Don't you decide when you leave?

They sound like they are taking the piss. Not long till you never have to see them again.

Good luck mate!

afgavinstan wrote:

Application away for management role in the Argyle St, Glasgow store. Positive vibes only, folks. Let's do this shit!

Was walking dougie as I read this, when I looked up from my phone, I saw two magpies just sitting there. That's a good sign, should be easy for you. If you want me to go through management speak before your interview, gimme a shout.

Update on my job hunting: had the phone interview for the cable guy job with virgin. Think it went well, waiting to hear if I get through to the final stage.

Although.

It's not working directly for virgin, it's a subcontract with mcnicholas utilities. My brother in law and his son are working for them just now, laying fibre optic cables. It might not have the long term stability I'm needing.

But, got a call today, inviting me to an interview for a cash in transit operative. Basically, driving around, replenishing ATM's. Got experience of that, it was a daily duty when I ran bingo halls. 4 on 4 off shift pattern with overtime available, and they'll put me through the sia badge course. Obviously danger of being robbed, but that was a constant threat in the bookies as well, so I'm not hugely put off by it.

Both jobs are a drop in money from what I'm on now, but both offer something different, with regular shift patterns, which is a motivating factor, given impending fatherhood.

Updates to follow, although the luck I'm having recently I won't get close to either.

Just to add, I'm thinking that the market place is getting saturated with IT people who have Windows, Linux and now AWS (amazon) skillset. Google are making inroads into cloud services and will catch AWS and Microsoft Azure eventually. There aren't that many certified Google cloud IT engineers, it could be a good niche in the IT contractor in space to go into. OR I could train up as a AWS IT engineer with aspirations to become a AWS IT architect. Or just still to my comfortable day job? I dunno what to do....

Glad you added that but e, because that's where the catch is, you need something to sell, simply being bloody good at it, no matter how good, really doesn't look good to agencies. If the national agencies I found Reed to be really good for me, it felt like they were looking for employers for me, not pressuring me to take jobs I didn't want

Personally, I love working freelance/contracting.
However I wouldn't like to big it up too much as it won't be for everyone and making the move is a huge deal.
So instead here are a few things to consider some obvious some not and by no means an exhaustive list.

1.
Money. You will likely get lump sums way over what you normally would earn in a month, followed by droughts of earning nothing. You need to know you will be disciplined enough to even out that money over the year.

2.
People treat contractors differently every where. They may be treated well at your current place, other places give them the cold shoulder. In my time doing this I have made friends for life, been invited to xmas and summer parties, increased the amount of people I know in the industry ten fold.
The bad. I have been ignored, sat there all day while waiting to be provided equipment, wifi passwords, briefings etc, then still expected to deliver. I have experienced bitter staff members who obviously know my day rate is way higher than theirs (never ever tell anyone your dayrate btw). I have been patronised by people clearly worse than myself at the job.

3. 
You will be going to places where you don't know anyone and no one knows you. You will have to ask people where the toilet is, if this makes you uncomfortable you may find life hard. Beyond that you really should attempt to talk to people and make yourself a presence, people rehire the guy they remember. At the same time there will be in jokes and social things that you won't be a part of, that can leave you feeling quite lonely. It is a tricky balance tbh, one aided by going to drinks/lunches when invited and joining in on tea rounds.

4.
You may end up working totally alone, be it at home, in an empty office or in the corner on the shitty desk. I think you have to be happy in your own company.

5.
Never ever dip into what you owe the tax man. Work with an accountant who can tell you what to put aside exactly. Never assume more work will come in before you have to pay the taxman. Taxman is king.

6.
Ignore anyone who encourages you to claim back expenses you can't straight face, honestly say are relevant to your work and keep all receipts for what you do claim. Everyone I know who has been investigated has had a shit time of it every year since.
e.g I am a 3D artist, some would say I could claim games as research but none of my clients are game developers. Whereas I will claim textbooks, courses, plugins etc.

7.
Sector dependant you may have to use your own hardware and software. Even in what I do there is a definite divide on that. Architects always seem to have setups, branding agencies barely have plug sockets.


8.
You jettison all that bullshit that goes along with work.
Office politics become fun, like watching a soap opera.
If a company folds another company picks up the customers/clients/contracts and most of the time they still need a freelancer.
When bonus and pay rises were due announcing I always used to get stressed out, knowing it was always disappointing but prepping for how much so. None of that shit when you work for yourself.


9. 
Pensions. You can get just as good or better a pension privately than a company pension depending on how good your pension is there.
You can also control a private pension, put in some time and make it work.
Many companies offer the absolute minimum and play it so safe it is worthless.

10.
Lastly I would always ask people how secure they felt in their job anyway. I have had two permanent career jobs. The first I was made redundant from despite my output being profitable (along with most of the department), the second I was being forced out.

1st is the top grade for Bachelor degrees.
Followed by 2-1, 2-2 and 3rd class degrees.

Most consider a 3rd to not be enough and CVs go in the bin. Most who get a 3rd are encouraged to resit modules.
A 2-1 or 2-2 can get you past the initial stage depending on the role, I have a 2-1, my best mate has a 2-2 but our careers mirror each other across different industries.

Heavily oversubscribed industries sometimes only look at graduates with a 1st class degree. Personally I think this is short sighted but I understand Tempy's worries. An amount of work experience and portfolio can make up the gap between 1st and 2-1 though.

You can do fine off a 2-1, I can get a master's entry off a 2-1, I just think after hitting uni at 25/6 I should have got a first. Things are not that simple in a subjective subject though.

A 2-1 is a drinkers first. It demonstrates social skills.

I have half an eye on academia and a masters is a good way to get research experience and prove ability, without having to take a potluck shot at a PhD or a research assistant position.

Tempy wrote:

I have half an eye on academia and a masters is a good way to get research experience and prove ability, without having to take a potluck shot at a PhD or a research assistant position.

Yeah, fair play then.

It's just investment, vs a declining work ethic that's primarily a personal criticism rather than a suggestion it's all been a waste. I am on the border, and have mismanaged my time somewhat so have loaded play thanks to my dissertation. I dunno precisely why I fell into bad habits again (probably because I am just human) but I did, and it'll just be a bit of a personal let down when I see my GPA a handful of points from the requirement for a first, but that's just part and parcel of life I guess!

Eh, I'm the same T. I always have the best intentions of not falling into bad habits when taking on new things but it only lasts so long. The fact that you are aware of these traits is a start at least. Plus you've got obvious talent, I just hope there's some places that will see you for the asset you are. Or just do what Skerret did and give up and become a lecturer.