I haz a job now! (well, sort of)

[NorthernZel]

Got a call from a recruiting company earlier today... they offered me a temp job as an accountant at a lawfirm. No need for interviews - my resume alone convinced the lawfirm that I should work for them.

Well yes, it's only temporary, yes, it's part-time, and yes, it is at a lower pay than the usual rate for accountants... but DAMN I am happy now. I've been unemployed for over a year now, so it's a bliss to get back in the swing of things.

[freeatlast]

Lots of times temporary part-time jobs turn into permanent full-time jobs if you impress them with your work. Temporary part-time is a good way to try someone out and it's easier to get rid of them if you are not happy with them. Congrats and good luck. I know what it feels like to finally get a job after over a year of unemployment.

[Silas G. T. Brontë]

I just recently received news about finally landing a teller job myself, so I know exactly how you feel!

Congratulations!

[NorthernZel]

Lots of times temporary part-time jobs turn into permanent full-time jobs if you impress them with your work. Temporary part-time is a good way to try someone out and it's easier to get rid of them if you are not happy with them. Congrats and good luck. I know what it feels like to finally get a job after over a year of unemployment.

Thank you - now, after two weeks at the new place, I'm feeling confident with the routines at work, and my coworkers seem to be happy to have me there.

My temp contract has already been extended to last until May 1st and I got more hours (from 25 hours to 29 hours a week), but since Mr. Zel is going to be out of his job soon and the lawfirm mentioned that they might need me for a longer period, I'll try to negotiate for a full time position at a wee bit higher rate.

[NorthernZel]

Small update:

My temp position wasn't extended after May 1st (I was temping for a long-time sick employee who called in and say he'd be fit for fight now), but I made sure to tell my CW and HR that I'm interested in temping during the summer holidays, unless I'm offered a full-time position elsewhere.

[NorthernZel]

UPDATE!

Update:

Got a NEW temp job at a hospital - this time for 2 months! Full-time! With a very high probability of either temp extension or permanent job! WOOT!

And the background was almost similary:

I had just ended my vacation and logged on my temp agency's site to see whether they had any openings. Saw the job, though it said that one had to start the week before I saw the opening. Rang the agency up to hear whether they already had sent someone out for interviews, got told that they had selected out a few candidates but they'd send my resume to the agent who was handling the case.

Got a phonecall, "Yo NZ, saw your resume and sent it to the hospital, wanna go to an interview tomorrow?" "Hell YEAH", I said.

Got to the interview, Boss and Uberboss sounded like I had the job already. They asked: "When are you ready to start?", I answered "How about tomorrow?" to which they replied: "Well, see you tomorrow then."

I asked: "Umm... the temp agency gave me the idea that you had several candidates up for interviews..."
They replied: "No, not really - once the agent saw your resume she thought you were a 100% match so there was no need to call further candidates in..."

So, um, I'm totally out of the unemployment pool all of a sudden, for a decent wage (might get EVEN MORE decent if/when I get fully hired by the hospital) and with great perks (for now free lunch, maybe later free access to fitness center)... I'm kinda all bliss now, like

[Mikkel]

Great, good luck, I hope it's not one of those hospitals who are cutting down to save money at the moment.

[NorthernZel]

Great, good luck, I hope it's not one of those hospitals who are cutting down to save money at the moment.

Thanks! I haven't heard anything about budget cut plans on administration level right now, actually there are talks of expanding the Account Payable department at the moment.

And since I'm temping in Accounts Payable, well....

[Mikkel]

Thanks! I haven't heard anything about budget cut plans on administration level right now, actually there are talks of expanding the Account Payable department at the moment.

And since I'm temping in Accounts Payable, well....

Good for you , I'll wave towards the administration offices every time I'm visiting a hospital in the future.
Oh, and I'm being treated at three (!) at the moment, there should be a chance.

[NorthernZel]

Good for you , I'll wave towards the administration offices every time I'm visiting a hospital in the future.
Oh, and I'm being treated at three (!) at the moment, there should be a chance.

Oh well, my office is located in an "off-limit for patients" section of the building. At least I think so, I haven't seen any patients up there yet.
But I guess that the nice ladies down in the Billing Department (which is in an "on-limit" section) won't mind a friendly hello nevertheless

Oh, and BTW I realised I'd made a mistake in my earlier post. I'm in Accounts Receivable, not Payable (oops!) But it's still "my" department that is planned to be expanded if the hospital finds a way of budgetting with an extra hire or two + train folks from other departments to handle certain A/R tasks as well.

[NorthernZel]

Speaking of: (thought of posting this in General Work Chat but I might as well keep it in the same thread)

At the moment I'm temping for a co-worker who has called in long-term sick. From the time she called in till I got hired went about two and a half weeks where none of her tasks were done.

Thing is, Boss and Uberboss would like me to have completed all tasks related to the month of July by the end of this week so the books can be closed and a 2Q report can be made.

So I have to do three weeks of backlog in one week. THREE. FRIGGING. WEEKS. And I'm not fully trained, heck I've only been there for three days!

So (if Uberboss allows it) I'm looking forward to an approx. 50-60 hours week opposed to the normal 37 hours week if I must be able to get through all the backlog, and THEN hope that the workflow allows me to take some paid time off or get off the clock early later on (labor board rules, the overtime could come back and bite my ass if I end up claiming unemployment benefit later on).

So, um, wish me luck, folks?


(EDIT: Turns out it won't be that extreme, I'm looking at a max 45-50 hour week. And Uberboss isn't demanding a deadline, he'd just be glad if I met that "end of the week goal", if I have to work on it next Monday or Tuesday as well the company will still survive. Overall they are very happy with my efforts and my mad easy-learning skillz. I thought of posting an SC story I encountered today (and handled brilliantly, if you ask me), but since I as a temp undergo an extra strict NDA I didn't want to take the risk.)

[NorthernZel]

Bumping this up once again with a huge update:

Company are SO impressed with my work that they are seriously considering paying an extra fee to the temp agency so I'm released from the temp contract and instead permanently hired...

... effective from as of SEPTEMBER 1st!!! WHOOP-WHOOP!

Still, some details are still to get set, but facts are this:

- My wages will follow my normal cash flow (bills have to be paid at the beginning of the month, temp agency only pays every 15th of the month, therefore I had to ask the bank for an overdraft every time I was temping, company will issue paychecks at the end of the month instead)

- I will now have free access to our fitness room out of working hours

- I will now have access to our remote server = possibility of working from home when necessary

- Possibility of having a health insurance as a supplement to the NHS (in order to secure faster treatment if I need to have something done)

- and last, but not least... a pay rise. I dunno precisely HOW much a rise I will get since I have to negotiate with HR first, but it's definately gonna be more than the temp agency paid me, and a HELLUVA lot more than I got in unemployment benefit for the last couple of years.

Please excuse me as I return to bouncing off the walls, while hysterically cheering...

[Kristev]

I'm chuffed for you.

[Mikkel]

Congratulations.

[tropicsgoddess]

Awesome!!! Congrats on the gig!