Below is a sample of the ridiculous essay questions I’ve been asked to provide answers to as part of my program/project management applications (all 100% real!):
How do you balance Agile principles with the need to meet business deadlines and stakeholder expectations?
What Agile metrics do you find most valuable for tracking delivery performance, and how do you use them to drive improvements?
How to you handle cross functional dependencies and coordination in an agile environment?
What does a healthy Agile culture look like to you?
Please briefly describe how you keep projects on track?
What is the most significant challenge to scaling a business, and how did you overcome this challenge in your prior position(s)?
Can you provide an example of a workflow automation or API integration project you have led?
How have you handled risk mitigation and problem-solving in past projects, particularly in data conversion or integration scenarios?
How has good project governance helped you to ensure a project stays on track?
Describe your approach to leadership
Describe your approach to clearing blockers for technical personnel on your agile team.
Can you provide a specific example of how you implemented service management discipline within a project or organization? What were the measurable results?
Provide a detailed overview of your experience managing B2B commerce projects. Please include the platforms used, the types of customers (industry/business), the total project scope, and your role as PM.
How do you ensure stakeholders are engaged and supportive of new processes and tools? Can you share a successful change management strategy you implemented.
How would you approach understanding the current project landscape and identifying the most pressing needs?
The TA process is broken, but expecting applicants to provide you written answers to make “the job easier,” isn’t going to bring talent into your organization.
Applicants: Take a hard pass on anyone asking you for free work. Your intelligence and experience is what you sell. If you are foolish enough to answer questions like this, be assured that every answer, every insight will be stolen, re-used, and shared with another candidate. One who is cheaper, or off-shore, or a nephew of the hiring manager. After that, it will be processed by a LLM. The payout for for all your work: Zero.
Employers: This isn’t Costco. Stop asking for free samples.
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Copyright 2025 Pierce/Wharton Research, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this post shall be reproduced without permission.
Imagine, meeting a job applicant IRL. Perhaps at your office, maybe at a coffee shop. You sit down, introduce yourself, and then the applicant pulls out a tri-pod, sets up the phone, and says, “I hope you don’t mind if I record this…..”
What would you say?
I’m sure you would be shocked by the audacity.
You might respond with something like, “Ohh, err, I’m not comfortable with that….” or even “I don’t consent to being recorded,” to which the applicant responds…
“This is very common now. And, it’s really for YOUR benefit. In this way, I can focus on you, and our discussion, and not on taking notes! Plus, I’ll be able to review your questions and answers at my leisure, and then I’ll be able to share this video with my advisors, that way, we can all better understand the role and your company.”
Would you shrug, agree, and continue? I don’t think so…..
Stop asking people for one-way video interviews. Stop recording them. Stop bullying them into surrendering their words, image, and ideas to a 3P LLM just for the privilege of applying for a job.
If you found yourself offended by the audacity of an applicant taping you and your interview, be assured the applicant feels EXACTLY the same way! If you’re serious about bringing talent into your organization, offending applicants is not the way to do it.
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Copyright 2025 Pierce/Wharton Research, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this post shall be reproduced without permission.
I’m hopeful that LinkedIn users will resolve to NOT do the following in 2025:
Bitching about Ghosting
“Don’t call us, we’ll call you…” has been around since the 1900s. Ghosting isn’t going away no matter how many annoyed applicants end their posts with “do better.”
#livinginthepast
“Fear” Adverts from “Career” Coaches and Outplacement Firms
The only thing more obnoxious than a 28-year-old wanna-be influencer touting her three years of insight and experience on how to navigate today’s “incredibly challenging” job market is a 32-year old bro touting his superior networking skills. (Daddy and/or your frat bro hooking you up with a gig isn’t the flex you think it is.)
#nepobaby
Sycophants
Your off-site was productive? Great. You’ve got a new CEO? Congrat’s. Your BFF was promoted? Nice. LinkedIn doesn’t need another obsequious corporate sycophant tearfully proclaiming how they “couldn’t be more proud to be associated with such an outstanding group of individuals.”
Unless your ass-kissing is one of your KPIs, spare us.
#embarrassed4U
CEOs, Recruiters, Founders, et al “humble brags”
You’re fully remote? Good for you! You hired someone who had a 2-year gap in his/her resume? I’m sure they were eminently qualified. You hired a fresher/woman/minority/disabled individual who didn’t have the perfect resume, but you…with your tremendous leadership and magnanimous character … saw their potential?
Stop sniffing for public praise and accolades for the most basic levels of decency.
#needy
Open to Work Banner
Si o No? Stop writing about it!
#NoOneCares
Age Discrimination
You’re a white, Anglo-Saxon male, over 50, and now, for the first time in your ENTIRE life, you’re finding that you’re not in the preferred demographic? WOW, what must that feel like!?! Tell me more about how unfair corporate life is! Twenty-five years in tech, I’m sure I don’t know what it’s like to be passed over in favor of some crony C-Student bro or a cheap H1b…
PS: Maybe it isn’t age discrimination? Maybe the field has leveled, and you really aren’t all that? Try working “twice as hard,” like the rest of the underachievers you used to look down upon!
#whiner
WFH v. RTO
If you don’t want to work on site, don’t. If you want to go into an office, go. Stop trying to convert the heathens. You’re as likely to convince a MAGA supporter that tariffs are inflationary.
#snore
“Behold” my Achievement
Unless you just won the Nobel Prize, no one is interested in your Udemy, Coursera or company-training certs. Add them to your profile.
