I walked out on 3rd week of 3 month contract

[thunderlizard]

The crucial difference is that you were both PMs benefitting from (a) the unboxing helping your project along at a critical time, and (b) the shop-floor-cred of briefly mucking in with the lads.

I bet that if somebody from a different part of the client had swung by your desk out of the blue and said "Oi mate, before you start on that Gantt chart I've got a job for you down at the warehouse" it would be a different story.

[threaded]

e.g. a bitch's "personal" printer


Charming

Yes, if the lady in question had a personal printer then her role in the organisation was more 'immediately' important than 4 new starters who wouldn't be expected to be productive for a few days. Do remember that a lot of the shouting that goes off in some clients offices is more for effect, to show off to their boss, than it is to get the job done. One has to get with the politics in an organisation, and learn to get with it quickly when you're a contractor.

It is not until you get to the 'reassuringly expensive' rates that the clients start to treat you as a contractor or anything you say with respect. So you've a way to go yet.

One has got to learn to smile, roll with the blows. A good 'handling' technique is to rate 'insults' by minutes charged on the time-sheet. Too many and the client is into paying overtime.

[northernladuk]

But in my defence, the work that I ended up doing was different to my role.

Thats not much of a defense.

I'm a bit worried now and wondering what could happen because I broke the contract.

bit late to be worrying about that now isn't it. Toys are out of the cot now.

Thanks for the replies so far guys - I was expecting some smartarse comments e.g. "You make contractors look bad" etc.

You make contractors look bad. There done.

It IS a whiney rant, but I left my other job to go forwards, not backwards. Screw that sh*t.

I corrected the wording in this for you.

What do you all reckon???

You are a bit of a plank? So have you walked in to another job? How much are you going to get paid next week? When did you manage to get the other job lined up right after this on? Oh you didn't?

You packed in a paid job at this time of year cause you are not man enough to swallow your pride and do some menial work as requested by the bloke paying you. Ok you have done some long contracts before but it sounds like you have forgotten what it's all about. We do what we have to in times like this. We have to take a bit of cr*p and deal with it to bring in the cash. Moaning like a bitch over menial tasks is permie land not contractors.

There you go, a post full of smart ass comments just to balance up all the nice ones so far.

[RichardCranium]

The crucial difference is that you were both PMs benefitting from (a) the unboxing helping your project along at a critical time, and (b) the shop-floor-cred of briefly mucking in with the lads.

I wanted to say that!

I bet that if somebody from a different part of the client had swung by your desk out of the blue and said "Oi mate, before you start on that Gantt chart I've got a job for you down at the warehouse" it would be a different story.

Or, worse yet, "Help Fred in his next workshop by doing the writing on the whiteboard and taking the minutes for his project board meetings" and any PM would walk.

I agree with you, TL: while doing a job way below your job description is fine, doing tasks just below it is demeaning. For a PM, being expected to provide project support for someone else is offensive; for 2nd+ line support then being told to do non-diagnostic support or box-building is offensive.

[RichardCranium]

Yes, if the lady in question had a personal printer then her role in the organisation was more 'immediately' important than 4 new starters who wouldn't be expected to be productive for a few days.

The problem there is the support manager is over-riding the priorities to benefit the managers. That is tulipe management from a support manager. Senior managers are non-productive and most only have personal printers so they can do their eBaying in work time.

- If the support manager is disguising having insufficient staff by giving managers higher priority, there will never be sufficient staff.
- It is the poor support plebs that have to take the tulip off the staff when managers get given top priority.
- Neglecting new starters is devastating for morale. There is the risk they won't stay.

Branded is working for a useless manager, with bone-idle colleagues in an environement that does not even have respect for its new starters.

My first contract was like that. I stuck it for 6 months and, with hindsight, I should have done what Branded did: walked.

[northernladuk]

for 2nd+ line support then being told to do SOME non-diagnostic support or box-building is mildly annoying but he gets paid.

I have altered the sentance to better reflect the situation in my opinion.

[Branded]

e.g. a bitch's "personal" printer


Charming

Sorry - I didn't mean that because she was simply a woman. She is apparently known to be a real bitch and demands everything to be done for her yesterday.

[Branded]

Thats not much of a defense.



bit late to be worrying about that now isn't it. Toys are out of the cot now.



You make contractors look bad. There done.



I corrected the wording in this for you.



You are a bit of a plank? So have you walked in to another job? How much are you going to get paid next week? When did you manage to get the other job lined up right after this on? Oh you didn't?

You packed in a paid job at this time of year cause you are not man enough to swallow your pride and do some menial work as requested by the bloke paying you. Ok you have done some long contracts before but it sounds like you have forgotten what it's all about. We do what we have to in times like this. We have to take a bit of cr*p and deal with it to bring in the cash. Moaning like a bitch over menial tasks is permie land not contractors.

There you go, a post full of smart ass comments just to balance up all the nice ones so far.

Thanks for the honest opinion. But I can't take you too seriously - you're a northerner.

[Branded]

i know unboxing pcs feels like a step backwards, but if the role pays ok...what difference does it make...

I am a PM, we were short of people so I pitched in a unboxed some PCs....didn't bother me as long as I got paid...and the guys appreciated me rolling up my sleeves rather then just standing there and telling them what to do...

the rate i got was very high for unboxing pcs...

as for the b*tch, what's wrong with that......fixing a printer or sorting out people without Pcs....is all the same - you're there to fix a problem....who are you to care about their company efficiency, you'r there as a contractor, do the minimum and take the dough....

To be fair mate, you sound quite conscientious, like me at the beginning....always want to do right....but trust me after a couple of contracts, you'll soon harden up and just make sure you take the money.

Anyway, sounds like you're much happier with the decision you made, so have a merry xmas...

Look, I've been working and this type of work for over 7 years now. I admit that I should be doing something more along 3rd line now. I simply don't want to work in an environment where I would stress too much simply because I was working for people who cannot do some simple prioritisation. If I go backwards like that, I would get used to it and my next role may be difficult to get used to.
And for those who say, "Don't worry, you get paid anyway." It's like saying, that I better be careful because I won't know the next time I'll get a new job. The fact is, I've still been getting serious offers - a couple just the other day that I turned down because of this role. There is plenty of work in what I'm doing - for me at least. When I left my previous job a few weeks ago, I got this one the very next Monday. I'm certain that'll I'll have another new role with a week.
I just spoke to my agency about what happened this morning and he said, "Gimme your CV right away and we'll see what we can get you". I didn't even ask him about another role yet, I barely finished telling him what happened. I know for sure they don't want to lose me becuase they got me this role the following Monday after quitting my previous role with them.

What recession???

[northernladuk]

Thanks for the honest opinion. But I can't take you too seriously - you're a northerner.

Maybe you should. All my northern roots do means I call a spade a spade not a digging implement. If my post was dumbed down with namby pampy southern soft talk it would probably start to reflect some of the other opinions on here so I am not really alone in my thoughts. Just a little harsh (and honest?) in my delivery.