Re: ethical consulting practices?

[Mpschiesl -at- ra -dot- rockwell -dot- com]

I've been burned by a consulting place with the friendly "I'll need
three references, all being managers (no peers allowed)."

I was hooking up for an alleged 'moonlighting' job about six months ago.
The consulting firm tried to solicit my boss for writers, and I lost a ton of
credibility in my job (greed didn't pay off).  In the end, I hurt my boss and
never got the moonlighting job (which was probably fictitous anyway).

If I ever try this route again, I would have to tell them that they can
have my references after I am accepted for the job, or at least
after one or two interviews.  It's hard for me to lay firm boundaries
for these guys, but you have to do it.  I don't believe that the
client companies ever ask for references anyway (you're just a
temp guy, sorry to be harsh, but what do they care about references?).

I'm actually glad that you brought this up.  Over the last week, I've had
two places call me out of the blue, and I almost forgot how much trouble
they aroused in my life before.

In my experience, Aerotek and Maxim (two branches of one swindling
agency, IMO) are just looking out for themselves, don't care if their clients
or consultants get hurt (IMO).  The people that I dealt with didn't care about
the project or anything.

Other places, like Compuware and Interim Technology, seem to take
better care of their people and have some semblance of project
involvement.  I was a little bitter that Compuware wouldn't hire me (since
I'm a captive at one of their client sites), but I guess that would be a
good mark toward their integrity.  (...gee God, how often do you have
correct me in one day?)

Take care, and my best wishes for you,

Michael Schiesl
Rock Doc Guy