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ODC posted:Anyone else eagerly anticipating Friday? I can't wait to wear jeans. Oh god, it makes me sad that Fridays are always better because of this.  I work for a massive corporate company, but honestly it's not that bad. The caf in the building is pretty awesome, I get in free to a lot of expensive museums because of my ID, they pay well, and are really well connected in the industry. Downside is that if you want to get ANYTHING done, you have to go through like six departments plus legal and digital security to get it done. Plus, lovely employees who do enough to get by but not an ounce more are almost impossible to fire.
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Apr 21, 2010 14:14
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Wagoneer posted:Things you'll hear around the office every loving day: I heard this in a meeting the other day: "Now, I have a question, and this is extremely tactical". Also, I'm working on putting together a trivia game for a conference. I was told that the questions should "Show how exciting our corporate brands really are".
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Apr 21, 2010 15:38
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: The solution needs to be soup to nuts and needs to cover every bucket. We're going to start this project off crawling, then bring it to where it's running.
: Did you push the "Submit" button?
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SERPUS posted:To enhance our PROFESSIONAL IMAGE we are no longer allowed to have beverages of any kind at our desks. Not even water. I suppose that when a high-dollar client strolls through the area, a warm bottle of Diet Coke sitting on my desk might cause us to lose business. My roommate works for a company that has Pepsi on retainer. It's an extremely, extremely serious problem if you have any sort of Coke (or other competitor's) product on your desk when Pepsi people come for meetings.
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Apr 21, 2010 16:33
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Corporate is a good place for clusterfucks of competent people being controlled by an idiot, resulting in a department that should be awesome, being totally useless.
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Apr 21, 2010 22:48
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I listened to a call today where a woman who earns over $200,000/year spent over a half hour equivocating over a Powerpoint FOOTER, and could not make a decision on what she wanted and finally asked my bosses boss (her direct subordinate): "Well...what do you think?" How do you rise so high in a corporate environment without the ability to make the most basic of decisions? 
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Apr 28, 2010 20:33
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Ghostnuke posted:gently caress a bunch of that, seriously. I wouldn't have answered the phone in the first place though... Yeah man, its all about how available you make yourself. It's important to set work/life bounderies. This includes not picking up the phone when you have a totally valid excuse (I was asleep, it was 11 at night, I'm not paid to do this poo poo, you can go gently caress yourself etc).
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Apr 28, 2010 20:45
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Sundae posted:I can't vouch for him, but "salaried" workers in the USA usually get neither overtime, late-hours, or weekend pay. Whatever your salary is, annually, is what you get. It's also not that likely that you'll get any meal breaks, either, even though that part's pretty much illegal. Illegal is irrelevant when illegal is unenforced. I actually get a lunch hour because I'm not a salaried employee. It's pretty great actually, I was salaried at my last job and ate at my desk. Now I have to take a full hour and so can do what I want...and yet I now work for a huge corporate company.
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Apr 28, 2010 21:47
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Stoatbringer posted:In a previous job, I told my boss that I would never be available to work weekends as I needed to spend time with my wife and son. Sure boss! No problem! **Go back to desk, update resume, look for jobs**
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Apr 28, 2010 22:35
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So Stoatbringer, I know that you obviously have strong loyalty to your family, and I respect that.
Okay, thanks...
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Astro7x posted:What? How can he be denied unemployment for that? That seems a little weird to me... He was fired with cause I'd guess.
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Apr 29, 2010 19:54
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I've been doing something using Twitter recently. I set up a main account that people are supposed to follow. Someone asked if the main account had been set up. I emailed back: "twitter.com/mainaccount" I got an email back: "Is there a way I should tell them to get there…" ...bu...I just...
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Apr 29, 2010 22:49
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My last job I didn’t do anything for a solid 2-3 months after being hired. I kept asking my boss for work and he kept responding “I dunno man, it’s just slow right now”. So I picked a cubicle in the back of the office and just played chess all day for months. That was for one of the major consultancies. Eventually left that job for my current job, which is fully remote. I actually wouldn’t mind going into the office a couple days a week just for the change of scenery, but they closed the office in my city in 2022, so oh well.
