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Playing the blame game vs explaining why behind schedule My manager works in a different city and asks for updates in a group chat several times a day. Me, and one other contractor were hired a couple months ago to work on a specific project. There is one other person (call him Bob) who sits across from me. Bob is sort of the "unofficial boss/go to guy" because he's been working on the project since the beginning and my official manager said I can ask him questions. Basically the project is migrating a web app from one system to another. There are some sections have pages that are very similar to each other so I duplicate a template instead of starting from scratch. I was asked to assist the other contractor on a section he was working on. I asked him which portion I should do, and I asked if I could use the already completed pages of the portion as a template. He said yes and I've got this saved in the chat. Unfortunately none of the pages that had appeared to be done, were actually done (or were done incorrectly) so basically I thought the section was done, told the manager that I was just double checking things, and keep finding things that were done wrong but the expectation wasn't clearly communicated to me. Should I just tell the manager it's not as close to being finished as I thought it was, or should I tell him that the other guy said his section was done and I could use it as a template? I kind of feel like I'm throwing the other guy under the bus but it is true. I don't believe in getting people "in trouble" or "getting mad at them" in the workplace, but I sometimes find this incompatible when something goes wrong and the manager asks for an explanation. Additionally my understanding was I'd be helping him with his section, but aside from the couple of (incomplete) pages he did at the beginning, I did the whole thing. Another thing was that all the other sections had a feature that this section didn't. I told Bob that it was going faster because it didn't have this feature. A lot latter Bob told me this feature was needed though he probably knew I hadn't been including it because I had mentioned it to him several times as an aside. This is really stressful as the project is behind schedule and I really care about it. I'm feeling sick and may have to miss work tomorrow and I had told the manager it would definitely be done by noon and when I found all the other problems I told my coworker I'd come in early to get it fixed. The manager prefers everyone use the group chat, but since I don't want to create ill feelings with the coworkers should I take the initiative to send him a private message, or only if he brings it up first that there's a delay? <Q> You are dealing with a contractor and not a colleague. <S> You are the face of the client, not his friend. <S> You are supposed to be double checking, and not doing his work. <S> I would go further, and would say it is your duty to report issues with the contractor work. <S> I am afraid you will have to report what you are telling us to your boss. <A> The other contractor is not getting the job done. <S> You need to go into CYA mode, and fully disclose what has transpired. <S> A course-correction is in order and it needs to be immediate. <S> The other guy LIED and put your employment in danger by doing so. <S> This isn't throwing him under the bus, it's dodging traffic after he told you it was safe to cross the street. <S> If the guy were merely struggling, that would be one thing, as someone can be helped and/or bailed out. <S> A liar, on the other hand is nothing but a liability. <A> In situations like this, whether or not you're colleague is in the wrong, it will be up to your real manager (not the 'unofficial' one) to see all the evidence and deduce for himself who is to blame, if any one person is. <S> If you are determined not to directly blame or get someone into trouble, there is a way to (possibly) mitigate the damage. <S> I've had this happen in long development projects; there are always unknowns or something taking longer than it should. <S> If your boss asks for an explanation, go through the paper trail from start to finish. <S> Explain how it was agreed between you and the other contractor that some of the other contractor's pages could be used as a template. <S> It was on this determination that you made your estimates for time. <S> It was later realised that some of these pages were missing crucial components absent from the template and had to be checked over again. <S> In short, simply talk over your paper trail; requirements, future discussions, how you addressed them. <S> That isn't the blame game; you're just giving your manager the facts and it will be up to him to decide who gets a telling off. <S> It won't come across as you having a personal vendetta against your colleague. <S> In this situation in particular though, it really does sound as if there is little short of lying you can do <S> that will prevent your boss from seeing where the problems originated, if he has all the facts. <S> The worst case scenario here is that your boss holds you equally or more responsible for these errors; a situation I'm sure you'd want to avoid.
| Contact your manager and let him know EXACTLY what is going on and ask how to proceed.
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How do I politely but insistingly tell colleagues not to respond inline, in emails? Whether or not to reply inline in emails, is something to disagree on. When I write an email, I aim at producing a text with a beginning and an end, complete with greetings and other politeness forms. After all, if I meet a colleague at the coffee machine, I also greet politely before starting to discuss, and when leaving I greet again (said colleagues do the same). So why not do the same in email? Now, when a colleague responds inline in an email, I end up reading my own words mixed with their answer, completely destroying any line of reasoning in both my original mail and their response. I rather see that they respond in multiple paragraphs, at the beginning of each they concisely summarise their understanding of my point that they refer to. This serves a great purpose: at least I can verify if the first communication (from me to them) went without noise. Moreover, even though modern email readers attempt to give different colors to the old email text at different levels of indentation / quotation, inline answering produces an unreadable mess of voices and colours. As if we are all talking at the same time and interrupting each other at the same time. It happens to me often that I miss comments that colleagues injected into my email to them. Do not understand me wrong: this fashion of responding that I advocate does not at all have to produce very long emails. It can be as brief as:"Regarding your point about x, ...." Now, how do I raise my colleagues without pointing them to this very stackexchange question, which is too lengthy to attach to any email and which would be a very arrogant thing to write to begin with ("Let me teach you some manners, because I have the authority to do so.")? <Q> I can only speak about my own experience. <S> You be the judge whether this applies to your colleagues. <S> Personally, I don't usually reply inline, but when I do reply inline, it's because the email I am replying to is very long to begin with <S> and I want to make sure I don't forget anything. <S> So to encourage me not to reply inline, I would recommend you compose shorter emails, break up larger emails into multiple messages, reduce the number of recipients per email (when it makes sense to do so), <S> and/or when you find yourself enumerating a list of things to talk about, I would recommend you use an online project management tool like Asana instead. <S> When it comes to assigning tasks, reassigning tasks, forwarding tasks, requesting updates, and requesting approvals, using a tool like Asana should also help in reducing the number of back and forth emails, which should then reduce the number of levels in the nesting of replies. <S> And along the same lines as KlaymenDK is suggesting, numbering your points or paragraphs should help too, but ultimately, you should also keep your points short if you want to mitigate against the overflowing of those points onto new lines when there is too much nesting. <A> You could say something like: <S> Would you mind not responding to my e-mails in-line? <S> I find it much easier to work with uninterrupted responses. <S> And really this is about as far as you can go <S> , your own personal preferences not withstanding in-line responses aren't an unreasonable approach to writing e-mails in general and unless you have some authority over the responder as their supervisor/manager/ <S> etc <S> then you can't really insist that people stop doing it. <S> Even then I wouldn't recommend doing so - it could very easily be perceived as pure pettiness and that's not really a good impression to give as a manager. <S> I wouldn't mention your preferences for having them "concisely summarise their understanding of my point" because you are then placing an additional workload on them that while small is recurring and cumulative. <S> Also to be frank it carries undertones of insult: "I think your too stupid to understand what I wrote unless you prove it back to me for every single point", <S> which I'm sure is not what you intend but is a likely interpretation for them to come to regardless. <S> Finally I'd bear in mind that while you may be able to get your colleagues to respond in your preferred way (or insist that your subordinates do so) <S> this is not going to fly with those above you in the hierarchy or third parties <S> so I think you are going to have to deal with a certain amount of inline responses ongoing. <A> Here is a way to test whether your request is both polite and has a chance to be effective: <S> Rewrite it as a request to respond in-line, point-by-point, so that you can see exactly which points the writer is responding to. <S> Consider whether you would be offended by it, and whether you would be influenced by it to change the format of e-mails to accommodate someone making that request. <S> How you would feel about a similarly presented request to change your style to suit a recipient's preference will be a good guide to how your correspondents are likely to react to your request. <A> This depends on the intent of the email. <S> What are you looking for in return? <S> In this case this it helps to keep each response with the particular line item in the list. <S> I will do the same with paragraphs that each need a response. <S> In these cases the response will be in a different color (red) and font to emphasize that this is a response instead of the original email. <S> For all others, responding after the original text is the clearest (at least to me). <S> Example: <S> List item List item2 <S> List <S> item3 <S> Response (colors not working in chrome but you should get the idea): <S> List item Blah, blah. <S> List item2 <S> Blah, blah, blah. <S> List item3 <S> Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
| I respond in-line when presented with a bulleted or numbered list in the email.
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X month temp to hire vs Perm I did an interview recently which I thought was a permanent position as described by the recruiter who submitted me. When talking with the interviewer about the position, he stated it was a 3 month temp to hire. While doing my post interview with the recruiter, I asked if this was a 3 month temp to hire or Perm Placement, to which he replied "What is the difference." His reasoning is "You will work in the state of Maryland which is at will." At-will employment is a term used in U.S. labor law for contractual relationships in which an employee can be dismissed by an employer for any reason (that is, without having to establish "just cause" for termination), and without warning, as long as the reason is not illegal. I have googled the matter and found conflicting information, so my question is, is the a difference between X month temp to hire or Perm Placement in an at will state? <Q> is the a difference between X month temp to hire or Perm Placement in an at will state? <S> Regardless of the state, and other laws that may apply, these two things are inherently different (disclaimer: IANAL). <S> Temp-to-hire you can think of it as some sort of "extended trial period", in which both you and your employer can see how things work out before proceeding with a permanent position. <S> Permanent contracts are, well, for an indefinite time. <S> However , in a practical sense, assuming that you are in an at-will state there would be indeed "no difference" when it comes down to any of the contracts being terminated. <S> In both situations you can be cut without warning or for any non-illegal reason. <S> This is why it may appear the same when considering this side. <S> Nonetheless, both things are different kinds of contracts, and it would be an understatement to say they are equal. <S> Most of the times, Perm contracts have more benefits than temp-to-hire ones (possibly higher salary, full employee benefits, etc.). <S> ... <S> anyways, IMHO <S> this could be a red flag, as it seems that this recruiter used this unclear description to make the offer sound more tempting for you to consider it. <S> It is up to you if you now desire to continue pursuing this contract or <S> you would be better searching for another one (perhaps one where they are 100% clear with what they offer). <A> Note: I am not a lawyer. <S> This information is for US and may vary by state and the terms of your contract. <S> Temp-to-hire <S> starts you with a contract period after which the company will evaluate whether to hire you on for a permanent position. <S> The company is not required to provide severance pay if they chose not to hire you on to a permanent position after your contract period expires. <S> You also might not be eligible for certain benefits during your contract period such 401K matching, etc. <S> With a permanent position , you should have access to all employee benefits. <S> If you accept a permanent position and the company choses to terminate you, they may provide severance pay, vacation/sick time buyout and etc. <S> At-will refers to the fact that at any time, the company could terminate me. <S> You do not have a permanently granted position of any sort. <S> Similarly, you at any time may quit and leave the company. <S> Here is more information about severance pay: https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/wages/severancepay https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severance_package <A> In addition to the above excellent and correct answers (+1) .. <S> "What is the difference." <S> Is this an company recruiter or an independent recruiter? <S> Either way this is a very basic part of a recruiter's job description to get the parameters of the position correct, and my knee-jerk reaction is this is a very sloppy or less then transparent recruiter that you should consider getting EVERYTHING in writing for this gig, and avoid in the future. <S> (Disclaimers: IANAL and my only knowledge of the state of Maryland is the acronym SMIB.)
| Temp-to-hire contracts are for a fixed time, usually months.
