Oh what a beautiful...

[j4]

Woke up at 7:30am after having very bizarre dreams involving very squicky sex, cross-dressing, musicals, hotels, and somebody throwing my violin down a flight of stairs. Funnily enough I didn't really fancy trying to go back to sleep after that, so I got up and put the (finally charged) battery back in my car. It's not often that I feel awake enough at that time in the morning to do anything more than grunt monosyllabically and make gestures intended to convey a need for caffeine, so the crisp fresh air and autumnal early sunshine was a bit of a novelty for me.

Made lunch (pasta, tuna & sweetcorn; plus a slice of cheesecake, and a bag of grapes) and got into work for 9am, which means I can get out of here at 5pm. Which is nice.

.

I really, really need to get out of this pathetic excuse for a job. Does anybody have any experience of the University temp agency? Specifically, how flexible are they about the type of jobs you can ask for -- would I be able to say "I can only work 4 days a week" or "I only want really short-term stuff"?

Meanwhile, I'm about to send off an application for a job at CUP. It's not really what I want to be doing -- it sounds very similar to what I've been doing at ProQuest but without the interesting techie sideline -- but it'd be a bit more money, a change of scene, and a second set of references so I don't have to keep pestering my tutor from Oxford. I got as far as interview for a higher-level job there (in a subject field where I was only really bluffing) so I'm quite hopeful about this one. Or as hopeful as one can be after so many rejections. <sigh>

Comments

[tamsinj.livejournal.com]

addenbrookes operate a temp pool too, though i fully confess not to know how good/bad the jobs are. i'd expect it to be data entry/reception shaped stuff on the whole though.
t.

[kaet.livejournal.com]

I've not had any direct experience with them, but we get ads and things around sometimes, and they seem vaguely human and competent.

[k425.livejournal.com]

Dunno about the university temp agency, but I do know that I had no trouble getting work from temp agencies when I was in Cambridge. A lot of them don't mind flexibility.

Good luck!

[lnr]

Marisa's doing some work for the uni on a 4 day a week basis, so it does seem to be possible.

[vyvyan.livejournal.com]

Indeed, though I didn't get it through the University Temp Agency, but through Human Resources on Regent St. Apparently they place quite a lot of people in University admin-type roles.