I've become used to making decent money... no way could I downgrade.

I agree on the during the day thing... I put my resume out on Monster not too long ago and started getting a serious deluge of recruiter calls. I wasn't really even 'actively' looking, just putting it out there.

anyway, the first week I was very aggressive in pursuing the return calls. Then I started caring less and less as none of them panned out. Now they're lucky if I call them back in a week. I just don't have the time to spend an hour or two after work every freakin' day calling recruiters back, doing phone interviews, answering questionnaires, and in one case even driving downtown for an interview. Blah! I treasure my time away from work.. it's like extra work so I can do more work. Screw it.

I hear ya, but you shouldnt really stop looking for work once you find work. Remember you are not there to marry the workplace, rather its a means to an end, which should be a more profitable and suitable workplace.

Oh, absolutely. I'm just a bit disillusioned with recruiters. These are basically people whose job it is to find people for other jobs... ie, third party guys, not the actual people that would hire me. I was all excited at first but now I'm not so sure.

I'm still looking, though. My current job is almost at a dead end and I really want to make more money.

I think they are called head hunters or something.

So, I'm sitting here at work posting on forums and waiting for my boss to get in so I can hand him my resignation letter. Because I'm still (barely) in my trial period that'll mean I'll be officially out of work by the end of this month.

I know, it isn't the smartest thing to do in these times. But it was this or have the 'fixed' term of my contract begin, which means another 6 months of so-so pay, no work pleasure whatsoever and lame-ass colleagues. 6 months without any means to give notice, apart from me paying 3k euro (yeah...not gonna happen) or my boss agreeing to a mutual disbanding of my contract (a chance I'm not going to take).

Normally speaking, I'd try to get another deal out of it, having some leverage because this place is already understaffed as it is, but this isn't the private sector. Everything has to run by X amount of people and shit, and in the meantime my contract runs on. So it was a 'take it or leave it' decision pretty much. And I left it.

Let's just hope I didn't make a huge mistake in the current economic climate. But when you hate your job and when you see people with similar degrees as you working jobs that make 300-400 euro nett more than you every month...I didn't want to risk being offered a good job in those 6 months and not being able to go because of my boss not agreeing/me not paying 3 freaking thousand euros.

There's a chance of my boss going completely crazy over this, btw, judging by earlier departures. I can't wait.

heh...congratulations I guess. Good luck. I think you just don't like being employed.

Heh - poor Ox - although I must say I am SERIOUSLY underpaid for what I do and my degree etc. So.... I dunno - I figure some money is better than none. I agree the whole contract thing sucks though and is not something I have to deal with - I can quit anytime. Good luck to ya hun!

Well, I hate my job too. I really hate my job. And right now I'm hating my coworker something fierce. And I'm hating our UK office for being bricks. And I'm hating my management for piling more and more problems on me like I'm sort of mule.

But I'm paid ok and it's a job. In this economy, many people would love to have what I have.

Don't blame you Ox, good on ya.

Wish I could just quit, hate my frigging job too (though now Christmas is over it won't suck quite so much). Put it this way though, with how retarded the UK system is.

My job basically is in-between management and just a sales assistant. I run the store one day a week and act as a manager that day, and of course get all the ballache that a normal manager would if things are wrong with the store any day. But I get paid as a sales assistant (£5.78 an hour) plus 'keyholder allowance' which for me, works out at ~£90 a month. I'm on a 24 hour a week contract.

So basically, I earn approximately £650 a month, less ~£100 as income tax, less £75 council tax. So overall I gain (before other bills) around £475 a month.

My friend who is unemployed and has been for ages, gets ~£600 a month from her benefits and jobseekers allowance, plus has no council tax to pay. So she effectively earns £125 more than me by doing a big fat sod all.

I have to be fired to get that though, can't quit, and my evil manager won't fire me! I even threatened to spend 3 weeks poking him constantly and he won't fire me! *sulks*

hehe. Getting fired won't let you collect any unemployment compensation here. You have to be 'laid off'. I was laid off one, and you make a whole lot of nothing. It really sucks. I make more in a week at my current job than I would in a month being unemployed.

But I do get away with being an asshole. People get my 'go the hell away' stare on a regular basis. And I never answer my phone.