If I was In Charge...

[Cathy]

Does anyone out there have a less useful and/or efficient job than me? I copy out entries from the phone book for a 'living', surely there is a more efficient way to do this!!

Having had a fair number of temp jobs, I'm beginning to think I have gained valuable insights into the least efficient jobs ever! And maybe this could be put to good use, maybe I should be a efficiency consultant or something. I mean, surely instead of copying out the phonebook we could scan it into the computer instead, or buy the data direct from yellow pages?!

I temped once at a college where my job was to copy the class registers for every day into the individual student records, which was incredibly hard to do accurately because by the end of the day all I could see was a sea of 0s and Xs! The woman in charge of me said, with the air of someone long resigned to something 'they have tried to computerise the system, and they will try again, but you will never find a better way to run this system'. I left after 2 days.

Maybe if all the temps out there stopped doing incredibly silly wasteful jobs, and were allowed to spend a week or two analysing the way a company is using its temps and how systems could be changed, the companies could become more efficient and we wouldn't be in such silly jobs!

Maybe we could start a temp-revolution!!

Who's with me?!!!

[Seraphina]

It's so true. I've had a few temp jobs as well, and the inefficiency of most companies actually astounds me. The most common complaint I have is that companies get in a temp, and then once you're there they can't think of anything for you to do! In my last temp job I sat reading a book or a magazine for at least 2 hours a day, because despite my asking repeatedly if there was anything useful I could do, no one could think of anything. When a letter was put into the typing tray there was a race to see who could get it we were all so desperate to do something! THat job was ok cos my direct boss knew there was nothing for me to do and didn't mind me sitting reading, the worst thing is trying to look busy when you're not!

The job i'm in just now, when I go up and ask what they would like me to do next they um and ah and finally in desperation they grab the first piece of paper they come across - 'photocopy that' - (me) 'how many copies would you like' - 'just one'. I'm like, ok...anything else? No? Ok then...! I really wonder what they think they're paying me for! It's not like a temp can just see things to do off their own initiative all the time cos they don't know that much about the company!

I would definitely like to be a consultant, there's so many better ways things could be done! Resource management could be my area! They're paying me £6.50 an hour to sit here, and no one has a clue what i'm meant to be doing half the time, it's such a waste of money! (alhtough I shouldn't complain cos it's going into my pocket!

But then - if companies were so efficient, when would we skive and go on bookgroup website?! I certainly wouldn't have got a third of the way through mansfield park in a week reading it solely on my computer at work if the company was more efficient! Maybe it's not all bad!!

[Cathy]

I know this might be a connection that only occurs to me, but I can't helping think of the scene out of Pride and Prejudice, the 1995 version, where Jane says 'But I would wish, I would so much like to marry for love' and Elizabth replies 'And so you shall, only take care you fall in love with a man of good fortune'

I wish, I should so much like... a job so good I didn't want to skive by going on this website!!!!!!!