The Recruiters

On 022614 I received a bunch of calls from recruiters between 9 in the morning and 6 at night.  While two were for other jobs in the tech/mapping industry, eight of them were for a job that I had heard about for months.  It was variously described to me as an architect/analyst job and they all provided me with the same description (see below).  It was for client job order/requisition 6020, an IT GIS Specialist/Analyst.  Most of them identified the client as PG&E at their location in downtown San Francisco.  The 6 month contract was 40 hours a week and the pay rate was more than $70 an hour on a W2.

Each of the recruiters had found my resume on Career Builder or Monster.  However, many of these recruiters had actually saved my resume from these websites in the last year.  Each one of them sent both an email and made as many as two calls and in every case they wanted a “right to represent” form from me in addition to my newest resume and a competed application.  They often wanted my availability, availability and an explanation of any “gaps” in my resume.

The thing that has always struck me about these postings and recruiters is how uncoordinated they are.  They generally seem to be four or five person teams with a sheaf of announcements that they must fill.  I have noticed that often the same people call me for months at a time and then they are replaced by a new set of recruiters or recruitment groups.  While many of these agencies do seem to disappear over time, I have also found that there is a subset that persists.  They have a well-organized staff and require that each of their candidates go through an introductory interview before receiving new opportunities.  At this point it would seem that these groups are taking a greater stake in the projects for which they are recruiting and bear a closer to firms rather than recruiters.  However, I am reluctant to include them in my lists for firms because the manner through which I have learned about them is via the recruitment process.

  

These were the qualifications directly from the announcements:

The ideal candidate should have experience with Experience with ArcFM AutoUpdaters and ArcFM configuration, Demonstrated ability to support business end users and production issues. Should have good understanding in data management in a relational database; 5-7 years of GIS Analyst experience utilizing the principles and practices of GIS is required. - Knowledge of multi-faceted disciplines which contribute to the implementation of the GIS application. - Some experience and exposure in GIS application development utilizing (asp.net, C#, Microsoft Silverlight, Adobe Flex) - Knowledge of Structured Query Language (SQL) scripting language to retrieve data from relational database management systems in MS SQL Server; - Familiarity with ArcObjects/VBA/Python scripting and programming - Considerable knowledge and experience with the core ESRI GIS software products, specifically ArcGIS Desktop, Arc/Info, ArcSDE, and relational databases within MS SQL Server. - Knowledge of methods, procedure

These were the responsibilities from the announcements:

Staff members in this labor category provide database development support in creating cartographic and digital data products. These staff members have expertise that includes the performance of hard copy to digital data conversion tasks, data migration, and translation activities utilizing advanced processing techniques in ArcGIS. These individuals design, develop, and implement efficient production tools and workflows in accordance with approved project plans and design parameters.