Working with Sepam

unclejoe89

Has Anybody here ever worked with Sepam.? i've heard some very bad stories........?

unclejoe89

An Engineering job with them is a no so...

sanbrafyffe

worked with a firm in holland with other lads that worked for them and they didnt give them the best review but hey work is work,,,there a big outfit

godtabh

The reality of the situation is that you are likely to be working more than 39 hours a week for a company doing well.

If you cant deal with that engineering probably isnt for you

Offy

godtabh wrote: »

The reality of the situation is that you are likely to be working more than 39 hours a week for a company doing well.

If you cant deal with that engineering probably isnt for you

With over twenty years of experience behind me I dont work more that 39 hours a week. I used to when I was a junior but as you get more experience you learn to manage you time better.
As a senior engineer overtime is rarely required. I guess it all depends on the level of engineer you are, some of us work for companies that are doing well and dont require their engineers, senior or junior do work more than 39 hour weeks.
Tractor_Pat +1, godtabh you need to raise the bar a tad. Engineers are wealth makers, not skivvies. This is where EI really fall flat on their face, they undersell engineers all the time. If EI had their way we would all be working for minimum pay just for the privilege of saying we are engineers. I guess we should be happy to work for free while we make a fortune for business grads!!!

godtabh

Offy wrote: »

With over twenty years of experience behind me I dont work more that 39 hours a week. I used to when I was a junior but as you get more experience you learn to manage you time better.
As a senior engineer overtime is rarely required. I guess it all depends on the level of engineer you are, some of us work for companies that are doing well and dont require their engineers, senior or junior do work more than 39 hour weeks.
Tractor_Pat +1, godtabh you need to raise the bar a tad. Engineers are wealth makers, not skivvies. This is where EI really fall flat on their face, they undersell engineers all the time. If EI had their way we would all be working for minimum pay just for the privilege of saying we are engineers. I guess we should be happy to work for free while we make a fortune for business grads!!!

How did this turn in to a rant about Engineers Ireland?

From my experience when a company is busy they generally dont have enough staff to cover everything hence long hours can be expected to meet deadlines etc.

If the company isnt overly busy you can do a job, get it down and not have to worry about over time.

I can fit my current job into a 9-5 no problem.

In the past I could easily work 50 hours to meet deadlines. It had to be done. I didnt complain.

Aln_S

Offy wrote: »

As a senior engineer overtime is rarely required. I guess it all depends on the level of engineer you are, some of us work for companies that are doing well and dont require their engineers, senior or junior do work more than 39 hour weeks.
Tractor_Pat +1, godtabh you need to raise the bar a tad. Engineers are wealth makers, not skivvies. This is where EI really fall flat on their face, they undersell engineers all the time. If EI had their way we would all be working for minimum pay just for the privilege of saying we are engineers. I guess we should be happy to work for free while we make a fortune for business grads!!!

Good post, I spent 5 years as the fool who did 45+hrs a week.I was in a company who actually sneered at me when I said I put family first! and was expected to work far beyond my paid hours. Not any more

For any young Engineers (or otherwise) out there, don't be deceived. Your time with family and friends is far more precious.

I'll bow out of the EI discussion as I'm not a member, but it won't take a genius to work out who I worked for before.

onefortynine

unclejoe89 wrote: »

Has Anybody here ever worked with Sepam.? i've heard some very bad stories........?

Speaking from personal experience I would never ever work with this company again.

If you have just graduated and need some experience then maybe it would be worth giving them 6 months. If you have a few years under your belt, hold out for another job, you can do way better than Sepam.
I wont go down the route of pointing out all the horrible treatment that the staff get but all I will say is believe everything bad you hear about them.

Offy

godtabh wrote: »

How did this turn in to a rant about Engineers Ireland?

From my experience when a company is busy they generally dont have enough staff to cover everything hence long hours can be expected to meet deadlines etc.

If the company isnt overly busy you can do a job, get it down and not have to worry about over time.

I can fit my current job into a 9-5 no problem.

In the past I could easily work 50 hours to meet deadlines. It had to be done. I didnt complain.

I wasnt going to reply to the above post but as you can see I am replying! My post wasnt a rant about EI, I was trying to compare the way EI does nothing for Engineers to the way your first post did nothing for the OP's question. The OP asked about a company NOT a career. Perhaps you should have posted "If you cant deal with that Sepam probably isnt for you"???
Additionally there is a very clear difference to a company requiring their engineers to do some overtime on occasion should they find themselves short staffed to a company that consistently requires engineers to do overtime simply because they dont pay engineers for overtime. Thats abuse of their position as employers and I would advise all engineers to steer clear of such companies just as I would advise all junior engineers and interns NOT to work for free just to gain experience. As I previously stated we are wealth makers not skives.
Whats the minimum pay for an electrician? Whats the minimum pay for an engineer? Why is this the case? How many years to qualify as an electrician? How many years to qualify as an engineer? This is the case because electricians are represented by people that fight for them, engineers are not! Added to that chartership is a load of nonsense, its a click for engineers that think they are part of some exclusive club. <- rant about EI over...... Apologies about going off topic.

godtabh

There is some much wrong with your post and it just screams of begrudgery

Offy wrote: »

I wasnt going to reply to the above post but as you can see I am replying! My post wasnt a rant about EI, I was trying to compare the way EI does nothing for Engineers to the way your first post did nothing for the OP's question. The OP asked about a company NOT a career. Perhaps you should have posted "If you cant deal with that Sepam probably isnt for you"???

It was a rant about EI and has nothing to do with this thread. If you feel EI have nothing to offer engineers bring it up else where. Not here

Additionally there is a very clear difference to a company requiring their engineers to do some overtime on occasion should they find themselves short staffed to a company that consistently requires engineers to do overtime simply because they dont pay engineers for overtime. Thats abuse of their position as employers and I would advise all engineers to steer clear of such companies just as I would advise all junior engineers and interns NOT to work for free just to gain experience. As I previously stated we are wealth makers not skives.

You arent working for free. You are working for a salary. What does your contract say about working hours?

Very few if any engineer consultancy companies pay over time. You get a salary. This salary requires you to work unpaid over time. The occurrence of this may be a lot and will often depend on the size of the organisation, work load, seniority etc.

The industry that Sepam work and the work it has on means that the traditionally 9-5 doesnt apply. The traditionally 9-5 generally doesn't apply to professional positions. What hours do doctors, accountants, solicitors, etc work?

Whats the minimum pay for an electrician? Whats the minimum pay for an engineer? Why is this the case? How many years to qualify as an electrician? How many years to qualify as an engineer? This is the case because electricians are represented by people that fight for them, engineers are not! Added to that chartership is a load of nonsense, its a click for engineers that think they are part of some exclusive club. <- rant about EI over...... Apologies about going off topic.

Again this is a thread about Sepam. If you want to know how much an electrician earns start a thread else where.

Chartership is not a load of nonsense. It is a legal requirement for some professional duties. Given your lack of knowledge on this area again I would suggest that you start a thread else where to inform yourself.

This thread is about Sepam. Any more off topic posts will result in a weeks ban

Dav

Folks, I've had to step in and delete some posts at Sepam's request as they had crossed the line in terms of defamation. Please stick with facts and if you're going to make claims about any company's work environment and so on, you'll need to either provide proof of it or sign your name and address to it so that Sepam can take legal action against you and not boards.ie.

ayeright

So, I’ve worked for Sepam and can only relate to my own situation.
What did I think of the experience?
If you are new to the contracting game and this is your first time, then you really don’t have a lot to compare Sepam with and this may well be an advantage. At least you can say you were unaware of how things could be elsewhere.
In my situation, I’ve been around the block and have to say that there is a lot of room for improvement. (Obviously, YMMV.)
There is a general “flying by the seat of the pants” attitude and it would appear that there is a distinct lack of organization and coordination. You will quite possibly need to make your own enquiries for any required information as it does not appear to be volunteered for you. I would also not anticipate getting a response (which may well be contradictory) in what I would consider a reasonable period of time. You may well require a lot of patience and be required to continually remind people of your needs.
As you may imagine, my own opinion is not particularly positive and I’ve not been impressed by anything that I’ve seen/experienced.
Would I recommend working for Sepam?
I’d have to reserve judgement on that to be fair, as it really depends on your own goals and expectations. Would I rush out and choose Sepam over any other recruiter than I’ve used before? No, that wouldn’t be the case.
If you have an expectation to have everything explained clearly and be organized for you from start to finish (to normal expected levels) this may not be the best company to work for. There was a lot of talk about certain matters that needed to be resolved but not a lot really changed or simply took an age to be realized.
Most of the guys I spoke with were not too impressed in their feedback and concur with my experiences but at the end of the day they just said as long as they were getting paid that was the main thing that concerned them.
In retrospect, I should have read the posts on here first.
In a nutshell, if you are considering a position with Sepam, find out exactly what the package will include and not include. Be prepared to expect that any issues will not be resolved via a quick email or chat on the phone.
If you do take a job with Sepam, I wish you all the best and hope that they continue to improve their services, as there is a definite pattern of negative feedback in my experience.

naani

Sir, i would like to know about working with sepam for a fresh engineering graduates?

godtabh

I'm closing this thread. To many potential issues for boards.