Contract from hell

[psychocandy]

I think the OP is spouting utter crap. Thinking of jumping ship in the first week? on their first contract? Sounds like yet another starry eyed permie who thought contracting was just lots of extra money for doing and acting the same as a permie.

well, as they've found out, its not. Its frequently doing a job that's different from the job spec. Its frequently dealing with arsey client managers and its frequently being made to feel that everything that's going wrong is down to you.

FFS grow some testicles, man up and do the job even if it isnt 'what you signed up for.'

That's part and parcel of contracting life.

Harsh mun Bolshie. And not helping the guy is it?

[psychocandy]

If the gig I'm at now was my first contract, I'd have probably run for the hills as fast as my little legs could take me. It's the pits of fiery hell, politics like you wouldn't believe, everyone hates each other but pretends to be mates, full on shouting matches when it all gets too hard to hide, and there are team building meetings and dinners which just reinforce the emnity and hatred. I've never seen anything like it. I also once worked on a contract where the Programme Manager tried to get me sacked for the simple reason that he wasn't involved in my appointment. Nothing else. What I've learned is the more contracts you do, the tougher you get. You do what you are paid to do, smile politely and go home to people/animals who care about you. I seriously love being a contractor. I never had this much fun, danger and excitement in permiedom, I can tell you. Or money! Hang in there. Trust me, it's more than worth it.

Yeh. Saw this once. Not me but someone else. This poor fella had worked as a permie about 5 years before (big consultancy, different department/site etc) been made redundant, went contracting, did a few gigs then came back as contractor. Same thing - manager wasnt happy that he'd not been asked about it so made up some crap that they cant take permies back because all the current ones would want to leave and come back as contractors. He was gone.

[northernladuk]

Harsh mun Bolshie. And not helping the guy is it?

Could be worse, you could give him some feedback.

[kingcook]

Could be worse, you could give him some feedback.

Yawn.

[cojak]

Most contractors know where their red line is (the contract that they terminate before the end).

I didn't find mine until 14 years into contracting so I would be very loathe to tell someone to chuck in the towel in their first contract.

Keep going knowing that if they dump you it isn't the end of the world.

[uk contractor]

Most contracts sooner or later are from hell its how the business cycle works if you contract long enough at different clients you realise this & suck it all up or go back to being a permie !

[SlipTheJab]

Ditto, my current 3 month contract has been a mind numbing nightmare (nothing wrong with the people, just that there is so little work and what there is very tiresome to do, coupled with loads of red tape). Still they're paying me and I'm doing the work. My solution? Find a new contract to start when this one ends and decline the renewal, simples.

[BolshieBastard]

Harsh mun Bolshie. And not helping the guy is it?

Harsh!? Newbie contractor crying on a forum about their first contract after a week? Oh please!

[SueEllen]

Harsh!? Newbie contractor crying on a forum about their first contract after a week? Oh please!

To be fair some people came to contracting from nice employers so it's a shock to them to find lots of companies have a***holes in management positions.

[Elliegirl]

Haha love this. Thank you. Up and at 'em I go!!!

Excellent, glad I and others could help.

And ignore the guff about growing a pair, man up, etc etc. Some people have too much time on their hands.