept or what but they are great to deal with.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Yeah I mean $80/hr is reasonable... when you're on 1099 you have to assume the person is paying for their own medical benefits, self employment tax, etc. It's just a bonus since he's already getting benefits through employer. The rate seems perfectly fine.

Exactly. I'm not doing it full time and I can go with that lower rate since I have Cadillac benefits from my day job. Plus, even an entry-level SharePoint resource will be $100+/hr from established IT firms in most areas, so I come in pretty cheap.

I was offered a 1 year contract with some partially subsidized benefits and they didn't blink when I threw out $70/hr as compensation, which leads me to think I probably could've asked for more.

 

[cliftonite]

Exactly. I'm not doing it full time and I can go with that lower rate since I have Cadillac benefits from my day job. Plus, even an entry-level SharePoint resource will be $100+/hr from established IT firms in most areas, so I come in pretty cheap.

I was offered a 1 year contract with some partially subsidized benefits and they didn't blink when I threw out $70/hr as compensation, which leads me to think I probably could've asked for more.

What exactly do you do with Sharepoint? Recently went to a SharePoint 2010 for power users/Site collection Administrators but my job wont let me do 90% of the stuff they taught in class (no rights).

 

[IndyColtsFan]

What exactly do you do with Sharepoint? Recently went to a SharePoint 2010 for power users/Site collection Administrators but my job wont let me do 90% of the stuff they taught in class (no rights).

Development (primarily solutions with no custom code), administration, and architecture. I'm a full time SharePoint resource at my company and build custom solutions for our business and develop/manage both internal and external SharePoint sites.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Yeah I mean $80/hr is reasonable... when you're on 1099 you have to assume the person is paying for their own medical benefits, self employment tax, etc. It's just a bonus since he's already getting benefits through employer. The rate seems perfectly fine.

$80 is LOW if you are independent.
if via staffing agency, it's about right.

 

[alkemyst]

Do you even lift, brah?

Just him getting out of bed is weight lifting...

 

[Dr. Zaus]

OP:

If 80 is a massive bargain, then wouldn't $100 still be a bargain after you've established your bona-fides? You should have people knocking your door down; The wise move is to up rates until you've got them high enough that you have 'just' enough work to keep you off the streets at night.

Just him getting out of bed is weight lifting...

Poorly crafted insults will never overcome the numerous pathetic facts about your life that lead you to troll on meaninglessly on numerous forums. What's more is we all know you.. I mean, we've never met you, but you hit the stereotype so perfectly...

And we've all wanted to let you know "no one is impressed, we can all tell how pathetic you are" you know, just to find out if that'll turn "you" around.

So in a sick, sad, way I'm glad to know you Alky. Because of you I won't feel bad about not trying to set-strait all the roid-jaw, tiny-testical, used M3 drivers that I see hitting on chicks that are much too young, all while hiding that wedding-band tan line.

I mean, I would never be your friend in real life... no I only make time for people that make me a better person, and Tiny-B's like you just don't fit the bill. But I'm glad to have met you, glad to know that you're kind is much too oblivious to how shitty and empty you are to be turned around by people that just honestly tell you "wow, you are not a good person."

Nah! I'm just kidding, I'm just jelly of you're massive 'roid jaw and your broken ass M3.

 

[alkemyst]

nice editing out man-boobs because let's be honest here you could probably wear a bra.

 

[Phoenix86]

not interested in contract jobs.

Guess you don't want to work in IT. Almost every IT job is contract->hire.

It's a try before you buy atmosphere with employers, very few jobs are actual contract temp jobs even if they say they are. Employers will generally find a spot for good contractors.

 

[sze5003]

Guess you don't want to work in IT. Almost every IT job is contract->hire.

It's a try before you buy atmosphere with employers, very few jobs are actual contract temp jobs even if they say they are. Employers will generally find a spot for good contractors.

Depends on the company. My company will take years or more before they hire a contractor full time. One girl I know is a great developer worked for us 3 years before they made her a full time employee. She's better than some full time employees too. They go the other route, intern to full time much faster than contractor to full time cycle.

Smaller companies you are right though they want to try you out for a few months first.

 

[Phoenix86]

Depends on the company. My company will take years or more before they hire a contractor full time. One girl I know is a great developer worked for us 3 years before they made her a full time employee. She's better than some full time employees too. They go the other route, intern to full time much faster than contractor to full time cycle.

Smaller companies you are right though they want to try you out for a few months first.

I have worked many jobs ranging from 50 employee companies to 5000+, all did it the way I posted at all levels of IT jobs (tier 1 help desk->sr. admin/programmers). While mostly immune, even some managers/execs are handled this way too.

I know there are some direct hire job, of course. Then there's also intern (slave) to hire, which is still try before you buy. Plenty of companies play employeerofit/sales (SG&A) games by keeping contractors on the payroll at unnecessarily high costs as well.

