Reply to: Being marginalised on a contract.

[SuperZ]

Is it because she is black?

Is it because she is female and the others are sexist?

[Gibbon]

when you say black do you mean west indian / african or asian ?

[meridian]

I deliberately didnt mention this. No, she's white but the other 3 are black. Are you suggesting there could be some sort of discrimination going on?

Funnily enough, my first thought was of discrimination but of a different kind - I've worked with some real a-holes who thought the women in the office were only there to make tea.

If she is as good as she says re the apps under test, it's all going to come down to the quality of work that she does. Document the test scripts well, raise quality failures, and highlight potential areas of problems. Depending on how she percieves the internal relationships she might prefer to raise issues with the TM rather than STA in case the STAs use her work/recommendations as their own.

All is not lost, I've worked with a couple of completely hands-off TMs who also had a very good perception of what was really going on in the team dynamics. She needs to stay professional throughout though.

[Francko]

Most permies will try to boss you around. Afterall they are just bitter employees with a 2% payrise once in five years and are aware that they are just as disposable as contractors are but at half the price. That's why they will have the need to feel important and so acting as they are important there by giving you tasks and orders. I don't think you can really avoid that, it's statistically guarantee that there is at least one frustated permie in your team. I am surprised your friend is in this situation just now. I would just ask to get everything documented so that if something goes wrong the culprit is the non-manager acting as a manager.

[lukemg]

Most of last year I was running a non-IT team of 50+ staff across 2 sites covering maternity leave for 2 permies with P+L and budget responsibility. This year I am escalating user issues with an outsourced service provider (complaints dept really), last week I helped a team install some new printer drivers...Point is, it goes with the job, if you are a contractor you have to adapt, be flexible, do what is required while being the perfect employee - Reliable (no days off because your cat is ill), professional (don't slag the place or people - too much). I EXPECT to find myself in bad situations because this has happened before, when in most cases all is fine, it is a bonus. In the role you describe, I would still be finding my place, keeping my head down, making sure I was seen as keen and helpful and friendly BUT I would expect to be given the workload by others, especially at the start and I wouldn't care who did that or if they were having cosy chats. They pay me a premium not to care. I do have certain lines I won't be pushed over but nothing your friend describes. They might not like her and she might be first out when the time comes BUT complaining up the chain will probably guarantee that and the manager WON'T thank her for bringing it up, they get enough grief from permies, any contractor that kicks off isn't worth it.

[Ravello]

If she's not the 'sit back and take the money' type I'm not sure the collective here are likely to be able to help...

Seriously though the options are fairly obvious and if your friend has been contracting for 10 yrs I'm sure she's aware of them. Personally I'd sit back, take the daily rate and keep an eye on the market just in case.

[shoes]

I deliberately didnt mention this. No, she's white but the other 3 are black. Are you suggesting there could be some sort of discrimination going on?

Well the situation made me think of reasons for the behaviour, it's interesting to know that there is that difference. Does she wear a KKK outfit to work?

[BolshieBastard]

Is it because she is black?

I deliberately didnt mention this. No, she's white but the other 3 are black. Are you suggesting there could be some sort of discrimination going on?

[MarillionFan]

There is a huge difference between experience and seniority. Just because you've worked for 20 years in a given field and have 20 years 'experience' it does not make you a senior contributor.

I've met plenty of senior people who have gravitas and force of personality that gives the impression they are experienced, but dont really have any background.

Some lead, some follow. Easy as that.

[shoes]

Is it because she is black?

[Green Mango]

One of the others has seen her CV and now they are all f***ing scared of her experience.

Who know's really.

It could also be a personality clash...

I guess it comes down to whether she needs the job, if so make the best of it.
If not walk ....

[SueEllen]

She doesnt consider is a question of seniority \ kudos or any of that stuff, she isnt into office politics. She considers she is being marginalised and not included in discussions of what \ how to tackle work. She has to butt in and ask what's going on and doesnt see any reason why she's effectively the last one to find out or be told.

One of the others has seen her CV and now they are all f***ing scared of her experience.

[Bagpuss]

Are you sure there is no history between the other starters and the manager? If not it sounds like your friend needs to push herself a bit more or just put up with it. Never complain, nobody likes whinging contractors.

[BolshieBastard]

There's some misconceptions creeping in about this.

So to clarify;

Its a 'new' team, I understand one STA was in situ for a week previous but the others all started the same day. So, apart from the distinction between STA and TA, there's no demarkation within the setup.

She isnt a 'junior.'

She was specificially recruited to work on the team because she has indepth knowledge of the type of work they will be doing. She tells me the other TA doesnt have specific knowledge of the work and their background doesnt suggest they have more or even the same level of knowledge.

She isnt a permie just gone contracting, she's been contracting for going on 10 years. She just asked me for advice to see what my thoughts were (hope she aint reading this!)

She doesnt want to just keep invoicing, she's very focused acts professionally and doesnt have a 'take the money' attitude. I've worked with her before and know she is highly respected and gets repeat extensions wherever she worked. IMO, if she is being marginalised, the people at her place are wasting a good opportunity and knowledge she has.

She doesnt consider is a question of seniority \ kudos or any of that stuff, she isnt into office politics. She considers she is being marginalised and not included in discussions of what \ how to tackle work. She has to butt in and ask what's going on and doesnt see any reason why she's effectively the last one to find out or be told.

[d000hg]

If she is worried about not looking good at renewal time or whatever, I think there are 2 good options:

1)Try to change things... complain you don't have a clear chain of command or person giving you work, etc.
2)Just be really good at doing the tasks assigned, regardless where they come from. Document clearly that she is the one who did it, and who assigned each task so she's covered if they ever complain she's not following the right procedure.