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How often should I negotiate a raise? Generally speaking, while working in a small company (30 to 40 employees) that doesn't have a policy for raises, how often should I negotiate one? If this is relevant, I'm a software developer in Europe. More specifically, here is my situation: I got a new job 22 months ago and was bad at negotiating my salary (partly because I started working in another country where the market was different but most of all because I'm just bad at negotiating a salary). 9 months after that, I asked for a company car and compensation for fuel. I had an ~18% raise (which is not that bad I think). However, after after a few discussions with colleagues and other people working in the same field as me, and after seeing job offers, I realize I'm still underpaid. I think that if I had another 15 to 20% raise, I would be paid fairly (not too bad, but really not overpaid either) according to the market. The thing is that I think I could just work somewhere else and get a 20% raise easily. However, apart from my salary, everything about my job is great and if I change, I'm 90% sure I would get something that's not as good. So, I'd like to negotiate a raise with my current employer but is it too soon considering that I have not been here for 2 years and already had a nice raise once? What could I lose asking too soon? Thank you. <Q> Your question was, How often should I negociate a raise? <S> That has a simple answer: <S> As often as you actually deserve one. <S> Of course, there are some caveats: <S> Many companies have fixed policies or schedules around raises. <S> You stated that's not the case, so this concern is no issue for you. <S> You really have to be sure you're able to make a legitimate argument. <S> Raises/salary are a negotiation between an employer and an employee, based on the value the employee brings to the company. <S> Make sure you understand the value you're providing, and don't just base your negotiation on "the going rate" for your job title. <S> To accomplish the second point, be ready to talk about your successes at the company, and be ready to show your growth and increased contribution compared to when you got your prior raise. <S> I'm editing to make a distinction, as a sort of footnote to my answer. <S> Generally, your salary may increase for one (or both) of two reasons. <S> One, a "raise" based on your increase in value to the company - because you've learned more, gained skills, or otherwise "matured" and become more valuable. <S> Two, cost of living increases to match your salary with inflation. <S> Generally, in most cases, this is a basic expectation that doesn't require "justification" in the sense of showing your increase in value to your employer. <S> I'm assuming you're talking about the former - an actual raise. <S> If you're talking about cost of living increases, then it makes sense to ask/expect for that on a regular basis to match actual increases in cost of living. <S> For instance, in the US, it may be typical to get a 2 or 3% increase annually. <A> I worked in a young bank for several years and like you, I negotiated a lower salary than many of my peers. <S> I got annual increments but a real 'correction' came only after 4 years, by which time I realised I was still behind the curve. <S> I later got to understand from senior colleagues (during an informal event), that my bosses (despite having fantastic ESOPs) negotiated at least thrice every two years. <S> This aggressive behaviour was seen as a positive by the HR team and more in line with the company culture. <S> Of course, they needed to have a performance to match their demands but ceteris paribus, the unsaid rule was "you only get what you ask for". <S> Caveat: This was in a rapidly developing country and the bank's margins were growing at 25% QoQ. <S> In sum, the DNA of the organisation determines what frequency is right. <S> A good way to go about this would be to bring up this topic in informal settings and let your boss know what you're thinking. <S> I did that several times during team lunches <S> and I'd say something like: <S> "My batch mate is already at AVP level <S> and I have some catching up to do" - to my boss/senior colleagues. <A> In a small company with no formal policy you should make sure you talk about a rase: <S> Once a year. <S> This is to make sure your salary is kept within the bounds you and the company are happy with without having to make large adjustments. <S> When your salary is wrong, i.e. it doesn't represent what you are worth to the company relative to other people of similar skills and experience. <S> Therefore, ask now. <S> If the company doesn't think you are worth to them what you think you could get else <S> where then you know where you stand.
| Make sure you explain why you are worth the new salary to the company.
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Am I let go or are they anticipating my resignation? My boss gave me her decision last week, which is terminating my contract. However, something is hindering her decision from upper management, especially that I didn't apply for the job, and I had to relocate. Moreover, my boss is famous for being bad at retaining permanent contract employees. Since this procedure of terminating me was triggered, she became distant and started marginalizing me again. This morning, I went to work with a bag, as I was expecting a formal letter about the end of my contract this month. I was nervously expecting that damn notification to get that famous letter. (She submitted the formal decision of terminating me on Tuesday, and the guy who is supposed to do paperwork was supposed to contact me today). Instead, my boss came and started asking about my tasks that I finished long ago but she didn't prioritise them. I suspected that my behavior of keeping it secret and not telling anything negative about my boss + finishing and pushing some of work to remote repository made upper management change their mind (I was being loyal despite the bad news). My boss started involving me again ... When I spoke to HR last week, they told me they (the whole HR personnel) were shocked about her unfair decision, and I should urgently start looking. I told them I was interviewing. My boss seemed undecided over the last three months. Sometimes she became nice and started giving me hope, and some other times, she would go off and become hostile. Is there a decision from upper management to cancel my termination or is my fate sealed? <Q> Short answer: Unless someone tells you otherwise, then your contract is indeed terminated and you need to look for alternative employment. <S> So far all you have is your direct manager informing you that your contract will be terminated. <S> Despite any umming and ahhing by HR, unless they have given you any sort of real, tangible indication that the original decision by your manager has been rescinded, then it hasn't. <S> I would really not recommend waiting for a Hail Mary here. <S> Speak to HR if you believe your dismissal is unfair, but look as hard as you can for another role. <S> Unless you get notified by someone with the authority to notify you otherwise, your contract will end when specified by your manager. <A> Nobody knows. <S> Your position is not safe, but you are only terminated when you get this in writing from HR. <S> What you should do is look for a better position without telling your company. <S> And realise that your direct supervisor is the problem, not the rest of the company. <S> So if she does anything, go straight to HR and complain. <S> That’s usually not what you do, but the company seems to have figured out that she causes problems, so piling up complaints against her will help you case. <A> Your boss (or soon-to-be-ex-boss) is a jerk and is not going to change. <S> This looks like a power trip short-circuited by their bosses, who already know far too well about their reputation as a bad boss. <S> Also, this looks like constructive dismissal on top of it - the effort to push an employee out by making their work environment impossible, and is trying to get you to resign so you can't receive unemployment benefits. <S> Contact the company or employment agency that sent you for this long-term contract and tell them what's going on. <S> If this bosses' reputation with permanent contract employees is as atrocious as you're saying, your company will cancel its contract with the company and alert other employment agencies not to send other employees there. <S> In the meantime, continue looking for a new job. <S> Your new boss will be nowhere near as bad as the one you have now.
| Never quit, unless you signed a contract with a better company.
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Company uses my junior subordinate to de-value my position and contribution This is a company ran by young CEOs, in Thailand. I am Chinese 3rd generation in Thailand. My background were mostly western since the elementary school, university and first software house I worked with when I was junior. I am not a professional developer (yet). But, I strive to practice and become one. I put effort into watching both paid and free tutorials, and studying from books. I also participate in every meetup of software developer groups. My employer does not supply any learning material for me like they promised, I am doing this all on my own. A junior level subordinate said, "I am gonna learn from your code". I am happy with that. He has made very good progress learning from me. Cheers to the community and company. He reduces my workload due to what he has learned. I did this too when I was a junior. My Problem: The company is using that junior's knowledge (which was acquired from me and with me) to de-value my position. They claim that the junior is able to perform at the same level as me. I am scared because I have 3 - 4 more men under my supervision, and may soon have more, since new projects are coming. I suspect that one day, the company will use them against me in the same manner as the aforementioned junior. My concern: This experience is going to demoralize me and leave me unwilling to share my knowledge. I want to continue sharing but only as long as the outcome is not detrimental to me and indirectly spoils my reputation. Question: What is the best approach to deal with this situation at my employer?I am not ready to quit yet. I have only worked here for 6 months and I have no customer relationships. Otherwise, I would have started my own company already. <Q> Problem: Company is using junior to de-value my position. <S> By claiming that the junior level be able to do at same level as mine. <S> Ask the junior if he thinks that he can do the job as well as you. <S> Hopefully, he will cay that he cannot. <S> If he does, tell your manager to ask him. <S> Your manager may not believe you, but he will have to believe the junior if he says "of course, I am not as good as Sarit". <S> I have 3 - 4 more men under my supervision and number is tend to increase since projects are coming. <S> So, you are supervising and coding. <S> These are two very different skills. <S> Even if the junior becomes a better coder, it does not mean that he would make a good leader. <S> Also, this does not sound like a very good company to work for, so you might want to consider working somewhere else. <A> As the supervisor and team leader, your job is not only to write code <S> but, more important, to lead your team. <S> You coordinate their work, check its quality, keep them motivated when work is hard or boring. <S> Leading a team requires different skills from programming. <S> You should take part of the time you spend learning technical skills and instead learn leadership and management skills. <S> You will be more valuable to this company and you can use those skills when you start your own company. <A> Your question does not mention if you for yourself came from the Western corporate culture or you are a native Thai. <S> My answer assumes that you are a Westerner who's working in a Thai company. <S> If it is otherwise, please comment or update the question. <S> Working in Thai company requires understanding the Thai corporate culture. <S> One of the most important keystones of Thai (and Asian, in general) culture is saving one's face . <S> You should: <S> view everything your bosses say to you in light of this paradigm; act accordingly to this paradigm. <S> First thing first. <S> A Thai boss would never embarrass you in front of your subordinates. <S> If they did (this is not clear from your question), this most certainly means that they do not value you on your position. <S> If that happened, no Thai employee (your subordinate) will never ever respect you anymore, and you should probably look for another job. <S> If they spoke to you in private, this is not a big problem alone, but it may be a yellow flag, depending on how the events develop in the near future. <S> If I were you, I would think of building a reputation of avid small-range manager who is successfully managing your subordinates (even if this is not exactly what personality you are) . <S> as the existing answers say, limit the amount of coding by yourself; report for the entire team to your boss. <S> By acting first , never ever let your boss micro-manage your subordinates (the boss would be thankful to you for this); in fact, <S> this is you who should come to your boss and say, "Khun Boss: my subordinate, Khun Employee, performs very well" ; <S> Summarizing the above: Always consider the corporate culture. <S> It may happen that you are not doing what your boss is expecting from you. <S> And doing something else, but they do not value your input. <S> On a position with subordinates, your primary goal is solving bigger goals than "just coding". <S> Make sure your team delivers projects in time and in budget. <S> Do that before your boss sees someone in your team working better than you ("better" here means a subjective measure which may be totally different from your usual understanding being a Westerner). <S> And good luck.
| Act as a front-person for your subordinates, advocate their needs in front of your own boss.
