TravisDBA (2/15/2013)
Eric M Russell (2/15/2013)
TravisDBA (2/15/2013)
Eric M Russell (2/15/2013)Everyone needs a narrative about their career that makes them stand out.
i agree, but the problem with that many times is that narrative turns out to be total BS. 😀
Even if the narrative turns out to be BS most of the time, it's not necessarily a problem, if you discover it during the interview. For those candidates who manage to BS their way into a position, they can be motivated (or coerced by threat of termination) to live up their resume.
Maybe it works that way in the private sector, but in the government sector it is much more difficult to get rid of someone for that reason after they have already been hired. Even if there is a probation period, you have to have more than just saying "they are not living up to their resume". That's too vague. Particularly, if that person happens to be a minority. Now, if on the otherhand, they do not pass the background check or the drug test results don't come back until two weeks later, then that is a much different story. That is a clear cut reason for termination. It's just the way the government works nowadays and many times it is not always discovered in the interview either.. Coercing someone by threating to terminate them if they "don't live up to their resume" is considered harassment in the government sector and that can set them up for a lawsuit. Again, this is particularly so if the person in question is a minority.:-D
I spent a few years on an IT consulting gigs for a federal agency. The staff are typically career government employees and / or have university degrees in scientific or government administration. If they want to hire someone for a specific project and set of technical skills, like building a data warehouse or website design, then it makes sense for them to farm it out to contractors. It's more economical in the long run, and for the reasons you've mentioned above, a lot easier to scale back team members if they don't measure up for some reason.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho