Think I've screwed up

[BigDataPro]

I had a similar experience very recently. It was outside UK. Did 3 months and resigned. This 3 months billing would keep me going for the next 6-8 months. Now I am working towards some certifications until I get some clarity on IR35.

The only side effect was that I drank a lot! really a lot!

[BigDataPro]

You've come to the right place. We can help. Many times I've been sitting in a client office where I've no idea what I'm going to do and neither have they. I've had it go on for a month or more. Eventually they give you something. It's probably chaotic and dysfunctional but most places are in my experience.

Your plan is simple. Look helpful, keep busy - market research, local procedures, documentation etc, keep invoicing

The worry I always had in similar scenarios are, what to say in the next day's standup . It's high time to learn BS talk!

[Cirrus]

Life is just not worth gigs like that.

You have a point but most of my very long career was jobs that were unpleasant or really quite unpleasant. I was often surrounded by other contractors - in the same boat - so it never occurred to me that looking for something enjoyable was at all realistic. (Occasionally it happened, or happened for a while)

It is nice to encourage fellow contractors to strive for a happy life but I think you should be a bit careful about packaging this as an obvious objective, or worse as an entitlement.

As I've said many times, and I stick by it, if work were enjoyable then you would pay them. Almost without exception if someone is giving you money it's because you're doing something you wouldn't otherwise want to go near.

[GigiBronz]

No matter how bad a place is there is still a lesson to be learned. Some decent people to chat to.
Takes a while to figure them out as they are probably keeping their head down or hiding somewhere.
Keep invoicing and make sure timesheets get approved. When you feel it's too much it's easier to jump ships as you've already made peace with your fate there.
Find something nice to think about, new car, renovating the house, makes it easier. Motivation is everything and try not look at at it from that side "I not have another choice", give it another spin.

[ladymuck]

There's ways going to be cruddy jobs. The manager being off sick is unfortunate but not really something that should make you throw in the towel.

Wait till they come back and see if anything changes. They may provide some direction and reassure you that you do have a purpose there.

Failing that, if it is a dead end job with little to do:

- see if you can WFH and how often, use that time to do something else but make sure you're available

- hotdesking can be great as no-one knows what you're supposed to be up to and what hours you ought to be keeping. Use the office time to do something else

The something else can be job hunting, skills training, etc. I'd initially start with having a very good rummage through their intranet / SharePoint system for all the various procedures and processes as being all clued up on those can be very useful when projects get going in earnest.

Keep an eye out for anything coming up and use WFH time for interviews (if you can) and move as soon as you can.

[northernladuk]

You have a point but most of my very long career was jobs that were unpleasant or really quite unpleasant. I was often surrounded by other contractors - in the same boat - so it never occurred to me that looking for something enjoyable was at all realistic. (Occasionally it happened, or happened for a while)

It is nice to encourage fellow contractors to strive for a happy life but I think you should be a bit careful about packaging this as an obvious objective, or worse as an entitlement.

As I've said many times, and I stick by it, if work were enjoyable then you would pay them. Almost without exception if someone is giving you money it's because you're doing something you wouldn't otherwise want to go near.

Suit yourself. Almost completely the opposite to my career but each to their own... And that last paragraph? Garbage.

[KinooOrKinog]

You have a point but most of my very long career was jobs that were unpleasant or really quite unpleasant. I was often surrounded by other contractors - in the same boat - so it never occurred to me that looking for something enjoyable was at all realistic. (Occasionally it happened, or happened for a while)

It is nice to encourage fellow contractors to strive for a happy life but I think you should be a bit careful about packaging this as an obvious objective, or worse as an entitlement.

As I've said many times, and I stick by it, if work were enjoyable then you would pay them. Almost without exception if someone is giving you money it's because you're doing something you wouldn't otherwise want to go near.

I have to disagree. In the 10+ years I've been contracting I think this is only the second, maybe third time, I've felt like this. I generally like what I do so I think possiblity that's why the unpleasantness is amplified. I genuinely don't get how someone could go to a job they despise day after day.

[ladymuck]

I personally have not had what I'd call a bad contract, based on some of the horrors shared here and elsewhere. I've had boring ones, ones so soul destroyingly tedious that I barely could get out of bed to do the work, ones where the work just didn't interest me so much.

Then there's rubbish managers but they are usually easy to work around, not being scared of them always seemed to be a winner.

On those gigs I have done what needed to be done, using the very tactics I gave above, and got out as soon as I could.

Chin up, four months may not fly by (my three with RBS felt like a lifetime) but they also won't last forever. You will learn something there, even if it's not what you expect.

(At RBS I learned how to create a PowerPoint macro that populated a slide deck from a spreadsheet. Turned a mind numbing half a day a week task into one that required clicking a button and going for a coffee.)

[PCTNN]

So I started a new contract last Monday. Public sector, umbrella, four months. Almost from the off i got the feeling I've made a big mistake.
The person who interviewed me had phoned in sick (still off) so I got given a laptop & shown where stuff was on SharePoint. It's 100% hot desking. There's only an 'acting PM' who seems like he's worse than a man short. Any time I ask a question of anyone I get mumbles or blank looks. I don't know why I'm there.
So anyway, I'm normally really positive but I'm very down about it. I feel trapped. Like my only choice is to stay or sell my house and go on benefits. I know it's only been a week & I'm being very dramatic about it but still.. I don't know what to do.
And I'm aware this is rambling so should it be in general? [emoji23]

Happened to me at my last contract.

Public sector, very good rate, 10-15 minutes of bus away from home. The perfect gig on paper. BUT...soul destroying role.

Typical case of wasting public money: they hired me because they had to spend all the budget but they didn't really need me.

The people who interviewed me over the phone had nothing to do with the project I was on, never even saw them in the office.

The work was actually interesting, just there wasn't enough. I would be busy for 2-3 days in a row, then twiddling my thumbs for a couple of weeks.

Every time I spoke with the project manager or the product owner they'd tell me to enjoy the quiet because it was about to get "real busy". It never did.

I still finished the 6 months contract, delivered what had been asked to the highest standards. Declined the extension, and moved on.

It's life. And more often than not, tulip happens.

[BR14]

I personally have not had what I'd call a bad contract, based on some of the horrors shared here and elsewhere. I've had boring ones, ones so soul destroyingly tedious that I barely could get out of bed to do the work, ones where the work just didn't interest me so much.

Then there's rubbish managers but they are usually easy to work around, not being scared of them always seemed to be a winner.

On those gigs I have done what needed to be done, using the very tactics I gave above, and got out as soon as I could.

Chin up, four months may not fly by (my three with RBS felt like a lifetime) but they also won't last forever. You will learn something there, even if it's not what you expect.

(At RBS I learned how to create a PowerPoint macro that populated a slide deck from a spreadsheet. Turned a mind numbing half a day a week task into one that required clicking a button and going for a coffee.)

RBS? - i had the times of my life there.

almost always with the same team(s) of mixed perms and scumbags
only tulip was change control PM's who didn't actually have any idea as to what was going on.
they could be bypassed though.
six? projects
excellent rates.
god bless the flying arsehole


oh, and latterly, mostly remotely serviced.