On the market... again, and the perils of job hunting

Well that didn't take very long, did it? New gig, no work, back to the streets I go.

I kind of saw this one coming, and I was already looking. I've done one interview already, though the company is concerned that I'm over-qualified. I know that's HR speak for, "Likely to get bored and leave," but I guess I would trust employers to some degree to let the candidate decide that, especially when it's a sellers' market, as it is here. Regardless, quite the opposite of the prior interview to this last job, where I was not qualified enough. I feel like I'm in some kind of limbo!

The problem, to me at least, with the current market is that there are a lot of jobs unfilled, too many even, but they're almost all pursued via staffing agencies that don't add any real value to the employers or workers. The vast majority want the commission. I'm not joking when I say that one particular gig has been pitched to me now by 20 different companies. And when you work through them, you may get $60 per hour while the agency gets $40. On a six month job, that means the staffers get around $38,000 for finding you on Monster and setting up an interview. That's insane.

Where I've been happiest and engaged was at any company that made something for itself. In most cases, they did the hiring themselves as well. I'm starting to wonder if that means that there are actually two job markets, the one that I've been complaining about, and the one I'd like to be a part of. If so, I don't know if that's as great of a market right now.

It's probably time for me to get serious about work in Seattle or Orlando and look for the good companies that will relocate, or telecommute at least.