Good luck today Ladytiger!

And, I wanted to say, about the contract-to-perm, where I'm at that's very, very common in our local IT. I've worked for a couple of large companies, in particular, and because it's really hard to fire an employee (apparently, though I've seen it happen), bringing people in as contractors first is a way that we can see how they work before committing to them. It's a pain for people, of course, but it should have some benefits, doesn't it? When I was a contractor (long ago), I got put on a huge project and worked a ton of extra hours (voluntarily). I was putting in close to 80 hours a week at one point... and getting paid for all of them! As an employee, I get a salary and don't get any extra payment for working longer hours. So, there's that.

(My company is also heavily unionized, and contractors do not get sent out as "replacement workers" if the unionized workers go on strike. The rest of us get periodic training on a "second job" that's totally unrelated to what we do, and if there's a strike, we have to go fill in! It's scary, because it involves crossing picket lines to get to the job, as well as working really long hours away from home. So, in this regard, I'm a tiny bit jealous of our contractors who don't have to deal with it!)

Lots of good thoughts for today, hope the interview goes well!