Squeaky wheel

Consumers are screaming for well-qualified, expereinced service providers. Graduates are no where near ready to provide the level of services that the community demands, and this leads to grudges and hard-feelings. The thing that makes me most crazy about this is that expereinced service providers like myself are disallowed to bring soon-to-be-graduates along to appointments.

I understand the whole privacy issue, but these soon-to-be-graduates will soon be actual graduates, and will not have the experience or exposure demanded to be able to provide the level of service required to be successful in the field.

My solution? I squeak.

For the last several months, I have been squeaking, and it has grown louder and more pressing, much like that noise that a car makes when it's telling you to put oil in the engine (and as a side note, it's amazing how that noise goes away when there's oil in the engine...imagine that...). Over the last few weeks, I have fully embraced the role of the squeaky wheel. Now, when I'm offered an assignment, my usual response is something along the lines of, "I'd be happy to cover that if I can bring an intern with me." Needless to say, I haven't been getting much contract work lately.

But on the bright side, I have several jobs where the stars have alligned and I've been able to bring interns with me. Some fairly innocuous, some fairly serious. It's stunning how more often than not the interning students are able to rise to the level of expectation when they are working in a supportive environment.

We cannot expect students to graduate and be able to provide the level of service we expect if we don't mentor them. So for my part, I will continue to squeak.