|
gariig posted:The most important part of being a manager is insulating your team from the rest of the company. You go to all of the unimportant meetings so the people you are managing can keep doing their jobs which is getting work done. You also stop John in marketing and Suzy in sales from constantly bugging your employees about trivial stuff and to have you as the point of contact for everything. You also need to be the voice for your team members when the higher up say your is underperforming when expectations were too great or none were given. You are the warm blanket shielding your team from the cold reality of your company. Also remember you are the voice of authority for your team. If one of your team members isn't doing their job, it's your job to find out why and fix the problem. I know my manager is currently the reason I'm dissatisfied with my job. He manages two engineers and two drafters (me), he's also an engineer himself. One of the engineers has dug himself in quite well as the only one being with a specialized degree in the engineering of our primary product, because of that no one will touch him. So this engineer spends most of his day sleeping, being uncooperative, arrogant, and giving us unsollicited information on French culture (mostly how they did everything first and they're superior at everything ever). I could write a very lengthy post on him. This engineer has been out this week, but "working" from home. Yesterday, our manager comes by and starts inqiring into some of the still unknowns in a project we're working on. As would be expected because the engineer in question has not done any of the work on these things, they are still unknown. Rather than get to the bottom of it himself, he delegates it to us to find out from the Frenchman ourself  . Shouldn't that be his job considering he's the one with authority? Frenchman has no reason to respond to any of us since we're all on the same level and freqently does that. I know I've raised several of the questions our manager was asking myself months ago and every time was met with "don't worry about it."
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2012 17:17
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 11, 2024 18:42 |
|
|
Keetron posted:This week I had an interview where I was asked the priceless question: "What does your ex-wife consider your best quality?" Since when did the personal lives of its employees become the business of the company?
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2012 02:11
|
|
|
I posted:Since when did the personal lives of its employees become the business of the company? You're new here, aren't you?
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2012 03:38
|
|
|
I posted:I believe the correct answer is "Mind your own loving business". Yeah, can you go get us a bucket of steam toots? (slaps on rear end)
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2012 03:56
|
|
|
Cup of Hemlock posted:You're new here, aren't you? Not with an interview like that 
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2012 04:05
|
|
|
Keetron posted:This week I had an interview where I was asked the priceless question: "What does your ex-wife consider your best quality?" This is one of the few examples of where a centralized HR / Compliance group would actually be a good thing. A complaint with a transcript of those questions would put your interviewer out on the street in no time flat. That is so many broken laws in one interview. Any company with a compliance group would be firing your interviewer on the spot. http://www.jobinterviewquestions.org/questions/illegal-questions.asp ^^^ A quick, but not comprehensive, list of illegal interview questions. They don't cover ex-wife issues, but given marital status is illegal to ask about at all, they can't be doing that either.
|
|
#
?
Jan 7, 2012 14:27
|
|
|
After reading through some of these posts. I'm extremely happy I work as a welder. No meetings to go to and no bullshit to deal with.
|
|
#
?
Jan 7, 2012 17:47
|
|
|
It's not illegal to ask about marital status, or much of anything else, in an interview. It's illegal to base your hiring decisions on marital status, so most companies will avoid talking about it just out of caution.
|
|
#
?
Jan 7, 2012 18:09
|
|
|
Telegnostic posted:It's not illegal to ask about marital status, or much of anything else, in an interview. It's illegal to base your hiring decisions on marital status, so most companies will avoid talking about it just out of caution. I am not from the US and quite a few things are simply illegal to ask here: - Are you pregnant? - Any plan to get pregnant? - Do you have kids? - Are you religious? - Do you fancy men or women? - Are you married? - How does your family support you in your career? - Are your parent from a foreign country? - are you a union member> - Of what associations are you a member? - Are you raised in a foreign language? - Are you a member of a political party? - Do you practise relious things like ramadan or lent? Also, an employer cannot ask about medical history and can, if relevant to the position, ask a doctor to do a screening purely on the fitness for that position. What I personally do, because not all questions are bother me, is make smalltalk up front in which I will give some of these away. This does not mean they should be used against me later in the interview, that was a big stupid thing he did. The situation was weird anyway and in a way, he responded to something I said much earlier. You see, we were talking about having step-children and how to handle this with your SO and the other parent of the child. He mentioned that the other parent was easy going and when picking up his son would walk into the house and chat with the mother of the kid. I asked him where he, the guy interviewing me, was and he mentioned he would stay upstairs as he did not really like the situation and that they only recently moved in together in a new house. My response was rather harsh: "I would kick him out, he has no business walking around your house." I seriously consider him less of a man because of not shielding of his new home and I more or less let him know. For some reason I hope he had a fight with his SO about it, as it seriously bothered him. Long story short: do not let the interviewer know you think he is weak as a man.
|
|
#
?
