Working 9 to 5

[CardShark]

Okay so I've never really wanted to work and I don't find it fun at all being told what to do.

Ordered a book cause I want some better reasons on why I don't want to work and why i find it stupid called "How to be free".

But yeah basically how i see it is in the UK we're over worked, now some lady in our office pushed me over the edge and is a big reason why i posted this.

I'll give you the history of her, she is the girlfriend of head of sales and basically she got hired cause of that connection to work in the gambling part but doesn't work that often I'd say she's in the office 1's a week or 2's her excuse is she has a kid (who goes to school by the way).

So she is going about slagging off the office saying how we just piss about which we do we talk a lot we throw around a lot of objects and pull pranks on people quite often, she hasn't said anything to anyone in the office she just slags it off to higher people in the company.
But I'm sorry if she even worked one day 9-5 she would understand how SHIT it is working those hours and how we need to piss about else I would want to shoot myself, so quite frankly she can stick her criticism up her arse.


But our office is really a big piss about and a big reason why I'm still their is that aspect any other job it'd be sit down and do your work WE OWN YOU FROM 9-5!!!!.

We already work too many hours in my opinion and their isn't any variation in the hours like for example I'm a programmer and all the jobs I can find are 9-5 if not more... which I do not want!
Why is their no option to work different hours!
Why are we forced to work stupid hours!
Why do we have to wear smart clothes!
Why can't the majority of jobs be fun!
Why doesn't anyone get a say in what goes on unless your management?

and WHY do they want to increase the working hours??????????

and why is it that we're now pushed to do overtime for free, just because some people start doing it everyone has to do it else if you don't you're seen as not dedicated to the job.

I'm sorry but I'm not dedicated to the job if you don't support my opinions in the company.


My rant over... I have a lot of opinions on working and reasons why I don't want to work for egotistical greedy corporate sellouts.
I work because I'm not willing to take money from the tax payer I don't see it as fair that I do nothing and get money from people until I can support myself by doing freelance work I shall continue to work its just I am not happy working it doesn't feel right or flexible.
I want the option to work my hours that I choose and have the ability to feel comfortable doing my work, instead of people pushing you to bodge it cause they make the most money out of you when you're pushed and doing the work wrong, backwards or what!

[princealbertofb]

My advice would be to join a trade union, or to start one if none exists... It would make sense, if you don't want management to take too many liberties with... er... your liberty.

[fredv3b]

Why can't the majority of jobs be fun!

People will do fun things for free, you need to pay them to do the tedious or unpleasant tasks.

[colinmackay]

This is more options on what you can do to extract yourself from the situation.

I'll give you the history of her, she is the girlfriend of head of sales and basically she got hired cause of that connection to work in the gambling part but doesn't work that often I'd say she's in the office 1's a week or 2's her excuse is she has a kid (who goes to school by the way).

Never good to have someone with that close a personal relationship with another person in the office who is way up the ladder IMO. I'm not against office romances, per se, just that when the difference in company ranking comes in to play it adds lots of complications for everybody.

Incidentally, she may genuinly be working part time and being paid pro rata. My mum returned to work when I was about 10 and my sister 7. She worked part time 3 days a week 10-4 (as I recall) initially and as me and my sister grew up and could look after our selves more she returned closer and closer to full time.

But our office is really a big piss about and a big reason why I'm still their is that aspect any other job it'd be sit down and do your work WE OWN YOU FROM 9-5!!!!.

Depends on the company. There are a lot of we-own-you types out there and there are a lot of really great flexible companies to work for. You have to find one with the right culture fit for you.

Join a local user group and find out what is out there. You'll pick up contacts from other developers in other companies and find out what the culture is like there. If you find one you like you can get early word on when they are hiring. Also, lots of companies offer their staff incentive schemes to bringing new staff on as recruitment agencies cost a fortune.

If you work with Microsoft technologies then ping me an private mail on here with your location and I'll find a local group for you. (I run Scottish Developers, btw, and the Developer Developer Developer Scotland conference)

We already work too many hours in my opinion and their isn't any variation in the hours like for example I'm a programmer and all the jobs I can find are 9-5 if not more... which I do not want!
Why is their no option to work different hours!
Why are we forced to work stupid hours!
Why do we have to wear smart clothes!
Why can't the majority of jobs be fun!
Why doesn't anyone get a say in what goes on unless your management?

Interesting. I know a guy (actually a few people) that work really random hours and they are all software developers. The one thing they have in common is that they are all shit-hot developers and the company is just really glad to have them on board and will accomodate them because they can do in an hour what it would take a regular run-of-the-mill developer a day to do.

There are options to work different hours if you can show that you are reliable enough to do the work. It is the same situation with telecommuting. It is difficult for a line manager to verify work if you are not there.

