if you're looking for temp work...

[mattlistener]

My boss has gotten approval for us to hand off about a week's worth of busy-work from my plate to an admin or a temp. The admin we want may not be available, so we may be going with a temp, as early as next week.

I asked my boss if he agreed it would benefit us to ask for someone by name if I could give him someone I knew to be competent, and he said sure.

So, if you're available for temp work in the Boston area, email me your name and your agency and I'll keep you in mind. My workplace is a short walk from Arlington on the Green Line.

The work in question is a lot of looking up full names based on usernames in one database, looking up employee IDs based on full names in another database, and entering all of the above into a spreadsheet. It's way too fuzzy to automate.

Caveats: no permanent position exists. The temp work itself may not happen. It may happen but get offered to someone else. I don't know what the pay would be or when exactly it would start.

Comments

Hmmm...

[grlee.livejournal.com]

So... what type of db? Oracle?
and what type of spreadsheet? Excel?

'coz a simplish perl script or java app might do the trick.

Re: Hmmm...

[mattlistener.livejournal.com]

I appreciate the thought. Unfortunately, it's way too fuzzy to automate. Do you have any idea how many:
-nicknames there are for Elizabeth?
-women who change their last names one or more times after their hire-date?
-ways an American will mis-spell Sigurdardottir? or Mohamedbrhan?
-Robert Joneses a company can reasonably employ without using Douglas Adams' Heart of Gold?

Add to these the fact that we're looking up last names in Notes using some other database's usernames. And of course, usernames are created according to a variety of standards (within each database). Throughout the company I am ryanm, mryan, and ryanmat. So an algorithm would have a hard time guessing from my username whether I'm an "N. Mrya", a "T. Ryanma", or an "M. Ryan". Or "R. Yanm" or "R. Yanmat", come to think of it.

And even then, there's a Megan Ryan and a Meredith Ryan working here.

So yeah, it's horrible. And in the time I've spent writing this up (which has been far more entertaining), I could have resolved another 20 names -- whee!

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

Too bad I already have work, because this is very much the sort of tedious work I enjoy.

Re:

[mattlistener.livejournal.com]

Indeed, if I didn't know you had work, I would have just written you directly instead of posting here. :-)

[bitty.livejournal.com]

well, if this project runs out, i could always wander downstairs...

Re:

[mattlistener.livejournal.com]

Does that mean you're available, say, as early as Monday? Or should you not be under consideration until you give me a heads-up that you've become available?

I don't think our group can borrow another group's temp, alas.

Re:

[bitty.livejournal.com]

I'm not actually a temp, per se - i'm not through an agency. i'm officially a "freelancer," i believe. (i'm a temp through an agency when i'm working at perkins.) i know what i'm working on should take me through this week, but i don't know if there's stuff after that yet.

and i'm over the cubicle from kevin, in mcdougal littell.

Re:

[mattlistener.livejournal.com]

What division do you work for, by the way?

[bethr.livejournal.com]

Ooh, Houghton-Mifflin! First job out of college (editorial), first job fired from (you can imagine why). That was when they were in 1 Beacon, though.

Re:

[mattlistener.livejournal.com]

Cool, I've seen pictures of the 1 Beacon place outside HR.