As slacker and lazi-ish as I make myself sound, I take my jobs very seriously (except Poly) and figure if I have to be here all day, might as well get shit done and put in some work! The time goes by a lot faster when you are busy and you feel better about your day in general. Now I wish everyone I worked with shared these feelings. I cant make generalizations on Australia overall, but the work ethic in the Northern Territory is uncanny. Peeps do not want to be bothered!
First off, I have never had a job where the hours are so short. 8-4:21 --- and I mean 4:21. At 4:17 you start to see the office pack-up happening. Peeps are not packing at 4:21 because they are already out the door. However, they are slightly less prompt with showing up at 8. We also get a one hour lunch, which everyone takes. Additionally(!), as gov employees we get 6 weeks vacation a year! 6 WEEKS! Which of course roll over if you dont use them. And if you want to save 2 weeks from last year and take 8 weeks off, no biggie! If you want to take 3 months off, go ahead! My boss, for example, is currently at the end of the 2nd week of his 4 week paternity leave. The baby came a week early, so he left one day unexpectedly and never came back. In this 2 week period, he is not checking emails and does not plan to. I mean, he doesn't even have an 'out of office' up. He sent a picture of the baby and said he would try to stop in next week to say hi. In the meantime, I have only worked here for a month and have no idea what the fuck is going on. On our 3 person team, there is just one other guy -- he started the week before me. He has no clue either.
I am not going to lie, the situation is frustrating for me and not as fun as it sounds when you are used to working in the US. Things take SO long to get accomplished. And constantly reminding people to the point you feel like you are nagging them is not that rewarding. At least in my office, you can plan for your meeting to start anywhere between 10 and 30 minutes after it was supposed to and 1-2 key people not to show up. Today I sent out a meeting request and straight put in it "Please try your hardest to show up on time." WTF?? Planning ahead is minimal as well. As my coworker put it today,"In Darwin we like to plan things last minute. And if we get unexpected surprises like key speakers decide not to come, we just deal with it." Uhhh, riiiiiite.
Somethings are great, like the 6 weeks off. But the whole "I am not working one minute later than I have to" frame of mind sucks. I have been told Darwin is the worst for this, so I am hoping that if I move to another part of Aus in a couple years I will come across more motivated people. I will have to bear it for the next year and half and hope that I dont fall into the trap myself!
First off, I have never had a job where the hours are so short. 8-4:21 --- and I mean 4:21. At 4:17 you start to see the office pack-up happening. Peeps are not packing at 4:21 because they are already out the door. However, they are slightly less prompt with showing up at 8. We also get a one hour lunch, which everyone takes. Additionally(!), as gov employees we get 6 weeks vacation a year! 6 WEEKS! Which of course roll over if you dont use them. And if you want to save 2 weeks from last year and take 8 weeks off, no biggie! If you want to take 3 months off, go ahead! My boss, for example, is currently at the end of the 2nd week of his 4 week paternity leave. The baby came a week early, so he left one day unexpectedly and never came back. In this 2 week period, he is not checking emails and does not plan to. I mean, he doesn't even have an 'out of office' up. He sent a picture of the baby and said he would try to stop in next week to say hi. In the meantime, I have only worked here for a month and have no idea what the fuck is going on. On our 3 person team, there is just one other guy -- he started the week before me. He has no clue either.
I am not going to lie, the situation is frustrating for me and not as fun as it sounds when you are used to working in the US. Things take SO long to get accomplished. And constantly reminding people to the point you feel like you are nagging them is not that rewarding. At least in my office, you can plan for your meeting to start anywhere between 10 and 30 minutes after it was supposed to and 1-2 key people not to show up. Today I sent out a meeting request and straight put in it "Please try your hardest to show up on time." WTF?? Planning ahead is minimal as well. As my coworker put it today,"In Darwin we like to plan things last minute. And if we get unexpected surprises like key speakers decide not to come, we just deal with it." Uhhh, riiiiiite.
Somethings are great, like the 6 weeks off. But the whole "I am not working one minute later than I have to" frame of mind sucks. I have been told Darwin is the worst for this, so I am hoping that if I move to another part of Aus in a couple years I will come across more motivated people. I will have to bear it for the next year and half and hope that I dont fall into the trap myself!
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