You are not forced to do anything. However, there are always consequences to our actions (or inactions). If you don't like your current working conditions set up your own company and run it the way you want. (Having run two companies in my time this is increadibly hard work. A friend of mine does a talk "Writing software is easy, not going bust is the hard bit" - If you think the option of starting your own company is for you then I would urge you to try and see the talk [The previously mentioned DDD Scotland, for example]. It is always well attended because there are a lot of people that feel similarly to you)

I don't have to wear smart clothes. 18 months ago I interviewed for a couple of companies and was offered a job for each. Company A offered a reasonable salary and no dress code. Company B offered me £6K a year more but required a suit to work. I chose Company A because I absolutely hate wearing suits and it was worth (to me) the sacrifice of £6K a year. (Actually, there were more reasons to it than that, but I'm keeping it simple)

What do you find fun? I love working with the business model, the database and the workflow. I love picking apart the client's requests and working out what they actually need to fit with or define their business processes. However, I work with people who are really awful at that and don't like it, yet they love dealing with the user interaction and ensuring that the user experience is pleasant. We work well together because we each have different areas we are passionate about and we compliment each others skills.

And as for getting a say in what goes on... I don't know that this works in every company, but one of the other reasons I chose the company I currently work in is that they really needed help. It was awful. I love sorting that out. I arrived, proved myself and then told management what was wrong in no uncertain terms. A lot of people they hired had just quit. I didn't. I stayed and did the whole drama queen thing until they listened. I then hired my new boss. (Okay, the MD hired him, but I interviewed him and made sure that he was the right person). Since then staff retention rate has improved a lot because it is a better place to work.

and why is it that we're now pushed to do overtime for free, just because some people start doing it everyone has to do it else if you don't you're seen as not dedicated to the job.

Interestingly, the job I'm currently in is the first job I've ever had that has paid overtime. As a software developer it is extremely rare to get that.

My rant over... I have a lot of opinions on working and reasons why I don't want to work for egotistical greedy corporate sellouts.

You can always work for a small company. My current employer has 50 employees. Everyone fits in one office.

I work because I'm not willing to take money from the tax payer I don't see it as fair that I do nothing and get money from people until I can support myself by doing freelance work I shall continue to work its just I am not happy working it doesn't feel right or flexible.
I want the option to work my hours that I choose and have the ability to feel comfortable doing my work, instead of people pushing you to bodge it cause they make the most money out of you when you're pushed and doing the work wrong, backwards or what!

Ah... The bain of every software developer's life: being pushed in to a bodged job.

But remember commercial reality also plays a part. I'd love to create perfect software every time. The reality is that there are deadlines, time to market, and so on.

The only time I got my way (to some extent) in that area was when I was integrating a payment processor into the system. I refused to compromise because it was dealing with people's credit cards and money. We still hit the deadlines, but I was working 12 hour days for a month 6 days a week.

Curiously, I'm glad I did because the client was really happy with the work. So far it has not caused them any problems, and because I wrote it properly and has a proper auditing system it quite clearly identifies where any problems lie. None in my code, I'm happy to say! (But Verified by Visa and Mastercard Secure Code are utter piles of crap - I'd be ashamed to be associated with developing that! It was bad enough having to integrate it in to our existing system)

I hope this gives you some ideas and options and that I've caveated where you need to be before these things will work. There are very few people who this will work with early in their career because, even although I am not management, I do have a wealth of experience and the track record to prove it. You may yet have to build that.

[fjp999]

[COLOR="Purple"]It always sucks to have to follow some idiot boss and their ways!

It always seems that the boss is correct even when it is obvious they cant run anything but seem pleased to let things go as they are.

I was lucky. The last school I worked for (in a small suburb of Tokyo) was locally owned and run. It was important for her to be part of the community and have good teachers but also teachers who were decent people.

Our group meetings were usually USEFUL! What a concept!!!

I only had one issue one time. She wanted me to spend less time on this thing I did but I found that the students were progressing much faster and more interested in my way so I disregarded her suggestion. When she sat in on one class, a couple months later, she said that I was correct and then suggested to all the other teachers they follow my idea.

I think this was one of the only times I ever had a boss admit they were wrong.

Looks like Colin has many good points and it is all about compromise or to the point that you can make your own rules even if it is within a corp. There are dream jobs out there - it just can take some time to find them!

Good luck Cards![/COLOR]

[peterinmalaga]

I've had some crap bosses and some good ones. With the crap ones it's best to keep a low profile and agree with as much of the crap as you can. Two of my bosses were really good and did a lot to advance my career. If you can find a boss who appreciates you, life is so much better and you don't mind working hard. I think it's time to move on...?
Good luck!

[CardShark]

Damn good reply's guys thanks mile:.

I'm not exactly saying I hate my job just having a dig at jobs in general and how its seen I could say.

Personally how I'd want my staff to work if I ran my own business it would be a case of I'd like you to work 10-4 or what ever and past that I would love you to work overtime but its flexible, if you need a day off on the spot and theirs no rush to do something take it.
And you know if you want to piss about in the office do so just don't take the piss with how much time you spend away from your work.

I see that as the best way to keep people enjoying what they do keep the passion alive and get some good work out of them.

As opposed to being sit at your desk 9-5 and do your work, I'd allow you to listen to music but thats it.

[marshlander]

In this company of yours, would you employ people who need silence to be able to concentrate?

[CardShark]

thats where earphones come in handy mile:

[marshlander]

OMG 49 people in a room emitting tss-tss-tss noises :eek::mad::eek: