On this day back in 2002, I became perm for the company I work at now. Yusss!! It’s my five year anniversary working at the same place.
Before I got this job, I was working as a temp at a CPA firm. Not the psycho one I posted about once before. No, this was another type of psycho. I guess he could be called a professional nutcase. He was more tactful than the swearing CPA in that he didn’t swear. I’ll refrain from getting into his bad points right now. Point is, I didn’t leave there with bad memories.
Anyway, on the 15th of April in 2002, as I was sitting at the reception desk taking phone calls, I received a call from my staffing agent. She was informing me of my next mission if I chose to accept it. The next assignment was a temp-to-perm job for the place I’m working for now. The pay would be a little low at first (although I was so happy for that income) and then would go up after I became permanent. If I became permanent. Was I up for the task? I actually told her I would call her back to let her know. I was dumb.
I called her back after a second or two and told her I was ready for the new job. She told me I would be working for a manager and that I’d have to be her “right-hand woman”, ready to help her out. I had to have excellent communication skills too. At first, I was very nervous. Did the “excellent” mean I couldn’t stop to say “um” or “uh” now and then? Or stammer if I’m nervous?? I would later discover that my communication skills were fine and I adapted to the rest of my coworkers.
Anyway, I was told to start the next day, April 16th. No more hesitation. On the 16th, I headed out to the job, got a little lost but not much, and shortly after I arrived I was sitting in front of my new manager. She was wonderful…She wasn’t a workaholic, she believed in spending enough time with her family, and she was very patient and a good trainer.
I worked for a month before the director called me in and asked me if I wanted to go…perm…for them. The pay was good and the environment was interesting. I told him I would go perm, and my official perm date was May 31st.
My manager quit two weeks later, but not because of me. She wanted to move on after working for several years at the same place. So then I had a new manager, the one I have now. I do get frustrated with him, as I’m sure he does with me at times, but it’s still a nice environment. Not perfect of course, but nice.
There were times I didn’t think I’d make it this far. There were times I’d break down at home in frustrated tears, wondering if I could go in the next day without doing something disgruntled. But I didn’t. I kept on truckin through bad times and more easily through the good times. Since 2002 I’ve met some pretty cool people. In fact there aren’t that many that have upset me to the point of saying I whole-heartedly hate them. It’s quite easy to work with the majority of the people. They make it easier to stay on.
Have you ever worked through a temp agency?
PS: That quote in the title of this post is from a great movie called “Haiku Tunnel”. You should rent it if you’re into office humor.
Eclectic Spaghetti 