From: Chris Cheng ([email protected])
Date: Mon Nov 01 1999 - 17:20:00 PST
actually my apology for not clarifying. the consultants are paid,
they are paid by the big name cad or consulting companies who needs
to learn the newest technology. these companies will send me their
director of consulting, chief scientist etc etc to work for me for
free but of course they are under the payroll of their receptive
employer, by no means i am running a slave shop somewhere in america.
although someone has commented i drove them like one. :-) i have a
great time with everyone of them and i appreciate their help. its
just against my believe to paid for a consultant if you have to
teach him something. i would have no problem paying one if there is
a specific need for a specific problem that i cannot solve myself.
chris
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected]
> [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of [email protected]
> Sent: Monday, November 01, 1999 1:00 PM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [SI-LIST] : Comments from your SI seminar (SendII)
>
>
> To Chris Cheng:
>
> Chris, I was simultaneously surprised and disturbed by your comments
> regarding "consultants" working for free and being brought up to the
> state-of-the-art based on your training. Either you (or your
> Human Resources
> personnel) have grossly led you astray! You have hired what I term "job
> shoppers" who are basically average engineers doing contract
> work. HR folks
> love to hire "consultants" at $45 to $85 per hour... and they get
> what they
> pay for. They are not "consultants." Also, HR folks like to obtain all
> their hires through one placement company... makes their job a
> piece of cake.
> However, that approach virtually rules out the possibility of getting an
> independent consultant (rather than a mediocre job shopper) as the better
> consultants generally don't go through agencies.
>
> A true consultant will run circles around all but the best of
> staff engineers
> and is the one doing the guiding and teaching, not the employer.
> Many of the
> better consultants support the "top tier companies," and help
> them establish
> their highly regarded in-house expertise. I have consulted
> extensively for
> HP, IBM, Intel, Motorola, AMD, Cisco Systems, Xircom, Adaptec, Netframe
> Systems, Coastcom, Cyras Systems, Boeing Aerospace, Kaiser
> Electronics, Zeta,
> General Dynamics, Aerojet Electronics, United Technologies, and
> approximately
> 30 other companies (including Sun Microsystems). These companies
> all have
> some competent internal staff, but they are so few that they are
> constantly
> in demand and generally overworked (you may fall into this category).
>
> On the assumption you are obtaining support from HR, I recommend
> you do your
> own searching when you need to crack a really knotty problem.
> Virtually none
> of the best consultants advertise via "cold calls" looking for
> work. Their
> jobs come from word-of-mouth recommendations. Given that you
> yourself are an
> expert in SI, your experience with a consultant should (as a minimum) be
> synergistic, but should also be educational.
>
> If you need support for a large project (that requires more than one
> consultant), you might try Ed Sayre at NESA (North East Systems
> Associates)
> who has an excellent staff to support his individual efforts. I
> am a one-man
> show and turn down more requests for support than I accept. I take only
> those that are the most interesting and challenging.
>
> To the SI List:
> I apologize if this sounds like a solicitation or flag waving, but I have
> seen all too much evidence of what Chris has/is experiencing.
>
> Michael L. Conn
> Owner/Principal Consultant
> Mikon Consulting
>
> *** Serving Your Needs with Technical Excellence ***
>
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