Saturday, June 10, 2006

Dangers of working as a contract consultant

falling spacecraft simulationI once did a 33-day gig as a contract consultant, through Superior Design, for Lockheed Martin in King of Prussia, PA. Part of that contract was to involve the development of a simulation of a falling rocket with attached spacecraft, pictured. That gig was pretty sweet at first: I was there three days a week, as they could not afford a full-time effort. But it only lasted 33 days because they were "disappointed with my progress." The following table describes the major events:
falling spacecraft simulation
Day Events
6 Completed falling spacecraft simulation for 2D case.
7 [Advisor] doesn't like work on spacecraft simulation; assigns something else instead.
8 [Advisor] told by an expert that falling spacecraft simulation "isn't easy"; [advisor] doesn't change his mind.
9 Code written in C++ by [advisor] is almost unreadable; I will be told not to change it, but I must document it anyway. Complete work on spacecraft simulation for all cases, prepare a set of simulation runs; [advisor] will not look at them. Given a copy of Mathematica to use at home, so I can be faster at work. But I must pay $200 out-of-pocket to register Mathematica before I can use it, and I refuse. I lay aside the disk, thinking it's not a real copy, but instead just an advertisement and never see it again. Later I find [advisor] thinks the disk is valuable and decides for himself I have stolen it.
11 Waste a day getting a Unix system password and logging on. I never log on again.
13 Waste a day at a meeting that does nothing to help along the work I am supposed to do.
16 Source code written by [advisor] fails under C++ 6.0, after I converted to this later version of C++ under his direction. His own programming is sloppy, by his own admission, but I wasted hours of time commenting on and compiling this code, then I'm told I have to revert to older versions with no comment. The unspoken message is that if I just ran his program and did nothing else we'd be further along with the project.
18 Told for the first time to consider the office Christmas party. Told for the second time that the office uses flex-time, and if I want to work 10 AM to 6 PM I may. I am already using flex-time, coming in at 6 AM and working until 2 PM, because the traffic on the Pennsylvania Turnpike is unbelievable otherwise. I'd spend an extra hour or two on the road each day if I worked 10-6.
21 I successfully compile and run [advisor]'s code under C++ 6.0.
22 I start having "spare time," and [advisor] is not available to work with me.
24 Cut a report's length by 30%. No word on whether that work will be used.
25 Told for the second time to consider the office Christmas party. Ultimately I will go, and I will waste my time. Nobody talks to the temp. We all know this.
27 Complete simulation runs with [advisor]'s C++ code, and [advisor] does not look at them.
28 I remind [advisor] about both spacecraft simulation and C++ code, and he goes about his business. He has a guest in his office at one point. I begin to suspect she will replace me.
32 Laid off. Told I will have two weeks to finish all reports. They said "we're disappointed with your progress," but they did not say anything to Superior Design about it. They claim they did, but Superior Design has no record of it. And I never heard a word -- I just found [advisor] unavailable to work with me for several days. Would things have been different if I worked 10-6?
33 Learn the two weeks were to start two days before I was laid off, and they intend to give my office space to my replacement at the end of the week.
34 I complete reports, and there is nobody available to sign off on them. I must come back an extra day, for ONE HOUR, just to get signatures.
There are enough irritating points in the above history to keep me busy for days. But the top ones are (a) they suggested at one point that I might have LIED during an interview to get a job, even though I proved -- if one day later than they wanted me to -- that I could perform exactly the task they set for me; (b) they made such a big deal about a Christmas party when they must have known by this point that they were going to cut me loose. I can't explain either of these at all, even years after the fact. Here's what we learn:
  • Make sure your contract explains in detail how your performance is to be evaluated, and how often, and (if you are working through an agency) what the communications structure is.
  • If your abilities or ethics are ever called into question while on a contract job, contact the agency immediately and get a resolution.
  • Make sure all terms are defined up front, and on paper. In my case, "flex time" meant "work 10 AM until 6 PM because it's convenient for [advisor]." I am used to "flex time" meaning "come in during some two- or three-hour window in the morning and then work your eight hours."
  • Make sure your duties are clearly defined and on paper. If they change the duty assignment, call the agency immediately.
I don't hold Lockheed Martin or Superior Design responsible for the carelessness shown by its representatives while I was on this job, but in my mind their carelessness was the problem here. They had expectations that went unstated, even after it was clear to them that I would not meet them. I never knew how I failed them.

And I learned two other valuable lessons from them, which I apply whenever I work as an engineer:
  • You only go conservative when you don't know what to do.
  • The fact that it's never happened before cannot be taken as indication that it never will happen.

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posted by Ron @ 3:23 PM

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