Closing My Circle

I am back on the same exact State of Ohio job that I had before our big adventure began. I have "intermittent" status, which means that I can work up to 1,000 hours in a given fiscal year (July 1 to June 31). The State has a hiring freeze on right now; they hire only a few specialized individuals for permanent jobs. My boss, my co-workers and I hope this freeze ends before I finish my 1,000 hours. To that end, I am working less-than-40-hour weeks, in order to extend the calendar time before this arises. Of course, my boss knows a few ways to make things happen, but life will be easier for everybody if I can go to permanent status before using up my hours.

Until I came back to this job last Wednesday, I spent two months on the worst job I ever had. This temporary assignment, which I got through OfficeTeam, featured a 3-hour round trip commute (by bus), the grouchiest and most uncivil supervisor that I have ever had the misfortune to encounter, and four to five hours a day of slack time, among other nasty features. Of course, even this job had a few redeeming features. Most of the other people there were decent, and I learned that information technology jobs pay multiples of the most I've ever made. My next career change will probably be into information technology.

The capper came when, having set up the State job, I put in my two days' notice as requested in OfficeTeam's paperwork. The OfficeTeam people insisted on two WEEKS' notice and had the nerve to tell me that this is customary in temporary work. I did temporary work through most of the 1990s and had been back at it for several months recently. I had read the paper I signed, too, and I knew immediately that OfficeTeam had lied to me and attempted to intimidate me. I managed to restrain my temper, stalling until the next day. After consulting with the State's HR person (who worked very hard on all of this) and my wife, I decided that the best cash flow would result from finishing the assignment. I did so, but promised OfficeTeam that many prospective employees would learn of this event.

Moral of the story: OfficeTeam will try to change their contract with me to suit their own ends. Result: no more OfficeTeam. Should I go back to temporary work at some future time, I will not contact OfficeTeam or work for them. I do not recommend anyone else to do that either.