So yesterday I was supposed to start a new job at a respected company. Well, it was a long term temp job (is that an oxymoron?) And I basically get the gig because I have an in. A former co-worker of mine put me in for the position and the agency hired me, without so much as a printed job description or an actual on-site interview. The only things I knew from this job were: A) The client company was supposed to be pretty laid back because they are in a transition phase. They had just laid off the entire IT Dept that was on site and it was outsourced. B) The job was supposed to be "Help Desk". Now, since I'd worked with this person before I assumed they understood my definition of the term "HELP DESK". You know, you go to your queue and see if any work has come in that you can do, you roll out and fix the issue (On site repair is my favorite part of the job, I love interacting with people) you come back after fixing the issue and comment and close the ticket, and move on to the next. Occasional imaging of new workstations is fine, and having to do remote desktop is good too. Fixing patch panels is OK and the ever so infrequent server servicing is fun as well.
So I get to my job today and I call up my contact (who is also, funny enough, my contact that was assigned to me via the temp agency) and she lets me in. I get sorted through security and am handed a badge and it seems like everything is groovy. Nice. *BUZZER!* Wrong! No desk space has been set aside for me, no laptop or workstation has been assigned to me, I was supposed to SHARE a phone with my contact (which is very unsanitary!) and oh yeah... their idea of help desk is A DAMN CALL CENTER WHERE NO ONE DOES ANY F****** WORK! I mean, I am a hands on guy and I love building and fixing, but sitting on your ass all day, not even so much as turning a screw driver? Or even having a ticketing system that works? Your joking, right?
So at this point I am introduced to my "team leader" and I ask him why they hired me. I mean, I have 10 years of IT background and I am a hardware technician. Not a call center person. I am not trained for it and when I am hearing from my contact that she is BRAGGING she hasn't done any work and spent the entire day yesterday doing on-line courses, that raises some huge red flags. I let my "team leader" know that I am a hardware support specialist, and I don't think this is a proper fit for someone with my skills. Apparently he knows where I am coming from and understands. So we decide mutually that this might not have been the best idea, so I call up the agency and tell them that they really need to get their s*** together and learn what their clients do. (Not in those words, obviously, I wanted to be professional.) Basically it's a case of "not as advertised" and I felt then, as I do now, that I should have gone in for the interview and learned more about this position before being hired on. Or at least a proper job description printed out would have been great.
So here I am, now, having to tell everyone that I told I had a job that "Oh, no, it wasn't what they said it was." and eat crow. It's embarrassing and I really wish that the agency had done a better job of screening and describing the job duties. Anyhow, as a follow up to this train wreck I told them that I wouldn't put in a time card since I didn't do any work, and I would consider this to be a "On-site interview" rather than a first day of work. That way I can honestly say I didn't turn down the job and not feel guilty still collecting unemployment. Matter of fact, I won't even mention it to the unemployment people. I don't think in my state (california) that counts as refusing work in my field. And if they want to talk to me about it, I'll just tell them the full story and I firmly believe I will be OK.
But since I have no ending for this story other than "I HATE TEMP AGENCIES!!" Oh, and there is one last bit. I had e-mailed my rep at the temp. agency and told them I was sorry it didn't work out and all that, and for my efforts I was called "Unprofessional" and that "this was the end of the road working with [Agency Name]" and they would not be contacting me for further jobs. They also insulted me further by saying alone, my resume wouldn't have landed me the job (although I have MUCH more experience and knowledge then the person who landed me the job initially!) and that I was basically foolish not not sticking with the job until it "transgressed into a position more suitable for [me]." So that right there tells me the agency KNEW BEFORE HAND it wasn't a good fit and they wanted me to wait it out! Ugh, I can't say it enough. I HATE TEMP AGENCIES!!
So I get to my job today and I call up my contact (who is also, funny enough, my contact that was assigned to me via the temp agency) and she lets me in. I get sorted through security and am handed a badge and it seems like everything is groovy. Nice. *BUZZER!* Wrong! No desk space has been set aside for me, no laptop or workstation has been assigned to me, I was supposed to SHARE a phone with my contact (which is very unsanitary!) and oh yeah... their idea of help desk is A DAMN CALL CENTER WHERE NO ONE DOES ANY F****** WORK! I mean, I am a hands on guy and I love building and fixing, but sitting on your ass all day, not even so much as turning a screw driver? Or even having a ticketing system that works? Your joking, right?
So at this point I am introduced to my "team leader" and I ask him why they hired me. I mean, I have 10 years of IT background and I am a hardware technician. Not a call center person. I am not trained for it and when I am hearing from my contact that she is BRAGGING she hasn't done any work and spent the entire day yesterday doing on-line courses, that raises some huge red flags. I let my "team leader" know that I am a hardware support specialist, and I don't think this is a proper fit for someone with my skills. Apparently he knows where I am coming from and understands. So we decide mutually that this might not have been the best idea, so I call up the agency and tell them that they really need to get their s*** together and learn what their clients do. (Not in those words, obviously, I wanted to be professional.) Basically it's a case of "not as advertised" and I felt then, as I do now, that I should have gone in for the interview and learned more about this position before being hired on. Or at least a proper job description printed out would have been great.
So here I am, now, having to tell everyone that I told I had a job that "Oh, no, it wasn't what they said it was." and eat crow. It's embarrassing and I really wish that the agency had done a better job of screening and describing the job duties. Anyhow, as a follow up to this train wreck I told them that I wouldn't put in a time card since I didn't do any work, and I would consider this to be a "On-site interview" rather than a first day of work. That way I can honestly say I didn't turn down the job and not feel guilty still collecting unemployment. Matter of fact, I won't even mention it to the unemployment people. I don't think in my state (california) that counts as refusing work in my field. And if they want to talk to me about it, I'll just tell them the full story and I firmly believe I will be OK.
But since I have no ending for this story other than "I HATE TEMP AGENCIES!!" Oh, and there is one last bit. I had e-mailed my rep at the temp. agency and told them I was sorry it didn't work out and all that, and for my efforts I was called "Unprofessional" and that "this was the end of the road working with [Agency Name]" and they would not be contacting me for further jobs. They also insulted me further by saying alone, my resume wouldn't have landed me the job (although I have MUCH more experience and knowledge then the person who landed me the job initially!) and that I was basically foolish not not sticking with the job until it "transgressed into a position more suitable for [me]." So that right there tells me the agency KNEW BEFORE HAND it wasn't a good fit and they wanted me to wait it out! Ugh, I can't say it enough. I HATE TEMP AGENCIES!!
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