Headhunter
Yesterday, I got a call from a head hunter out of Connecticut, and he was looking for a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) expert with some exposure to Ajax. Well, I had just started teaching myself Ajax (but I’m not very far along in my books just yet,) so I told the guy that I had the experience that he was looking for. He ran through my skills and asked me how long I had been doing him. Here’s the basics of what he was looking for, and how long I’ve been doing it:
- Linux: 10 years
- Web development: 11 years
- Apache: 9 years
- PHP: 8 years
- MySQL: 8 years
I have other skills not on that list, but he wasn’t interested in them. He said that he would be in touch with his client to see if they wanted to arrange an interview. He called me back about an hour later, and said that my resume didn’t mention PHP 5. He asked if I had PHP 5 experience. I told him that I’ve been using PHP 5 from the day it came out in a non-beta version. He was happy with that. An hour later he called back and said that I needed to put PHP 5 (not just PHP) on my resume. I told him that I would do it after work. He called back 30 minutes later, and asked for my resume. I told him that I’m not going to update my resume while at work. That would just be wrong.
Thirty minutes pass, and he’s back on the phone. I ignore his call this time. Ten minutes later, he calls again. Again, I ignore him. Fifteen minutes pass, and he’s back on the phone again! This time I answer him because it’s getting annoying. He says that he needs my resume right away because the client is very excited to interview me. If they want to interview me, then I don’t need to update my resume. I point this out to him, but he stands firm on the fact that I need to update my resume before the close of business today.
I told him that I wasn’t interested in the job. If they are going to treat a prospective employee that way, I shudder to think about how they’ll treat me once I’m part of their company. Who knows? Maybe I just blew off a great job opportunity.
If I was actively looking for a job, I would have gone along with the guy. However, I’m very happy with my currently employment. I’m making good money. I’m doing tasks that I love to do. I have a boss that I get along with wonderfully (which is more important than the other two.) I work with competent people that are friendly, and a joy to be around. I get to work from home at least one day a week, and sometimes more if I need to (that’s part of having a great boss.) There’s no way I’m leaving my current job until they boot me out the door. If I die before I leave this job, they may end up with a zombie at my desk programming away because I’m not ready to stop banging out code anytime soon.
