Reply to: Winding down the last week of my first contract

[mattfx]

Handler? Haha do you work for Special Branch? Or the Circus? (ask yer dad, he may have watched Smiley's People.)

qh

Haha, very good. I just refuse to use the word "manager" - even though that's probably the most accurate description.

[quackhandle]

We get on well - however the airport I am at has a 0 tolerance policy to alcohol which my "handler" as I refer to him, like reminding people of every now and again if they're joshing around about how drunk they got over the weekend. Nice enough guy, but total jobsworth when it comes to that sort of thing. Kinda chap who wouldn't risk more than one beer the night before coming to work in case it "broke policy" - that sort of thing.

Handler? Haha do you work for Special Branch? Or the Circus? (ask yer dad, he may have watched Smiley's People.)

qh

[mattfx]

That is exactly what I am saying!

Just bagged another tele interview for this afternoon. 4 concrete opportunities on the table, surely something has to come off?

[woohoo]

We get on well - however the airport I am at has a 0 tolerance policy to alcohol which my "handler" as I refer to him, like reminding people of every now and again if they're joshing around about how drunk they got over the weekend. Nice enough guy, but total jobsworth when it comes to that sort of thing. Kinda chap who wouldn't risk more than one beer the night before coming to work in case it "broke policy" - that sort of thing.

******* conscientious, industrious nice guy is that what you are saying. Setting the bar too high for the rest of us.

[mattfx]

How well do you get on with your line manager/chap/lady who took you on?

We get on well - however the airport I am at has a 0 tolerance policy to alcohol which my "handler" as I refer to him, like reminding people of every now and again if they're joshing around about how drunk they got over the weekend. Nice enough guy, but total jobsworth when it comes to that sort of thing. Kinda chap who wouldn't risk more than one beer the night before coming to work in case it "broke policy" - that sort of thing.

[quackhandle]

How well do you get on with your line manager/chap/lady who took you on?

Could always go for a beer with them can't do any harm, always possibility of future work.

And if they have an alcohol problem, that's liquid lunches all week!

qh

[WTFH]

To be fair, I've had a flurry of calls for potential gigs and now have two interviews Thursday and another in the pipe with a date TBC this week - looks like I only have a couple of days to go!

Make sure you take those calls in the office, as loud as possible. Add in things like "that's twice as much as my last one and you say you're looking for two others to help?"

[mattfx]

To be fair, I've had a flurry of calls for potential gigs and now have two interviews Thursday and another in the pipe with a date TBC this week - looks like I only have a couple of days to go!

[SeanT]

Are you bored yet?

[greenlake]

Is there a main printer in the office and a big shredder? Are the desks reasonably open plan?

If so, print off random documents/spreadsheets, furtively run over to the printer, pick them up, sneak back to your desk, then get your laptop bag and put some paper in it.
Then go to the shredder and shred stuff. Rinse and repeat.

Always act like you've got something to hide, but are trying to hide that fact.

Or just reposition the shredder close to the printer....

[WTFH]

Is there a main printer in the office and a big shredder? Are the desks reasonably open plan?

If so, print off random documents/spreadsheets, furtively run over to the printer, pick them up, sneak back to your desk, then get your laptop bag and put some paper in it.
Then go to the shredder and shred stuff. Rinse and repeat.

Always act like you've got something to hide, but are trying to hide that fact.

[mattfx]

Thanks HW - No such luck. IT team are quite literally kept in the basement away from the rest of the airport. Only other people in our building are actually from another company..! Not too worried, got 2 interviews lined up and a load of CV's out at clients as of last week... Fingers crossed.

[HugeWhale]

Check up on all those people you met just the once in other departments. One of them may be in the tulip and desperate to get another skilled body in urgently. You may get another month working on a test strategy or risk reduction plan or some other such nonsense. It happens more than people think.

[Seahorse17]

Don't forget to raid the stationery cupboard.

[jamesbrown]

MF will hook you up for an afternoon of cricket.