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Jun 15, 2023 20:38
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Sundae posted:I hear things like these stories (got hired, had nothing to do for weeks/months) and don't know whether to feel envious or sympathetic. The day goes by a lot faster when you have something to do, but on the other hand I'd love to get hired somewhere and not have to hit the ground running and be making a difference by day three or so. Honestly, it really sucked. It's not a comfortable experience, for me at least. It doesn't advance your career at all. If I had been laid off I would have been in worse place than I was before I had started, given that I had nothing to add to my portfolio and no new knowledge or skills (I'm a UX designer). My current job has a three month ramp where you're learning about the platform. That was uncomfortable also, but at least there was a learning website where I could show I was making progress.
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Jun 15, 2023 22:20
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Zarin posted:
lol what the absolute gently caress. I didn't even know people thought about stuff like that. If you notice that sort of thing that seems like a you problem, rather than an everyone else problem. I'm glad I've never run into this type of dumb poo poo. I don't know if I'm been lucky, or whether things are just looser on the design side.
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Jun 18, 2023 05:24
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priznat posted:
Isn't this usually because whoever speaking has lots of money invested in commercial real estate
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Jun 23, 2023 15:31
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I dunno, a four day work week seems like a huge bonus to me. Same money, and you add 52 days off to your year? That’s a huge amount of time.
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Jul 1, 2023 17:16
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Volmarias posted:Soon to be 365 days off per year (with no pay) A friend of mine negotiated four day weeks at her company and it’s going fine. Granted she works at a boutique media company and not corporate, but it is possible.
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Jul 1, 2023 18:05
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dpkg chopra posted:Project Management isn’t real. Years of resources and documentation with no measurable results. Needed to estimate how long a project would take? We had a tool for that, it was called guessing. They have taken us for absolute fools. I was in a project cycle exit gate meeting with clients recently. There was a Big Important Client on the call who was supposed to listen and sign off. The cycle exit is supposed to allow us to start build. For various reasons having to do with the client build had already started, but we were doing the cycle gate exit meeting anyway in order to check all the boxes. The Big Important Client started saying “if build already started, what are we doing here? Can anyone tell me why we are here?”. This was of course awkward because the Big Important Client was so big and important no one could say “we’re just following the project plan that you signed off on to the best of our ability” so everyone kinda bullshitted until she left. Project Management! Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Awkward Davies fucked around with this message at 15:37 on Jul 29, 2023 |
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Jul 29, 2023 15:30
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:i hate to side with the big important client here but like... she's got a point. you started the build, what's the point of a post-facto meeting to sign off? She wasn’t wrong, but I’m just a cog.
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Jul 29, 2023 18:29
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Going to HR on your own instead of through the VP might be a good way to side step any politics stuff. Just say “I’ve already spoken with HR about it” and the VP can go and run that down themselves.
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Aug 1, 2023 12:43
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theHUNGERian posted:I don't get it. I don't follow who said these words to whom and how they imply that anyone was jacking off, though I agree it's an unprofessional phrase in a typical work meeting that does not involve porn. I’m curious how many typical work meetings involve porn for you.
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Aug 1, 2023 14:37
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I managed to successfully pair “threaten to quit and get a raise and a promotion out of it” with “boss just sucks so much and they get fired and you end up managing”. Basically my boss sucked, I did a lot of his job. I interviewed at another agency, got an offer. Boss countered with raise and promotion to Asst. director because he didn’t want me to stop doing his job (I think). I accepted. Other agency was pissed but oh well. A month or two go by. Boss gets fired. Department is left without a director. I run the department with one or two designers under me. They hire someone at the SVP level but not the director. She comes in and goes “I think you’re doing fine”. We grow the department so there’s eventually four designers under me. And then I quit and moved across the country and went back to an IC role and probably did permanent damage to my career growth but oh well. I’m finally at a company at which I can see growing back into that role. Or maybe I’ll get fired bc I’m a big loving imposter and after my wife had cancer a couple years ago it’s hard to care very much. Either way.
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Aug 4, 2023 20:56
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bee posted:Corporate goons, I have a problem. I'm employed by a government agency, I've been working in the HR department for about two years. The pay, culture, and perks are good and I'm not looking to leave. Up until recently the roles I worked in were very busy so I'm used to having a lot of stuff to get through and I was fine. It sounds like you need help. “Hey boss, I’m having trouble attacking this project. Can I run my plan by you?” Or “Hey boss, I think it would help me if we had weekly check-ins on this project so I can keep you updated and I can stay accountable”. Or whatever. Nothing wrong with asking for help. Identifying that you’re struggling and knowing how to use your resources around you is a strength.