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How can I let my coworker know that I am not put off by criticism? I recently had to deliver a report to another person, Alice, who is however not above me in the office structure. The report is not vital, but should be done anyway to complete the paperwork for the office. Alice had some remarks, so I had to rewrite the report for her (Alice signs it off). It didn't bother me to write it again, however I just find that the remarks were not in the interests of the business. I need to adjust titles, make some minor rearrangements, and make a separate document rather than simply append it to the original. These are all minor cosmetic changes that don't affect the content and more busywork than actual improvements to the actual content of the document. I told Alice something to the effect of "I can make the fixes fairly easily, but I need to know how you want it because I don't think the current form will get approved. I think Alice took this as my being defensive. I'm not and have no reason to be because her comments were to style, and not content, but even if they had been about content, I would have just fix it and not be concerned. My problem is the more I try to convince her that I am not upset, the more she thinks I am. How can I make it clear to her that taking constructive criticism isn't a problem for me? The only thing that does irk me a little are little digs like "it's not difficult", which I guess I should expect. <Q> It sounds like although you don't mind the feedback, you're not thrilled by it either. <S> Some people are good at reading emotions and Alice may be able to tell that you think her feedback is a waste of time. <S> I'd do three things to make it less difficult Smile and say "thank you for the feedback" <S> Implement the feedback quickly and completely When you have done this hand back and ask ifshe can see "any more room for improvement" <S> The point is just to be totally upbeat about it, use positive language and body language. <S> Make sure you use positive words like 'improvement', or 'enhance' rather than neutral ones like 'change' or 'edits'. <A> Wouldn't it be great if everyone was polite and considerate in the workplace? <S> It sounds like some sensitivity and tact is needed in your situation. <S> Here are my favorite lectures on this topic. <S> They talk about some essential conversation skills that are needed in situations like the one you describe here. <S> Including: Be open about what you're after, but occasionally use indirect language so as not to be off-putting or insulting Giving someone conversational air by highlighting a speech act (in your situation, you could simply state you value the feedback because you're hungry to make the report awesome) <S> Preventing awkwardness and diffusing it after it occurs <S> If some time has passed - you might simply shoot her a little IM or talk with her to 'clear the air' and explain you appreciate her feedback and want to do a good job. <A> The first thing you should do is pull a previous submission of this report and look at how it's stylized. <S> I find that it's quite commonplace that people want each report to look how they want it to, but then the final report that goes on file needs to look like the other documents the department produces, even if they look bad. <S> Reduce waste by getting on top of this kind of stuff, first. <S> That doesn't answer your question, though. <S> Ignore whatever slights you're perceiving here, and take her list of changes, make them, and then submit the report to her. <S> Thank her for the clarifications and directness. <S> Whoever she submits that report to, if they don't like it, they're going to send it back with comments for her to make changes, anyways. <S> I constantly write reports, SOPs and other regulated documents for my department that come back with an entire page of comments, and receive edits from some 7 people. <S> There are multiple filters at work often times, and no one has to nail a document on draft or revision 0. <S> Also consider that she isn't going to sign off on the report unless it's worth putting her signature on in her eyes. <S> And don't keep bringing it up as if it did bother you when it didn't, because that could make it awkward for Alice.
| Be quick so that she knows you value her feedback, and then make it clear that you are happy to have more as it is "improving" the document. Let other people's expertise work for you when it can.
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What's my best play if there's any issue on my background check with contacting my latest employer? I was working at my most recent employer until May 21st 2018 (2 week notice given). Applied for a position at another company(a company I've REALLY been wanting to work for in the past 5 years but had a hard time getting an interview there) about a month before (early April) I left my most recent. I was interviewed for that company on May 11th. In the interim of all this, I was planning a move from my most recent employer to a consulting company. Turns out, it's not a great fit for me. The reasons are neither here nor there. Even though I was planning on joining the consulting company when I left my most recent employer in May 21st, I kept the interview with the other company because I wanted to keep my options open in case the consulting gig didn't work out and honestly because I really want to work for this other company. And I also kept it because I know from experience that this sector moves very slowly. Recall the fact that I applied in early April and I was offered the position on June 11th. So 60 days. I just filled out the background check release authorization forms online and during this, there was an option to select "okay to contact most recent employer for verification purposes" or something. The problem is, my most recent employer is obviously not what is on my resume right now. But I obviously was still employed AT that employer when I applied/interviewed. So let's say they call the most recent employer on my resume which is listed as "May 2017 - Current" and they say "oh he left on May 21st". What is my play here? Cause obviously I'm in a new position that I probably won't even be in for 4 weeks. Do I just be honest and describe the situation? "Well, I was employed at company XYZ when I applied for the position and interviewed but left them shortly after to explore something new, so my resume at the time of application submission was current and relevant. I am currently employed by a consulting firm that I have no obligations to and was planning on leaving to accept this position." How much honesty is necessary? Is it even worth talking about my current role (I'm thinking about the "rule" where you don't even put a company on your resume if you were there for only 2-4 weeks)? Would it just be better to say I left in anticipation of this new job because the commute was killing me? Thanks. <Q> I would update your information to reflect the start and end dates. <S> I work for a financial institution and when my background check was initiated I had a background specialist call me and drill me on a past employment. <S> My past employer was company ABC, but I was hired thru a temporary staffing agency. <S> Well, I failed to place the temporary staffing agency as my employer as technically they were. <S> In my interrogation, at least that's what it felt like, from the background specialist we finally cleared up where I made the error. <S> Luckily it was an honest mistake, but that's not what the specialist thought at first. <S> He thought I was trying to hide a past employment. <S> So that being said, I would list the last employers information. <S> Just to cover your self. <S> I hope this helps? <S> Good luck. <A> I'd say honesty is always the best choice - especially in this case where the potential new job wants to do a background check, which implies that they want to know that they can trust you. <S> It wouldn't take much time to update your résumé to add the most current job. <S> It seems to me like you had a temporary deviation from your usual path rather than making the job-hopping a pattern, and that will be evident in your résumé to anyone who takes a serious look at it. <S> Also, you might enjoy the " Stats About Job Hopping to Help You Decide: <S> To Hop or Not to Hop? " article on the FlexJobs site or, if you're really hard-core into research, the " Welcome to 100 Days on Jobs for Career Changers! " <S> article has 100 pages that you can use to really dig into the topic. <A> I think the key to your excuse/reason is in your question: <S> Recall the fact that I applied in early April <S> and I was offered the position on June 11th. <S> So 60 days. <S> It's totally normal for things to change in a 60 day period. <S> Your resume was correct as of the time you applied (at least that's how I'm interpreting things). <S> That was 60 days ago. <S> In that time, things have changed. <S> No reason to elaborate unless asked, and at that point, default back to "standard practice" in terms of how to answer questions about short term employment, reasons for leaving, etc.
| Update the resume to show your exit date from that employer, and explain during the background check process that your resume from April is out of date.
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How do I indicate on my CV that I took a semester off studying to work fulltime? How should I include in my CV that I deferred from university for in the middle of my undergraduate degree to work-full time? Should I leave a gap in my education years? Or should I just say the start and end date of my degree. I feel having 8 months work as a full time software developer, while not a huge amount of experience is important to mention, as I think it is a distinguishing factor of me compared to others in otherwise similar positions (multiple undergraduate degrees, and hopefully a PhD soon).Since it shows that I do have experience coding outside of the "Ivory Tower", on real projects. The advantage of explicitly leaving a gap in my education start and end dates.e.g. Feb 2009-June 2011, Feb 2012-Nov 2014 , is that it makes it clear this was a full-time work, not just me doing a little on the side. The disadvantage is that it looks really cluttered, if I didn't do that I would be able to just write 2009--2014 . Technically speaking the work was not employment it was a "Workplace Learning Integrated Scholarship". But for all intents and purposes it was a full time junior developer position with the pay and responsibilities to match. Theoretically it could have been credited towards my degree, but because of a SNAFU it never was.I'm not sure if that is worth mentioning or not either; but that is not what this question is about. <Q> Just include it as a work placement (I have one of those on my CV). <A> The CV is intended to give a snapshot picture of your skills and experiences to a prospective employer. <S> Smaller details that don't contribute enough to the 'at a glance' point of the process, but still need to be addressed, can (and likely will) be brought up during the interview process. <S> Additionally, experience and education can overlap in timing, as can jobs (such as working 2 jobs, or working while going to school). <S> Think of the dates of education as the time frame of you being enrolled; Even a 0-credit semester counts for enrollment unless the school notifies you of a change in status. <S> With that in mind, I would recommend you keep your education ungapped, even if you took a semester off in the middle, and list the fulltime work as 'Junior Developer(full time) <S> July 2011 - January 2012' followed by the description of job duties. <S> This will allow you to have a clean, honest CV, while not removing your ability to expand on your reasons, timing, and experience with the job. <A> Typically people put education in one section on their degree, and experience in another. <S> Your schooling was: Feb 2009-Nov 2014. <S> It took you more time to get through school, as it does for many people -- for whatever reason. <S> Many people also work while they're in school, and your resume will show that. <S> There's nothing wrong with that. <S> It's not uncommon for education and work to overlap.
| I listed the date I graduated from my course and included the job in the work history section using the correct dates, starting the description as Work placement as part of degree Just put your education in Education and experience in Experience.
