Reply to: Longest Time in Contract With No Work

[AlfredJPruffock]

Ah. I'm a axe man, so you've got wrong feller.

No matter, good luck then whoever you may be.

[Tin Pot]

Still tinkling those ivories ?

Ah. I'm a axe man, so you've got wrong feller.

[AlfredJPruffock]

Could be, could be...do you owe him any money? I mean me?

Give you back your five Guilders next week Whack.

Still tinkling those ivories ?

[Tin Pot]

Maybe Ive got the wrong man but is that you AT ?

Could be, could be...do you owe him any money? I mean me?

[AlfredJPruffock]

Ah, buy if you think the price is going up - short if you think the price is going down.

Bracket to limit your profits and losses.

Seems straightforward...so how come I'm bankrupt already?

Maybe Ive got the wrong man but is that you AT ?

[Tin Pot]

you don't need any training, that's easy. Build shares, sell shares. Short-sell shares, buy-to-cover shares
All thru an online broker

Ah, buy if you think the price is going up - short if you think the price is going down.

Bracket to limit your profits and losses.

Seems straightforward...so how come I'm bankrupt already?

[XLMonkey]

"I spent three months on a contract, where on a day to day basis I was given virtually nothing to do."

It seems to me that the logical thing to do would be to start working from home a couple of days a week.... Surely it's possible to do nothing from there as well?

Some of my best projects were conducted largely from my living room, ably supported by a telephone, packet of McVities and Test Match Special. Those were the days.

[Lucifer Box]

I've upgraded my skill set to MSSQL 2005, now where do I get online trading training?

Simple... buy low, sell high.

Job done.

[Rebecca Loos]

you don't need any training, that's easy. Build shares, sell shares. Short-sell shares, buy-to-cover shares
All thru an online broker

[Tin Pot]

...
you would also have invested in some shares in the stock market and play a bit of day-trading game during office hours

... and made about £10,000 on day-trading on the British stock market.

....And I have nearly doubled a wee pot of money I've got on the Nasdaq.

I've upgraded my skill set to MSSQL 2005, now where do I get online trading training?

[tim123]

Scapegoat? I've had one of those contracts.

I have considered this option, but there seemed to be nothing that I could have been the scapegoat for. The product was mature and the company were market leader in their field, all that they were doing was upgrading it for changing customer requirements.

The using up the budget idea makes some sense, but it was May-July and not many companies have a year that ends in the summer.

As to the 'make your own work' comment, then this expectation might be fine for a BA, but for a numpty code monkey who's only there to implement bug fixes and feature enhancements, on a product that I knew zip all about, I don't see what I realistically should 'invent'. As I said, this was pre internet so no chance to do some 'research' on what the market/technology is doing, in my spare time.

Finally, an inability to do nothing. Guilty, you are right, I can't do nothing sucessfully! (I'm really envious of those useless ****ers that I have previously worked with, who get multiple extension in an environment where there is actually lots of work to do, by sucessfully doing nothing useful all day). But, I had learnt from a previous contract (actually my first) where I had been let go because of this inability to do nothing. However, the reality was that I was simply not being fed enough work by my team lead who worked at a different site and thus never saw that I finished the work in half the time allocated. I thought that I was doing really well finishing it so quickly, but the PM, who was in the next room to me, thought that I was that lazy ****er who did nothing for half the day. Yes this was niave of me but I learnt that I should ask for more work when I had finished the previous allocation.

Tim
(25 years in and still only the code monkey. I still can't seem to get this "looking busy when I'm not" skill, that all managers have).

[Fungus]

"I spent three months on a contract, where on a day to day basis I was given virtually nothing to do."

Either:

a) The manager hadn't a clue what was going on, and it was up to you to convince him that you were making a contribution.
b) He was spending spare money from that years budget. It's usually better to spend all of the money allocated for a year, rather than finish the year having underspent. Otherwise next year's budget will be cut. On my last contract we worked restricted hours for 9 months, and then long hours at the end of the financial year.
c) He did not like you. There's often not much you can do about it. You might be highly qualified and the manager resents that. Or you might be old and he wants youngsters. It's weird how the impression you make can be far more important than your ability and how hard you work.
d) You're useless! That's rare in my experience. Even people that are tulipe at the job usually last 6 months.
e) You got shafted behind your back by someone else. Maybe another manager was protecting his empire by making sure work went to other people who were more useful to his empire.

In such a situation I'd try and figure out how to make a useful contribution and if that is not possible, I'd use the free time to find a better contract.

I've been in such a situation as a permie, about 12 years ago. When I complained, the manager treated me as the one at fault. Never expose someone elses incompetence.

Fungus

[OwlHoot]

The worst thing is trying to look busy especially if you are by the door and everyone coming in can see you surfing.

The worst thing is when your boss wants you to be busy but has nothing for you to do or imminent, and then the neurotic git starts giving out unmistakeable vibes that it's somehow _your_ fault not theirs!

The only thing to do then is say emphatically that you're ready for anything that comes up and then brazen it out, or arrange to end the contract if the ridiculous situation continues.

[expat]

Come renewal time (not that I really wanted one) the client told the agency that I wasn't up to the job and wouldn't be re-newed. I never did find out what job it was, that I wasn't up to.

tim

Scapegoat? I've had one of those contracts.

[AlfredJPruffock]

your a contractor, they are prolly expecting you to use some initiative and GET YOUR OWN WORK!

That would seem a reasonable point of view, however the harsh reality is that no IT manager worth his salt will ever diminish his budget.

Therefore it does happen that pseduo jobs are created where there is simply nothing whatsoever to do,purley in order to preserve budget allocations, good news for the contractor and the agent.

Of course there is where the seasoned contractor who knows the score steps in.

The last thing the IT manager whom simply wished to preserve his budget needs is somebody who is going to embarrass and even upset the poor manager by demanding non existant work.

More likely this form of misguided enthusiasm will lead to an early contract termination.

Hope that helps.