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Aug 17, 2023 02:38
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so any insight or advice offered would be appreciated!
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When I was job hunting a couple years ago I got deep into the interview process with AWS and a bank here in LA. AWS was something like 2-4 calls with screener, recruiter, a couple other people, an interview day prep call and then a full day remote interview which consisted of 5-6 separate interviews, a portfolio review with a panel, and then a design exercise. The design exercise was at the end of the day and I think that sunk me because I was fried after interviewing all loving day. Total calls must have been approaching 10? This was for a Senior UX Designer position. The bank was a call with the recruiter, two calls with the manager, one call with the team, another call with the manager, a group interview with bank leadership. Total calls was 6. They never bothered to tell me I didn't get the job. This was for a UX manager position.
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Aug 18, 2023 17:14
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Baddog posted:Amazon put the technical one at the end of the day for me too! Same deal with being completely wiped at that point after 6 hours of bullshitting through all their "talk us through an example of how you demonstrated one of our 30+ core principles". Couldn't talk straight let along think anymore. Apparently not being a "bar raiser" (gotta demonstrate above the team average skills) was what did me in. Never mind my long track record of coming up to speed quickly on whatever the hell I need to learn. Too old, too slow, whatever, gently caress off. From what I hear we both dodged a bullet, but drat the comp was good with those sweet sweet RSUs.
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Aug 18, 2023 17:46
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Motronic posted:A lot of layoffs are chaotic and done on spreadsheets by people who are so far removed from front line engineers that they don't know what they do how they do it or if they're needed. Then there is a shuffle to get the people back who had the institutional knowledge/tribal knowledge that didn't get written down or the people who actually did the work that got wrongly caught up in the layoff. If you haven’t found anything else yet going back makes sense to me. Job hunt and collect a salary and then move on.
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Aug 19, 2023 18:29
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Democratic Pirate posted:My Dad is at the age where one of our periodic update topics is the retirement schedule of all his friends. My dad is convinced that men retire and then go insane (men specifically). He’s now reluctantly moving towards it at age 74 and I just feel like, poo poo, enjoy yourself. You’ve got the money, what’s wrong with you?!
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Aug 19, 2023 19:43
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knox_harrington posted:gently caress golf. Rewild the courses, what a waste of good land. gently caress golfers especially. I’ll make sure to let my dad know, thanks.
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Aug 20, 2023 06:49
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My first job after college was in customer retention for a company that made address verification software sold on a yearly license. So basically it was like sales for a product the customer had already bought, and lots of times had forgotten about buying. So I’d have to basically do all the sales things like cold calling and org chart research etc to find someone who cared and convince them to pay tens of thousands of dollars for address verification software. Anyways I was terrible at it and after like four months they told me they could put me on a PIP or I could just quit right then and they’d pay me for the next two weeks. Obviously I quit on the spot. Then the economy collapsed because this was 2008. I still have nightmares about that job. I had to wear a suit. They didn’t allow beards. They refused to call me by my nickname, which is basically just my name because I’ve been called it since before I can remember. It’s one of the most depressed periods in my life. I read Infinite Jest while I worked there, because what else do you do when you’re 22 and hate your life and live in Boston. The idea of doing sales makes me so anxious, I don’t understand how people do it. Awkward Davies fucked around with this message at 02:39 on Aug 23, 2023 |
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Aug 23, 2023 02:35
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knox_harrington posted:Maybe this is commercial or sales, I agree I've never seen actual nepotism at the companies I've worked at. Clinical development is fairly uncompromising, there's not much wiggle room if you don't know the disease and drug. Same. I’ve only worked for large multi-national companies. Certainly what was maybe cronyism.
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Aug 24, 2023 02:20
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There’s lots of people who don’t have the connections and the job to get someone else to pay for their MBA. That MBA could still significantly increase the amount of money they make.
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Aug 29, 2023 05:23
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MBAs are for noobs, I got a MPS. That’s right, a masters of PROFESSIONAL studies. It’s got professional in the name, checkmate. (It was basically art school)
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Aug 29, 2023 16:35
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Dango Bango posted:RE: phone/internet reimbursement - my company lowered the amount significantly despite moving most people to WFH. They also made it a manual process where you have to submit an expense report every single month where it used to just be paid directly to your carrier once set up. That reminds me, I've got six months of spectrum reimbursements to do. Thank you.
