Yet Another Solicitors in the City
“First day, not so bad. Bit of excitement maybe, but not a great deal cos you don't know what to expect and you think, whatever its like, you can wing it. And you discover your desk isn’t so bad either - there’s nothing worse than turning up at a place and realising you've got your back to the office, everyone can see what you're doing, and you convince yourself that everyone’s staring at you all the time.
Second day is a different kettle of fish because you know what the place is like and have a gist for the kind of work you'll be doing (and there's bound to be something that you've never done before and you don't feel too confident about this - especially the bloody phones and everybody's names) ... but you manage, and smile (and try to not offer to make drinks for everyone because, hey, you don't do drinks). Its not so bad.
Third day, they might give you something 'proper' to do and you wonder if you can do it, its probably something you've never done before (but hey, you keep reminding yourself, you're good, you can cope).
Fourth day, you're convinced all the other secretaries hate you and are talking about you at every opportunity - paranoia sets in. Fifth day, you don't give a bollocks, what the hell, you're only a temp, thank god you don't have to stay there permanently, and you'll be gone and forgotten soon, so what does it matter that you've crashed the system, lost two big clients and most of your confidence with it. There's always the next job.
Nothing worse than sitting at a computer all day with Absolutely Nothing to do. Keep asking people if they want help and eventually they get tired of it (and start to ignore/avoid you cos you're becoming a real pain). And you're so bloody bored you could chew your own leg off, only you can't sit at your desk doing nothing all day so you try to make it look as if you're busy and madly type emails to other people (and yourself – not a good sign) and reading stuff on the internet that doesn't look like its on the internet so at least if someone passes by they'll see all this text on your screen and think you're working. And you're amazed and get rather excited when someone comes up to you with a 2 minute tape (and they ask if you're busy!) Should really sit here and file my own nails just to announce to the whole office that I'm not actually doing anything (and they’re paying me for it!). The last place tried to burn me out, this place is trying to put me into a coma, sometimes you just can’t win.
After the 4th or 5th day you realise that you're not as good as you think you are, in fact, you're pretty crap at everything. Worrying about meetings that you know nothing about and phonecalls where you really don't have a clue what they're talking about. And little things like transferring calls and stuff, how do I do that, how does it work, will I cut someone off (yep, pretty often as it turns out). Then the misery starts to set in. You should withdraw yourself from employment altogether and do something more suited to your skills, like roadsweeping perhaps. And you start to hate the people around you because they've got something to do and they know what they're doing and you haven't and you don't. Thrust into a new place with different routines and strange phone systems, and your confidence takes a massive nose dive and you feel all alone and stranded.
Well its Day 5 here and I've settled in a bit, but the department is so incredibly quiet. Know the people a bit better now, but they don't really talk amongst themselves much ... I think its a solicitor thing that staff are very insular - they send emails to each other even if they’re just sitting opposite each other. There’s no rapport.
After two weeks, settled. Know where the loos are and how to start up your computer. During this 'settling' in period you'll tend not to drink much a) because you're not sure where the kitchen is or how anything works, and b) you daren't ask everyone what they want to drink cos you'll never remember what they want or which cup/glass they use. So you sit there dying of thirst trying to blend into the wallpaper, rushing out to buy loads of cans/bottles at lunchtime and hugely relieved when someone else offers to make a drink.
Saw Big Boss Man in the Big Office today. Walked in and thought there'd been a break in there was so much paperwork everywhere. Very gruff, very much I'm The Boss type. Did I care? Did I heck. Found some online games which kept me going a bit through lunch, and also website with mostly text (although coloured) so a quick glance might make it look as if I'm actually doing some work. I think I’ve actually forgotten how to type.
Lifts are strange here, they're mirror boxes (first time I've seen myself from behind in years ... not a pretty sight). Strange that when you get into a lift with someone, you can't think of a single ‘witty’ thing to say, and neither can they (or else they simply can’t be bothered), so you stand in silence trying to look terribly nonchalant. Trouble with these lifts is you can't look anywhere without seeing both yourself and the other person standing there, both trying to look nonchalantly nonchalant. If the lift is full of people, I always get the giggles thinking about that Peter Sellars sketch where he's a fat bloke in a crowded lift and he farts. And I pray I won't fart, or burp, or start giggling in a mad fit of hysterics. Makes for a long lift ride I can tell you.
Today I had to book an appointment into four peoples diary using Groupwise (email). Not a clue. So fiddled around for a bit (trying to find a date where everyone was free - impossible!) and figured it out for myself (you have to do this a lot when you’re a temp). And just now, I've spoken to a secretary in Denmark about her boss, who's flying in tomorrow - then had to phone hotel and book a room. Now that I’ve done it and know I can do it, it’s a piece of cake. I’m now a woman who speaks to people from abroad and arranges their hotel rooms!
After three weeks, things are running smoothly; you know the people, who to talk to, who not. All very well if you're there permanently, but a bit offputting when you're a temp and, just as you settle in, its time to leave and start all over again somewhere else. This is where you can be 'trapped' into a job you don't particularly like, but its so much easier to stay (if they ask you) rather than go out into the big bad world and find something else … again. And its even harder to resist when you’re told that “Everyone here thinks you’re great,” and HR send you an email about vacancies, saying, “You’re apparently in great demand.”"
Working in big company that occupies a whole building has its good and bad points when you’re temping. This company moved me around to different departments to cover for ‘missing’ secretaries. When I got into the lift each morning, I was never quite sure which floor button to press. I came across different types of desks (some messy, teetering with clutter, barely any elbow room; others so meticulously tidy and clear you wondered if anyone worked there at all) and different keyboards (argh! clacky ones, my pet hat). I could never get the chairs into the right position and, since I was only there for a few days, I sat awkwardly and went home each night with backache. But at least moving around gave me a taste for each department (and its own separate atmosphere) and I got to know a lot of people so that when I walked down corridors there’s always someone to say hello to - which is nice.
One of the other secretaries left the department I’m in, and I moved desks to cover for her. Judy, the girl I’d previously been covering for, returned, and she obviously thinks a lot of herself (though I can’t for the life of me think why). She barely spoke to me and I noticed that whenever I had a joke with one of the ‘bosses’, she would rush over immediately afterwards and have a ‘joke’ with them. And her phone was diverted to mine when it was busy (almost always on personal calls!) or she wasn’t at her desk (because she was forever off chatting), which meant I kept having to take her calls for her – I felt like a secretary’s secretary. Most annoying. But it was bearable … until the last day.
Unusually, it was a busy day, with work coming from both the people I was working for. One of my bosses gave me two tapes, each 2 minutes long (a couple of letters). He needed them urgently, so I explained I couldn’t do them straight away because I was busy finishing off some work for my other boss. “Give it to Judy then,” he said. I glared at him. He understood the glare and took the tapes for Judy to do. I finished the work I was doing and called across to her, “Do you want me to have one of those tapes back?” “No,” she said smugly, “I’ve done them.” Fair enough. Then her boss asked her to do some work and she said, “I can’t, I’m doing work for Gary.” “Why are you doing work for Gary?” he asked, frowning at me. “I was busy,” I said, confused, “But I’ll take the tapes back if you want?” “That’s okay,” she sneered. Her boss stomped off. Judy wandered around the office for a while. The tapes were done, but she wanted it to look as if she’d had to help the ‘temp’ out. My kingdom for a machine gun!
When I was ready to go home and leave that company (for good!), I said a cheery goodbye to everyone. Judy looked up with a sneer. “Bye,” she snapped nastily. I left, shaking my head at the pettiness of some people.
