Working Hours - Where Did My Life Go?

[brownie74]

Another hung his coat in a cupboard near the exit. He would be talking to the people he sat with and intimate that he was going to talk to someone in another part of the office. That way noone was ever sure about what time he actually left.

Love it!

One thing you permies could consider is my belief that there is nothing to gain from a programming career in IT, apart from money. Once you come to that view the way forward is clear. I'm earning top dollar for a 7.5 hour day. I make sure I engineer a high visibility success now and again - then I give myself some downtime during which I skill up, on the job. All work done is towards increasing my rate and for no other reason.

[barely_pointless]

Love it!

- then I give myself some downtime during which I skill up, on the job. All work done is towards increasing my rate and for no other reason.

absolutely!

[Cowboy Bob]

Any offers on what a professional day means?

No more than 8 hours IMO.

[Euro-commuter]

Any offers on what a professional day means?

The answer is not a specific number of hours, or even a principle, or indeed a matter of what it should mean.

What it means to the agency, who put the phrase in the contract in the first place, is that you should work whatever hours the client later deems to have been satisfactory.

[rootsnall]

This is common if you are working in banking in London. I have never understood it myself, when I was permie I never worked late.

I have seen a couple of approaches to this, one bloke I worked with always stayed late but never started before 9:30 on the basis that everyone notices if you work late but noone ever notices if you are in late.

Another hung his coat in a cupboard near the exit. He would be talking to the people he sat with and intimate that he was going to talk to someone in another part of the office. That way noone was ever sure about what time he actually left.

I've used both of these tactics. Learning how to make it look like you are just going to look for someone but actually leaving takes a bit of skill and practice. The late start bit is now a non starter as I've got young kids who get you up at the crack of dawn so it's early starts for me. On my current contract I have just insisted on a definition of the working day as 7.5 hours, I'll do more when needed but will take back the time when it suits. If the clients don't like it then they don't renew, simple as that.

[tay]

But it so hard to work out without anybody noticing! None of colleagues, permies and contract seem to want to go home at a reasonable time. Some sort of competition to see who is the last one out of the door?

Who cares??? Its all about the relationships you build with the people that matter. 1 hour spent in the pub with the PM or manager is worth 100 working late.

And if you cant go to the pub, then just be friendly and happy at work.

But the most important thing is to start how you mean to go on. I always start at 8, always have 1 hour for lunch and depending on contract I finish at 4 or 4.30 everyday... once in a blue moon I will stay late if we are doing a release... and they really appreciate it.

I work in fininace in London for major Blue Chips and have had lots and lots of extensions, and never once had an issue with finishing on time. All comes down to how much guts you have, some people are doormats and some people are feet.

What it means to the agency, who put the phrase in the contract in the first place, is that you should work whatever hours the client later deems to have been satisfactory.

That way lies madness and no life....

[r0bly0ns]

once in a blue moon I will stay late if we are doing a release... and they really appreciate it.

I totally agree, I learnt a very valuable lesson early in my career.......


If you constantly work overtime, it becomes the norm and expected, and questions will be asked if you stop doing it.

If you never work overtime, but then you do once to help them out when it hits the fan, it is really appreciated!

Sounds daft, but I have seen it happen, I worked in a team where one guy had no social life and used to work 9 hours a day minimum. We used to just stick to the 7.5.

He managed to get himself a girlfriend and cut back to 8 hours a day.
At his next review he got a verbal warning because if it, they actually mentioned in his review that they didn't like the fact that he had cut his hours!
Wereas me and a couple of others *only* put in extra hours when it hit the fan, and we got bonuses because of our 'comittment'!


Go figure...

[EternalOptimist]

Wet behind the lugs

A daily rate of 350 works out at about 42 quid an hour. If you do an 11 hour day its 32 quid. I wouldnt get out of bed for 32 quid an hour.

When you have been doing four contracts a year for 3 or 4 years you will learn that making friends on a contract is something that doesnt happen often, so dont sweat it.

The only thing that matters is hitting your targets, leave the 'bum on seat' mentality to the permies (and the pm's). If you have to work 11 hours a day to hit your deadline, do it, if you can meet your deadline by working 6 hours a day, then **** off at four. If you work in an area where there are no real targets, do your eight hours then leave.

You are allowing yourself to be pressured, this is bad, sounds like a hangover from your permiedom days. You will grow out of it. You will develop a healthy '**** you' attitude.

[barely_pointless]

I used to work at an IB in London and did 0900 to 1730 or 0830 to 1645-ish with 30 mins odd for lunch until world cup time where we spent all the time in the pub.

Start as you mean to go on, don't give the expectation that you are a 12 hour a day bangalore body if 6 weeks later you drop back to a normal contractual obligation, the client will perceive that he is getting less.

and that's the rub, it's about perception!!

[ChimpMaster]

[QUOTE=barely_pointless]I used to work at an IB in London and did 0900 to 1730 or 0830 to 1645-ish ........QUOTE]

Yep that's my score too. I do my 8 hours every day and that's it. Rarely I have to do more if the situation requires, but on the other hand I sometimes get to leave that little bit earlier.

I set the expectations as soon as I started - I asked to start a little earlier so that I could finish before 5pm, and that's what I've done ever since. I can understand the fear about competing for contract work with others in the same team, but hey if they're going to cut contractors there's not a lot you can do about it anyway.

Just do your contracted hours and be professional. Get the work done and get it done well - that's what you're hired for.