Your kids? #facebook
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Copyright 2025 Pierce/Wharton Research, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this post shall be reproduced without permission.
Virtual meetings and their respective recordings have been around for about a decade, but now there is a notable uptick in recruiters requesting to record one-way and two-way interviews. Why the change? In two letters: AI.
Never, EVER Allow Your Job Interview to Be Recorded
The main reason to opt out of recording is that you do not know how your intellectual property (IP) is going to used, how it will be shared, where it will be stored, nor who will have access to it. In all cases, you permanently forfeit your rights to your words and image – they are now the exclusive property of the recruiter, the 3P service provider, and/or the potential employer.
Consider this all-too-common scenario:
Hiring manager wants to hire his cousin, Vinny, as his new Customer Service Manager. Here’s the problem: Vinny isn’t qualified. Hiring Manager contacts a staffing firm, provides screening questions, and requests video recordings of all the top applicants – even if they’re out of his price range. He snips the best answers and insights from a dozen or so highly-qualified experts, and then wraps them into a script for cousin Vinny. Vinny watches the interviews, preps his answers, records his interview, and voila’ is magically the best candidate.
Sprinkle in a little high-tech corruption and H1b seat-selling, and you see the problem.
Never, EVER Consent to a One-Way Video Interview
One-way interviews are the epitome of employment catfish. These are bogus companies or troubled companies, and your one-way interview is sold to a third party for AI ML training, and/or to prep others (see above). In many cases, the JD posted is a bogus ghost job; that great salary is bogus, and you never seem to actually meet a bonafide client or even a person IRL.
Never, EVER Write Essays
Similar to video interviews, essay responses are used for AI training or to coach other applicants on the “right” answers.
If writing skills are essential for the position to which you are applying, it is better to provide links to samples or a blog. Filling out custom questionnaires, documenting an approach to technical solutions, outlining your methodology to solving complex business practices… Nope. Here’s a link to a White Paper, which is part of my personal portfolio and copyrighted publications. I’ll solve your problems for money, not for free…..
Why Recording?
People who request recordings use two reasons.
1) They’re doing this for YOU!! “I would prefer to focus on YOU – not taking notes!” This isn’t a Tinder date, this is work. I don’t need you to focus on me. I need you to extract the information you need to pass me to the next round. If you lack the skill to take notes during a meeting or an interview, you shouldn’t be a recruiter.
2) It’s not them, it’s the client! The client is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo busy that the only way for you to “get in front of the hiring manager” is to be recorded. This is usually followed by a “….this is a very competitive position (or the hiring manager is a very-important-person), I would hate for you to lose this opportunity – EVERYONE is doing this now….”
Boundaries aren’t really a thing for most recruiters and staffing agencies, and who cares what someone’s made-up title is? My response is no response. Don’t take the bait, don’t argue your point. If you asked them not to record, and they are pushing back, they’re only interested in data mining.
What to do?
By law, you are required to be informed if you are being recorded. That notification is automatically displayed in most video conferencing applications, some more clearly than others. If someone clicks record (with a breezy “I hope you don’t mind if I record….”) stop the interviewer and say that you would prefer not to be recorded.
If you receive ANY pushback, exit the call.
If you catch an attitude, or get ANY pushback, politely exit the call. Pushback is a clear indication that they are data mining for a third party or collecting IP for other candidates. There’s no job for YOU.
Recording is NOT the Norm!
Legitimate, desirable employers are NOT the ones asking for recordings. They’re smart enough to understand the implications of collecting, sharing, and storing these data. These requests primarily come from lazy recruiters, and off-shore ghost firms – who come and go like fruit flies. Many aren’t even in the staffing business. They are using the staffing firm as a “front” for their data collection and other fraudulent activities.
Too often I see applicants say that they participate in these practices because they’ve been unemployed a while and “have no choice.” What these applicants are not understanding is that there is no job there. This whole thing is a ruse.
I Don’t Care What They Said: Don’t Expect Ethics from Anyone
Unethical and fraudulent hiring practices have been around for decades, but the tremendous amount of data that can be collected from a person via the application process has introduced a nasty side hustle for unscrupulous businesses. Most of us know that certain demographic information, such as age, marital status, and the like cannot be requested, there are no laws that protect your image, voice, and IP/PI from being usurped and distributed, and that information is far more valuable.
Moreover, unsuspecting and naïve, applicants are easy prey. Most people are absolutely clueless about IP/PI collection, which is why these grifters can successful run different scams ranging from pretending to hire you (in order to collect identity and financial information) to tricking people into providing credit card and banking information for equipment “deposit,” training, and it goes on and on….
Opt-out. You’ll be glad you did….
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Copyright 2025 Pierce/Wharton Research, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this post shall be reproduced without permission.
Projects fail for all kinds of reasons – here’s a few things that are different after Covid…..
You’re Trying to Manage a Team on Chat
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not anti-IM. Chat, and its appropriately named cousin, Slack, are fine for a QQ to an individual or small group. What it doesn’t take the place of is a well-run meeting, goals, action items, workflow tools, documented requirements, baseline reporting, status, deliverables – ya know – the “work.”
It’s amazing how many people think nothing of constantly interrupting their highly-paid resources to insist they participate in circuitous Chat threads. Pre-Covid, no one would have ever said to their boss or co-workers, “Follow me around today and listen to all my conversations. That way, you’ll know what I’m doing.” How is constantly being interrupted by chat any different?
Talk is cheap, and the cheapest of all talk is chat.
