A Current Job Horror Story and a Question For Those in the IT Field...

[Proudiddy]

BTW, im not asking for anyone to approve or validate my experience. I'm the one living it and I know what is going on...

That being said, I also know I can be a volatile asshole and I am very responsible for assuming that role in my current job situation. That is all.

[Happy Panther]

I know it's not a magic cure to corporate culture ails. I overstated it, but my point is there would be less of the stuff I hate in my current position in terms of dealing with people and how much you have to interact with them, period. To me, the key is having a skill that makes me valuable and not just another number. That's all I'm getting at.

I'm with you.

 

I have been the guy showing up late for years and daring people to call me out on it. The corporate game is complete BS. I got fired over it one time and it turned out that was just what I needed. 

 

But it only worked because I truly had the leverage to tell people to eff off and that took 15 years of pretty hard work.

 

Make your plan and go for it but make time for it too.

[Happy Panther]

I know it's not a magic cure to corporate culture ails. I overstated it, but my point is there would be less of the stuff I hate in my current position in terms of dealing with people and how much you have to interact with them, period. To me, the key is having a skill that makes me valuable and not just another number. That's all I'm getting at.

Just curious. Did you like the last job better before you made the lateral move?

[KendrickPanther]

It sounds like you really got hung up on a double standard. Life is full of double standards. Life is not fair. It's not healthy to dwell on this. If you can't accept it than look for a new job. When you saw people in their early 20s were in positions of authority, that should have been a sign about the people that hired them. 

 

Some people cannot play the office games and are best going into business for themselves. The one thing you won't do is change the office culture as a new hire. You are easily replaceable for them.

 

You might be great at your job, you might make that company a lot of money, but a lot of people in that setting are concerned with themselves and not the company.

 

My generation was raised with all these ideas about doing the right thing and being fair and honest. None of those principles apply in business. 

 

Edit: I mean Diddy, I don't know if you watched Game of Thrones but you basically pulled a Ned Stark.....

 

[Jeremy Igo]

To me it sounds like they are looking for reasons to let you go and covering their asses by documenting it. It's that way with a lot of companies and hr departments now.

[Bob NC]

Yeah, that's the problem pstall, being married with three young children combined with working these overnight hours leave me with zero time for myself

 

 

Just a funny story:

 

Years ago I was a shift Manager with about 60 minimum wage employees who reported to me.  

 

One day I was interviewing a woman and I asked if she had kids.  It was just an offhand question, I was just making conversation at this point.  She proceeds to tell me it was against the law to ask that question in an interview.  She tells me I'm not to ask about her family, whether or not she's married, or, ask about children.

 

I ended up hiring her and she was late 3 times in her first 2 weeks.  The first 2 times were just a couple minutes and I counselled her verbally.  The 3rd time I called her in and told her I was writing her up.

 

She then goes into a story about getting delayed while trying to get her kids ready for school.

 

I said, "Wait a second, I thought we weren't allowed to talk about your family."  You can imagine how that went over.  She ended up getting released during her probationary period.

[Jeremy Igo]

One day I was interviewing a woman and I asked if she had kids.  It was just an offhand question, I was just making conversation at this point.  She proceeds to tell me it was against the law to ask that question in an interview.  She tells me I'm not to ask about her family, whether or not she's married, or, ask about children.

 

She was right. You should watch out for stuff like this.

[Proudiddy]

It sounds like you really got hung up on a double standard. Life is full of double standards. Life is not fair. It's not healthy to dwell on this. If you can't accept it than look for a new job. When you saw people in their early 20s were in positions of authority, that should have been a sign abiout the people that hired them.

Some people cannot play the office games and are best going into business for themselves. The one thing you won't do is change the office culture as a new hire. You are easily replaceable for them.

You might be great at your job, you might make that company a lot of money, but a lot of people in that setting are concerned with themselves and not the company.

My generation was raised with all these ideas about doing the right thing and being fair and honest. None of those principles apply in business.

Edit: I mean Diddy, I don't know if you watched Game of Thrones but you basically pulled a Ned Stark.....

You're right about everything lol..

And that's my thing, I'm all about keeping your head down and doing your job and all that good stuff lol. But the one thing that irks me almost more than anything is injustice of any kind, and I can't hide it. I got forced out of another job years back for basically leading a protest at a store meeting because I told them they were wrong for writing up everyone on a shift because a product went missing. So, it's not just about me. I would act the same way if it was someone else. But, as you said, I'm not going to revolutionize this or any other workplace, they've been doing the same thing for years, unquestioned. I'm not changing it.

I just think, if you're going to enforce a rule, enforce it across the board evenly. Otherwise, you are not enforcing it because you have to, you're enforcing because you want to, which brings it to a personal level.

