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On this question of getting what you pay for or paying for what you get, I'm
not sure what all the fuss is about.
As a writer, I price myself based on what I think my skills are worth. As a
hiring manager, I price the job based on how much I have to pay for what I
need. If I'm doing my shopping at this eLance place, and I see plenty of what I
need at, say, $15/hour, why would I pay more? I'll concede that I may be an
ignorant fool, and I'm certainly getting what I'm paying for, but why would I
pay more if I'm basically happy with what I get for $15/hour? (And if I keep
paying $15/hour over and over and over again, then I must be happy with what
I'm getting. <g>)
I know lots of people who shop at discount malls and huge warehouse outlets.
They are thrilled that they get stuff so cheap. They also complain about the
quality of what they get, not in every case, but in enough cases that it makes
me wonder. I think with some people it is more than they can bear to pay what
something really costs. If they can't get--or claim they got--a bargain,
they're not interested in getting the item.
The same may be true for some hiring managers. Anymore, when I find myself
talking to a bargain hunting manager, my closing comment is, "I wish you luck
in finding what you're looking for."
=====
Tom Murrell
Lead Technical Writer
Alliance Data Systems
Columbus, Ohio mailto:tmurrell -at- columbus -dot- rr -dot- com
Personal Web Page - http://home.columbus.rr.com/murrell/
Page Last Updated 07/15/01
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