Jan 7, 2012 19:12
|
|
|
I once had an interviewer ask me if I would be "homeless if he didn't give me the job." He elaborated by asking if I had another source of income. I don't think that is legal...it was off-putting if nothing else. It certainly wasn't a corporate job though, it was for a "game girl" at a laser tag ring where all the game girls were not allowed to have tattoos, piercings, dyed hair of any kind or wear pants (only shorts)...
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2012 03:15
|
|
|
The Aphasian posted:Yeah, can you go get us a bucket of steam toots? (slaps on rear end) Anyhow, the question I always hate at interviews is "How would you describe yourself?". I'm tempted to quote Scottish comedian Frankie Boyle; "How would I sum myself up in three words? I'd have to say 'Killer. Alien. Vagina'."
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2012 04:15
|
|
|
Sundae posted:This is one of the few examples of where a centralized HR / Compliance group would actually be a good thing. Im actually curious, how are you supposed to respond to an illegal question? Without getting you disqualified? It seems like refusing to answer would cause the interviewer to discount you for being disagreeable.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2012 05:47
|
|
|
Telegnostic posted:It's not illegal to ask about marital status, or much of anything else, in an interview. It's illegal to base your hiring decisions on marital status, so most companies will avoid talking about it just out of caution. Technically this is correct, but in practice it is still is wrong because any of those questions serves as standing for an EE investigation in the USA. The EEOC specifically tells employers not to do it unless they can produce a strong business justification for needing to ask the question because of the discriminatory nature of the questions for most jobs. It's not just "HR won't do it out of caution," but more of "you're absolutely going to get targeted by an investigation if you do, so it might as well be illegal." http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/practices/index.cfm It is not explicitly illegal to ask those questions; you're correct on that. However, if you ask them and get reported to the EEOC, you absolutely are going to get investigated for discriminatory practices. There is no convenient job purpose to asking someone most of those questions other than discriminating against applicants. quote:I once had an interviewer ask me if I would be "homeless if he didn't give me the job." He elaborated by asking if I had another source of income. I don't think that is legal...it was off-putting if nothing else. I had a similar one from a company in California. They asked me, in a phone interview, if I had a wife with a well-paying job. When I refused to answer the question, they concluded the interview. 
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2012 15:36
|
|
|
Agean90 posted:Im actually curious, how are you supposed to respond to an illegal question? Without getting you disqualified? It seems like refusing to answer would cause the interviewer to discount you for being disagreeable.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2012 19:55
|
|
|
Also worth considering: would you really want to work for a company which has just down itself willing to disregard employment law before you're even in the door.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2012 20:02
|
|
|
Sundae posted:I had a similar one from a company in California. They asked me, in a phone interview, if I had a wife with a well-paying job. When I refused to answer the question, they concluded the interview. How is anyone supposed to answer a question like this? It doesn't seem like there could be any correct answer, besides continuing to work at a pre-existing job I suppose.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2012 21:33
|
|
|
rolleyes posted:Also worth considering: would you really want to work for a company which has just down itself willing to disregard employment law before you're even in the door. Considering the staggering unemployment they are probably banking on you being too desperate to care.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2012 22:01
|
|
|
^^^ Pretty much. legsarerequired posted:How is anyone supposed to answer a question like this? It doesn't seem like there could be any correct answer, besides continuing to work at a pre-existing job I suppose. Comedy answer: lie, and tell them what they want to hear. If they find out and call you out on it later, lawsuit/tribunal/investigation time. Obviously that's a terrible idea if you actually need a job, but if there are any millionaires out there who fancy giving us something back then calling out lovely hiring practices in that manner would be a hidden camera show that I'd watch.
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2012 23:06
|
|
|
Sundae posted:It is not explicitly illegal to ask those questions; you're correct on that. However, if you ask them and get reported to the EEOC, you absolutely are going to get investigated for discriminatory practices. There is no convenient job purpose to asking someone most of those questions other than discriminating against applicants. This reminded me of something that happened at my job. We had a meeting about inappropriate customer behaviors--specifically, customers harassing female operators with creepy questions. The meeting ended with a high-level female manager telling us to get over it and to that we should take pride in customers "wanting what you got." Then she started giggling and told us not to tell HR. Obviously the circumstances are different since it involves a customer and not just employees, but it got me thinking--what do people do in situations like that where you just have employees harassing each other and a less than discrete HR department?