I recently attended a meeting with a client’s finance team. They were proposing changes to their enterprise Rev Req process. Flow chart? Business Rules? Requirements? SOW? Nope, the guy pulls up a chat from three days ago, and proceeds to add people to the thread – really?
Talk is cheap, and the cheapest of all talk is chat. If you want to be 100% sure that your project will run over budget, over schedule, and your team will be lost in the chum and churn of incomplete direction, “manage” your projects via Chat.
Drug Problems
Maybe you heard: The United States has a drug problem, and that drug problem definitely has gotten worse since Covid. I’ve spent more than a decade working as a Fixer, and I can tell you that the root cause of more than one project / business failure is a key individual (or several individuals) with a drinking or drug problem.
It’s important to keep in mind that just because someone isn’t shit faced drunk at work doesn’t mean they don’t have a drinking problem. “Functional” drunks will insist that they’re not drinking during work hours; ergo, they don’t have a drinking “problem.” However, the effects of their drinking are evident. They’re chronic no-shows. They’re constantly sick, late, a million doctor, dentist, and food poisoning excuses for not showing up. Forget about a morning meeting. They can’t get out of bed. They’re unreliable. They can’t complete anything. When confronted, they will push their work (and blame) on to others. They vacillate between belligerent, and a professional victim, which makes you want to avoid them and assign their tasks to others, which is exactly what they want. #enabler
Another Post-Covid change is the ubiquity of Adderall and its many cousins. Unlike the drunk – who can’t accomplish anything – the Adderall Overachiever thinks they’re super-super productive! They have no problem calling you at 10 PM (spinning like a dreidel) because they really, really need your help with the font for tomorrow’s PowerPoint presentation. (Hint: NOT Comic Sans)
About 10 years ago, I had the great misfortune to work with a man who had a serious Meth problem. I was green in my career, and a deer in the headlights; I didn’t know what I was dealing with then. Now, I know the signs. And, when I see people sniffing, unfocused, babbling, spinning, and looking exhausted, I don’t think they’re “high energy” or insomnia, or allergies – I know they have an amphetamine problem.
I work in a business that is complicated, difficult, and dense, and the last thing I need is someone so jacked-up they cannot follow even the most basic conversation.
Since Covid, I’ve seen a rise in upper use in two groups: Women (trying to do it all) and new grads, many of whom are just not used to working 8-10 hours a day, day-after-day, week-after-week. Both of these groups are trying to “cram” their lives, loves, and responsibilities into too-few hours. And, much like Lucy in the Chocolate Factory, they are failing.
If you find yourself in a situation where you have a client or (god forbid) a boss with a drug problem, start looking for a job immediately. Forget about HR, or confronting anyone. This situation is NOT win-able. There’s nothing you are going to do, nothing you are going to say that will make that person change. Nothing. Not anger. Not sympathy. Nothing.
Life isn’t an “Afterschool Special.” It’s more like “Intervention.” It will take you about 2-3 months to figure out what going on. Once you do, create space between you and Adderall Annie, or Day-Drinkin’-Dan, and funnel ALL your energy into your exit plan. If you don’t, this person will eventually “Nurse Jackie” you. You’ll be fired, blamed for everything, and they will continue on as they have before.
You’re Still in Crisis Mode
It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since the advent of Covid. When it hit, all business rules were thrown aside, and “Crisis Mode,” took the place of planning. Business pivoted their e-com sites to accommodate a flood of delivery methods, “Essential” workers were defined, money was quickly appropriated (no business case needed), to mission-critical efforts – every fiber of our corporate being was in crisis management mode.
Here’s the problem: Humans are creatures of habit, and crisis mode has become our new habit.
During Covid, workers capitulated to excessive demands for overtime. Now? Quite quitting and labor strikes are in the news. And, it’s not just workers who are setting boundaries. Check signers are waking up as well. During the past two years no one paid any attention to ROI, cost-benefit, roadmapping, priorities – who had time for that mammsy-pammsy stuff? We’re in a crisis!
Covid was like a big fire; no one questioned thousands of people carrying buckets of water. Now, the smoke has cleared, and we realize that if we had better equipment, we wouldn’t need as many people with buckets.
You’ve surely heard corporate leaders feigning apologies as they layoff “over-hired” water bearers. All companies are evaluating their staffing, their roadmaps, and even their missions. But, what corporate leadership is not saying is that in just two years, they’ve actually become a bit rusty (and a little too comfortable with Slacking-in direction). Many have fallen out of the practice of truly managing a business. Now, we’re starting to hear again questions like: What, exactly, are your metrics? Where’s the market research? Where’s the business case for the $1.3 system upgrade? What’s the ROI? Where’s the depreciation schedule? Projects that cannot answer these questions are being axed, and the bucket brigade is being axed with ’em…
Final Thoughts…
Complacency is frequent companion of hubris, and even though making it through the past few years is an accomplishment, don’t think that it’s a vaccination against failure. The world has changed, but the purpose of business has not. The goal of running a business is to make a profit, not just have a high stock price.
The next couple years are going to be rough. Regardless of your press, your followers, or your brand: If you’re not running your business well, running your projects well, and making a profit, you won’t be here much longer.
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Copyright 2025 Pierce/Wharton Research, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this post shall be reproduced without permission.
The demand we all return to the office (so we can all hang out together) seems to come from predominantly men. Why?