[Proudiddy]

To me it sounds like they are looking for reasons to let you go and covering their asses by documenting it. It's that way with a lot of companies and hr departments now.

Yup, which is why I brought up the positive supervisor calls. When you get them they're supposed to email our VP and head manager with details of who, what, why, etc. Funny thing is, under one of the team leaders that basically held a maturation party with his friends over writing me up, I wasnt getting an email from anyone afterwards. When they changed our shifts, I got one under my new team leader (who doesn't appear to be involved in the office politics) and immediately was sent an email from our VP the next day. This team leader also sent me an email thanking me for being on time and to keep it up, so he seems like a good guy in general.

Basically, they were trying to mess with me since the first writeup, and being late was the easy route to do so, and to ensure I look like a horrible employee they were avoiding putting the positive documentation out there so if they went ahead and fired me they would look completely justified in doing so.

Bottom line is, I can't wait to get out of this and get my Jeremy Igo on at some point lol.

[Proudiddy]

Just a funny story:

Years ago I was a shift Manager with about 60 minimum wage employees who reported to me.

One day I was interviewing a woman and I asked if she had kids. It was just an offhand question, I was just making conversation at this point. She proceeds to tell me it was against the law to ask that question in an interview. She tells me I'm not to ask about her family, whether or not she's married, or, ask about children.

I ended up hiring her and she was late 3 times in her first 2 weeks. The first 2 times were just a couple minutes and I counselled her verbally. The 3rd time I called her in and told her I was writing her up.

She then goes into a story about getting delayed while trying to get her kids ready for school.

I said, "Wait a second, I thought we weren't allowed to talk about your family." You can imagine how that went over. She ended up getting released during her probationary period.

Our views of "funny" are dramatically different.

"haha take that tardy mclaterton! I just fired you from a shitty minimum wage job that no one should have to work anyway because you have more personal obligations than some others! Ha! "

[natty]

None of this sounds like anything IT specific, just typical corporate bs.

[Proudiddy]

Just curious. Did you like the last job better before you made the lateral move?

TBH, I know I'm going to have issues that I can't get past anytime I'm working under someone else's direct supervision. That's why my ultimate goal is to make a living with my creative pursuits. It's honestly a gift I have AND with my personality, I feel like it's my best bet to make a consistent living despite the odds. I'm just not cut out for this cube farm poo.

That being said, my last job was call center too. And to demonstrate how accountable I am and that I don't make excuses for those in the thread that believed that, lol, I was actually fired from it in my first tenure for being late. A common theme, I know lol... But my supervisor loved me and I think her hand was forced. It was weird, but after she let me go she started crying uncontrollably and went outside and continued to do so. There was nothing personal about shy they did it, I violated their policy, and so I understood. Their rules were explicitly stated and consistently enforced. Another manager even came up to me and she gave me a hug and said she disagreed with it, but I was fine. A year later, we discussed me coming back and so I did. No problems... And I ended up working there for about a total of two years before I started school. She is still one of my references to this day.

All that being said, it was as good of a job as I've had. They liked me there, they treated me with respect, and they appreciated me for who I am and what I do. They recognized my quality work. In fact, before I left, they had actually started having me help conduct interviews for prospective employees and help with training and that sort of thing. Just great people... I miss them, but ultimately is was like that because it was a job setup within the university, so it was just a totally different atmosphere. Other than the managers, we were all pretty much college students. It wasn't a bunch of bloodthirsty assholes who sold out countless numbers of people to get their position and are scared someone better is going to come in and take it from them so they have to knock them down a notch... So, yeah, I did enjoy it better but ultimately I want to run my own "business, " so to speak... I prefer to get away from it all.

[Scrumtrilescent]

Don't like working normal hours?  Don't like talking to people?  Asocial?  

 

 

 

 

Yep.  Programming is the perfect role for you.  

[TANTRIC-NINJA]

Just a funny story:

Years ago I was a shift Manager with about 60 minimum wage employees who reported to me.

One day I was interviewing a woman and I asked if she had kids. It was just an offhand question, I was just making conversation at this point. She proceeds to tell me it was against the law to ask that question in an interview. She tells me I'm not to ask about her family, whether or not she's married, or, ask about children.

I ended up hiring her and she was late 3 times in her first 2 weeks. The first 2 times were just a couple minutes and I counselled her verbally. The 3rd time I called her in and told her I was writing her up.

She then goes into a story about getting delayed while trying to get her kids ready for school.

I said, "Wait a second, I thought we weren't allowed to talk about your family." You can imagine how that went over. She ended up getting released during her probationary period.

You did ask an illegal question. She should contact the labor board on your unprofessional, discriminatory questioning azz. At least she had the knowledge and common sense to let you know about it.