A bit of jabbering

[selenay]

Over the weekend, I have been thinking a bit about life after moving to Canada and it has occurred to me that I'll be in the rather unique position of almost being able to start over again. Not with my personality, appearance or anything (I think those are definitely fixed now!) but career-wise. I plan to temp and take contract positions initially so that I don't jump straight into another really bad job, but that will give me some time to sit back and take stock. If I started applying for jobs at this very moment, I would be looking at doing something so thoroughly divorced from my current job that I'm not even entirely sure it would be IT-related.

It certainly won't be for another mega-corporation bent on world domination.

But how will I feel about the industry when I've been out for a couple of weeks? Or even a few months, if the temp positions that I find aren't IT-related? Will I be raring to get my teeth into another programming job or will a few months of sanity pursuade me into librarianship or hot-dog seller? Will I run a mile from another megalithic corporation or shrug my shoulders and dive in?

It's an exciting thought that I won't just be going into the same job all over again. It's not often that you get the chance to make this kind of change.


Today I am determined not to be still here two hours after I should have left. Apart from anything else, I have to meet historyterry on AIM tonight and I will be thoroughly disgruntled if I'm late again due to my minion's slow progress at his work. So there.

I got some work done on Sensible Man yesterday, which is always exciting, and I am almost done with a nasty character epiphany moment so I should be able to get on with the action now. Heh.

This time next week I shall be sitting in a departure lounge on my way to Canada. Yay!

Comments

[historyterry.livejournal.com]

Hi, honey :-).

I too will try not to be late. Apparently there is a swanky reception tonight for the launch of a new translation of Lucretius 'On the nature of things'; something I looked at briefly for history of science, etc. It starts at 4pm your time though, so I can't see it as being a problem.

Hope today goes a lot better for you, and I'm looking forward to reading more Sensible Man when you're ready.

Right, well, I suppose I'd better get back to trying to cobble together yet another version of the PhD plan. No luck finding a supervisor yet, which is a tad wearing :-<, though P says she's happy to look at the MA.

Txx

[selenay]

It was good to chat to you tonight, honey. Hope you have a great day tomorrow :-)

[historyterry.livejournal.com]

Thanks, sweetie. It was okay. Missing chums dreadfully right now though. Hope you had a good day today.

Txx

[nic]

We really should have chatted about this in person! I used to work for a soul-sucking evil corporation. When I moved to England, that was my chance to make the break. I switched to contracting - still programming/design, but now I belonged to myself rather than a corporation.

3.5 years later it's still great!

[selenay]

We really should have chatted about this in person

We probably should have :-) Live and learn, I guess.

It sounds like I'll be following your career path somewhat. It's been such a bad experience working for an evil corporation that I can't stand the idea of jumping straight into another job like this. It's a bit of a relief to find out that contracting can and does work out. Do you have any problems finding new contracts each time or does it not worry you too much?

Have potential employers been willing to get references from overseas companies or was it like starting over again when you moved from Oz to the UK and back?

[nic]

The most important thing about contracting is: You have the power to say no. You're hired on an hourly or daily basis, and this is what you have to keep reminding yourself. So if the job really sucks, or you can see it has the potential to eat your life, only sign a short contract.

You're not there long term, so you don't have company loyalty, so while you will do a good job you won't be the one who stays back every day because the system will fall over without you. (In fact, since you're only going to be there short term, hopefully you will never get this level of responsibility, OR you just won't tell people how good you are).

I always fly under the radar, on purpose. I may know how to fix the problems but as a contractor, it's my job to help THEM to learn how to fix it. I won't be there in 6 months so they can't expect my loyalty. And as for unpaid overtime? I have a mental rule of more than 4 hours in a week and I ask to be paid for it. (And I do.)


So in terms of finding jobs: this is where I'm particularly lucky. I work in a niche market where about 50% of the contractors know each other. So for me, finding new jobs is as simple as asking all of my contacts, "Do you know of any upcoming projects and if so, who should I apply to?"

Word of mouth is WONDERFUL. Steer well clear of recruiting agencies if you can; they will take 25% or more of your pay. However, if you're trying to break into a new market (in Canada) then maybe you will have to go through agencies for your first contract.

Regarding references: since you are moving overseas it might be worth asking trusted colleagues/direct managers for a written reference. You could even write it yourself and then ask them to review/update and sign (I find that's a much easier way to get a written reference). Make sure you include email addresses for your referees and if you have at least ONE local contact in Canada, that would definitely help.

or does it not worry you too much?

It always worries me, although I'm beginning to get used to it. ;) I tell myself I can always go back to work for a corporation if contracting falls in a heap and I'm jobless for more than 3 months. After all, EVERYONE needs IT staff. And even if I have to start at the bottom of the pay scale again, I know I'll work my way back up.


Sorry if I got carried away here!

[selenay]

I am bookmarking this entry because it has a lot of good advice that I suspect I shall need. My company has a policy of not giving references beyond "Yes, she worked here between those dates" but I might be able to persuade a techy contractor that I work with to give me a reference. He knows more about what I can do than my boss!

I probably will sign up with some agencies at first to get some money coming in, but I know what you mean about the amount they take. Yurk! As soon as I have enough knowledge of the market, watch me fly from those agencies :-)

Would you mind if I message you at some stage with any questions that I have?

[nic]

My company has a policy of not giving references beyond "Yes, she worked here between those dates"

Same as my old company, which is why I approached people directly, saying that I wanted a 'non-company work reference'. So it still comes from a person at that company that I worked with, but gets around company policy! Also, if there are people who've now left that company, they could be good as well.

Feel free to ask any further questions; I know how terrifying it can be to go contracting!

[paranoidangel]

Ooh, you have AIM?

[selenay]

I have AIM :-) selenay936, if you're wondering. You?

[paranoidangel]

I realised sometime after I posted it that was a stupid thing to say and I should have told you my AIM :) It's paranoidangel42. I think I signed up ages ago with paranoidangel, and then when I actually wanted AIM, I couldn't remember what password I might have used and the email address I signed up with was long since dead. Probably.