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Negotiating salary when company knows about previous one I know that it's not advised to disclose your present salary when negotiating with a prospective employer. However I am in the situation where I work for company A via agency B, and company A has precise rules on the salaries to be paid to external employers like me. This means that they, knowing the tariff they pay to the agency, also know my salary, at least the range if not even to the cent. Now company A wants to hire me directly for the same position where I am now. Besides giving an excellent performance before the switch, is there any other way I can negotiate a salary rise? <Q> One of the reasons companies use agencies before permanently employing people is to get a sense of what type of work ethic an employee has. <S> If you are not up to scratch, it simplifies the "firing" part, they simply request a substitute with the agency or cancel the contract. <S> But, often the employee is what they are looking for, as with you, so they make a direct offer, usually with an increase to sweeten the deal. <S> If they haven't made an official offer, but invited you to negotiate, be honest with what you would like to earn, but also be flexible with what you are willing to accept. <A> Besides giving an excellent performance before the switch, is there any other way I can negotiate a salary rise? <S> Yes. <S> The simplest course is to ask for what you are worth, and be ready to walk away if you don't get it. <S> What you made through an agency can give you an idea of what they wish to pay a contract worker. <S> That should also give you a good sense of what they would be willing to pay for your services. <S> If you are worth more to this company than you are currently receiving, the company should be willing pay more. <S> If you are not worth more to them, they will decline and you can move on to a company that will value your services more. <A> The company knows or has a good idea what salary you are paid right now. <S> That's bad news. <S> But you know how much the company is paying for your services right now, which is a lot more. <S> That's good news. <S> Between the company and yourself, you are in a situation where you can both benefit. <S> (As long as there is no deal between your agency and you or the company that makes this difficult). <S> There is no reason for you to accept a deal that isn't beneficial to you. <A> Keep in mind: <S> Company A know you're good at your job - and they now need "you" <S> , it's not any more that they need "someone from Agency B who can do job X". <S> Be prepared with hard facts when starting to negotiate: There are many websites where one can find pretty interesting statistics about salary, depending on degree and job description. <S> Do a bit of research to evaluate what your work would be worth on the free market. <S> This will give you a good base for negotiations with the (potential) new employer. <S> You should also collect information about your new employer: <S> Some data about their history. <S> It looks well when they see that you know whom you are presenting yourself to. <S> Are there risks (e.g. bad press)? <S> Do they offer other benefits than money? <S> Maybe there is free kindergarten, more paid annual leave, team events... <A> There is something you want to keep in mind. <S> Unless there is something major going on far upstairs, your current agency contract is not going away. <S> The client is not going to terminate your contract, and the agency is not going to swap you out. <S> You HAVE the proverbial "bird in the hand". <S> The client's Direct offer has to be good enough to be worth your while. <S> If their offer is not good enough, you are absolutely free to say "I will continue with my Agency for now." and let them sweeten the pot. <A> You need a better BATANA - best alternative to a negotiated agreement. <S> Right now, that is to accept their offer or nothing. <S> If instead you had another job offer, they would have to negotiate against that. <S> Even if you are not interested in another offer, go out and attempt to secure one. <S> Don't tell them how much of course, wait for them to improve the offer. <A> You are not thinking straight, I think. <S> At the moment, you have a middle man that is just literally stealing from your mouth and from your "customer", and it is getting a sizable extra part of your salary that could be yours. <S> So in reality, both of you, the place where you really work, and you, stand to gain from dealing directly with each other. <S> It would be unfair that only one party would stand to gain with the business. <S> So, be prepared to negotiate. <S> It is not really that much worthy changing arrangements without anything to gain from it.
| Even if you don't have another competing offer, you can inform them during negotiations that the positions to which you're applying pay more than they're offering.
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Someone who is not my boss is giving me orders and has a photo of me TL;DR I don't work for the staff in the store I'm located in, but some feel that I'm not following rules they have (and that I was never informed of) so they have taken a photo of me breaking them. I think at minimum this is a toxic work environment, if not illegal. What should I do and who should I report this to if anyone? My main goal is to not have people take pictures of me (particularly ones that are intended to make it look like I'm not doing my job). Background info: I work for a staffing agency. Call them "Staffers Ltd.". A TV manufacturer, call them "Crisp Pic" hired Staffers Ltd. to train and place product specialists at a chain of retail stores (call them Electronics Depot) to increase sales. Staffers Ltd. is the one that hired me and the one I send invoices to and they pay me. My interaction with Electronics Depot staff is limited to, that if a customer wants to make a purchase, they need to be the ones that actually process it (e.g. take the credit card information etc.). The other day someone ordered me to tuck in my shirt (I found the way he did it very rude). It turned out he was a manager from Electronics Depot but I did not know as he never introduced himself and his name tag didn't say his position. A few minutes later another manager called me into the backroom to have a chat. Basically I was in trouble for some generic things such as "not being attentive enough to customers" but what really bothered me is he had a photo someone took of me drinking a pop. If I had known there was a rule against this there would be no problem but I find this a toxic environment that instead of someone telling me there's a rule, they took a picture and sent it to their manager (who isn't even in the same company that employees me). This may be a breach of privacy laws and a form of harassment (in a sense the store's manager was saying he had an embarrassing photo of me and I better follow his rules). I only have a week left on this job. Though this incident does upset me, I could let it slide. If I find someone filming me again trying to make me look bad, I will take further action such as filing a privacy complaint against the store. Aside: Apparently taking candid pictures of people looking like they're "slacking off" is common tactic of management at the store. I checked with my actual boss and he said he doesn't care if my shirt is tucked in though I plan on tucking it in from now on. Also the store manager complained in the picture I was sitting down, but I have permission from my boss to sit (as long as it doesn't affect my work). Questions: Should I tell anyone about this or my view? Should I tell my agency this happened? Should I tell the store "you know I find this a bit harassing that someone takes a candid photo of me as evidence instead of informing me there's a rule I wasn't following". Is there a point asking my employer if I can quite early given the circumstances and still get the completion bonus? To keep a consistent image, I don't mind following rules like tucking in my shirt and no drinks etc. but I fear this is a slippery slope following directions from a person who is not my boss because in other situations the store managements directions conflict with my bosses directions (for example their seems to be a lot of disagreement as to who's job it is to setup the TVs). <Q> First, what you've been berated for are some very common sense items. <S> In short, the management didn't think there would be any NEED <S> to tell you these things. <S> The best way to avoid drama is to be above reproach. <S> Take criticism without an attitude and keep your nose clean <S> and you shouldn't have a problem <A> You are not listening to the advice people are giving you because you are letting your personal feelings get in the way. <S> People are not being hostile to you or invading your privacy, they are just trying to tell you how to do a good job. <S> You dismiss them because you can’t turn criticism into positive changes. <S> If you continue not to learn for people are saying you run the risk of the agency dropping you. <S> You are representing the television manufacturer and the store. <S> You should stop thinking about whether you are following rules or not and think how you can be a great salesperson. <S> Here are some things you have done: You don't dress appropriately. <S> You are not attentive to the customers. <S> You drink pop on the shop floor. <S> You complain on the internet about companies by name. <S> Stop doing thing these things. <S> Stop giving people reasons to send your boss pictures of how disrespectful you are to the businesses. <S> You have a great opportunity to take the feedback people are giving you and learn from it. <S> You can use the last two weeks there to practice being a great employee so that in you next job people will be talking about how much the want to have you around. <S> You want to give people reasons to tell your boss what a good job you do and how professional you are. <A> I've had this happen in my own company, someone who is not in my chain of command tells me to do something or not do something, without going through my boss. <S> I have found the best diplomatic way is to agree tell my boss what happened and ask him what to do. <S> The reactions are mixed sometimes he has told me "yea just do what they said" other times he has told me to ignore it <S> and he would take it up the org. <S> tree. <S> Pick your battles, os it worth throwing a fit over? <S> As to the photo good luck doing anything about it, you have no expectation of privacy in a public area. <S> Means no one needs consent to record your image or voice. <A> Privacy policy depends on the continent/country. <S> Dress code as well depends on the norms, expectations, if you're dealing with customers etc. <S> Though in your case they seem to be the customer or partner of your boss. <S> But let's be honest, this is not your problem, do not make it into one, and dont make one for your boss. <S> Finish the job, and get out of there. <S> If you feel you need to, go to glassdoor or any similar site and leave a review so that people know what they are getting into, but leave it general anonymous and do it at least a few months after you've left and any money changed hands.
| I would recommend asking your actual boss what to do, or as you stated if it isn't a big deal to you to do what they want just do it.
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Can I call a potential future coworker about salary I am about to have a third interview for a new position in my company. I was told the third interview would be the time to talk salary/start dates, etc. This position would be in a new area for me, so I don't have prior experience with what to expect salary wise. This new position is sales based as well, so I am seeing a massive range when I look up expected salaries. The nature of the work is intensely private, so it is also impossible to find other people who do the same type of sales. Since this position is "in house" for me I do have access to the contact information of the two people whose team I would be joining, and I have met each of them before (this is a new position, I am not replacing anyone or taking over duties held by anyone currently here). My question is, In these circumstances, could I reach out to my potential co workers and ask what a reasonable salary range for this position is? I realize that this is a very private question, but I am hoping that asking for a range instead of a specific number offsets that. If I could find anything specific at all I wouldn't even consider asking, but again my research turns up a range of anywhere from $35,000 to $90,000. Thanks in advance! <Q> DO NOT reach out to future co-workers, they are not qualified to answer that question, nor can you compare what they make to what you make. <S> I'd personally feel very uneasy answering that question, and it may be viewed as trying to subvert the hiring process. <S> Actually, I would have gotten that out of the way before I started face-to-face interviews. <S> A range is just a range, but you can expect an offer to you to be more toward the lower range. <S> Plan to talk them up. <A> In these circumstances, could I reach out to my potential co workers and ask what a reasonable salary range for this position is? <S> It would not really be in their best interests to talk money with you, as they don't know you and salary can be a touchy subject. <S> Perhaps a better idea would be to go into LinkedIn, contact people that USED TO work there and don't anymore, and ask them about salary. <S> These people would have fewer reasons to not talk to you, and you may get some unbiased good info. <S> And as Sandra stated above, 'Whoever talks salary first loses'. <A> I would strongly advise against reaching out to others. <S> At worst, depending on company policies, contracts, and legal obligations, this could result in termination. <S> While the worst case scenario is unlikely, it is still something to consider. <S> Check websites, reach out to others in your industry, but do not go internal. <S> The ideal would be if you could find someone external that has knowledge about your company.
| At best, it would seem unprofessional as you may make your coworkers uncomfortable. DO reach out to the hiring manager/ HR department and ask what an appropriate salary range for this position is. Since there are plenty of websites such as salaries, glassdoor, dice, et cetera, it is an unnecessary risk with too many possible repercussions.
