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Previously on "Barclays Capital and Norwich Union"

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  • SallyAnne
    replied
    Originally posted by YumMum1
    sw**ging d**cks
    What sware words are those? I've been racking my brains!!

    Are you a real live mummy YumMum? We need more girlies on here!

    Leave a comment:


  • EqualOpportunities
    replied
    Originally posted by lukemg
    RH is 'business casual' has been for years = no jeans/t-shirts (except for women of course). No requirement for ties. Oddly, while working at the worst 'office' (semi-converted warehouse) I have ever seen for caudwel - shirt and tie was required...
    Swift House, perchance?

    Leave a comment:


  • Cowboy Bob
    replied
    Business casual, suit requirement - all the same. A dress code is a dress code. I'm sat here right now in jeans, t-shirt (with a large skull & crossbones on it), and trainers. If the client doesn't like it, they can go **** themselves. There's no mention of dress code in the contract, and I wouldn't sign it if there was.

    As it happens, my current client doesn't care, but even if they did there would be sod all they could do about it. Just wear what you want, there's nothing they can do. If that's a suit and tie, it should be your choice and not theirs.

    Dress codes by their very nature must be an IR35 negative point as they are an example of D&C.

    I do limit myself to not wearing t-shirts with rude words on them, but that's about it. But then again, that's my own choice.

    Leave a comment:


  • mrdavies
    replied
    Originally posted by BillHicksRIP
    Sorry to bump this, but does anyone who works/has worked there know if you're required to wear shirt and tie every day? It's only a small thing but would put me right off...
    Fairly casual when i was at the radders holiday park.. in fact rocked up suited one day and got funny looks.. then i am in IT though

    Leave a comment:


  • lukemg
    replied
    RH is 'business casual' has been for years = no jeans/t-shirts (except for women of course). No requirement for ties. Oddly, while working at the worst 'office' (semi-converted warehouse) I have ever seen for caudwel - shirt and tie was required...

    Leave a comment:


  • Churchill
    replied
    Originally posted by BillHicksRIP
    Sorry to bump this, but does anyone who works/has worked there know if you're required to wear shirt and tie every day? It's only a small thing but would put me right off...
    Nah mate, your dungarees should be OK. Take my advice though, leave your banjo at the railway station.

    Leave a comment:


  • BillHicksRIP
    replied
    Originally posted by BillHicksRIP
    Does that apply for Radbrooke Hall too?
    Sorry to bump this, but does anyone who works/has worked there know if you're required to wear shirt and tie every day? It's only a small thing but would put me right off...

    Leave a comment:


  • Flubster
    replied
    Spent 6 years at NU up until last March, when I saw the light and went contracting. Which part of NU as some parts are less worse than others....?

    Leave a comment:


  • mcquiggd
    replied
    NU - full of Wipro, and has been for some time. The 'Wealth Management Project' - budgeted at £250,000,000, went £100,000,000 over budget. Around 2001. Canned the same year it went live.

    400 servers purchased. It ended up running on two boxes at the end of our corridor - about 30 users most of whom had 'test' in their username.

    We were laughed at for being 'legacy' people - they were using Java, we were VB6. Life and Pensions (our area) had to bale them out.

    They then decided to 'save' about £250,000 a year by sending work abroad (and employ people on a different budget to fix it afterwards) - fiddling the books.

    And, of course, awarded themselves a hefty bonus, that more than offsets any 'perceived' cost savings.

    Typical British management. Has been the curse of the country for decades. Always stopping innovation or sheer hard work through politics.

    There has always been plenty of talent here - the skills shortage is in people who can manage, exploit markets, recognise opportunities, and actually make decisions. Ironically, the very people El Gordo tries to eridicate, unless they were born outside the UK and need a passport or a letter from tony to get a loan to buy up another British industry.

    Leave a comment:


  • BillHicksRIP
    replied
    Originally posted by Ivor1
    And you HAVE TO wear a tie
    Does that apply for Radbroke Hall too?

    Leave a comment:


  • YumMum1
    replied
    Originally posted by GeorgeGregan
    When I interviewed at Barcap there were two managers there from different teams who gave me the "good cop/bad cop" treatment. They were constantly trying to throw me off guard with pointless and aggressive questions. I found out later that what goes on is that the non-hiring manager will feel threatened if a good candidate turns up and try and stuff up the process for other manager.

    They also tend to have 3 or more interviews for even the lowest level coding roles. Apparently the more candidates you interview (and reject) the more discerning you must be.

    Unfortunately I got through the interview process. One of the worst places I've ever worked in terms of politics and red tape and people generally tring to stop you doing your job. This is of course specific to one part of the business and it may be different in other areas but I know a few other contractors who have had the same experience.

    My current agent told me he can't find any developers in London who haven't already interviewed at Barcap.
    Totally agree - this company is full of big sw**ging d**cks who have no idea what they're supposed to be doing...

    Leave a comment:


  • YumMum1
    replied
    BarCap - to be avoided

    Originally posted by snaw
    I've knocked back Barcap - sounded too much like hard work.
    I've just come to the end of a contract with BarCap and I'm delighted to be getting out - pays well but the disorganisation and the politics - the IT department is disorganised and chaotic - to be avoided if you can afford it!!!

    Leave a comment:


  • weboo
    replied
    NU - even back in 98, they started recruiting many workers from India, at the time the permies didnt like it as they thought they were secure in the fact that no-one wanted to live AND work in Norwich. Rates used to be VERY good(I was on 600 a day), but becuase of the indians coming in - many contractors had to go and rates were lowered....thats why I left anyway

    Barcap - remember, what you read in the press etc about customer service is probably Barclays Bank or Barclaycard. Although they are part of the Barclays group, they are very different. At barcap its high tech and leading the way with technology...the rest all fall behind. Yes its political, but you will find many IB's are like that becuase there is no room for error and they get things right first time. If you are a contractor getting paid by the hour...then who cares! I'd recommend working there and I'd also go back one day. But its a big company with 100's of apps and 10's of 1000's of servers and 100's of projects..so you could be anywhere

    Leave a comment:


  • Hart-floot
    replied
    Originally posted by threaded
    I think only about 10 people actually work for NU, all the rest work for implants of various other companies. They'll all say they work for NU, but they don't...
    Thats cos they all work in India these days. Any operation that wasn't based in Norwich quickly gets shut down and faxed over to India.
    Is the NU Life IT still going on in York?

    Leave a comment:


  • Denny
    replied
    Originally posted by Cowboy Bob
    If you enjoy having meetings about the meetings about the meetings that were held last week, you'll love it...
    I'd hate it then. I like to get things done and get frustrated when I am too tangled up in a quagmire of bureacracy, protocols and time wasting buck passing.

    As far as I'm concerned a process or procedure is only as good as its effectiveness. If it isn't doing what it is supposed to do I don't abide by it and accept the consequences, I just ignore it. Then I get terminated.


    Sounds like I'm not missing much apart from a lot of meetings.

    Leave a comment:

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