#the temp contract I’ve been on for like six months offered me a perm role w them

[pxrxmoore]

(;_;)

[thessalian]

Thess vs Temp to Perm

Jobs are like buses.

Yeah, there’s the bit about “you wait ages, and then three come along at once”. That’s the standard response, at least here in the UK.

But there’s also the “They’re time-consuming linear nightmares of getting where you need to be; something to suffer through in order to survive and maybe snatch some tiny semblance of fun” bit.

We’ll address the first one today, though.

I’ve had a couple of interviews. One of them, I liked my chances. Not the best commute, but within that 90 minute window that the Universal Credit people insist is expected. I know this because I have done that role as a temp. In fact, it was my last temp role before lockdown. When I first applied for this role, I actually emailed Agency Guy to say, “Hey, you guys threw me at this role before and they’re advertising for a permanent person; the last time I worked there, it was because you asked if they needed anybody so maybe you could call them and see if they want me to come in and work temporary, see if we can maybe increase my chances of a temp-to-perm thing?”

No response. Zero. Not even an acknowledgement. Not even a “They don’t work with our agency anymore since the twice I screwed up information with your booking” (which he did, incidentally; first was the day he didn’t tell me that my contract was ending and I found out I was out of a job when I was asked to hand in my swipe card at the end of the day, and second was when they screwed up my start date the second time they sent me there). Fine, I thought, and moved on.

Interview happened on Tuesday by Zoom. This morning, I got the callback; they were offering me the job. I’m not getting complacent until I have a signed contract logged with HR, but since that should not in any way be a problem, I’m basically saying I have a job and will be starting in a couple of weeks.

And then, just this afternoon, I get an email from Agency Guy. “Role at [Other Hospital We’ve Sent You To Before]! Eight weeks, maybe longer! Lemme know if you’re interested!”

I know it’s in their interests to keep me on their books as a temp. They make more out of me as a temp. But Agency Guy never kept in touch the entire six months, and honestly, I’m about half past done with this temping shit. So it did give me no small amount of pleasure to say, “Sorry; I have a permanent job (the one I told you about in my email a few weeks ago, and thanks for giving me a leg-up in terms of the interview by sending me there, by the way) and I won’t be able to commit to an eight-week contract”.

It’s the responsible thing to do, honestly. And while work of any variety is good right now, I’d rather hold out for the permanent job that I can hang onto for awhile than go back to the rampant uncertainty. Besides, Agency Guy really does have some communication issues, as energetic and positive as he generally is when he has something.

Oh, yeah, and I have a job now, basically. Fingers crossed something doesn’t go horribly wrong with the contract stage. Yeah, I know, I know, I know, but the way the last few months have been, I’m going to be paranoid until I actually have a signed contract.