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Aug 30, 2023 02:16
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I’m a consultant for a big tech company. We’re judged, partially, on our utilization. Basically how many hours we bill. My bonus is based off utilization. If I meet the number (70 something percent of my time), I get my bonus. If I exceed I get 100%+ of the bonus, depending by how much I exceed it. I assume that if I have a very low util I get fired, but I’m not responsible for finding my own projects to work on. I got lucky and got put on a long term project when I started at the company. I’ve been on it for a little over a year. The long term project is for an extremely well known company. People on the project keep saying “oh, now that you’ve worked on [company] you’ll have an easier time finding new projects, it will look really good for you”. I’ve realized recently I’m probably burnt out on the project. I just don’t care. It doesn’t really seem to matter if I do care. I could coast and fully bill into next year. I do almost no work. I’m a designer, and there’s very little creative problem solving to be done. I sit on calls, maybe push some pixels here or there occasionally, and that’s it. The company I work for has a very well defined and documented product, with a lot in the way of certifications and knowledge needed to understand how to design for it. I worry that by not taking a challenging project I’m not learning and that will be a problem in the long run. On the other hand, I could sit on my rear end, collect 125% of my bonus, and chill until next year. I’m slowly trying to use my time to study for various certifications in my company’s product that I’m supposed to have by the end of their fiscal year. A design leader on the project asked recently, as a matter of course, if I wanted to leave the project for something new. I said no, but I do think the door is open. However, given the economy and *gestures broadly* I’m not sure there’s a ton of projects clamoring for help. So what do you think: ride it out, or ask to switch?
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Sep 2, 2023 02:55
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I get that someone’s gonna soak the hours, I’ve worked in client facing roles for the last 9 years or so. I’m more concerned about myself, and whether it’s a smarter move to give up the cushy job for a bit of a challenge. It does seem like the smarter thing is to pass the certifications and then worry about it.
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Sep 2, 2023 05:58
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Vasudus posted:My reward was an anxiety disorder. Already got that
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Sep 2, 2023 06:19
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Sundae posted:To add to what Lockback said (and let's be clear: most people do not get any sizable severance), there's also that your health insurance and dental insurance are typically tied to your employment. If you are laid off, you might be COBRA eligible for a period, which can run you thousands and thousands of dollars a month to continue receiving your existing coverage. Or, you could go onto the ACA marketplace and gamble on whether whatever insurance you pick up there is accepted by your current ongoing doctors/procedures. Are you in the middle of braces or invisalign? Roll the dice on coverage. Did you have a maintenance medication? Rolling the dice there. Did you have surgery planned or were you in physical therapy afterward? While my wife was in treatment for breast cancer I worried about this a lot. Now she’s better but we’re trying to have a baby that doesn’t inherit the gene mutation that gave her cancer, which means IVF, which means fertility coverage through work. (Not that it matters THAT much because all the fertility plans have a lifetime max spend of $28k and are you surprised that doesn’t go super far?)
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Sep 3, 2023 03:01
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in general.
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This year, for some reason, I’m way more annoyed by all the American flags out for Labor Day. It’s LABOR day, not America Day Pt. III.
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Sep 4, 2023 21:06
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I'm the expansion chamber
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Sep 5, 2023 22:07
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Tnuctip posted:Interviewing at a start up, on-site hopefully next week. No it’s not software or in CA and isn’t “tech”, but engineering boss man kept asking me about start up culture a lot of times, so yes pretty sure I got it. Otherwise neat and interesting. Wouldn’t equity be included in the comp package? That will come up if they want to offer it to you.
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Sep 8, 2023 03:53
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Re: equity chat last page I know a guy who worked for a start up that was acquired by a major international company. The acquisition made him and (almost) everyone else working there extremely rich. However, he said there was another guy working for the start up who had elected to receive only cash compensation, didn't trust the equity offer, didn't think he'd be there long or whatever. Imagine that day, everyone around you just found out they're now worth 10s of millions of dollars, and you are not. (I'm aware that making millions off your equity is rare and I'm not suggesting anything)
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Sep 8, 2023 15:04
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