Adventures in IT contracting

[Greg]

It's odd, but I never get that...
Is it the same word that we insert when we're irritated with you?

Have you met my wife?

Uhhh... That is your wife...

Been trying to figure this one out for a while now. I admit, I don't have much.

Are you introducing the concept of 'forum spouses' to our little hangout?

[mekender]

Contract is signed and in hand... Background check is pending. Had to do a hair test for drugs, not a piss test so that is a first. So that was a new experience.

I also managed to get them to give me a small signing bonus even though the third party recruiter balked at the idea of asking for one.

[Netpackrat]

Have you met my wife?

Uhhh... That is your wife...

Been trying to figure this one out for a while now. I admit, I don't have much.

Are you introducing the concept of 'forum spouses' to our little hangout?

As in, #$%&ing Greg. Who is #$%&ing Greg?

[Precision]

Congrats Mek.

Hopefully since the job seems tailored and the people are SOUTHERN, this will be a hospitable fit instead of what sound like the typical hysterical 3 year old fit that IT sounds like.

[Greg]

As in, #$%&ing Greg. Who is #$%&ing Greg?

Oh yes, you called? I'm back.

What I was getting at, is that if you call me by the same 'middle name' she does, you must be comparing notes with my wife.

To open the cockpit door at the end of the standoff (heh) congrats again to mek. I hope the commute's OK and there isn't too much travel. I happen to like some business travel, but too much can be too much, if you know what I mean.

[mekender]

Annnnd...

9 days in, after putting in 80 hours in a 7 working day period. After crawling through attics on my first day and putting in 10 hours on my 4th day, elbow deep in a wiring closet so thick with dust that I should have been wearing a mask, troubleshooting a fiber problem. After working on Saturday because of an idiot fiber contractor that was supposed to splice and terminate 12 fiber pairs and only managed to get 2 done. After wearing steel toe boots, hard hats, ear plugs and a safety vest for 80 hours solid. After putting in 2 consecutive 11 hour days this week... After having my boss talk to me for a good 30 minutes yesterday afternoon about his vision for me and getting me my own office after a couple of months and about how he had a list of about 6 to 12 months of work for me...

This morning "we dont feel like you are a good fit for an industrial environment so we are letting you go"

FUCK...

By the way... here is what the job description was... Not a single thing on that description is something that I actually was tasked with doing.

Responsibilities : This candidate will provide systems software support for a plant/manufacturing environment. Designs, installs, tests, maintains, modifies and documents systems software programs. Activities generally deal with operating system software, data base management, data networks, computer capacity and utilization. Provides technical guidance and support to business application developers, computer operations and user support personnel. Primary focus will be on the implementation and maintenance of the Company’s Microsoft SQL based True Opportunity software.

Basic Qualifications:
•Must be proficient in SQL Query, Database and Server management, SQL Reporting Services, WEB Server Services or other HMI user interface system. Must also be skilled in maintaining LAN network, switches and general IT hardware fixes.
•Will spend %65 in Applications Development and %35 in Networking and Hardware set-up and maintenance.
•Experience with the Java language, Python, HTML, C#, accessing databases via JDBC/Spring and Report design and implementation, Servlets and Java Server Pages is considered a plus.
•Experience working in a plant and manufacturing environment will be a plus.
•Must be adaptive to technical change and be able and willing to acquire skills required to accomplish highly technical tasks.
•Experience with procedures used to design, code, test and implement online and batch application systems, including experience with the coding techniques and structure of various high-level languages
•Experience with operation of equipment, procedures used to submit and control jobs and data communication methods and protocols.
•Good communication skills with emphasis on technical presentation.

After being in the IT field as long as I have, I can tell you that I could count on one hand the number of people I have worked with that would have come back after the first week to put up with more of that place. Add in the $60k pay and that number would be zero.

[Greg]

Annnnd...

9 days in, after putting in 80 hours in a 7 working day period. After crawling through attics on my first day and putting in 10 hours on my 4th day, elbow deep in a wiring closet so thick with dust that I should have been wearing a mask, troubleshooting a fiber problem. After working on Saturday because of an idiot fiber contractor that was supposed to splice and terminate 12 fiber pairs and only managed to get 2 done. After wearing steel toe boots, hard hats, ear plugs and a safety vest for 80 hours solid. After putting in 2 consecutive 11 hour days this week... After having my boss talk to me for a good 30 minutes yesterday afternoon about his vision for me and getting me my own office after a couple of months and about how he had a list of about 6 to 12 months of work for me...

This morning "we dont feel like you are a good fit for an industrial environment so we are letting you go"

FUCK...

Holy crap. Damn I'm sorry to hear that.

I think you need to have an exit interview, and approach it very carefully. Don't be afraid to be very, um, frank.

[mekender]

I think you need to have an exit interview, and approach it very carefully. Don't be afraid to be very, um, frank.

I asked point blank what the problem was and was told "we dont feel like you are a good fit for an industrial environment so we are letting you go"

That was all they would say... I was PISSED when talking to the recruiter afterward though.

[Greg]

I think you need to have an exit interview, and approach it very carefully. Don't be afraid to be very, um, frank.

I asked point blank what the problem was and was told "we dont feel like you are a good fit for an industrial environment so we are letting you go"

That was all they would say... I was PISSED when talking to the recruiter afterward though.

Um, what I'm getting at, is do you know *why* they said that? They went to some trouble to get you in there, after all.

In my own history, I've gotten that line twice. Each time it was after a week or a little more on the job, and each time I knew exactly why they felt that way - because they were right, and I agreed. One of those jobs was essentially sales, and the other was manual labor. Each time I did kind of need the job (else I wouldn't have taken it) but each time it turned out I wasn't as good at just bulling through it as I might have hoped.

In each case you learn something and move on. But when they're letting you go and you can't figure it out, something is wrong. It's like coughing up blood, it's a bit of red flag that you probably should figure out, stat.

[mekender]

Um, what I'm getting at, is do you know *why* they said that? They went to some trouble to get you in there, after all.

The recruiter told me that they said they felt I would be better suited for a call center environment.