Odd vibes from temp job

[Guttedme]

Hi again,

I at least started the next temp/fixed-term contract job today.

It was a strange situation to walk into (I thought it might) I was sat at a desk that was half cluttered with someone else's possessions but as the day went on things came out that I felt uncomfortable/intimidated by.

After the grief of not being able to start last week as I already was working on another assignment (not related to each other in anyway) before the organisation concerned got back to me on whether I was successful or not, added to that when I tried to ask about the start date during the online interview previously, I was told well you can't start until background checks are complete.

I was taken aback to find someone else already started last week so they have two new starters now it seems. Two's company and three a crowd and all that.
I just don't feel I can be so direct with questions that I started the day wanting to ask thinking it was just me and a supervisor.

Also when the email confirmation came out, it was quite a good summary - pay laid out, what notice period on both sides, this was an FTC, hours, job title etc, the only little detail it was slightly vague on was the ending date saying it could finish sooner or later than expected, so I was slightly taken aback/nervous today to be told a contract is being prepared. Do you think they might try and bring the end date forward?

I'm not so fussed as I think I've made an awful move here; completely forgot now its winter, I'm walking around a town centre awfully cold for a job quite a few miles from where I live after the luxury last week of parking in a company car park when it was peeing down etc.

I also heard someone who used to do the job permanently is having treatment for cancer - I am right in my thinking they are entitled to their job back like in maternity situations?

It was all a bit strange, the job advert had one particular start date which passed by time of interview, then I was told the job was available temporarily due to organisational funding and uncertainty and then I had the trouble of them wanting a next day start last week saying it was busy but to me it seems incredibly quiet and intimidating with the 'other temp' completing things in no time at all. I just couldn't work out if HR had differing views from the hiring managers and I just got caught in-between.

Grateful for any help and if I get a quiet word with the manager then I will try.

I also a, struggling to work out the issue. Your op is incredibly odd. Of course you can’t start till dbs checks done, the fact it’s winter is irrelevant and they are allowed to hire more than you.

you seem to think you’ve been given a permanent job. You have not.

I'm really not following the problems here - you're a temp, they'll offer you a short term contract, the member of staff you're covering will indeed be offered their job back (which is why they've brought in a temp), there's a second person to share the load with....

What's the issue?

Err? good god! no I do not want the job permanently. I can handle a few weeks as I was actually expected, its literally been a dump in the deep end and get on with it.

I spoke to the Manager yesterday and whilst now disclosed the job came about from someone off having treatment for cancer, my heart did sink when they said this could possibly go perm.

I'm sorry my post was odd, I was just told I was joining a contact centre but on arrival it is just a very small office of 3 people, alongside other things which have turned out not to be true. Yes, I have started before checks were complete.

I misjudged the other temp, they are kind of helpful so its worked out for the best and I did not appreciate they were previously a volunteer so that is how I felt they knew so much more than me and I thought something iffy was going on.

There's nothing 'iffy' going on. Everything you have described is normal;

1. Waiting for checks before you start.
2. Employing other people.
3. Not knowing if the role will go perm, presumably because they don't know whether the postholder will recover from cancer.
4. You not being able to start before you finished your other job.
5. The audacity of someone else having used your desk before.

All normal. There are no red flags here.

With temping, you need to expect the unexpected. The comoany/organisation is hiring temporary cover. By its very nature it is somewhat unpredictable and a bit "last minute".

Often the temp is thrown in at the "deep end" - the point of the temp is to provide cover without too much training and for them (the temp) to be able to get up to speed as quickly as possible.

Are you new to temping? You don't seem very aware of how it works.

OP I spoke to the Manager yesterday and whilst now disclosed the job came about from someone off having treatment for cancer,
Disclose??? It's not information you are entitled to be told. You seem to think they have been wrongly hiding it from you. Why do you feel this way? It's not all about you. In fact it's barely anything about you. You are a temp.

"...my heart did sink when they said this could possibly go perm."

You do know you're not obliged to stay, don't you? ...even if the job does become permanent... you're a temp.
They aren't going to glue you to the used desk.
You can pretty much leave whenever you like.

(well, subject to any notice period, etc etc)

I spoke to the Manager yesterday and whilst now disclosed the job came about from someone off having treatment for cancer, my heart did sink when they said this could possibly go perm.

Wow, self-centred much? Someone is having cancer treatment and it's all about whether the job could be permanant for you? Whilst the manager shouldn't have told you anything about someone elses medical condition, I hope you managed to cover up your distaste better than you have here. In their shoes I don't think your becoming permanant would be anything you needed to worry about.

No its not about wanting the permanent job. During the course of the interview I was thoroughly lead to believe it was a newly created additional role in an existing 'contact centre' and being a charity they were unsure on it's long term prospects - eg. funding?

That it was so busy at one point they needed me to start next day. Again different vibe to that given at interview.

I honestly feel like I've been dropped into a work place with two friends, so far from a contact centre, there is no training despite a job advert saying something else, I won't say anymore but I feel incredibly uncomfortable. I have never claimed or have worked for a charity before. I would have left on my second day but to add to all this they've said I'm paid next week until end of month.

I'm still waiting for a contract which I've now kind of presumed won't be available after all my references are back, I've heard 4 weeks fitnote branded about for the person/people off-sick and it really would not bother me if this job ended then or soonest. I apologise I did not give much thought to the commute so I've thoroughly let myself down and lessons have been learnt for the future. I did think it odd my employment history/CV never was discussed during the interview and then on day 2 they were then asking me about past jobs.

I have only asked my Manager one thing so not over demanding at all - how long was the job to last for and then they freely admitted a conversation in front of me Monday was to do with a cancer diagnosis.

The other temp is grilling me so I'm now trying to be careful with what I'm saying. 2 temps come about as two people are off sick.

I think you're getting a rough time on here.

You're the one experiencing the situation and if it feels off and weird, then that's what's happening.

There are likely to be reasons that pertain to the situation you've described.

It will be strange and unsettling for everyone involved that a workmate in a very small office is away being treated for cancer.

Strange for the workmates left behind, regardless of whether they love or loathe the person off sick, because it's a jarring change to adjust to. Also, there's two people off sick so an even bigger shock to their normal routines.

I know exactly what you mean about sitting amongst the belongings of someone so seriously ill. It makes us realise how fragile life really is. One day eating biscuits and gossiping, the next day seriously ill, perhaps never returning.

Sitting amidst the minutiae of another person's life brings a particular type of sadness. I remember feeling it when viewing houses of elderly people who had died and their personal effects remained, a teddy on the bed, photos of family, souvenirs of a past life.

Contrary to the nastiness on here, I would would suggest that you're feeling how you do because you're an empathetic person and you're picking up on the sorrow of the situation you've found yourself in.

Try to remember that it's equally strange for the existing staff, perhaps more so depending on their relationship with the person you're covering.

Hope things get better. If they don't, then you're not obligated to stay. Do keep your eye out for something that's closer and more suitable.

OP - if you don't like it (which it appears you don't) give them notice and leave.

@2pence

Thank you for your kindness, that is it. I entirely get what you say It was just an immediate reaction and brought back my own bad memories of being on considered 'long term sick' myself only earlier this year it just didn't sit well at first that I was the right person to be doing it. The other temp has shared their finish date and I think I could try bare it until then just given the situation. Thank you enormously again.