Opinion about a Job offer

[former_member182371]

This is a job offer i´ve received this evening:

Buenas tardes,

Necesitamos un Programador ABAP para una colaboración de 1-2 jornadas

en uno de nuestros clientes del sector logístico en Madrid.

La necesidad que tienen se reduce a entre 2-5 jornadas mensuales,

por lo que sería posible compatibilizarlo con otros proyectos.

Tarifa: 240€/jornada (freelance)

Por favor en caso de tener disponibilidad envíanos

tu CV en formato Word y seguidamente nos pondremos en contacto.

Gracias y un saludo,

Translation:

Good evening,

we need an ABAP developer for a collaboration of 1-2 days

in one of our customers in the distribution sector of Madrid.

The need they have is reduced to between 2-5 days a month,

so it would be possible to share it with other projects.

Fee: 240€/day (freelance)

Please in case you´re available send us your cv in word format

and consequently we´ll get in touch with you.

Best regards.

what´s your opinion?

would YOU accept this conditions?

(straightforward opinions accepted)

[Jelena]

If there is a clear specification and a very specific task then why not? As long as you have an established connection and a user ID (which could take days though), I don't see a big issue. Certainly you wouldn't be designing some new application, but there are many SAP customers that need small changes (e.g. form adjustments).

The fee is too small though, such customers should expect to pay premium because of the short commitment. It's like that old saying: "good, cheap, fast - pick any two".

[former_member182371]

Hi Jelena,

in my humble experience although i admit they sometimes exist a clear specification

and a very specific task is seldom the case.

Most of the times this specifications are blurred to say the least,

and they hide the intention to make you "design some new application" but at a more reasonable price.

The term Small adjustment is usually the bait.

Then you accept the project knowing beforehand that it is unrealistic and hoping that someone will have

common sense and will steer events in a more realistic way.

But then you realize that, that´s not going to happen.

You committed yourself to do some  minor changes and then voilà you are a bad professional

for not finishing the new application on time.

Maybe it´s because of my current mood or maybe it´s because i´m growing old

but boy how do i mistrust these sort of job offers.

Best regards.

[former_member186746]

Hi,

Contracts work both ways. The customer can stop a contract at a months notice, but so can you.

In my experience whenever the customer has only1 preferred supplier who controls a bit too much on how things are done, in that case having an outsider available for a couple of days to challenge solutions and keep them on their toes has a tremendous added value.

If you can work remotely for 2-5 days a month (or if you live nearby) then maybe it's a nice extra job to have.

But then again, if you're not feeling it, then don't do it.

Cheers, Rob.

[Jelena]

Hi Pablo,

As Rob pointed out, it's a two-way street. If you see that the requirements are murky and the time allocated is clearly not sufficient, you can decline or at least point out that the expectations are not reasonable.

This is clearly an assignment for an experienced ABAPer (that's why I said the fee is too low) who can see the gaps in the requirements and have a good understanding of what exactly is involved in the task.

Certainly not always the specifications are clear, but usually this can be resolved by asking just a couple of questions (again - this needs to be an experienced person). We had similar short term needs in the past and unfortunately ran into an opposite situation when the requirements were very clear (I couldn't make them clearer without typing the code myself) and we gave every chance to the consultant to ask any questions (or just bail out). Yet it ended up as a complete failure - the person either didn't read or completely misunderstood what was needed and got stuck doing things that were not needed at all. Worst of all, he waited till the very last minute to start and didn't contact us until it was too late.

So I'm guessing it would take both a good spec and an experienced and smart ABAPer for such short contracts to work for both sides.

[former_member191643]

Sure. Why not?

[former_member182371]

Maybe because in order to live with a minimum decency in a city like Madrid you need more than what is offered here?

As you seem to know what you´re doing why don´t you enlighten me and detail me what are the minimum expenses in Madrid in order to live with some dignity?

when you answered to this thread 107 Views of users did not dare to answer, what makes you different?

[SuhaSaha]

240/day => 30/h ... Sounds too less

[former_member182371]

Hi Suhas,

Thanks for your opinion here.

regardless of the fee:

do you really think someone can do a decent job in just 2 to 5 days a month?

Just understanding what´s demanded of you and what you´re facing will take some time.

(Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.)