Bloody client keeps dropping me in the deep end.

[MarillionFan]

Defeatist. I did five years in user support at the start of my career, and I managed to escape with only minor neuroses. I haven't seen a proper "user" for years.

Four more years of contracting for me then that's enough coin. Then finished. Time to do something else completely.

[alreadypacked]

Four more years of contracting for me then that's enough coin. Then finished. Time to do something else completely.

That what they all say

[xoggoth]

Some years ago now but I was the major technical expertise on a simulation project on which the others were mostly young and inexperienced. The PM kept making wildly optimistic reports about progress. Somebody would say say they'd just started testing and he would mark the package down as complete.

Then we had an embarassing client meeting at which it was quickly obvious that things were nothing like as advanced as the client had been led to believe and the bastard PM didn't turn up. Just because I was the technical expert/most experienced they kept turning to me for explanations although mine was purely a technical role.

[suityou01]

Some years ago now but I was the major technical expertise on a simulation project on which the others were mostly young and inexperienced. The PM kept making wildly optimistic reports about progress. Somebody would say say they'd just started testing and he would mark the package down as complete.

Then we had an embarassing client meeting at which it was quickly obvious that things were nothing like as advanced as the client had been led to believe and the bastard PM didn't turn up. Just because I was the technical expert/most experienced they kept turning to me for explanations although mine was purely a technical role.

I hope you dropped the k**t in it up to his neck. Please say you did,

[d000hg]

What's the worse situation that someone has found themselve dropped into unprepared?

Marriage.

Yes but to be fair she was medically retarded and therefore unlikely to be prepared for her new owner.

Do keep up numbnuts. The thread is about being dropped into situations you're not briefed about, not about not knowing what to do.

I know exactly what to do. I don't need to bulltulip as you say above, as I know it all.

You really do need to listen more, maybe that way you wouldn't make all those mistakes you keep telling us about.

Are you copy-pasting from SY's threads?

[russell]

Yes but to be fair she was medically retarded and therefore unlikely to be prepared for her new owner.

Are you copy-pasting from SY's threads?

She has a Phd and is a research fellow.

[Old Greg]

That what they all say

He'll whack it all up his nose.

[darmstadt]

A similar thing has happened to me on a couple of occasions, both with the same company. The first time I was a permie, they were a software house but I only lasted 9 months before moving back to contracting. They'd sold a database management application which linked into the OS management application as they both had the same base code. Sales had told them they they could control everything from one central point of control which was a rather big white lie and I ended up being the numpty placed onsite to write massive amounts of code to do the job without actually knowing very much about what they wanted. The customer (an absolutely huge media company) was actually quite nice to me knowing it wasn't my fault but as a representative I was taking the blame. I'd drive 400 odd km in tulipty winter weather, work all day and if lucky stay overnight otherwise it was back home and wait for the phone call saying that they wanted more.

The second time was they had sold a webserver application to a company in Amsterdam saying that this was the be all and end all to web enabling all their applications which were output on various devices and it would only take a couple of weeks. The troubles were twofold, first they had blatantly fudged the difference between web-enabling and web-enhancing and secondly they had no-one to do it which is where I came in. There was only one contractor in the whole of EMEA who knew the product, which was me, and they also gave me this crap. Upon arriving at the customer (one of Hollands most important transport companies) I found out they had been slightly mislead. I had over 120 applications to convert and after 6 weeks on-site had only finished the first and easiest. Many meetings held with customer management and the Dutch arm of the software company where it was pointed out that the German pre-sales had misled them. I left with a hefty amount in my bank as they paid a walloping rate plus expenses.

The interesting thing is that 'lies' were both told by the same person from the software company with whom I once shared an office with. The person I replaced I left because he had the same problems with him and then I replaced him when I left the software company to go contracting as he was finishing the contract. My replacement apparently didn't last long either and the bloke is still there...

I will admit I've been thrown in the deep end many a time just because I've said yes, mainly as the subject sounds interesting and a hefty dose of RTFM'ing cured that and now have a massive portfolio of crap skills

[MarillionFan]

A similar thing has happened to me on a couple of occasions, both with the same company. The first time I was a permie, they were a software house but I only lasted 9 months before moving back to contracting. They'd sold a database management application which linked into the OS management application as they both had the same base code. Sales had told them they they could control everything from one central point of control which was a rather big white lie and I ended up being the numpty placed onsite to write massive amounts of code to do the job without actually knowing very much about what they wanted. The customer (an absolutely huge media company) was actually quite nice to me knowing it wasn't my fault but as a representative I was taking the blame. I'd drive 400 odd km in tulipty winter weather, work all day and if lucky stay overnight otherwise it was back home and wait for the phone call saying that they wanted more.

The second time was they had sold a webserver application to a company in Amsterdam saying that this was the be all and end all to web enabling all their applications which were output on various devices and it would only take a couple of weeks. The troubles were twofold, first they had blatantly fudged the difference between web-enabling and web-enhancing and secondly they had no-one to do it which is where I came in. There was only one contractor in the whole of EMEA who knew the product, which was me, and they also gave me this crap. Upon arriving at the customer (one of Hollands most important transport companies) I found out they had been slightly mislead. I had over 120 applications to convert and after 6 weeks on-site had only finished the first and easiest. Many meetings held with customer management and the Dutch arm of the software company where it was pointed out that the German pre-sales had misled them. I left with a hefty amount in my bank as they paid a walloping rate plus expenses.

The interesting thing is that 'lies' were both told by the same person from the software company with whom I once shared an office with. The person I replaced I left because he had the same problems with him and then I replaced him when I left the software company to go contracting as he was finishing the contract. My replacement apparently didn't last long either and the bloke is still there...

I will admit I've been thrown in the deep end many a time just because I've said yes, mainly as the subject sounds interesting and a hefty dose of RTFM'ing cured that and now have a massive portfolio of crap skills

As it happens, I don;t mind being dropped in the deep end. I'm one of lifes floaters, probably to being a bit lardy these days. What pisses me off though, are the twats above you who drop in the tulip. When I'm managing I don't do it to people and so expect the same level back. But that's the thing with contracting, the people who hire you think nothing of dropping someone in from a great height with the knowledge that they'll work it out/represent them. They'd never do it to a perm member of staff.

That's why we get paid more.

[TestMangler]

She has a Phd and is a research fellow.

That explains it then. She's writing a thesis.......