How long will it take...

[ThomasSoerensen]

filling in everything you write.....with ellipses.....that's a series of dots.....is an early sign of.....losing.....your.....mind.

(W)hat?

[Alf W]

Back to the original point, you need to be careful here as what you're experiencing is fairly classical early state clinical depression.

I find contracting much more relaxing than permy life was for the simple reason that it's not about competing up the career ladder (even if you don't want to compete as a Permy there's always some arse who seems to want to take you on). It's simply about turning up, doing what you are either expert at or good at blagging at, clocking off and billing.

You sound a bit like you can't believe you've finally made it to be a Contractor. Chill out a bit.

Wait 'til it's PD time for the permies. That's my favourite bit about being a contractor.

[TheBigYinJames]

its like i am a new employee trying to impress and doing too much.....

I suffer from that on every contract, but I've been getting better recently. I used to feel that I had to wow everybody in the first week, and used to beat myself up if I didn't get into the work quickly, since I like to pride myself on my ability to 'jump right in' and be producing quickly. I remember a gig for EDS where they didn't even have a desk, never mind a PC and some work, for me to do when I got there for two weeks!. Needless to say I beat myself up about that too! (but still invoiced them , obviously)

These days I've noticed that even if I take it easy on the first week, I still manage to produce more work than most of the permies around me It's not that difficult to out-perform most permies, so relax.

[Stan.goodvibes]

Contracting is waaaaay less stress than permy.

I go to work, try and do a good days work, but if something doesn't work, or a project gets canned, or there is something or someone outside my control stopping me from doing my job, well thats not my problem.

No politics, no performance reviews, i can take time off when I want, I can leave when I want.

And I forget about it when I walk out the door. Nothing at the clientco is my problem, and I have the word 'Manager' in my title. I'm doin my best, and if its not enough then thats the problem of whoever hired me...

[Mich the Tester]

Well, I learnt that if you’re working at a multi-national bank it’s best to chill out, dumb down and lower your expectations of yourself, seeing as these places are so badly managed it can take more than a week to arrange a simple task that anyone with any skills could carry out in an hour.

[Cheshire Cat]

My experience is that it's a different political game being a contractor, not that you are exempt from the schmoozing and back-stabbing.

You still need to be personable, and get along with your colleagues if you want to get things done, even if you wouldn't speak to them outside work.
That's common to anyone who works in an office environment I guess.

What IS good, is the lack of performance appraisals, begging / cajoling your boss for training, and the removal of the deferred benefit (work your nuts off and in 18 months you MIGHT be considered for promotion) approach that managers use to motivate permie staff. Being a contractor, the benefits are tangible and almost immediate.

[wantacontract]

guys thanks for the added posts...but the thing that I wanted to say is that I now cope much better as a contractor, and no longer approaching work like a permie..

saying that I've done so much work for this current company, i have a feeling that my 4 week contract is going to become a 3 week one...



damn, i worked too efficiently...

[TheBigYinJames]

damn, i worked too efficiently...

Working too well and running out of work early is never a bad thing. In my experience if you are good and fast, you'll get repeat business.