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Ignored during introductions to the team At my office it is customary when a new person is hired that they are shown around and introduced to all of the team and everyone gives a quick explanation of their job role. Today a new team member was shown around, they were introduced to everyone including the people next to me but I was passed over and not introduced. I have since introduced myself to the new worker but I feel isolated not being introduced along with everyone else. It hasn't happened before so I might just be an accident (Don't really know how but it's possible I guess). Should I question the person showing them around about this? If so how can I do it without sounding accusational? To answer some of the questions we have name tags on our desk and have worked with the person doing introductions so knowing my name should not be an issue. I took my headphones off so it was easier to approach me. <Q> Should I question the person showing them around about this? <S> If this is the first time, just let it go . <S> People are human, and introductions are not comfortable to some people. <S> (myself included, I don't like making introductions) <S> If so how can I do it without sounding accusational? <S> This will be difficult, and mostly up to the tone of your voice . <S> If it happens again, I would ask "Is there a particular reason you skipped me when introducing person X to the group?" <S> Most likely, they will be slightly embarrassed and make certain it doesn't happen again.. <A> Your response : let it go, as you have done. <S> Intentional <S> but without ill intent - The person making introductions assumed you were busy (if you looked busy, had headphones, etc) and made a judgment call that it might be best not to bother you at that moment and that you will get introduced eventually anyway. <S> Your response : let it go, and maybe next time someone is coming around with introductions, try to look less busy. <S> Alternatively, you can also jokingly call them out on it: "Hold it right there Bob! <S> I think you accidentally passed over the friendliest member of the team, right here!" <S> Unless you are being isolated/marginalized in some other ways and can guess possible reasons <S> (if you are, you usually know it's happening). <S> Your response : Watch for this in the future and if it happens again with the same person making the introductions, then a follow-up might be in order. <S> One potential thing to worry about in this situation is that failure to be introduced might have sent an unintended message to the new person. <S> The message being that you are not important enough and overlooking <S> you is not viewed as a big deal by the management. <S> If the newbie picked up on that, it might take some careful messaging to demystify things without appearing insecure. <S> The best approach is to let your on-the-job performance speak for itself, which I am assuming won't be an issue. <S> Hope that helps, and good luck! <A> I worry about the passive nature of the other posts. <S> If something is bothering you, and it's easy to remedy, you should do so. <S> In this case, you can do it quite easily. <S> You simply tell the person, in confidence, I was missed when Newguy was being introduced. <S> It's not an accusation, it's not placing the blame on anyone, and it's not inviting anyone to discuss it. <S> And to be perfectly honest, there isn't much to discuss. <S> But what it does do is make the introducer aware that you are interested in taking place in these introductions. <S> The idea that because something happened once that you shouldn't worry about it is how patterns get built up. <S> And if you get in the habit of letting it go once, you'll be in the habit of letting it go again. <S> It clearly bothers you - do something about it. <S> Control the controllables. <A> The most direct answer, to me, would be to privately tell the person something like this: If you come by with anyone new, please introduce me. <S> I hope I didn't seem too busy or distracted the other day with [Name]. <S> Rather than calling attention to their behavior in the past , or asking for a direct explanation, you're putting in a clear and polite request for their future behavior . <S> Also, by assuming that they were being courteous in skipping you, you give them a polite "out" that saves them from blame or awkwardness. <S> They may be able to follow up with "okay, you'd seemed pretty focused", or "oh, sorry, you didn't seem busy, I just [...]", or simply "sure, will do next time".
| Lots of room for speculation here, as there could be different reasons why this happened: Accidental (simple mistake) - The person making introductions got distracted and passed you over without realizing it. Intentional, with ill intent - Least likely, it being the first time it happened.
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Do I need to dress with slacks and a button-down shirt for a job interview as a cashier? If not, what would be appropriate to wear to the interview? <Q> If not, what would be appropriate to wear to the interview? <S> Your interview is about making a good first impression . <S> As a matter of fact, as a younger man I interviewed for a grocery store bagger position and wore the same basic outfit. <S> Slacks and a button down shirt (for what its worth <S> I got the job). <A> I always go to an interview suited and booted. <S> It puts me in the right frame of mind for the interview. <S> Also you cannot go wrong being overdressed. <A> I only worked at one retail store my entire life <S> so I'm not a expert at this. <S> When I was 16-17, I worked as a cashier at a retail store and for the interview and first day of work, I wore a shirt and tie. <S> I think a full suit is a bit overboard and maybe inappropriate <S> but I think a nice pants and buttoned shirt with tie won't hurt. <S> Keep in mind though, 99% of their selection process goes with your availability. <S> So if you aren't available during the times they need you, chances are they'll just pass.
| Your outfit, your hair, your clothing selection, it all matters. While I don't think you need to wear a suite and tie, I think a pair of nice slacks and a pressed button up shirt is appropriate, based on my experience as a hiring manager.
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My Employer forcing me to enter double billing for two customers My US based fulltime employer forcing me to enter double bill for two customers of 40 hours each. We may be working any where from 40 to 45 hours per week but management forcing us to enter 80 hours total, 40 hours for each client, even though, I may have worked 20 to 25 hours per client. I have seen double billing is criminal offense and punishable by law. I do not need to do involve in these practices. Is it time to change the employer? <Q> The company cannot force you to do anything, if unhappy with their business practices you can always leave or get authorities involved. <S> I have a guy in a similar situation <S> , I charge a client 40 hours worth a week whether or not my guy actually does 40 hours on a maintenance job. <S> In fact he maintains 2 companies, both of which have agreed to the price. <S> He's on call at either company. <S> That doesn't mean I'm going to have him sitting on his hands half the time. <S> If they both need him, then I cover him if need be. <S> But so long as they agreed to the price it's fine whether I have one guy servicing or 20 <S> , that's my business not theirs. <A> This is a pretty clear instance of fraud. <S> You need to be led by your own moral compass on exactly how far you want to go on it <S> but if it were me I'd be discreetly looking for a new job ASAP. <A> Personally, I would try to get a hard proof about the double billing intent like an email with a neutral question to my manager: did I understand that you want I enter in my timesheet 40 hours for <S> Customer1 and another 40 hours for Customer2 <S> for the same week? <S> Then I would print or forward those emails to my personal emails for backup purpose. <S> After that, I will ask to meet 1 on 1 my manager telling him that I am reluctant to do it, can he explain me the reason, if this is agreed by the customers? <S> If I feel that the manager bullshitted me, I will tell him that I will enter my real time <S> then he will have to override it. <S> While, I will check for another job. <S> If somehow I get warning, an HR meeting because of my attitude, etc. <S> Good luck! <A> I would immediately consult a lawyer. <S> If you have done this even once, you could be liable for fraud charges. <S> When I worked for an audit agency, we sent people to jail for this sort of thing. <S> A lawyer can tell you how to best protect yourself. <S> The next step I would take is immediately starting a job search. <S> For those who say that the client may be paying for a full-time even if they do not have the work at the time, then it is still necessary to correctly show client hours on the timesheet even if they get billed otherwise according to the contract.
| I would decline to sign anything and if I need to, I willd show that I have proof that they have some gray intents.
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How to deal with team members who are slow at working / getting back to me I'm a programmer / IT analyst and I work with 4-5 people on a regular basis. Recently, I've been assigned with automating a fairly large task, and I've reached the point in my development where I need to start testing on a small scale, and with some of the machines that are actually going to be targeted (as apposed to just my own machine). The script I'm writing will eventually target 3 to 4 thousand machines, so it's pretty important.. The problem though is that I've been asking for IDs of those machines for the past couple days now, but nobody gets back to me about it.. I've made it very well known that I'm ready for testing, and the people I speak to are very happy at that, but they still don't get back to me with even one machine that I can test on.. so, now, I'm basically just sitting here looking at memes, trying to kill time.. This kind of behavior has actually been somewhat prevalent over the past year that I've been here, and it's starting to annoy me.. What can I do to combat this -- what comes off to me as sheer laziness / negligence -- so that I can work at a pace that I'm comfortable with, and one that will continue to demonstrate to my boss that I'm a fast and efficient worker? Really, I could have had this script finished by now and ready for deployment.. *I work for a Fortune 500 company in the United States, and most everyone I work with is American and they also live in the states. <Q> Then let your manager/PM decide how to progress this. <S> It'll probably mean another email, but someone else will have to deal with the inevitable non-responses on your behalf. <S> Also ask whether you can request the IT department to build some virtual machines that you can use for testing (if failure of your scripts could prove to be destructive in nature). <S> Thinking about it, this (virtual machines) should really be your first test platform (trashing them <S> won't hurt anything, and they're easy to reset). <A> Compiling a list of 3000 machines is probably not a trivial task, and someone who already has a bunch of things on their plate is probably going to put that dead last on their to-do list. <S> And so, when sending out requests for information which constitute both a fair amount of work, as well as a bottleneck to your progress, always copy the (project) manager on the request. <S> The idea here should be that interactions between yourself, and another department should be documented, and your boss aware of them. <S> I would also try to think of these things ahead of time, and send the request several days before you actually need the data, and politely follow up a couple of days later if you haven't heard anything back. <S> These other people are not the only ones to blame for the fact that you've got nothing to work on at the moment. <S> In this particular situation you should request an update, and copy your boss on the email. <A> For example: I am ready for testing <S> but I would need your machine ID, when do you think you could give me this? <S> Ask for a specific date. ' <S> ASAP' could mean something else for you than for them. <S> Document the date and send it in a confirmation e-mail to them. <S> If they fail to complete the task, you have something to ask them about. <S> We agreed upon -date-. <S> Is something blocking you from completing the task? <S> When could you complete this task for me? <S> Can I help you with getting the task done? <S> Again copy your (project) manager into this. <S> Bottom line: make clear tasks and agree upon them.
| Just do the usual thing and update your manager/project manager with the progress and what you're waiting for in order to progress your project, and stress that the lack of test machines is blocking your progress. In addition to copying in your (project) manager, make sure you make clear tasks/agreements with these 4-5 people.
