Christmas Greetings

Been a little remiss in blogging lately due to client and other commitments. Sorry about that.
During the holiday break I’m looking at migrating the blog from blogger to word press as currently I find blogger very slow. So there will be no new entries until January

In the new year I’ll be covering a review of the Irish recruitment market and making college decisions.

So hope you all get some time off over Christmas from work and hopefully enjoy a relaxing break.

Double jobbing in the education sector.

Oh dear, apparently if the media is to be believed a lecturer has been caught performing two full time lecturing jobs in Galway and Athlone since 1998.On occasion he acted as head of department and was also very active in research.
Full story in the Independent newspaper

This will give plenty of ammunition to those who say public sector employees are over paid and under worked.

Initially this lecturer was working on a contract basis, which is very insecure and often very badly paid, so it’s not surprising he took up a second job. But keeping it going for so long?

Actual teaching hours vary according to research commitments and the type of 3rd level establishment. Generally IT’s have more teaching hours, –approximately 16-18 hours per week. Usually you can allow 2-3 hours preparation/correcting for every hour of lecturing. This preparation time reduces though if you’re delivering the same material to different student groups and if there’s not much updating required from year to year.

So hours wise it’s possible to do the two jobs. Plenty of energy is needed however as good lecturers treat each lecture as an actual performance which requires them to give 100% when they’re in front of students.
Personally I found part time lecturing very tiring, as all my lectures started at 9.00 am and most of my students were still asleep (if they had bothered to turn up) They would briefly awake when I used some thing like Man Utd to illustrate a point but then they resumed their slumbers.

I know some very talented individuals who double job, often working to midnight on a regular basis, but this is an exception. I think the key issue here though is the apparent lack of performance management? How could a lecturer teach in two different colleges, miles apart, over such an extended period of time, without it becoming known or his deteriorating performance being noticed?

Apparently one of the colleges is going to pursue him for breach of contract. Many lecturing contracts have a specific clause barring additional work unless expressly approved by a senior person (usually the college president) in writing.
These clauses are also included in most full time management and professional positions as well.

So if you’re double jobbing, check whether you’re in breach of your contract!

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Accountants need career guidance

Apparently it’s world accountancy week commencing 3rd of December. This one commemorates the 30th Anniversary of the founding of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), the global organisation for the accountancy profession.
There’s a week for everything these days.

Anyhow, it seems appropriate that we announce this week, that we’ve formally signed an agreement with the Institute of Chartered Accountant’s in Ireland to provide career guidance services for their members. Yes, even very well paid Chartered Accountants seek career guidance advice. In one sense, when you’re earning great money and firmly on the upward rungs of the corporate ladder, it can be even more difficult to make a change. So far, this has been the main issue we’ve seen. No complaints about the often long working hours of accountants.

So, as it’s accountancy week here’s a link to a specialist blogs for accountants. I like this one Jobs in the money because it brings a wide variety of opinions together. Here’s an example

“And I don't much like the focus the Big 4 have these days on work-life-family balance and diversity. Not because I am against work, life or family or diversity, but because I think the job is one you choose and the rest is something that you implicitly agree to adjust in order to fit in and do the job well. If I wanted to be off during the summer, I would have been a teacher. If I wanted my team to not miss me when I'm out and clients to be able to live without me when I'm away, I would have become an assembly line worker, able to turn off my job when the whistle blows. If I wanted everyone I work with to know about, respect and celebrate my personal, sexual, and lifestyle choices I would have become a nun”
You can read the full post here

So, no namby pamby focus on work/life balance here. Simply accept the prevailing culture and fit in with the organisation. But surely there’s a balance between fitting in and looking for a life outside work?

Thankfully, the Big 4 are realising people now days want more than a corporate drone life, so in order to continue to attract the best people they have to focus on work-life-family diversity balance.
A very senior auditor friend of mine gets the summer off, because the firm want to retain her, plus there’s less client pressures at that period. The firm save on wage costs and retain a valued member of staff. If there’s a client issue, which needs her input, she’s contactable. A win win situation surely?

The legacy of our Celtic Tiger economy means highly qualified people can now call the shots more.
So with a little bit of innovative thinking, earning good money and working reasonable hours does not have to be an “either/ or” situation.

Other relevant posts you might enjoy
Jet pack pilot
Accountants take pay cuts
Does work life balance work?
Are you handcuffed to money?

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