Contract/Temp Work

Cgoodie

Hi,

I'm in a job that has gotten very stressful due to understaffing and a huge workload. I am thinking of leaving in the hope that I'll pick up a job before my notice period runs out. Just wondering does anyone have an idea what the contract/temp market is like at the moment. I'm a legal secretary/general dogsbody at the moment so I'd be looking at office work. I'm not that fussy what I do for a few months as I am looking at a total career change this year. Any ideas or advice would be great.

Thanks,

PS. I'm new to this so apologies if this isn't posted correctly.

tenchi-fan

The Fas work placement programme means that most general dogsbody office jobs are filled by college graduates.

Most other workplaces in Ireland have also cut their staff (or not replaced staff who left) meaning most jobs are now overworked.

Some people can make any job stressful, other people take everything in their stride. If you are thinking of leaving anyway, now is an excellent time to practice taking things a bit easier. Arrive for work early, make a big deal of staying 15 minutes late, and make sure your boss knows every last bit of work you did out of your way. But try to manage your workload better, and if you feel yourself getting stressed just take a few minutes of a stretch break.

I think it's a terrible idea what you're planning on doing. Why not use up some annual leave instead particularly if you have days carried forward from 2010?

tenchi-fan

Oh, and try to identify a few things in the office that would make your job handier, e.g. learn mailmerge rather than doing manual invoices, implement a better filing system, set up the printers so that letterhead is in one tray and plain paper in another, do up procedure notes or a phone number list that would benefit people and possibly get rid of some of the more common queries, ensure everyone knows about eircomphonebook.ie rather than asking you to look up phone numbers.. these are just some ideas that could make your life a bit handier.

Cgoodie

Thanks for this tenchi-fan I thought about it after and your right about making the job stressful for myself. I'm a bit too quiet and wouldn't say no alot when asked to do stuff so it's more myself that I need to change.

Thanks for the hints.

Cgoodie

Well I've been trying to make the job less stressful but with a boss that keeps hounding me it's not that easy. I know I need to work on my own confidence and stress management but it's at the stage where the job is affecting my health but I feel like I'm stuck here and can't leave. I really want to just hand in my notice I know I would feel a huge sense of relief but then the thoughts of not having a job would take over.

Don't know what to do for the best stay and keep looking for a job or leave in the hope of getting something soon

Mrs OBumble

Cgoodie wrote: »

Well I've been trying to make the job less stressful but with a boss that keeps hounding me it's not that easy. I know I need to work on my own confidence and stress management but it's at the stage where the job is affecting my health ....

If the job is affecting your health, you need to see your GP. They will be better placed than we are to assess your situation and recommend options/treatments.