Last Day of Contract

Today was the last day of my second six-week contract at The Job. We won't be renewing again because on Monday I will become a salaried "permanent" FTE (Full Time Employee). Woo hoo.

I like the company, the people, and the Job (and if I have to drive to a Job, the commute could hardly be much better) so I asked for this. It took 6 weeks to accomplish everything necessary for the conversion but we got there.

Looking back through various entries, I don't seem to have ever really specified what kind of work I'm doing! This is an Internal Documentation position; I am the "Internal Technical Writer". That means that I have been writing, reviewing, and editing engineering design specs, intranet web pages, how-tos, and architecture overviews. I've also been on call to the "external" Tech Writer (the technical publications department) for help with writing, reviewing, proofreading, etc for the product user guide and release notes. Not much will change about the parameters of the Job, but I will be able to take on more speculative and long-term projects now.

It's actually taken a year and a half for me to get this job. I first submitted a resume for a technical writing position at the Company on January 17, 2003. I almost had an interview in October 2003 but snafu'd that by accepting a (very low paid and ultimately very unsatisfactory) short term contract. I was offered the contract on the same day that I wasn't able to connect with the other manager about the potential interview. A bird in the hand and all that.... well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

That decision was a mistake on many levels but in retrospect, I can't entirely regret the way things worked out. In any case, there's nothing I can do about it. Penathi so mai.

So anyway, as of Monday, a small number of things will change. For one thing, I'll be getting paid somewhere between 6% and 16% less, depending on the "bonus plan" (sigh). (My base salary is 16% lower than what I was making in 2000). On the other hand, I'll get paid vacation time and dental insurance (I already have medical). I'll also be able to have Direct Deposit (yeay!).

My name plate will be changed to remove the word "contractor". I can stop filling out time sheets (after one more) although I'll still track my hours for my own purposes. And, even though I've been working at the Company for 12 weeks, I'll be attending "orientation" on August 9. Oh yes... and I got another t-shirt ;-) Otherwise, it should be business as usual.

Last Day of Contract ( in category Trivial Pursuits ) - posted at Fri, 30 Jul, 20:27 Pacific | «e»