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2012 01:24
|
|
|
legsarerequired posted:what do people do in situations like that where you just have employees harassing each other and a less than discrete HR department? Yes, I'm aware that you totally need this job and you totally can't lose it and you totally totally totally. Either you're okay with it or you aren't. If you aren't okay with it then sue. If you don't sue then you're okay with it. "But I'm not okay with it!" Find a way to deal, then.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2012 04:45
|
|
|
legsarerequired posted:How is anyone supposed to answer a question like this? It doesn't seem like there could be any correct answer, besides continuing to work at a pre-existing job I suppose. There isn't a correct answer. Either you give them information they don't need / shouldn't have, you refuse to answer it, or you get fired later for lying in an interview. My answer was something along the lines of "I don't think that aspect of my life has any relevance to my ability to perform the work for this job." I was probably a bit less eloquent and stammered more, though.  After he kept pressing it, I went with "I do not want to talk about my wife's income. Stop asking about it," and he ended the interview on that note.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2012 13:54
|
|
|
legsarerequired posted:This reminded me of something that happened at my job. We had a meeting about inappropriate customer behaviors--specifically, customers harassing female operators with creepy questions. The meeting ended with a high-level female manager telling us to get over it and to that we should take pride in customers "wanting what you got." Then she started giggling and told us not to tell HR. Obviously the circumstances are different since it involves a customer and not just employees, but it got me thinking--what do people do in situations like that where you just have employees harassing each other and a less than discrete HR department? The employee can contact the EEOC and have them investigate. That also theoretically protects the employee because the employer isn't allowed to fire the employee for making the claim and trumping up a reason to do so shortly after filing would be viewed as highly suspect.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2012 20:08
|
|
|
Oh, the copier misfed after the job I wanted was done? gently caress YOU GOT MINE update: no more Mr. Nice Goon. I've had it. Second time today that piece of poo poo has gotten stuck. You didn't bother to follow up on your copy job, so you left the copier misfed for someone else? Guess your copy job's gone. Huh. Christe Eleison fucked around with this message at 22:15 on Jan 9, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2012 20:14
|
|
|
Attention everyone, there is a bad smell in the building. This abnormality must be accompanied by loud yelling and preferably hand gestures about how bad the smell is. When maintenance staff has been appropriately contacted, you may tell them as often as you'd like about your particular individual experience with the odor. Thank you for your understanding.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2012 20:23
|
|
|
A very nice coworker dropped off a job posting for a position at a different company he thought would be a good fit for me. OH GOD DOES HE KNOW SOMETHING I JUST BOUGHT AN EXPENSIVE CHAIR OH SHIII edit: the chair balance is on a credit card because XMAS and I hate debt. It's so hard not to dip into savings to pay it off all at once instead of over two months.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2012 20:37
|
|
|
Cup of Hemlock posted:Oh, the copier misfed after the job I wanted was done? Our Richo MFCs keep jamming with an impressive display of shredding and crumpling. We put in a service call about this. Their advice is to keep the area they're in at at 6% humidity 
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2012 21:38
|
|
|
GWBBQ posted:Cross posting this from SH/SC since not everyone reads the IT whining threads there Haha, the newest of our machines in this office are at least six years old so it goes without saying that the only thing that they do dependably is fail. Jams, shorts, mystery codes of doom, horrible grinding noises, all of these things happen on a daily basis. We don't own any of them either, they're all leased from a company who also provides service and toner that I suspect they fill by hand using children's beach toy shovels. Of course the service company never has *any* common parts for these machines and they can take days to show up to try and fix them. Minus the fact that I have a decent haircut and a suit that fits I'm living the exact existance of what I suspect it was to be in business in an Eastern Bloc communist country circa 1986.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2012 16:45
|
|
|
Let's talk about being unemployed! It's been a week since I've been laid off and I've found that with my experience, I've actually been getting a lot of interest from different places and recruiters' offices. I have two interviews lined up in the next few days so I'm upbeat (not to say there wasn't a night or two earlier in the week that I wasn't freaking the gently caress out.) The thing I hate the most are the ridiculous emails from places that start off with "NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY! ALL YOU NEED IS ENTHUSIASM!" It sucks to be looking for jobs and receive an email from a company that thinks you'd be perfect for a managerial position....right after you do some door to door sales for a couple of months.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2012 19:37
|
|
|
E the Shaggy posted:Let's talk about being unemployed! I....I took that job once when I was desparate for work. It's worse than you think.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2012 04:22
|
|
|
Cluricaun posted:I....I took that job once when I was desparate for work. It's worse than you think. Do tell. I'm curious to hear how awful jobs like this are.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2012 17:49
|
|
|
E the Shaggy posted:Do tell. I'm curious to hear how awful jobs like this are. I had a friend that had a similar job. The "owners" basically ran it as a fly by night. She got screwed over many times on pay, and would often withold it by disappearing all together and/or not answering calls.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2012 18:03
|
|
|
So my company decided to do 'engagement and well-being' stuff every year. This year the idea was to give out Virgin GoZone Pedometers (http://us.virginhealthmiles.com/Pages/Home.aspx) Basically they work like regular pedometers but you can then download the data from it to the virgin system and you get some type of rewards or something (Not exactly sure of the details, I didn't take part). We just got a company-wide email saying "The new GoZone Pedometers are NOT allowed in any closed (basically secure) areas with company computers, thanks for your cooperation". Cue hoards of emails from middle aged women bitching in emails. So about 1/2 - 2/3 of the company can't use company supplied pedometers for their entire day at work. I know it's stupid as poo poo, but this is the kind of 'it's policy' stuff that I find so loving dumb. I guess they are afraid that people will steal company secrets on their loving pedometers.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2012 23:13
|
|
|
Last day at my corporate job of over four years. I'm about to head into my exit interview. Four years of bullshit and doing very little. I'm happy to be out of here. Starting my new gig in research at a national lab on Monday.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2012 23:18
|
|
|
TotalLossBrain posted:Last day at my corporate job of over four years. I'm about to head into my exit interview. 