They all admit that working at home has not effected the ability of employees to complete their tasks and achieve their goals. Without productivity metrics (something greatly loved pre-Covid) to bolster their argument, these executives are forced to rely upon qualitative and anecdotal reasonings. This is when you’ll hear your c-level overlord wax nostalgic for their pre-Covid Corporate Camelot, how awesome it was, and how this beautiful, perfect culture needs to be proselytize and, if that doesn’t work, brutally enforced.
Corporate culture is a pyramid. There are a few people at the top – literally – on those upper floors, in those big offices with the windows. If you’re really important, the “corner” office with multiple windows. Where are the people holding up the base and sides of the pyramid? Downstairs, in a cube, with the rest of the subjects to be ruled.
I’ve spent 30 years working in some of the biggest corporations at the highest levels, and it has not escaped my attention – nor the attention of labor — that corporate culture is little more than a relic of the Edwardian era. Instead of Dukes, Duchess, Prince and Princesses, we now have Executive VPs, Directors of <stuff>, and assorted lords and ladies of the court who are swept up in the largess of executive coattails.
I’m not down on corporate fat-cats. Being one is kind of sweet. And, what a killer job! What you say goes! No arguments, no need to compromise. Corporate executives are literally surrounded by the fear and trembling of compliant subordinates. When the boss says jump, people jump! Ya know where that doesn’t happen? Every place else on Earth!
There’s a lot to unpack in the WFH debate. Let’s start with the basics:
Men are Lonely.
Men are lonely. They have few friends. They have no women friends. That “culture” they’re bemoaning? It’s an office where they can shoot the shit with the boyz and go to lunch with the gurls. The words “comradery” and “collaboration,” soo important, are thrown into the mix. What that really means is they miss hangin’ with their buddies, and what men really miss is the company of women – women who understand their work, women who laugh at their jokes, women who aren’t their wives. In short: They miss having friends.
Why don’t men have friends? There’s a lot of reasons, but the primary one is that men don’t have friends unless their wives approve of them. This is probably the worst thing about being in a relationship if you’re a guy. Suddenly, every single person in your life must have the nod of your SO. If she doesn’t like ’em, you’re not going to be friends anymore. Female friends? Forget that – they’re toast.
Men aren’t permitted to have female friends unless she’s his sister, and then only with your woman’s approval!
I work in tech. Not surprisingly most of the people I work with are men. My SO works in HR. The majority of his colleagues are women. Should I demand that my man never socialize with his work colleagues? Lunch with the girls? Nope – He should sit in his cube, alone. Happy hour? Not unless I’m there to supervise and approve. What about my work buddies? Am I permitted to have a few beers with the guys after work? What about travel? Should I pass on dinner, and stay in my room and read?
The f-d upness of relationships, love, friendships is a topic for another article, but I think we can all agree that men, in general, lead kind of lonely lives. That needs to change, but making me drive 45-minutes to an office (on my time and dime) so you can feel good about yourself isn’t the way to do it.
Men Derive Their Status from Work.
Our culture associates the value of a man with the job he has. It’s not right, but it is. At work, you’re the VP of this or the director of that. Those titles convey a rank, status. You’re treated with some respect, reverence because of your title. You know where highly-paid and highly-respected C-level men don’t derive status and respect? Having dinner with their 14-year old.
Sheryl Sandberg wants us to lean in, take a seat at the table, and, ultimately sit at the head of the table. Here’s the thing: In the virtual world, there’s no table. Bob Iger is just a little square — like everyone else. In fact, if you’re not talking on your vid, you might not even be on screen. How’s everyone supposed to know that they should be focused on you when you’re not sitting in the power-position at the table, and they’re not in your corner office with your big desk and that killer view of the skyline?
Video calls don’t convey status. You’re a little square – like everyone else.
This is where I see the generation gap the most. Those men who are young in their careers, and guys with young families are not “office-centric,” certainly not in the way men were back in the day. But, if you’re one of those Boomers and Gen Xers whose defined your life and persona by the status you derive from your job, it’s not likely you’re going to give up the trappings of a culture that sees you as a Grand Duke. And I don’t blame you one bit! Doesn’t everyone want be be surrounded by the adoring and obedient?
I Hate My Spouse (and/or Kids)
I think it’s safe to say that there are lots of people who aren’t exactly living the marriage dream. Their attraction to their spouse left years ago. Staying together for the children? Yep. Leading separate lives. You betcha! Grinding it out until <something happens>. Absolutely. What’s a few more years? You’ve been doing it this long, and you’re at work most of the time, right? Except now you’re not…
You can’t avoid your family and its responsibilities when you’re working from home.
When you go to an office, you have a safe place to hang. Getting in early, and staying late is the easiest way to avoid your spouse. If you make a decent amount of cash, there can be travel with your adoring and obedient friends, and team happy hours and dinners where you get to hang with the boyz, pick up the check, and be “the man.” Housework, errands, child care, shopping – so droll! You have people for that! And, besides, you’re at work! You can’t be responsible for honey-do’s if you’re never home. Even better, if you work all the time, you have a solid reason not to do anything but sleep and play video games when you are home. Nirvana.
Final Thoughts….
There’s no doubt that old-school-old-boys want “workers” to return to the office. Why? To support their “culture” – a culture where (mostly white) dudes are happily at the top of the ladder. It’s nice up there. They have windows, and lots of natural light….
It doesn’t matter what your title is; When you’re home, there’s no reason you can’t start the dishwasher …
Lowly cubical dwellers also know that despite the #Elon, #BobIger #JamieDimon edicts and hoopla, demands all workers return to the office are largely ignored by the executive ranks, and riddled with exceptions for other groups and individuals. Executives never really worked in the office anyway. Many travel, work from home whenever they feel like it and, for the most part, they come and go as they please. What bosses do like is to being surrounded by their buddies and loyal subjects when the DO decide to come in. And, what they really don’t like is that the freedom to come and go – the freedom that was conferred upon them by their status and rank – has been inadvertently (and many feel undeservedly) bestowed upon their subjects!
The move away from the office and into virtual work is yet another example of precipitous decline of the white male empire. That decline has been facilitated by Internet and VPN technology, and it is continuing with the slow but steady elimination of the symbols of corporate hierarchy and status: The corner office, the assistant, the private conference room, the preferred parking, the jet. These have been replaced with an avatar and a disembodied voice, which forces everyone to focus on what is said and done – not the rank, title, height, weight, clothing, desk or any other distraction.
May be it’s not such a bad thing.
Copyright 2025 Pierce/Wharton Research, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this post shall be reproduced without permission.
One of the questions I get asked most often from those considering contract work is whether to work as a W2 contractor or should they consider 1099, or incorporate so they can bill corp-to-corp (C2C). The answer is – it depends – and it mostly depends on you.
If you are going to contract long term, or you have a particular expertise that you sell, eventually you will move from working as a W2 Contract Employee to being Independent / Incorporated – in other words: A vendor. These are not mutually exclusive, BTW. When you’re a vendor that means that you could be billing on a 1099 basis or you could be incorporated and use your corporation to bill the agent or client corp-to-corp (C2C).
When you choose to bill as an independent vendor that means you are viewed as a business, which is a separate legal entity, and completely different from being an employee. When you’re independent, you have all the privileges and responsibilities of a business owner.
“Responsibilities” is the key word here: If you choose either 1099 or C2C, you will take home a lot more money than you would as a W2 Employee. But if you are not prepared to handle the responsibilities (and risks) of being self-employed, mo’ money mo’ problems.
Whether you are a sole proprietor, in a partnership, or a principal of a corporation, if you are deriving “Schedule C” income, you are responsible for obtaining business licenses, paying business taxes, keeping accurate records, maintaining general liability, and other types of insurance. If you’re working as a vendor, you may need to purchase and maintain your own tools, equipment, prepare your own contracts, invoices, and track your payables and receivables. Some clients will provide you a 1099 form for taxes; some do not. Sometimes they’re accurate; sometimes not. Regardless, you are responsible for an audit trail of your gross receipts and expenses, maintaining bank records, and insuring you adhere to all applicable laws. If there is a discrepancy, you need to be prepared to prove everything.
When you are independent or incorporated, you are a vendor. Instead of a job description, you have a statement of work (SOW). The SOW details what you are to accomplish for the client, a time frame for doing so, and what are the payment and acceptance criteria. SOWs can be very general or very specific. There’s no “standard” SOW. Its specificity varies by the complexity of the project and your relationship with the client.
When you are a vendor, the client cannot dictate the manner and means by which you complete your work. So, if you wanted to assembly your PB&J in a different order in your kitchen that is your prerogative. The client can only accept or reject the work.
Most importantly, if you are billing as independent or incorporated, you do NOT have the same legal protections as you would if you were a W2 contract-employee. You are a vendor, just like the Crystal Geyser guy. If the customer decides to go with Sparkletts, Crystal Geyser doesn’t file for unemployment. If the delivery truck gets stolen, Crystal Geyser doesn’t ask the customer to buy them a new one. Similarly, like the Crystal Geyser vendor, you also have an implied warranty with your service. If something goes wrong, your service is defective, you drop your Pepsi on someone’s laptop, it’s not a “My bad!” you are financially liable for that expense. If your work is on the critical path of a project, be sure to talk to an insurance agent and your client to ensure you have the coverage you need. If you own things – like a house – and want to keep it, you’ll need to incorporate.
You want to run a business? Make big bucks? We live in a litigious society. Don’t take chances.
Unlike W2 workers, your client will want to pay you every 30 days just like they pay all their other bills. But, what if your client doesn’t pay you in 30 days? What if they pay you in 45 days or 60 days? Or not at all? How long will you keep working without being paid? A week? A month? Two months? How will you collect if they don’t pay? (A big concern in today’s “virtual” world.) What if they claim your work is defective, and they refuse to pay? Similarly, who pays for your travel expenses? Are you putting them on your own credit card and waiting for client to reimburse? What if they don’t reimburse you or take months to do so? I’ve worked in big corporate offices my entire life: You’d be amazed how many rich companies don’t pay their bills on time.
If you suffer from people pleasing, can’t say no, can’t write a contract, could never see yourself suing someone, or all this sounds just too unpleasant for you, don’t waste time billing as an independent or incorporated contractor. I’ve listened to lots of stories (mostly from women I’m sorry to say) who thought they could handle this kind of relationship, and ended up being taken advantage of by someone who was really, really going to pay them as soon as <somecrisis> passed.
There’s a certain amount of cold, hard, capitalism required when you truly work for yourself. I can assure you that no one is more unpleasant than someone who owes you money. You can’t put up with excuses. Other people’s bills and emergencies and sick kids are NOT your problem. Always track your hours and tasks; always keep copies of your work. Be prepared to withhold work until you are paid for it. Be prepared to walk off the job if you’re not paid on time, and be prepared to sue.
