Re: when is it ok to leave a contract job?
... I am going to disagree on one major point: I think
if you're being grossly under-utilized and there's no prospect of
improvement, boredom is a completely legitimate reason for leaving a gig.
You hired on as a writer, and that's not the work you're being asked to do.
As a contractor, I have had many jobs where I was "under-utilized." I would find work for myself, quite often it was business analysis or documentation-related work that benefited my client. Many clients requested me again for new projects.
While you can make as much use as possible of the resources you have at
hand to fill your idle time, ultimately, you're doing yourself and your
client a disservice if that continues for very long.
This really depends. Downtime is an *excellent* time to learn about the client and the client's needs. If the client really cannot put the contractor to work, then there is a disservice, but the client made the request for the contractor and this contract is only two weeks in.
There needs to be communication to determine if continuing the contract has any utility. Contractors need to communicate with their employer, unless they are the corporation that the client is working with. If the contractor is working with an employment agency (recruiter), then the contractor is a sub-contractor to that agency. The sub-contractor must talk to the contractor and the contractor must talk to the client to nail down the scope of work if the contract is for writing and that is not what the sub-contractor is doing. If the under-utilization is still within the scope of work, then the sub-contractor needs to let the client and contractor know that more work is necessary.
You have every right to have a job that fulfills and challenges you.
That is a privilege based on availability, not a "right." I do not think that we are out of the recession enough for employees to be picky about jobs that are not "fulfilling" or "challenging."
... The
really sad part is that there were multiple technical writers employed as
formatters and grammar checkers. I concluded that it was not the job for me
and found another gig.
That is not "sad." It is part of the field. Entry-level technical writing often includes working with other people's documents until the technical writer has enough experience earn writing jobs. Sometimes, formatting and editing jobs are given to seasoned technical writers because clients want the work completed very quickly.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Writer Tip: Create 10 different outputs with Doc-To-Help ― including Mobile and EPUB.
Read all about them: http://bit.ly/doc-to-help-10-outputs
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and info.
Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com
Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
Follow-Ups:
- Re: when is it ok to leave a contract job?, Gene Kim-Eng
- Re: when is it ok to leave a contract job?, Lisa G Wright
References:
when is it ok to leave a contract job?: From: Becca
Re: when is it ok to leave a contract job?: From: Gene Kim-Eng
Re: when is it ok to leave a contract job?: From: Lisa G Wright
Previous by Author:
Re: when is it ok to leave a contract job?
Next by Author:
Re: What is a Business Analyst?
Previous by Thread:
Re: Word 2003 Copy styles from one doc to another
Next by Thread:
Re: when is it ok to leave a contract job?
Search our Technical Writing Archives & Magazine
Visit TechWhirl's Other Sites
Sponsored Ads