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My employer is not honouring a clause in my contract I'm located in Australia. When I signed my employment contract last year, there was a clause in it that stated word for word "you are entitled to a company motor vehicle to perform your duties". During my interview, I was told the same thing. When I started working, there was no further mention of the car. I only live a short distance from work, so didn't push the matter for the first few months, however lately I've been required to travel more during work hours to visit clients. I have asked my employer if they will honour the contract and provide me with a company car to use for these client visits, so that I don't need to use my own personal vehicle (which is not insured as a business vehicle) however now the company is saying that the clause was a "clerical error" and they will not provide me with a car. I was under the impression that contracts are binding. Is this something that I should seek legal advice for? Should I try to press the matter, and insist that they honour the contract? <Q> I would hit this from a different angle (and job search) by asking for recompense if I was using my own vehicle. <S> Everyone knows petrol costs money and cars devalue <S> so it's not something they can beat with logic. <S> Failing that I would make an excuse not to use my own vehicle <S> (my wife is using it, it's broken etc,.) and force the issue. <S> They can then either assign me a car, or a driver and vehicle, or pay my taxis. <S> Probably they know full <S> well it's just an excuse, <S> but so is 'it was a clerical error'. <S> Won't comment on the legal part, I'm not a lawyer and taking legal action can be career limiting without a gain. <S> I find it quicker and more satisfying to take direct action then to argue legalities and feed lawyers. <A> Answering whether or not this clause is binding is definitely something you'll need to seek legal advice for, it's out of this site's scope. <S> As for your question of 'Should I press the matter and insist they honour the contract', that's a difficult question to answer as well. <S> You'll have to get the legal advice first to verify whether or not you have a legal basis for your argument. <S> If it turns out you do have a legal basis for your argument, you'll have to decide: is this a hill worth dying on? <S> Do you feel strongly enough about getting this perk that is mentioned in your contract that you'll risk souring relations with your employer? <S> Rather than press the issue of getting a company car, you might try starting a discussion on how you will be compensated for using your personal vehicle for company purposes. <S> As you indicate, the increased usage will cause your vehicle to devalue quicker, you'll spend more money on fuel, you might even need to invest more time and money into keeping the car presentable compared to what you'd normally do. <S> In many countries, there are laws or regulations that govern this kind of compensation, so it might be wise to inform yourself of such things before you start the discussion. <S> In my experience, this sort of issue will set too much bad blood: <S> either the employee doesn't get adequate compensation and becomes unhappy, or the employer feels they're being taken advantage of and will become unhappy. <A> The other advice here is true, if the employers are being difficult you are best off seeking legal advice as to whether you should/could demand a car based on what is in the contract. <S> However, as discussed this may make your relationship with your employer difficult, to say the least. <S> If you aren't already, you can (and should) claim the mileage back from your employer as an expense. <S> Here is the relevant page on the Australian Tax Office website: <S> You are entitled to receive 66 cents per kilometre. <S> You should be able to backdate this to the start point of when you started travelling to Clients and using your own car. <S> This will go some way to recover any costs - however, you'd be responsible for any fuel costs at the pump. <S> If the employer refuses to honour the expenses claim, you can claim directly with the ATO.
| If you can't come to an agreement on either receiving a company car or receiving some form of compensation, I think your only realistic option is to start looking for another job.
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Is it ok to get small costs of coming to the interview reimbursed (Germany)? In Germany companies have to reimburse candidates for the travel costs to the interview unless they communicated in advance they don't take over the costs. My question is: Is it ok, if I request little sums of money to be reimbursed? It's not a question about regulations - the company has to reimburse it. It's a question about culture and what is acceptable and what isn't. I would like to be treated seriously and I'm not sure if they won't think I'm unserious if I send them tickets that cost me 25 EUR in sum... The thing is, I live in a region with several cities close to one another. I apply in these cities. The tickets aren't very expensive but I participate in many interviews (competitive field) and normally several rounds of interviews are organised. I feel silly asking about the reimbursements of small amounts but 25EUR * 5 applications a month is quite a bit of money for me to spend. I think the validity of this question is limited to Germany, simply because it's so common here to get the money reimbursed. I've already had companies that reimbursed me 300+ EUR. In many cases companies send you the reimbursement form together with the invitation to the interview, normally with a very straightforward explanation what they reimburse and what not. I have lived in several countries and companies in none of them had such straightforward processes for that. <Q> The main reason, this system of getting reimbursed by the to-be-employer for travel expanses exists exactly for the reason not to miss out on good workers just because they can't afford traveling to the interview. <S> The 2-3 EUR for public transport are as valid a reason as the 300,- plane ticket. <S> The bigger the company, the more true this is. <S> You, on the other hand are expected to keep your travel cost reasonably low. <S> Going by train is restricted to second class, and where there's public transport available taking a taxi is considered too expensive. <S> The applicable law here would be § <S> 670 BGB : <S> Ersatz von Aufwendungen Macht der Beauftragte zum <S> Zwecke der Ausführung des Auftrags Aufwendungen, die er den Umständen nach für erforderlich halten darf, so ist der Auftraggeber zum Ersatz verpflichtet. <S> Translation: <S> basically what I said. <A> If you would move if you got the job then I would say it is a fair travel expense. <S> If you have the receipt then turn it in. <S> If you would not move and would commute then I would not call it travel. <A> I'm not in Germany and never worked there, so this answer is just based on common sense. <S> If I understand well, this is written in the law <S> the companies have the possibility to specify in advance that they don't reimburse. <S> From your question it seems also very common to ask for reimbursement, so the company shouldn't be too surprised if you asked for it. <S> From a company perspective, it's a very limited cost, basically no impact at all. <S> The people handling the reimbursmement is most probably not really involved in the interview process (I'm thinking office manager, accountant or so...) <S> I then see basically no reason not to ask to be reinbursed, unless these 25 euros don't mean anything to you.
| Most companies' workflows for reimbursing applicants won't include an extra step to ridicule the applicant based on the amount they demand.
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Alternative to saying "good night" on remote meetings I have a weekly Skype meeting with a colleague who lives on another continent. Our meeting happens in the morning for me and in the night time for him (around 9pm). He always starts out the meeting with "Good morning ->my name<-" Even though it isn't morning for him. I want to say Good night -> his name <- But maybe it's just something in my head but "Good Night" seems like a way to say "bye" and not a greeting. So what can I say instead that would reflect that I am greeting him at his night time. I tried: Good Evening but he joked that it was night time there. I don't want to make the same awkward joke every week. What could I say instead that is friendly yet professional? My race/culture : South Asian in the USA Colleague's culture: Middle Eastern <Q> What could I say instead that is friendly yet professional? <S> The most neutral (yet friendly) and professional way I can think of is "Greetings" . <S> "Glad to see you again, [name]" , or even <S> "Hey there, [name], good to read you again" . <S> Have in mind if this is written or spoken, so you say "see" or "read" properly. <A> What could I say instead that is friendly yet professional? <S> I would say "Hi [his name]" or "Hello [his name]". <S> There may be greetings more culturally-specific, but you didn't indicate the two cultures. <A> Couple etiquette notes on conference lines. <S> I've spent hundreds of hours on international calls for work. <S> It is pointless to try to speak within everyone else's time zone, especially on large calls that span multiple countries. <S> It starts to sound ridiculous if you try-- "Good morning/afternoon/evening, where ever you are. <S> " People still do it, but it is kind of a distraction. <S> It is common in a professional environment to identify yourself instead of giving the usual greeting. <S> For example, instead of "Good morning everyone" you could say "Hello, this is John." This has practical benefits since there could be numerous people on the call. <S> On a work call, it is OK to greet in your own timezone, i.e. if it's morning where you are, just say "Good morning. <S> " This has practical benefits as well, since it tells everyone on the call what time of day it is for you. <S> They already know what time of day it is for them.
| A more friendly way of putting it could be "Greetings [name]" , or
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Moved to scrum, now developers are doing just QA I understand that in scrum developers do some QA, but in the last several sprints we've been doing almost nothing but QA. We've brought this up to management, but they insist that that's how scrum works (and I know it's not!), and that it's temporary (which it doesn't seem to be, either). Morale is low among the developers, and management is very sympathetic but very unhelpful. Just to be clear, we've communicated that we are not willing to go on like this. How can we fix this, without actually quitting? To answer comment questions: We're QAing new use-cases that hadn't been thought of, and stuff other teams did. Also, the occasional scrap we do develop is required to undergo days and days of QA (including related QA documentation) The product owner decides what goes into the sprint. We get to give an estimate how much will be done, Clarifications regarding the amounts of QA we're doing: there hasn't been a lot of QA done before, and we're making up for it. What was done was pretty basic, and they're using us to do more thorough QA. Again, we're also doing QA for the little bit we do get to write, but each bit of development takes a lot of QA time because: A) There's a lot of mandatory documentation, B) Most of us are developers, C) We're highly demotivated. <Q> Scrum has nothing to do with development, or qa, or anything like that. <S> It's really just a philosophy to help create better estimates by improving visibility of progress, and also to foster stronger communication amongst team members. <S> Agile is exactly the same. <S> Your better bet would be to explain the opportunity cost - that developers (generally) cost more than dedicated qa. <S> Even so, it might be that your development practices are shoddy and you are creating too much qa work, and this "developers moonlighting as qa" is doing two things getting you to solve the qa backlog ensuring <S> you aren't adding to the qa backlog <S> I doubt it is a mr miyagi lesson or anything. <S> You would be better, however, considering how to automate the qa, instead of complaining you don't like doing qa. <S> Given all you are doing all day is, in fact, qa, you should have a very good idea of what the steps are and how the qa process is. <S> Work out how to automate (all? <S> part of?) <S> that, show that to management, build that tool. <S> That's a good way to get a promotion by showing initiative, build something and stop doing QA. <S> Note you will still have to QA your qa-tool, <S> so you won't be fully able to stop QA with this idea. <A> I'm guessing that something has happened to prompt a call for a far more rigourous QA system. <S> Management don't really care who does this, but they want it done and done right, and they want to send the spreadsheets of results to people who care about these things. <S> Saying that QA is "part of scrum" doesn't really mean much and isn't really relevant here. <S> The core of the problem is that there's more QA work that needs to be done. <S> As your team pretty much fully tasked with QA, all you can really do is carry it through and complete this task to the best of your ability. <S> Putting your tools down and saying "We're doctors, not warp core technicians" won't really help the project right now. <S> Discuss this with your managers when the current test phase is complete and the panic is over. <S> If this doesn't change over time, then management will need to deal with the ensuing attrition caused by people wanting to do the jobs that they were primarily employed to do. <A> An important aspect of Scrum is that the team work together to deliver a unit of work during a short period. <S> Delivering a unit of work includes what ever is necessary to consider the work complete. <S> This my be design, coding, deployment, quality assurance, etc. <S> Everyone is responsible together for all aspects of the work. <S> Any part of the work should be carried out by the people capable of doing the work. <S> That means that if there is quality assurance work to be done the developers should help unless they are also needed to do something else. <S> This approach has a number of advantages. <S> It puts an emphasis on delivering something useful. <S> Any particular task such as coding is not important. <S> Doing what every is necessary to complete the work is what is important. <S> Secondly it breaks down the silos between different skill sets including software developers, quality assurance, operations, etc. <S> Nobody gets to do their part without consideration for how it effects everyone else. <S> This is a more satisfying way to work for many people because instead of being soloed working on specific tasks you are given freedom within the team to self organize to delver a build thing. <S> If quality assurance work is talking up too much time not that you have moved to Scurm <S> then you have identified an problem you always have had. <S> You team should work on finding ways to perform quality assurance more effectively. <S> This may be hiring changing the skill sets on the team to have more specific quality assurance skills or it may be having the software developers work on automated tests or code refactoring to improve the testability of the work. <S> If developers think they shouldn't be working on quality assurance tasks then working in an agile environment isn’t for them. <S> They should be let go so that can work somewhere where they can code and let quality be someone else's problem. <A> As I mentioned in a comment to the original question, I think this is management's way of claiming to do Agile, while actually perpetuating Waterfall. <S> In particular, We're QAing new use-cases that hadn't been thought of <S> sounds a lot like spending months laying out the full product before starting coding.
| Moving forwards, you either need to employ/resource a dedicated QA team, or build a more formalised QA stream into your development methodology.
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Being made redundant- is it appropriate to ask for compensation? I have been in my current Software Developer role for just over a year. The company is a small one- 7 employees in total, 5 full time & 2 part time. Yesterday, the owner/ director asked to speak to me, and let me know that due to the situation with one of our clients, they're going to have to let me go. That client is our oldest client, and they have recently been bought out by a much larger company- since the new controlling company already do all of the work that we do in house, our services are no longer required. Since one of my colleagues left the company about 6 months ago, the vast majority of my work has been for this client who are now terminating their contract with us- hence why I'm being made redundant. We do have other clients, who I was mainly working for when I first joined, but that work has been taken on by someone who joined after me. I have very much enjoyed my time at the company, get on well with everyone there, and find the work interesting, it's just unfortunate that they are no longer going to be able to keep me on. My boss (the owner/ director) did say yesterday, that if things were to change/ pick up in the future, he would be very happy to hire me back. So overall, working here has been a very positive experience. My question is, should I ask for compensation for being let go? I don't know whether I am entitled to any, or whether it's appropriate, and nothing was mentioned in my meeting with my boss yesterday. My contract states that either party can terminate the contract by giving one month's written notice- which I received yesterday. My understanding of redundancy is that usually, people receive some kind of compensation for it. My contract is/ was a permanent one, so would that mean that I am entitled to some form of compensation (nothing is mentioned about compensation in the 'termination of contract' clause in the contract)? I don't want to burn any bridges by enquiring about it, as I would happily come back to work here again in the future, should circumstances allow, so probably best not to enquire? Just wondering whether it's something worth doing, as I have not been in this position before... <Q> Given you have only been in post just over a year, then your months' notice is all they have to give you. <S> Your employer can choose to be more generous but most won't. <S> Had you been there for more than 2 years <S> you would have been eligible for statutory redundancy pay, which is what I believe you were thinking of. <S> An overview of your rights can be found here:- https://www.gov.uk/redundant-your-rights <S> As one of the comments above says if you want to know more go to your local Citizens' Advice Bureau. <A> So sorry to hear about your situation,This is the fee calculator. <S> But, you have to work for at least 2 years. <S> If you're to leave immediately, you might get paid for unused holidays. <S> https://www.gov.uk/calculate-your-redundancy-pay <A> Of course you should ask. <S> If you don't ask, you don't get. <S> If you stay over two years, you get a redundancy payment that increases with every year you work, so a very nice employer might pay you the amount for the one year you worked there. <S> It's not very much, on the other hand, that money tends to keep employees happier working their notice period, and redundancy payment above the legal requirements usually comes with a contract that says you won't sue the company for being laid off. <S> Anyway, put your CV up on LinkedIn, go to job websites and apply, which will usually not get you a job directly but wakes up all the agencies who will try to get you a job, because that's how they make their money.
| If you do ask, you might still not get anything, because there is no legal obligation to pay you beyond your notice period within the first year of employment, but it doesn't hurt asking.
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How to combat an experienced line manager who uses calculated silence effectively? I'm a junior project engineer in small technical engineering team (not software or IT) and my line manager is an experienced technical person with extensive managerial experience. I have come up against his use of calculated silence a couple of times and have inadvertently parted with perhaps more thoughts/feelings about our work than I would have liked. What typically happens is that after I answer his initial question, he stays silent - eventually, to break the silence, I cave and blurt out more stuff whether relevant or not. Other than staying silent myself after I've initially answered, are there any other tactics I could use in this situation? What experiences have people had in similar situations? An insight from the manager side would be interesting as well. <Q> He wants you to start talking. <S> He wants you to start stepping through the problem and demonstrate how you want to address the issues at hand. <S> If he's experienced as you say, then he wants you to learn more without him having to spoon-feed you <S> what needs to happen. <S> If you make the right approach, he'll re-engage and lead you further. <S> If you truely don't know what direction to move in, then ask him. <S> It's unlikely that he'll ignore a direct question. <A> An insight from the manager side would be interesting as well. <S> Speaking as a (former) manager I'm puzzled as to why you see this as a combative situation. <S> If you have more to say to the last question.. then just say it. <S> If you don't then you can always ask your manager something like: <S> Is there anything else you need to know? <A> During the cold war, the Soviet diplomats would use similar tactics to get concessions from the west. <S> It is a very powerful negotiating tool. <S> You can combat this in two ways. <S> Hold back and greet his silence with silence of your own. <S> But, with this type, always be very aware of exactly what you want to say, what you are saying and <S> how you say it <S> You may want to pick up a book on negotiations or sales as well, to help yu learn how to deal with people like this. <A> Ask if he needs anything explaining differently. <S> It could be that he's the type who takes a few seconds to think on what you've said, and the silence is there for processing space. <S> If you find the silence becoming a problem, ask if there's anything that can help, or if he wants you to explain it again. <S> That way you're both engaged. <A> I would not recommend trying to out-silence your boss. <S> Instead, you can say something else. <S> Two main options: Take the silence as a cue to move to the next topic at hand. <S> This will make you look energetic. <S> If you don't have a following topic, that could mean that you are done and you could use the silence to open up into general chitchat. <S> This may look like a weaker move, but you can hardly be blamed for inquiring about your boss's children. <S> In both cases, if they actually wanted to continue talking about the previous topic, they will have to explicitly move the conversation back. <S> That puts the ball back in your court. <S> What this will do to their satisfaction with you is another matter <S> but I don't really appreciate this kind of psychological warfare in what should be a non-adversarial working relationship. <A> If he's asking a question, and you're answering - <S> and then he isn't responding to your answer <S> , there's really a few things to think about. <S> Firstly, as the other answers indicate, you may need to examine your own answer: <S> Did you take the time to <S> understand the question before you answered it? <S> Sometimes it helps to parrot the question back: <S> "What I think you're asking is, XYZ. <S> Here are my thoughts on that:" <S> This way, you're giving him the chance to correct you if you've misunderstood the question. <S> Did you provide a complete answer, including any justification? <S> Maybe, you could try: <S> "Here's what I think: XYZ. <S> And that's because, ABC" This way, you're "showing your work" in the sense of explaining what you're saying. <S> Secondly, you can be proactive and make it clear when you're done talking (and therefore expecting a response from him.) <S> Try something along the lines of, <S> So, my solution is ABC. <S> What do you think of that? <S> Or, That's what I think. <S> Can you provide any insight? <S> This way, you're putting the ball in his court and making it clear that you're done talking <S> and you're expecting a response from him.
| He may be holding back his thoughts because he doesn't think you're giving a complete answer, and he's expecting you to realize that and finish your thoughts. Say everything you need to say all at once. They want you to say something you maybe rather wouldn't say, so don't say it.
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Is a poorly designed online application system a red flag? I am looking for work, and have been given a link to a company's application system by a recruiter. The process is frankly ridiculous. I am applying for software developer roles with software development companies. This company in particular is responsible for end-user applications, so you'd think they'd have a simple, intuitive system for applying for a job with them. Not so. It has asked what is the highest level of education I have achieved - three times (it later seems to extract my education data from my CV anyway). It first asks me in which city I am wiling to work, and then later asks me in what continental region I am willing to work. It accepts a submitted CV, but then insists on me writing a plain text CV (when it has already extracted data from the submitted CV apparently without issue). Is the fact a software company's own application process is awful a red flag? <Q> There is an old saying. <S> "The cobbler's children go barefoot". <S> The LAST thing that should be a red flag would be the company's own systems. <S> Contractors have half-finished projects all through the house, a mechanic has three of his cars sitting hallway repaired, et cetera. <S> It only means that they put their own systems last, which usually means that customers come first <A> Not neccessarily, they're using an external portal (taleo) to collect applications, so <S> this isn't a part of the company (and they most probably don't have any control over taleo to improve/tailor that experience). <S> Go for the job, and then you can get a better idea of what the company is really like, rather than just this one (externally hosted) portal they use. <S> You can then bring up the subject of the portal experience and see what they say about it. <A> As counter-intuitive as it may seem, in many software developing companies they are actually loathe to let their own developers work on their own websites/applications, for the very simple reason that any time spent on this project is time they are not billable. <S> This often leads to some poor guy in the marketing department either trying to put something together themselves, or to paying some 'nephew of the boss' sized shop to cobble something together on a shoestring budget. <S> In short, it can be a reflection of the quality of the work that this company puts out, but with the huge amount of cases where this isn't true, it's not a valid assumption to make. <S> Your best bet is just to go for the interview and to ask your own questions to find out what the standard of quality is in the company, possibly by including a question on what they think about the application you encountered. <A> Its a good sign. <S> Good companies invest where they can grow revenue and are frugal elsewhere. <S> This company has chosen not to invest where it doesn’t make a difference. <S> Sure it is a little frustrating to use this software <S> but I suspect that it doesn’t effect the candidates they interview <S> therefore they don’t need change it. <S> I wouldn’t judge how they build software by the software they use for business functions like this. <S> If fact I worry when software companies try to build in-house software for tasks like HR. <S> That’s not core to the business and they are wasting opportunities by having developers work on something they could easily outsource. <S> There is a good reason the cobbler’s children have holes in their shoes. <S> One word of caution is to judge whether they are foolishly frugal. <S> Saving on HR software is good, saving on software for revenue generating systems is bad. <S> Do the developers have good workstations? <S> Do they have the necessary infrastructure for disaster recovery or staging and testing environments? <S> Ask questions about these things. <A> Barring a software development company that sells software specifically making the application process more streamlined, this should not be a red flag. <S> Most software companies, in my experience, leave the application process to their HR department, with only technical interviews being handled by other parts of the company. <S> Therefore, rather than use productive time and resources to generate an applications form, they will tend to buy/license an external companies product instead, with the HR manager deciding which product to use. <S> (this obviously does not apply when the company in question is the one producing said product). <A> Yes it is a red flag. <S> It is an indication of the quality culture of the company. <S> HR often is fairly autonomous. <S> The question is if culture is limited to HR. <S> If you get the interview observe. <S> Ask some probing question like do you code review? <S> How does employee feedback work? <S> If you get more red flags then probably not a good fit. <S> If you don't get any more red flags then just ignore problem application process. <A> Some answers state that is good sign because a company may not want to spend time or money on not the main functions and decided to invest somewhere else instead. <S> But then we can ask: is this company profitable enough? <S> Does it have well established and fluent processes or its employees are always in a rush <S> do the main tasks? <S> Will your data be processed properly and securely? -
| Proper application process shouldn't be a big deal for a solid company. It depends on the job you are looking for.
