Another what would you do thread?

[kermitt]

Been in my current gig with an oil operator 6 months or so on a long term that will see me through the middle of 2013. Rate is good and the environment is relaxed but I'm so booooored! Still in a tendering process awaiting contracts to be awarded for the scope of work for which I will be partly responsible for delivering so in the mean time am left twiddling thumbs.

You might say easy money and be patient but the downside remains I have a long 2 hour drive each way and stay in a rented flat during the week away from home which is becoming a drag along with the fact I have nothing to do when I get here.

A previous employer is now desperate for engineers and are very busy. This is of appeal because they are advertising competitive rates and the location is very close to home plus the projects are typically 12 - 18 months duration although they are talking a min term of 6 months. Now I am sure I can get this increased due to my previous relationship with them but their culture was always to never have contractors but it seems their hand is being forced and they are in dire need of experienced people.

Now I don't necessarily want to leave as my current position is quite lucrative for my career but I feel that I am de-skilling myself by being far too removed from the coal face and view that if I stay my future here will involve lots of documentation to review which is hardly exciting and not really what I was hoping for.

I think if I did leave then it would put my current client in the tulip and would not want to leave on bad terms despite the fact that I have already saved them considerable time and money by highlighting the mistakes in their design specifications.

It would be nice to do both but then I have the long commute and expense of renting which would be better avoided. The best scenario would be to WFH and provide my services but that does not appear to be allowed. Maybe they could bend the rules a little but will cross that bridge later.

So faced with that prospect of being bored to death for the next few months or working on something more challenging what would you do?

[PorkPie]

When are the contracts you mention likely to be signed (i.e. when will it all kick off where you are)?

[VirtualMonkey]

when's the end of your contract? if the end of this one and the potential start of the next one con-incide then i'd go for the more interesting job...plus you'd be travelling less.

Let the client know you're not being utilised fully...they might just buck up their ideas if they think they can get more out of you

[jmo21]

Now I don't necessarily want to leave as my current position is quite lucrative for my career but I feel that I am de-skilling myself by being far too removed from the coal face and view that if I stay my future here will involve lots of documentation to review which is hardly exciting and not really what I was hoping for.

Do you just mean it is well paid, or did you really mean good for your career in some way as you then go on to mention fears about the role.

If you really are not sure how long this inactive period will be, then by all means look for something else.

Maybe the stuff you are waiting for won't get signed, and they'll let you go.

[northernladuk]

When you say 6 months in to a long termer, is that because you have a contract to 2013 or are you assuming the project will last that long? If you have a contract you know you cannot claim travelling due to the 2 year rule? If you assume 2013 you will have to stop claiming as soon as you know. This is in effect a rate cut to add to you factors when making your decision.

Personally I would go for something more challenging if it is that bad. 3 years in a steady environment might be nice but when it ends and you have to face the light of day it is going to be a right bloody shock.

If you are confident you can get better work in better areas then do it. That's the idea of the flexibility we all claim to be one of the great things of contracting.

[kermitt]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Just to clear things up the current gig is signed for 18 months but will likely take me through summer 2013 until the equipment is installed. So yes if I get extension beyond the current duration I will fall foul of the 24 month rule which equates to alot of money.

The current Client is a top tier oil company hence why it was a good career move as it would help open doors with the majors i.e. Shell, BP etc. Many engineers in this industry aspire to a client such as this because they tend to pay better rates. However I may be able to get a similar rate with more challenging work via this other gig that has come up and not have the costs of travelling and renting accommodation albeit working for a company further down the foodchain.

It is likely the contracts will be signed and approved by the end of the month possibly into December. The technical stuff is complete just waiting on the commercial guys to sort things out. This will happen so no chance of them letting me go as I am the only one here that knows this particular discipline.

The trouble is it will take some time before such documentation will be sent to me from the product vendor via the company contracted to install the equipment. In the mean time there may some meetings to kick things off but I do not see much happening until Jan next year when detailed design will commence.

As i see things my role will involve me potentially toing and froing between here and the contractors offices which are about 15 miles apart with the occassional visit to the product vendor.

This other new gig will be almost an immediate start working for the same product vendor albeit probably on another project but delivering similar equipment.

This is who I started my career with some years ago as staff and I did enjoy my time there. My only reason for leaving before was fear of redundancy during the economic meltdown. Regardless I received a better offer to go contracting and have done ever since for the last few years. I did return to them about 18 months ago to help them out as a consultant with design/sales work but the department manager screwed me around somewhat and were reluctant to be paying a contractor.

However this new gig is in a different department altogether and the work is different because it focuses on engineering the deliverable product as sold by the sales department I just mentioned.

[TheFaQQer]

Been in my current gig with an oil operator 6 months or so on a long term that will see me through the middle of 2013. Rate is good and the environment is relaxed but I'm so booooored! Still in a tendering process awaiting contracts to be awarded for the scope of work for which I will be partly responsible for delivering so in the mean time am left twiddling thumbs.

You might say easy money and be patient but the downside remains I have a long 2 hour drive each way and stay in a rented flat during the week away from home which is becoming a drag along with the fact I have nothing to do when I get here.

I stopped reading at this point.

If you have a four hour drive and a stay away for a gig where you can't claim expenses, either (a) it's not worth it, so find a new contract; or (b) it's a brilliant rate, you'd be daft to leave.