If you have a tough time sticking up for yourself, can’t handle people’s anger, or you’re afraid of being “mean,” being a vendor is absolutely not for you.
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Excerpted from: The Temp Job: A Survival Guide for the Contingent Worker. Copyright 2021. Pierce/Wharton Research, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this post shall be reproduced without permission. info@piercewharton.com.
Employer’s are facing a long-overdue reckoning, and like all reckonings, rather than reflect inward, the focus for many has been external. They’re angry at their inability to control events, and blame others for their predicament.
The blame du jour: Lazy people, who don’t want to work…
……for you.
(Never has a prepositional phrase been more important!)
Here’s four reasons why …..
You’re Disinterested and Indifferent
Consider a job applicant who is bored, disinterested, and going-through-the-motions in the interview. Even worse, what if the applicant were rude, curt, or clearly not listening? Would you hire them? Of course not.
Employers are being interviewed by labor, and they’re blowing it because many of your hiring managers simply do not know how to behave in an interview. They’re rude, disinterested, and entitled. As a result, people just don’t want to work for you. Do you blame them?
You Took Too Long
You’re bored, disinterested, and then call me three weeks (three months!) later and say now you’ve decided to hire me, and I need to call you back right away….yeah, right.
The days of “keeping your resume on file…” went out with the Selectric typewriter. It doesn’t work that way. (It really never worked that way.)
A tight labor market is like a tight housing market. Be prepared to act quickly, compromise, and pay over asking. If you can’t do that, stay out of the market until you’re serious about buying.
You Came in Under my Minimum
Too many employers tell you they can pay your asking price but really have no intention of doing so. Similar to the housing market, the idea is that once the applicants’ commit to the hiring process, they will become so “invested” in closing the deal, that they will capitulate on their original ask for compensation.
This is not the market in which to call people’s salary “bluff.”
If I tell you that I’m seeking $45/hr, you drag me through weeks of interviews only to offer me $43/hr (wink), I’m not amused or impressed with your negotiation savvy, I’m pissed.
Result: I ghost you. I tell all my friends what an asshole you are, and (possibly) post a negative Glassdoor review – permanently damaging your brand. All for the bargain price of $2 an hour. Well done.
You’re Too Far Away
If you’re in a business where I can’t work virtually, the time and distance of my commute may make any job – regardless of compensation – difficult to fill. Restaurants in expensive urban areas, or hard-to-get-to resort communities have the additional challenge of the high cost of living making it unlikely any of the help would be housed in the immediate vicinity.
Consider a commute bonus, or other ways to mitigate that expense for your employees. Otherwise, you’re going to be short-staffed, and the staff you do have will be overworked making them much more likely to quit.
Finally…
This labor shortage didn’t just happen – it’s been coming for decades – the perfect storm of Covid, bad corporate behavior, retirement/death, and ubiquitous social media has weakened the stool upon which capitalism has balanced for decades.
Historically, businesses never worried about competing against one another for talent. Now that they must complete, many simply do not know how.
If you’re still clinging to the notion that the tight labor market is about lazy millennials or enhanced unemployment benefits, and any minute we’re going to “go back” to the way it was, you’re flat-out wrong. Our world, has fundamentally changed, and if there’s one thing we know about change is that it never changes back!
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If you enjoyed this article, check out some of my my posts and podcasts on employment, interviewing, and the contingent job market. Thanks for reading!
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Copyright 2021 Pierce/Wharton Research, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this post shall be reproduced without permission.
A strong Agile practice is a three-legged stool comprised of the Product Owner (the What), the Team (the How), and the Scrum Master (the Process). These roles are equal to and independent of one another.
In other words, there is no hierarchy in an Agile team; there are workstreams, and workstream owners. No workstream is above or below more significant or more important than another. Each has its own purpose, its own outputs, and its own responsibilities.
In a high-performing Agile team, there are no bosses – there are only teammates.
If your three-legged Agile stool is wobbling, consider these most common root-causes of poor performing Agile teams:
The Tyrant or Timid Scrum Master
No position is as misunderstood in the Agile practice as the scrum master. I often ask prospective clients why they’re hiring a scrum master (as opposed to a project manager or business analyst), and I’m no longer surprised that most cannot tell me why, or what, exactly, the role is responsible for (except for the events) or what the differences are among the PM, BA, and scrum master roles.
The most common answer is, “A scrum master is a project manager, except for Agile.” Dead wrong.
The scrum master owns the PROCESS. He does not determine what is built (that is the role of the PO), nor how to build it (that is the role of the team). The scrum master ensures a consistent, transparent process (timekeeping, utilization, governance, metrics.) He ensures accountability, keeping people honest (in other words, calling them out on their shit.) He demonstrates leadership through questions, coaching, by defining workstreams, R&Rs, working agreements, DOD, DOR, and using the word, “No.” It’s less about servant and more about leadership.
The scrum master is the “Servant Leader” of the team. Unfortunately, too many people stop at the word “servant,” especially if the scrum master is female or an immigrant.
As a scrum master, it’s not my role to “whip” the team. I’m an advocate and a coach. In some ways, I’m unconcerned about the project’s “success” or “value.” That’s not my lane. I trust that the PO has determined/documented the value of the effort, the success criteria, and KPIs. If that’s not done, I’ll ensure it is done, or I’ll escalate it as a risk. I might think the project is a huge waste of money. That’s not my call as scrum master.
The leadership of the scrum master is easily corrupted if the scrum master has a direct report relationship to any of the other parties in the team. It’s also corrupted if the organization hires a scrum master when it really needs a product owner, an analyst, or an architect — this is all too common with “Purple Squirrel” hiring managers in many tech organizations.
The Faux PO
While letting the team continuously iterate some BPOs “mind dump,” is a common ailment, even more debilitating is the old-school, top-down manager posing as a Faux PO.
The Faux PO is common in the Ghost Ship Agile practice, which means that from a distance the Agile Ship seems like it’s sailing along, but when you look a more closely, you see no one is on board.
The Faux PO tells you that the jury is still out on this Agile fad. He’s not convinced it works because the team is too incompetent to complete anything on time, which is why they need to be managed closely. Meanwhile: No metrics. No Dashboards, No backlog. No working agreements. No Definition of Ready (DOR). No Definition of Done (DOD). No separation of development from analysis. No Requirements. The Faux PO isn’t going to sully himself documenting requirements in JIRA. Plueeze….clerical tasks are for women and subordinates who can take notes while they hold court.
The Faux PO’s unwillingness to actually DO the work of being a bona fide product owner doesn’t mean that work goes away. Instead, like a house without front steps, everyone has to find a way around the Faux POs lack of output. What choice is there? Calling your boss out for being lazy AF isn’t really an option…
The Faux PO excuse is that he is much too important for events and deadlines. Because of this, there’s no cadence to the work. The Scrum Master/ Servant arranges a ton of last-minute, ad hoc brain storming or demo sessions to accommodate the Faux PO and other people with titles and opinions. At these meetings, the Faux PO talks at, past, and through the team, (who sit on mute, and stopped offering opinions long ago). No need for backlog refinement or DOR. The Faux PO tells the team exactly what to do, who to call, what to say. If they have questions, they can email the Faux PO for more detailed direction on how to accomplish their work.
But, I Like Being the Boss!
When I’ve suggested to Faux POs that the direct report relationship they have with the team is corrupting their Agile Practice, the Faux PO is incredulous! Don’t be ridiculous! They are natural leaders and visionaries! Their leadership is what is keeping this boat afloat. The team would be rudderless without them.
If everyone on your Agile team reports to you – you’re not an Agile team!
I’ve asked Faux POs if they would give up their direct reports and move their “vision” to another team as a loose-matrix product owner. They won’t. I’ve also asked if they would hire a bona fide product owner, who doesn’t report to them, and can make decisions independently. They won’t do that either.
So, I think we know what the deal is here – it’s called control – and if managers and executives are dictating the manner and methods by which work is accomplished by the team, then you’re not an Agile Shop – you’re old-school, command-control, boss-helper, my-way-or-the-highway shop, and it’s probably not going to change. Why? Maintaining a status quo (especially when you’re benefiting from it) is easier than change. Being a boss is easier than being a teammate. Hierarchy is easier than egalitarianism.
Bosses like being the boss. It’s awesome having people do what they’re told, when they’re told, without pushback or question. If only their wife and kids were like that…..
The Faux PO is a very common root-cause of Agile failure. In a risk report, it would fall under “executive-level support.” or “Unwillingness to adopt new systems and processes.” If there is an unwillingness to acknowledge these entitled behaviors or modify organizational structures, no Agile transformation can be had.
Architect as King
The Architect as King organization is really the worst of all possible Agile worlds. The team builds whatever it wants – the business can take it or leave it. There are no repercussions for crappy work, technical debt, or missed deadlines. UAT? What’s that? Open a ticket with the service desk….
The entire team, scrum master included, reports to an invincible lead, architect, or engineer, who doesn’t GAF about your process or product or metrics. You don’t like it? Do it yourself! Oh, you can’t? Oh, well. Scrum Master? Product Owner? Plueeze, The team reports to me, and your name is NOT on my performance review. Don’t piss me off, or I’ll quit, and then you’ll really be screwed….
From a product, user, and process perspective, the Architect as King organization is DOA for an Agile practice. Hire a technical writer to document the build. Anything else is a waste of money.
As amazing as this sounds, Architect as King is pretty common – especially in private or mid-cap companies. And, when I encounter a dev lead or principal architect who has been with one of these organizations since Christ was a baby, I know that this will be dev-driven development, an inelegant user experience, a shit-ton of technical debt, and I also know that nothing going to change until the king is deposed and replaced.
Final Thoughts….
It’s called an Agile practice, not an Agile perfect, and just like anything that requires practice, you’re going to suck at it the first 1000x you try to do it. But, you WILL get better. Things are never perfect, there’s always more to do. That’s why we have retros. Over time, you’ll begin to see how and why one team is better than another, why a coach is different from an owner, and how having a player in the wrong position or a hot-shot who hogs the ball can kill the team and ruin the game.
If you’re in software or tech, you’re going to have to learn to play the Agile game. Learn everything you can about it, and keep practicing. Agile is part of good project management, and good project management is Agile!
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I hope you enjoyed this article, please check out some of my other posts and podcasts on Agile and the contingent job market. Thanks for reading!
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Copyright 2021 Pierce/Wharton Research, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this post shall be reproduced without permission.
The job market is on fire. Not only are we experiencing the Great Resignation, we’re in the middle of The Great Reshuffling, which will result in The Great Consolidation. If you’re serious about keeping your doors open, a “post and pray” recruitment strategy isn’t going to cut it. Want to get people in the door? Here’s four reasons no one is responding to your job posts:
Your Application Process
Every job site allows employers to choose a “quick apply” or “one-click-apply” option. Use it. Being user friendly and mobile-friendly is a must. A huge number of people ONLY have internet access through their phone. Any company that is insisting applicants go to their site, set-up an account, (some with multi-factor authentication! Really?!), and then populate several forms (with mandatory fields like month and date of my degrees and jobs), is likely to have very, very few applicants.