If you want to work in IT, you must accept the fact going in as a contractor is by far your most likely avenue to full time employment.

 

[zephyrprime]

If you want to work in IT, you must accept the fact going in as a contractor is by far your most likely avenue to full time employment.

People shouldn't be afraid of the contract to hire situation. Salaried employment is over rated in my opinion. The benefits really aren't worth that much monetarily once you are above the general economy's mid levels of compensation. And you can still be fired and laid off if you are a full time employee. The only big difference is that as a contractor, you will be fired immediately if a recession rolls around. That's the real risk you take.

 

[Tweak155]

People shouldn't be afraid of the contract to hire situation. Salaried employment is over rated in my opinion. The benefits really aren't worth that much monetarily once you are above the general economy's mid levels of compensation. And you can still be fired and laid off if you are a full time employee. The only big difference is that as a contractor, you will be fired immediately if a recession rolls around. That's the real risk you take.

Even so, if you're worth your weight even then you have a fighting chance.

Getting worked up in HOW you are compensated is more often than not a waste of time. A good worker is a good worker no matter how they are associated with the company.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

People shouldn't be afraid of the contract to hire situation. Salaried employment is over rated in my opinion. The benefits really aren't worth that much monetarily once you are above the general economy's mid levels of compensation. And you can still be fired and laid off if you are a full time employee. The only big difference is that as a contractor, you will be fired immediately if a recession rolls around. That's the real risk you take.

benefits to being an employee, in order of importance:
paid vacations and holidays
401k
subsidized medical
severance packages if terminated
sense of security and belonging to a company, as opposed to feeling like an outsider

 

[sze5003]

I just notice that a lot of our contractors rarely get any credit for work that they do even if it's really good. They can't be nominated for awards or bonus things like movie tickets or free lunches. They also have to come in to the building and are not allowed to login from home. Most of them live close by, but if I were one this would be a big issue.

 

[SaDiZTiKStyLeZ]

I've had most experience with Robert Half. I've been in their systems at least 5 years. While I've met with half dozen of recruiters. I only met one who was super aggresive in getting me work. He was about my age so we were on the same page on several things & I had met him at a show too. Really cool guy. He left the company then it was kind of dead from there.

Been with Insight Global for years but they never have work for me. Or if they do, it's much farther north than I'm willing to travel.

I've tried to get in with TEKsystems. But they never really seemed interested.

I forget what others I've messed with but it's been at least half dozen or more.
Some local staffing agencies fill IT positions, but most these local places really suck shit at getting decent leads or they play too many damn games.

 

[Vitaver]

I know that IT consultant positions are often temporary/short-term project-oriented; that is why companies tend to hire an IT professional to complete one or several projects on a contract basis, before they can make a decision to hire them full-time. Some contracts can last several years, but never turn into permanent positions. A lot depends on the organization’s needs, structure, and budgets. At our staffing company Vitaver, I see various types of contracts and many consultants who were able to build great relationships with clients in their temporary projects that led to industry connections and new work opportunities. I would not suggest excluding staffing firms from your list of options as they can offer some interesting opportunities – contract or permanent – especially if you’re willing to build more lasting relationships with recruiters. When they have a new requirement, they will be happy to reach out to a candidate they know well before searching for new ones. It’s true that you can’t always run into a great, tech-minded recruiter, but once you do, you can get some solid career guidance and find a job that could be your best choice for years to come.

 

[Insomniator]

I just got a job through Insight, had to leave a good full time but terrible commute job to get accept this but we'll see if it works out.

I'm not too worried about hourly work as the rate is much higher than I was making before, even if I account for a few weeks of unpaid vaca/sick/holidays. Insight has been good, clear about everything and the contract terms are very simple to understand so I don't think I'm getting screwed by them. After the 6 month contract is up the company can hire me with no penalty (since they work a lot with insight, normally it would be 20% of my first year pay) or they can just extend which I would also be OK with.

The one kinda annoying thing about being a temp is that you aren't really part of the company. No employee perks, discounts, not even a real name badge! I know its mostly meaningless but it was nice to actually be part of 'the family' at my last job.

 

[Oyeve]

Ive had experience with all of them and neither one has ever landed me a job. Ever.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

The one kinda annoying thing about being a temp is that you aren't really part of the company. No employee perks, discounts, not even a real name badge! I know its mostly meaningless but it was nice to actually be part of 'the family' at my last job.

Actually, as someone who left a full-time position a few months ago to go make much, much more money as a contractor, I find that not being considered an employee is a big perk. At my last company, there were all sorts of employee meetings, stupid team building stuff, and a bunch of warm/fuzzy, touchy/feely events that I hated with a passion. Now? I don't have to do any of that crap and I can do what I was hired to do -- work, not socialize or participate in some lame mandatory team building exercise.