Until recently, the recruiting/staffing world pretty much ingored this sector in favor of permanent employment or placing temp workers. Experts in recruiting like Bill Vick, CEO of Vick and Associates, Plano, Texas, who has worked out of his back bedroom for 20 years and built four successful businesses this way, says about 80 percent of American corporations are "starting to wake up and realize we're in a true global economy. There are still a lot of old-school managers who feel that they need to touch and see employees and employees who need the structure, but the electronic walls are becoming broader, bigger and better."
In the next year or so, 76 million baby boomers start leaving the traditional world of work and many say they will enter the world of virtual work. And they're going to be looking for projects rather than jobs. But how will they find them unless their old bosses offer them a consulting berth? Human networking still works pretty well and I'll address that in later posts, but the world of online job boards and networks is now capturing 15 percent of the recruiting/staffing world.
I've dabbled out in Elance land and LinkedUp and always found something lacking. Not being able to put my finger on it, I tried out guru.com for a week and finally figured out what was missing for me and wrote to Bill about it along with sending one of the most unbelievable project postings I've ever seen:
"I see a project with POTENTIAL, but I really haven't a clue what the work will entail. I'm then supposed to make a bid on a project where, once again, I'm not really clear what the work is about and whether the price I'm stating is remotely going to cover the work demands.
"I'm just too seasoned to want to play this way. I want to talk to someone about what they want and sort through how we can work together. This cuts out the interview/negotiation process, which can really prove valuable for both parties," I write to Bill.
Here's the posting:
Company A is seeking an individual for a recurring project (12 Month Project) involving the development and management of a company newsletter.
This project will require the individual to develop, format, compile and deliver for final approval the newsletter to Williams Associates on a monthly basis.Bill writes back:
At this time, the budget for this project is $50.00 per edition and anyone interested in this project is asked to NOT bid in excess of this amount.
Hi Amy - yes, the world is flat and my guess is this guy will find
somebody for $50 and the old story is you get what you pay for.
