6 July - observations from 3 days at work
I arrived at work on 4 July - foolishly expecting that i would meet up, have a solo orientation to welcome me to Canada, before being parked up with some files and a laptop and told to start ticking.. after all, i've been with the firm well over 2 years, and hey, i'm pretty sure that in busy season thats what would happen to people joining us at home. In fact, thats what happened to me when i joined the firm in 2003. 10am, here's your laptop, 1pm, can you check these accounts.
Here, they have 800 starters a year into this office. Because this is not a seasonally dominated intake, orientation is every Monday and lasts 2 days - where you learn everything from how to book a timesheet to how to claim expenses, to how to read your electronic pay slip online (bit too high tech for me that!), how to use your phone and - get this - how to log in to a specific desk, so that everyone in Toronto knows where you are. This is some feat, as Toronto consists of 7.5 offices (I didnt ask where the 0.5 came from!). Basically, you can work at any of the 7.5 offices, tell the desk you are there, and your phone is automatically logged in for you to receive your calls. Not only that, there is an online map which tells you, and anyone else who needs to know, where you are and in what building. Big brother is watching.... Maybe Bham hotdesking has advantages...
I enjoyed spending my first day and a half with Rick, who is going into tax (R&D tax credit research) and Sunil, who is going into consulting. Sunil and I got chatting immediately about cricket! He is indian, and yes it did feel fairly weird discussing the merits of the Aussie bowling attack at 10 am on my first day in the Canadian office! Rick was telling me that in Canada our firm is considered one of the best to work for - 75% of people engage in firm sponsored charity/community work, and 1% of the profits are spent on good causes/charities. There is a full day late September, where the office closes for a day to allow all its staff to do something for the community.
The Toronto office also has 3 intranets. The GTA (Greater Toronto Area) one in particular is awesome. It has everything from classifieds, to the latest CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp) news rolling through, to a picture of the traffic hotspots. You can choose the section of road you are interested in and see if there is a traffic jam on it... I havent yet discovered whether the existence of a traffic jam is sufficient excuse to do a runner from the office, but we shall see...
Other things you can do on GTA intranet are too numerous to mention, but two are really cool. One is the ability to set up any printer in the GTA area wherever you are - its easy, it works, and all you have to do is tell it what floor of what building you are on, and it finds a printer and prints for you! The other cool thing i havent tried out yet. Apparently all the lights are programmed to turn off something like 730 at night, and you can use your laptop to tell the network where you are and turn lights on in your area. I am so looking forward to having a play with this!!
But just when you get carried away, and start thinking that the technology and systems are better here than at home, you start bearing in mind the following -
- that the spell check is in American and therefore when you use a word like 'favour' in your email, it insists you are wrong!
- that the spell check default words are so dense here. For example, LLP always comes up on the spell checker. I can just about live with that, and, well, it is the same as at home. But the word Touche? Give me strength. Who am i working for here? If it is going to tell me that i am making a spelling mistake every email for the next 6 months then there is going to be trouble...
- Finally, it took 3 days but then, at 5pm on day 3, it happened! I noticed there was no pound (GBP) sign. When i said there was no pound sign they said 'oh yes there is, '#'. Thats a HASH. Do you read me? HASH. Like your keyboards. So i rang IT services and they told me that, as long as I was in word, I could do 'insert symbol' and add my pound sign. No good in outlook though. So for 6 months, my local currency is GBP. B*ll*cks. (i'm fairly sure thats the same here!)
But work has been enlightening and fun. And quiet. With all the auditors out on a week residential at Niagara Falls, I am completing Canadian Independence and IFRS e learning.And leaving at 530. Always a nice sign. It's been a good first week.
Here, they have 800 starters a year into this office. Because this is not a seasonally dominated intake, orientation is every Monday and lasts 2 days - where you learn everything from how to book a timesheet to how to claim expenses, to how to read your electronic pay slip online (bit too high tech for me that!), how to use your phone and - get this - how to log in to a specific desk, so that everyone in Toronto knows where you are. This is some feat, as Toronto consists of 7.5 offices (I didnt ask where the 0.5 came from!). Basically, you can work at any of the 7.5 offices, tell the desk you are there, and your phone is automatically logged in for you to receive your calls. Not only that, there is an online map which tells you, and anyone else who needs to know, where you are and in what building. Big brother is watching.... Maybe Bham hotdesking has advantages...
I enjoyed spending my first day and a half with Rick, who is going into tax (R&D tax credit research) and Sunil, who is going into consulting. Sunil and I got chatting immediately about cricket! He is indian, and yes it did feel fairly weird discussing the merits of the Aussie bowling attack at 10 am on my first day in the Canadian office! Rick was telling me that in Canada our firm is considered one of the best to work for - 75% of people engage in firm sponsored charity/community work, and 1% of the profits are spent on good causes/charities. There is a full day late September, where the office closes for a day to allow all its staff to do something for the community.
The Toronto office also has 3 intranets. The GTA (Greater Toronto Area) one in particular is awesome. It has everything from classifieds, to the latest CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp) news rolling through, to a picture of the traffic hotspots. You can choose the section of road you are interested in and see if there is a traffic jam on it... I havent yet discovered whether the existence of a traffic jam is sufficient excuse to do a runner from the office, but we shall see...
Other things you can do on GTA intranet are too numerous to mention, but two are really cool. One is the ability to set up any printer in the GTA area wherever you are - its easy, it works, and all you have to do is tell it what floor of what building you are on, and it finds a printer and prints for you! The other cool thing i havent tried out yet. Apparently all the lights are programmed to turn off something like 730 at night, and you can use your laptop to tell the network where you are and turn lights on in your area. I am so looking forward to having a play with this!!
But just when you get carried away, and start thinking that the technology and systems are better here than at home, you start bearing in mind the following -
- that the spell check is in American and therefore when you use a word like 'favour' in your email, it insists you are wrong!
- that the spell check default words are so dense here. For example, LLP always comes up on the spell checker. I can just about live with that, and, well, it is the same as at home. But the word Touche? Give me strength. Who am i working for here? If it is going to tell me that i am making a spelling mistake every email for the next 6 months then there is going to be trouble...
- Finally, it took 3 days but then, at 5pm on day 3, it happened! I noticed there was no pound (GBP) sign. When i said there was no pound sign they said 'oh yes there is, '#'. Thats a HASH. Do you read me? HASH. Like your keyboards. So i rang IT services and they told me that, as long as I was in word, I could do 'insert symbol' and add my pound sign. No good in outlook though. So for 6 months, my local currency is GBP. B*ll*cks. (i'm fairly sure thats the same here!)
But work has been enlightening and fun. And quiet. With all the auditors out on a week residential at Niagara Falls, I am completing Canadian Independence and IFRS e learning.And leaving at 530. Always a nice sign. It's been a good first week.
posted by CBC at 10:09 am
2 Comments:
You seem to be doing okay CBC. Long may it continue. Do you fancy anyone yet?
The NX crew got thrown out of Birmingham city centre last night. Alright, it wasn't just them, it was them and 20,000 others. Security alert.
Don't forget it's SBs birthday 2moz (Monday).
You know me scribbles... i fancy everyone! I just think that everyone is sweet. I am still moved by our own goodbye, since you were the only one who passed any tears for my leaving... the good news is i dont expect to like anyone enough to stop me coming back home in time for xmas cheer. xxx
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