Real vs freelance jobs (was Re: [thelist] Job Change Question)

Carlos Costa Portela ccosta at servidores.net
Sat Oct 26 07:33:00 CDT 2002


On Fri, 25 Oct 2002, Steve Lewis wrote:
> >>only interested in real jobs (start, end, company, what to do in that
> >>company).
> Have they heard of the portal?  What sort of traffic does it get?
> Unless the portal has a reasonable share of traffic from it's intended
> audience and is currently alive, I doubt it will help you much but this
> depends alot on how you sell it.

	Well, this is a portal oriented to biologists
(http://www.biologia.org/, spanish -sorry) and it is well-known by
scientists (not my potential employers). I think that it is a reference in
its environment (Biology, Spanish).

> > You need to provide a commercial context for any 'self employed' work.
>
> I agree: provide a commercial context.

	Well, this can be a good strategy.

> When applying for 'real' jobs as an employee of someone else, there is a
> tendancy on the part of those doing the hiring to discount work that was
> not done as an employee of someone else.  You could postulate that The
> Man wants to see proof that you are a well behaved and obedient cog. :)

	For example, in one interview last month, the interviewer asked me
for the more important job done by me. When I said biologia.org, he said
me: "not, jobs for companies, please").

	On the other hand, some of us, web developers, tend to be too
humble: "well, this is a portal, you know: users management, search
engine, a magazine..." instead of "this is a complete users management
system that provide tools for scientists, with thousands of pageviews per
day..."

	Once, I have the luck that a friend of mine assisted to one
interview (his company was the intermediate between the employer and me).
When I finished the interview, with his help, I conclude two things (and
this can be extended for all of you, probably):

	1. I am too modest: people with less expertise and knowledge,
gives the impression of best background.
	2. If I say what was my salary (this is a normal question from
the interviewers, at least, here in Spain), it would be interesting to
lie: since a lot of people lies with this topics, the interviewer conclude
that I am lying and, then, it tends to offer less money. (This could be
for another thread, I think).

	What is your opinion about humbleness in job interviews?

	Best regards,
		Carlos.

       [ http://www.biologia.org/ :: portal especializado en Biología ]
_______Carlos Costa Portela_________________________________________________
| e-mail:  ccosta at servidores.net | home page: http://casa.ccp.servidores.net |
|_____Tódalas persoas maiores foron nenos antes, pero poucas se lembran______|




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