Re: leaving samples

[Kathleen Frost <frostdoc -at- EARTHLINK -dot- NET>]

We have been discussing the pros and cons of leaving samples with
prospective employers.

I would like to add one caution from personal experience.  Be sure of who
you are dealing with and what their product is.  I had one company who
wasn't really interested because it was a short term project and my contract
rate was too hire for them.  That was until they saw the resume my
contracting firm sent them.

Not only were they ready to pay my rate after the interview, but, when I
turned down their offer to take a full time position elsewhere, they came
back with an offer for a management position, full time, higher pay, all
relocations expenses, etc.  It turned out that one of my samples showed that
I had written programming reference material for a new language that was
going to be used in a remote paging system with e-mail and other internal
application capabilities (it is now out on the market).  The company
promising me the moon was building a very similar pager.  I'm sure they
would have gotten rid of me as soon as they had all the information I had,
considering I was stupid enough to give it to them.  Fortunately, I figured
out what they were up to, left quickly, and definitely did not leave any
samples behind.

Industrial espionage, intended or not, tends to invoke all those nasty
little legal clauses you signed on non-disclosure and non-competition.

Just a friendly warning that not all the people out in the cold, cruel world
of business are "good guys."

Kathy Frost
FrostDoc -at- Earthlink -dot- Net

 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=