Slashdot Mirror
Orange Badge Culture At Microsoft
coolball writes "For those of us that have worked as a contractor (a-dash or orange badge or whatever), Seattle PI's 'Microsoft's 'orange badge' culture gets forum' article caught my eye this morning. He talks about OrangeBadges.com and Contractor's International Network, two forums that have sprung up as a meeting place (cyber & meat) for current/past/future contractors of the empire. If you have been a Microsoftee, then you would laugh out loud in recognition some of the tales he relates."
How desperate for news must the slashdot editors be to have posted this article? It can't possible interest more than 1% of even Slashdot's IT-concentrated demographic. I freely admit to visiting Slashdot a tad compulsively, but that's in the expectation of a distillation of quality news articles - something that's been slipping for a long time.
Seriously though, just by trawling through the RSS-feed for BBC news, I can see several stories that are far more deserving of Slashdot's attention. (See the technologry section for a good selection). So, my rhetorical question for today is: why is this here?
It's the same everywhere. Contractors are second class citizens in terms of culture. Whether you are working at Microsoft, IBM, Ford, VW, GM, EDS or where-ever. However, if you are a smart contractor, you will do a good job, learn as much as you can, and moving for more money. The contractors I pity are the H1-B guys and gals since they are totally stuck.
Contracting can be fun. I highly recommend it to all recent grads. Get out there and see the world, get good at what you do, and change jobs every 4-6 months for more money! Eventually, someone will realize your talent and pay a premium to keep you. The big secret is that the contractors do ALL the work while the full-time employees go to endless meetings and lunch.