Also, if you’re going to use Quick Apply, use Quick Apply! Employers who embed additional questions into their quick apply aren’t clever, they’re disingenuous, and it makes me not want to work for you.
Finally, there isn’t a single recruiter out there who thinks AI screenings are helping your efforts. There’s a reason people went to college! Read the resumes! Most importantly, focus on what the applicant has to offer, not poking holes into their background and creating a checklist of what they don’t have.
Essay Questions
I know it’s super-easy and awesome to have each applicant write an essay on how they would deal with difficult stakeholders, or describing their last project, or even telling you why they want to work for you (why not all of them?) That way, you can review, discuss and critique each response and each candidate at your leisure — you don’t want waste your precious time calling or emailing anyone. Essays are perfect for you…but here’s the problem: It’s all about you, and it smacks of entitlement. Worse, it tells me that you don’t see writing as work, which it is. To do it thoughtfully and well takes (my) time, which is the same as (my) money.
Essays are perfect for you…but here’s the problem: It’s all about you, and it smacks of entitlement.
Essay questions embedded in ‘quick apply’ options are infuriating because you can’t opt out of the question or skip ahead. So, since I can’t opt-out of the question, I close the browser and opt-out of the application. It’s usually too late, though, because they’ve got my email, and I’ll be hit with a ton of notifications reminding me to complete my application (which I don’t).
Interestingly, you’d think it would be the big enterprises, and the highly-coveted employers who insist on the “tell me why I’m so beautiful” essays. Nope. It’s the small shops and public employers who have the most hoops when it comes to applying, and that’s why no one does.
Your JD Lacks Focus
A lot of JDs are a laundry list of nice-to-have experiences intermingled with tasks and requirements. Many applicants – especially women and “freshers” – disqualify themselves because they don’t meet all the requirements. More experienced applicants, note the confusion and disconnect with reality, and pass on applying.
If your JD is a laundry-list of tasks, requirements, and nice-to-haves thrown together in no particular priority, your lack of focus and thoughtfulness is a BIG red flag to any quality applicant.
A good JD should be no longer than a page. It should clearly describe the core responsibilities, and to whom the position reports. Education, credentials are clearly stated, and requirements are listed in order of priority. The Must have Security Clearance line should be at the top of the list of requirements, not the bottom! Don’t use the “Preferred” section to obfuscate real requirements (Mandarin speaking “preferred” when your entire team is in Hong Kong? Stop already!)
Most importantly, stop looking for unicorns and purple squirrels; you are not the prettiest girl at the dance, and your hubris is counterproductive to building a real team. Whenever you hire anyone, you need to be prepared to compromise and change both yourself and your organization based on the talent available in the market. If you don’t want to change…..
Bad Habits
Why are so many employer’s struggling to hire? The answer: Bad habits. Zero training on how and what to hire. Zero training on how to interview. Toxic managers with high-turnover permitted to hire and fire “at will.” With human resources the most important asset a company can have – in 2021 – how could this be?
First, let’s recognize that for the past 100+ years, employers have never had to compete for labor. Sure, they said they wanted to be “attractive,” but that’s not the same as being competitive. We know lack of competition stifles the invisible hand of the market, and the over-supply of labor verses limited jobs has resulted in a ruling class of corporate executives — America’s Royalty — whose every want and need must be accommodated because they are “job creators.”
Historically, businesses never worried about competing against one another for talent. Now that they must complete, many simply do not know how.
Labor, unlike employers, has been forced to be nimble and adaptable. We’re used to fierce competition, no safety net, and changing direction quickly. Workers have had decades of practice and advice on how to compete for work, how to write good resumes, how to answer questions in interviews, and most importantly, how to be a subordinate and compliant worker. What training do employers have in how to hire people and how to be a good employer? None.
Employers need to act quickly and level-up their hiring game. How? Create hiring committees, dump toxic managers, bottom-up your culture, hire professional recruiters and coaches, finance real retention strategies. Most importantly, understand that your interviewers are brand ambassadors, just like your salespeople. They represent The Company, The Culture, and The Brand. A bad interview experience can damage your brand – permanently – and that is not something you can afford in this highly-competitive labor market.
Final Thoughts
This labor shortage didn’t just happen – it’s been coming for decades – the perfect storm of Covid, bad corporate behavior, retirement/death, and this ubiquitous social media has weakened the stool upon which capitalism has balanced for centuries. Covid’s timing could not be more remarkable. It has jolted our attention to the global economy, our reliance upon technology, the importance of essential workers, and a Kafka-esque understanding that we are more than our labor.
No workers = No customers = No business
If you’re still clinging to the notion that the tight labor market is about lazy millennials or enhanced unemployment benefits, and any minute we’re going to “go back” to the way it was, you’re flat-out wrong. Our world, has fundamentally changed, and if there’s one thing we know about change is that it never changes back!
When it comes to sales, businesses understand competition. That same focus and concern must carry over into resource management. If they can’t compete, just like in sales, they will be out maneuvered by those who can.
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If you enjoyed this article, check out some my posts and podcasts on employment, interviewing, and the contingent job market. Thanks for reading!
###
Copyright 2021 Pierce/Wharton Research, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this post shall be reproduced without permission.
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