Succeed as a contract labourer - PART 6

(Return to – PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4, PART 5,)

Try to keep the bullshit to a minimum. If you don’t know how to use a piece of equipment, ask. Far better to look ignorant than fuck up the company’s expensive gear. Have a go at whatever is offered. Any additional experience will serve you well on the next job. Try to get an experienced operator to show you some of the tricks they might have picked up. Talk to a couple of different operators to make sure those tricks aren’t damaging to the machine. Be very careful not to take the fall for someone else’s damage. Pre-starts are a pain in the arse but they can be handy to show your innocence when previously damaged gear gets blamed on ‘the labour hire dickhead’.

If you’re going to be a smart arse, at least make sure you're actually funny, otherwise you’ll be the butt of the joke. Your work mates will be group of people who know each other well. They are likely to band together against easy targets like labour hire employees until you fit in or fuck off.

Don’t lie unless absolutely necessary. If you damage something or forget to complete a task you were given, tell a supervisor and get it sorted before you get dobbed in. Your boss is more likely to forgive a genuine mistake if they hear it from you first. They've got better things to do than hunting down the culprit, and worse, have that person lie to them. At best they won’t trust you again but you’ll most likely be sacked. Labour hire employees are very easily disposed of. In any case lying should be severely limited. I’m no saint myself but I’m a poor liar and find honesty is far less trouble in the long run.

You’ll often be told that you only have a few days work at a certain place. This allows your employer to weed out the losers and weirdos. As they appraise your work, attendance, and your ability to fit in; and if you meet their standards, they may ask you to stay on. Some may even offer full time employment.

Other jobs have specific time frames like shut-downs and clean-ups so this should not be taken as an indication of your performance when they don’t keep you on after the job ends.

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