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2012 02:02
|
|
|
Me: I can't log in. Has the password been changed? It used to be my name. Tech support at my old job: No, try checking the spelling Me: With all due respect, I'm pretty sure I know how to spell my own name Edit: Good lord, this was 8 years ago. It's been 8 years since I had a boss. Thank you, this thread, for showing me how insanely lucky I am. Drunk Nerds fucked around with this message at 02:26 on Jan 14, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2012 02:23
|
|
|
Plinkey posted:So my company decided to do 'engagement and well-being' stuff every year. The issue is that the government customer's security team considers them a "data storage device" which can "interface with a computer system", and anything like that is a huge no-no. It's easier to just ban everything than it is to test every single device and prove that it's good, particularly if that device goes in and out of the closed area all day.
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2012 08:04
|
|
|
I understand that, but in that case one of the management people who was in charge of planning the health initiative should have foreseen the problem before buying thousands of pedometers. Doesn't really surprise me though, since the selection criteria for the wellness committee is probably "Who can afford to be out of the office for a few hours every week to attend committee meetings?"
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2012 09:01
|
|
|
Miss-Bomarc posted:haha, we have those too. And that's why Furby is specifically restricted from being taken into secure areas. You probably already knew it, and I couldn't have possibly made it up. Especially since Furby has all the data-storage capability of a dildo. Everything it learns, it already knew.
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2012 09:03
|
|
|
E the Shaggy posted:Do tell. I'm curious to hear how awful jobs like this are. I responded to some ridiculous ad in the help wanted section of the paper that said something like "Hippies with the flow" and it mentioned selling art. I called and they told me to come in the next day. The "office" was a suite in one of those little single story identical office-plexes. I went in and the had the radio playing super loud and the guy who interviewed me was all super pumped to do the interview. It was all of five minutes of him asking really dumb canned questions before I was "hired". The next two hours were sitting in a room with the other people who showed up where they explained we would be going door to door at businesses trying to sell lovely framed Successories type art at $20.00 a pop. You got $10 for each that you sold. Then I went out with a guy who was going to show me the ropes. No poo poo, this guy somehow managed to sell like fifty of the damned things by wandering into offices and saying that "We just got done redecorating another office nearby and we had extra stock of these here pictures which we can't take back and so we're ditching them at $20.00 each". It looked stupid easy. Basically it's the art version of dudes in a van selling speakers, but somehow even dumber. The next day I loaded up my car with "art" and drove around aimlessly before going into a few places and trying to make my pitch. I did manage to sell one golf related one at a realtor's office before I gave up and drove back and dumped them in the parking lot in front of the office and decided that this wasn't going to be my path to success. Kept the whole $20.00 too. Thankfully the next day I found temp work and was able to rejoin the normal working world. Every once in a while some kid will show up in my office with an armful of these pictures trying to sell them and I just shake my head and laugh. Someone, somewhere is making a mint off this poo poo, they have to be.
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2012 19:19
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 11, 2024 18:42 |
|
|
E the Shaggy posted:Do tell. I'm curious to hear how awful jobs like this are. I was desperate for money in college once - like OH MY GOD I NEED $1500 AND MY PARENTS CANNOT KNOW desperate. I wasn't sexy enough for porn, so I answered one of these ads. I sat through the same bullshit interview as the guy above. Mine was in a skeezy building with that fake-wood paneling and folding chairs in the office. The guy told me I was hired, then informed me I'd be selling knife sets door to door. One catch: They would need me to leave a $200 non-refundable security deposit for the two demo sets. I was young and dumb, but I smelled the scam. I laughed at the guy and left.
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2012 21:56
|
|
