If you are content being carried through life, don't bitch if the other person is stronger than you.

Commitments are items that are thoroughly explained and discussed.  Where someone walks into it with their eyes wide open, ready to greet the responsibilities outlined, gleefully looking forward to the process that the commitment entails.  Traps are mis-communicated and vague in nature.  Where persons entering have no idea what will be required of them or the tax involved for their involvement in the process.  Chaos tends to be frequent, bewilderment and frustration are common and anger is normal.

Demands are typically made from positions that have the appearance of strength, but are actually weak (unless it is a situation where one side has "bested" the other - as in wars, where terms of surrender are tendered to the other side) while are requests are made from positions that usually impart strength, empowerment, wisdom and understanding to both sides.

Things a person should know if they are going to get into contracting.  Note, there are some IT related items in here as well.

REQ = Requirements, all items listed there are the items they would love to have in their ideal candidate.  If it says "nice to have" it means just that - nice but not a requirement.

When negotiating a rate, let the contracting company broach the subject, often times you can get a window into your actual worth on the market by letting them quote you a figure/ballpark they are wanting to play with you in.

When giving out a resume, REMOVE THE B.S.  I have found that if it's BS and on my resume, I will be expected to pull that BS from out of thin air and often in front of my either prospective or new boss.  It pays huge dividends to be honest on your resume.  Honesty is always a good thing.  The heady days of the web bubble are gone, and companies have NO PATIENCE for contractors that draw out their contracts due to lack of skills in order to get time to learn it and be paid for it.

Management & Process related skills are always a boon, it gives you the ability to look and the bigger picture.  Macro VS Micro

Most IT firms are big on languages, so learning them is a good thing.  However, if you look at the structure of the companies you are interested in you will find that at a certain level, the coding skill drops off to 0 and it is more a process/political related position.  Always be mindful that being able to code it is great, but in IT organizations the individuals that seem to go very far are the ones who can also explain it to non-Techies and get them to understand.  If "in english please" is requested (and believe me, I've seen Sr. Mgr & V.P.'s request this), it's not plain enough.

"Other duties as required" usually means a lot of things that may scare a person away.  So just realize that you'll be very busy if you get the job.  This is also an opportunity to build skills in rapid evaluation, response and implementation.

If you are applying for a "contract to hire" or "direct hire" position, make sure it's clear; otherwise, there may be hard feelings when your "contract" is over.  I got this from a co-worker @ MS, "Contract" (out @ ms) = the stuff they don't want to do.

Skills: If you are good enough to get the interview and then the job, you are good enough to work there.  If you are good enough to work there as a contractor, you are good enough to work there on a permanent basis, don't let them get you thinking that you need to do all kinds of stuff to maybe get a position -- be firm and empower yourself.  Self confidence will get you more jobs than skills.

Earlier today, I went to Best Buy to look at a few things, and while there I chatted with the two tech geeks while inquiring about an item on sale there and one of them (he) informed me that running Vista on anything less that a gig of RAM was "not recommended" (ie. dum).  He did so with the aura of sage-ness that geeks can get.  I politely listened to him and then proceeded to inform him that when I was working out @ MS we were informed that the item in question (ie Vista) could and would run on a system w/ only 512 mb RAM and with a speed of less than 1 gHz (I ran it on a 895 mHz system, BELIEVE ME, I learned a new definition of patience ~~ I believe 750 mHz was the bottom) at that time.  The look of astonishment was worth it.  I did not do the tech-geek/I am smarter than you bash on them, that would have been the James from pre-girlfriend.  I did not go "Ha!, You are a most idiotic individual..etc".  I simply informed them of my experience with the product within the time frame that I worked there, qualifying it at the end by explaining why beta testing was a good thing because without it we would have never known we needed at least a gig of RAM to run it well.  But I wanted to do it, I just know how it feels to be on the receiving end too many times and realize that it is a maturity thing now.  Just had to post the experience.

P.S. Thanks honey.