Re: What to do about a recommendation?

["Kathleen MacDowell" <kathleen -at- writefortheuser -dot- com>]

Two parts, one about what you asked, one about your company's policies
(although not requested):

As others pn the list have recommended, I'd say ok to the recommendation and
then mention only what was satisfactory. Only the worst manager can't read
behind the lines. Frankly, having been a contractor many times, my sympathy
is with him or her. Although "your" position is an interesting and
challenging one, it's obvious that "your" dealings contributed to whatever
problems there were.

As a contractor it behooves me to attempt to keep in touch with how my
"employer" feels about my work. Someone on the list mentioned that they had
a contractor who thought he or she were doing wonderfully even though the
writer felt that opposite opinions had been communicated. What a nightmare!
I always feel a bit paranoid, now it's even worse. I'd suggest that in such
situations, no one actually said, "We'd like you to do x, and you're doing
y." (there are actually a number of permutations, but I'm going to address
the one I see as straightforward). If the person doesn't respond as you
expect, then you say, "Sorry, but ..." and you get another contractor. Face
it, there are lots, and there's a good chance the next one will be better,
from the luck of the draw or even  better, because "you" write a better job
description, "you" structure things better, and "you" give the person
direction. No matter how much training a person has, they need some idea
about what is needed, and there are many situations where that isn't
provided.

You gave no reasons for finding fault with the person, so although they
might have been unsatisfactory, it's hard to gauge where the problems lie
(lay?)

Actually, I feel for both sides but needed to vent. I hope you both do
better in the future.

Kathleen

On 10/24/06, Administrator at TECHWR-L <admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com> wrote: