Luck

I've been offered a job.

At first it was a bit of freelance work doing some interviews for an evaluation of residential homes in another part of the country. The firm who have the contract had contacted my mum (a freelance social worker) and asked her to do it. She has too much work on at the moment so she suggested I send them my cv. They liked it, interviewed me, and offered me the work.

So far so fine. The money was good enough that about 10 days work would pay off most of my debts.

And then...

They've now decided they need a research assistant for the length of the project and offered me full time work for a month and a half. Also fine. If they're happy with me, and they have work available, this may lead to a permanent post. This is exactly the sort of job I want. I was going to look for a University research post, but this is actually better because the work is likely to be far more varied. It's also a smaller organisation, and probably a much nicer place to work.

Yes, I agree, it all sounds wonderful. And it is wonderful.

I just keep thinking, where's the catch?

They're happy to pay me to work full time at the same rate we agreed for freelance. That works out at a salary of... well, a lot.

About 5 grand more than I could earn in a University.

Blimey.

I don't understand. Am I really worth that much? I keep expecting them to ring and say sorry, we made a mistake, we don't have work for you after all, especially not at that price.

I'm just not this lucky. Am I?