I have just started a gig for a large defence org. Been here a month and have just found out the project I was hired for has been stopped due to funding issues. Now I am being asked to do all sorts of noddy tasks including documenting other peoples work and testing other applications. They have mentioned they would like to keep me as they have new projects starting in 2/3 months time. What is the panels view on this. It is my intention to tell the pm that I am leaving at the end of the day, contract states two weeks but I am not doing the work originally hired for. Don't want to burn my bridges here so a graceful result would be good.......
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whats the lowest you can do this for? -
see if they will let you 'work' from home. along the lines of you can do feck all anywhere.Rule Number 1 - Assuming that you have a valid contract in place always try to get your poo onto your timesheet, provided that the timesheet is valid for your current contract and covers the period of time that you are billing for.
I preferred version 1! -
Depends what your priorities are ... if you are bored stupid and would rather be out there looking for something decent then a chat with the PM and a mutually convenient exit is the right thing to do - like you say don't burn any bridges! On the oterh hand if you are happy to do dossy work and get paid for it until new projects start then it is a cushy number until then and you may want to hang round.
I am on a project that is currently stalled and due to kick off again in a couple of months. At the moment I am finding whatever work I can, helping whoever I can find and occasionally sticking my nose in to why we're stalled and what we can do to get going more quickly. Thing is when it does kick off again it will be a biggie, long term and interesting so I prepared to put up with a few weeks of slow time while they still pay me the rate for my real work.
Main thing is to do try to keep the client sweet cos when the new projects do kick off you may want to go back.
WindyComment
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Torch the place.Comment
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[serious]Got to agree with WindyAnna,[/serious] unless of course the true reason the 'project' was stopped is that it became self-aware and escaped, leaving a bloody trail of destruction in its wake, due to you testing the seek-and-destroy software you've been hired to code in the Live environment and not on the Dev platform.Originally posted by WindyAnna View Post
(Sorry - watched the first quarter of an hour of Terminator 3 the other night. Right up to the bit where Arnie put on the Elton John shades.)
ZComment
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If you can't stand the work they're lining up for you, have a word with your manager and see if there's something more involving available. The fact that they're happy to pay you to hang around for a couple of months says that you're in demand as far as that role goes. Keep an eye on the up-coming projects to reassure yourself that the work is coming and in the meantime you'll have a great chance to familiarise yourself with the whole of the business and what other prospects there are.
If it's really dragging you down, however, could you ask your manager whether you could take a sabbatical (more or less) until they need you in the office and take on a more casual 3-monther somewhere else?Comment
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Nope, the company funding have gone into administration.....Originally posted by Zorba View Post
I guess four weeks at my rate pushed them over the edge
whats the lowest you can do this for?Comment
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I'd do my utmost to get another gig asap on their time, explain to any agencies the position that you do not need to give notice, or at least only one or two days.
Once you get a gig I would expect that the client will be happy to see you go, if not take a week or two off, whilst working for new client.Cenedl heb iaith, cenedl heb galon
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If you are genuinely not doing anything that A. N. Other, with lesser skills could do more cheaply, then tell the PM this, and make it clear that although you love the PM and all the guys & gals there to bits, it's only right and professional that you toddle off, no hard feelings, and let's all keep in touch, etc.
I'm in a similar position, and that's what I did, in effect. The trick is to make it look like you are doing them a favour.Comment
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Tell the client you have got a request from another client who needs
some important enhancements to xyz software that you developed for them,
and that by the time you finish this work, you'll be back.
Some clients are just waiting for you to say this, as they feel reluctant
to let contractors go because they either feel bad/guilty/ about it,
or that it will burn bridges between you or the agency.Comment
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