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Can leaving a bad glassdoor review for my ex-employer backfire on me? I worked in a small company in past. I had a very bad experience with them, since before I even joined. They delayed my hiring for several months (so I was basically unemployed for several months). Working conditions were also very poor compare to other companies here. In the end, I had to quit within 6 months. It was a very bad experience for me. I wanted to write a poor review for them since before I even joined because of so bad experience. And I think it will give me great pleasure to write a negative review about them. I know they will realize it's me, but I don't care. There is also no doubt I don't ever want to apply there again in my life too. My question is: What are the risks in writing a bad review of ex-employer on Glassdoor. It's a small company so I am assuming, they will easily know it's me. It won't be anonymous at all for sure. Update: I personally disagree with the primary opinion-based flag. I am not asking if I should do it or not. I am asking what are the disadvantages in doing it. The answers below offered facts about how it can go wrong on me. <Q> I think there are two risks with writing on a public website: <S> Libel <S> - If you write false statements, your previous employer may sue for libel. <S> It's best to stick with facts about your job that won't turn out to be false. <S> "I did not like the food." <S> vs <S> "The chef made the food with malice and put poison in it that made it taste like garbage." <S> Bad reference - chances are you got a bad reference already <S> but if anything can tie you back in specifically, then they may figure out it is you who wrote it. <S> "Projects I worked on were frequently dropped" vs <S> "I worked on project X, then <S> project Y and my boss A said this, and that." <S> Other than that, go right on ahead. <S> Assuming you are in the USA, and unless you wrote knowingly false and damaging statements, you're completely protected by free speech. <A> What are the risks in writing a bad review of ex-employer on Glassdoor. <S> In theory there are none, because the posting is done anonymously * . <S> It could be a bit evident if the company has few or almost none reviews, when that company could draw conclusions and wonder on who might have been... <S> but this is still conjecture. <S> Some related reading (a post from Glasdoor themselves): <S> Can My Boss or Employer Fire Me <S> For Posting on Glassdoor? . <S> Also may read Tips on writing a review to avoid defamation . <S> * <S> It seems that according to this article from last year, the Federal Court decided that post may not be too anonymous after all, as the government could compel Glassdoor to provide user info for investigations. <A> Just move on with your life. <S> I understand wanting to slam the company in a review but this really accomplishes nothing. <S> What is is you hope to accomplish besides blowing off some steam? <S> We've all been there with a bad employer. <S> Mine was getting laid off (HR euphemism was position eliminated ) from a very large (275k employees) financial firm. <S> I still give them the one-finger salute during their commercials.
| On the other hand, by writing a truthful review you may spare future workers a bad experience.
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Dealing with Flex Hours for some workers I'm a relatively new CTO at a small startup (about 15 employees). We have a 4 person engineering team that I'm responsible for (and looking to hire more). Other departments include operations, customer service, sales, marketing, etc. Prior to my joining of the company, there were a couple of people that are no longer employed with us that completely abused work from home and flex times (were clearly underperforming/checked out, etc). My engineering team was ( were ?) hired by me and so far they've been great -- accomplishing more than expected, dealing with a LOT of technological debt without complaint (who loves dealing with and refactoring really bad code?), and have come in with a very positive attitude. The one thing is, some of the developers (including me!) don't always show up on time or work from home . One of the developers I've worked with previously and even back then he was chronically late (he goes to the gym before work, and has other rituals). Our CEO rightfully is not comfortable with WFH/flextime after his previous experience (and he's previously from more corporate/traditional office environment). We've discussed this matter back and forth (and prior to the hiring of the team I shared his opinion re: punctuality, etc). However now that I have a few developers and have seen their work, their effort and they've earned my trust I do not care when/if they show up to work. So far, it's been a relatively unspoken issue, but I do want to be prepared in case it's brought up or even bring it up myself. The second problem is that for the most part due to the nature of the roles, pretty much only the engineering team can afford not to be physically present at work. I would love to have a formal policy re: flex time and work from home, but how do I manage the fact that others in the company will not be eligible (or other managers will likely not want for their team) ? The other thing to note is that we have a very open office environment (which I do not like for developers in general and has been brought up as an issue by one of the developers), and while we're looking for a longer term solution for the dev time (maybe renting out additional space just for the developers, etc), I do like them having the opportunity to work at home with less distractions. However the open office nature and small size of the company also makes it very apparent when/if people are coming in. We use Slack, a pretty good ticketing system, email, hangouts etc so there hasn't been a problem with communication, etc. <Q> how do I manage the fact that others in the company will not be eligible (or other managers will likely not want for their team)? <S> This is going to sound a bit harsh , but it is true . <S> Think about it, after the requirements are known and well understood, a developer can easily and effectively work from home, or a quiet coffee shop for that matter. <A> Engineers and support analysts typically need to be within the office environment. <S> They have to be as they're needed for drop-in and desk-visit issues. <S> I don't beleive that cross draining developers to be support analysts and vise-versa is going to work out too well <S> (you probably won't have many takers for that). <S> So at least 30% of the team should be office based. <S> This might go some way to satisfying your CEO. <S> Some of your team might be perfectly happy to work in the office all the time, or you can arrange for people to WFH on certain days to overlap others. <A> What I would propose to the CEO is the following: Offer flex time and work from home by job title. <S> Make sure to determine which job titles genuinely need to be in the office when you do this. <S> Nothing kills morale faster than being told you can't do something when clearly it is possible <S> but others can. <S> Jobs that must work in the office should get some other benefit to compensate. <S> I would suggest extra leave days. <S> Then you need to discuss exactly how you will manage these people with assurances that you will council (and fairly quickly fire if they don't shape up) poor performers. <S> Make sure you detail how you will be monitoring performance. <S> Make sure flex time has some core hours that must be met unless you are on vacation or sick leave. <S> Make sure that there is a policy for people who work from home that they must respond to communications within x amount of time. <S> (People working from home in a deep dark hole who never answer their phone or IM messages or emails for hours is one of the main causes of work from home being removed as an option. <S> It makes it appear as if they are not working. <S> This doesn't need to be a ten minute response but probably at least within an hour. <S> And doesn't need to be the answer to the question but an acknowledgement that they got the message and when they will be able to provide the answer or do the task.) <S> You want the CEO to be comfortable that you know how to manage remote workers and flex time without a negative impact on the company, so be prepared to define your processes. <S> There are books on managing remote teams, you might read one of them for ideas before going to the CEO with a proposal.
| What you can do is establish a ratio of how many of your development team should ideally be in the office and treat that as your flexi-time. Make sure that you detail how you are going to monitor performance so that a problem is quickly identified. If other members of your team cannot work remotely, which is interesting if they are technical people but we will just assume for the sake of your question they can't , tell anyone who has a problem with it that if they want the same privilege's as a developer they can study and become a developer .
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Recruiter and Fallout with Hiring Company I recently ran into an interesting situation and would like some ethical feedback. Here's the situation: I was contacted by a recruiter about a position after submitting my resume to their site Recruiting firm introduced me to company X Position was an awesome fit and company X setup an in person interview Recruiting firm and company X had a falling out Recruiting firm disengages and tells me the in person interview is canceled I would like to re-engage with company X directly. Am I legally bound not to pursue the position? Is company X legally bound not to pursue me if I found a job posting online and submit directly? Seems wrong to me that issues between company X and recruiting firm would block my ability to get a job and provide for my family. <Q> Am <S> I legally bound not to pursue the position? <S> Most likely no , given that you have no contract, non-compete or similar document with the recruiting company. <S> I suggest you double check the things, if any, you signed, and the terms of service and similar resources the recruiting company had, to be completely sure you are not restricted by some means. <S> Is companyX legally bound not to pursue me if I found a job posting online and submit directly? <S> This is a bit more unsure, as it would depend if they had some contract or non-compete with the recruiting agency. <S> However, given that you were in fact not restricted, nothing is blocking you from pursuing them yourself . <S> In case they did had some agreement , it could be the case that they have to reject you, but one can only know this by applying personally. <A> I can't speak to the legal issues, but if you didn't sign anything with the recruiter, you are likely free to pursue the job yourself. <S> Quite honestly, how will they ever know you did this, sounds like the recruiter dumped you the first chance they could get now that they can't sell you off. <S> The reason you are getting resistance from the company is the recruiter was representing you as "their guy" for time time you were interacting. <S> Now that the relationship is sour, so is their relationship with you. <S> If you'd really like to pursue this opportunity, you should re-apply for the position as yourself. <S> You should also make it clear that you had no prior relationship with this recruiter before they presented you for this job. <S> If you can get this sob story in front of the right individual, they will likely be happy to reopen the process with you, and avoid the recruiter fees in the process! <A> Worst they can say is there's a no compete clause <S> and they can't hire you. <S> Unless you signed something, knowing about the clause isn't really your concern, you can always call the employer directly and ask, just be enthusiastic about the job as you'll probably be creating them a bit of a headache on your behalf.
| I would look for a direct apply link on the company's website and fill out a job application.
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How to switch to another industry as an Engineer? I'm a (Senior) Mechanical Engineer that has been working in the Oil & Gas Industry for around 10-11 years. I am interested in changing to a different industry (e.g. medical devices, aerospace, automation), as I am feeling somewhat jaded in my current role and would like to try/learn something new and broaden my experience. However, every job posting that I look at for Engineering positions in other industries seems to require at least 2-3 years of very specific experience in that industry, which I simply don't have. How can I overcome this barrier? I don't really see this as a 'career change' - it would still be Mechanical Engineering and I have many transferable skills that would be highly relevant to other industries. There must be some way to accomplish this - I know that people manage to make much more significant career changes to completely different paths. I guess it comes down to the fundamental question of: "If every position requires specific experience, then how does anyone get that experience in the first place?" It would seem ridiculous to me for Engineers to end up being pigeon-holed to the extent that they are trapped in the first industry they happened to find themselves in out of college. <Q> Apply for the jobs you think you would be good at. <S> Don’t worry if you think your resume doesn’t match the job description perfectly. <S> Good employer hire for the potential you bring, not what you know right now. <S> Often companies will also recognize that if they give up on a requirement like 3 years industry experience they can replace it with something much more valuable, such as a 10 years engineering experience. <S> You will have to accept that in many ways you will be moving from being a senior employee to a junior employee because you will have a lot to learn. <S> This may even mean taking a pay cut for a while. <A> This could help to feed your curiosity as well as increase your employability for those roles where you don’t have experience in that specific industry. <A> To add onto Ben Mz's answer. <S> Apply to the jobs anyway and make sure that you tailor your resume to each posting. <S> You need to show them that you have the skills they're looking for, or show that you can learn them, even if you don't have the exact experience they want. <S> If the job posting is asking for 3 years experience using design widget <S> A using process A and you have experience designing widget B using process A or process B <S> and the skills can transfer to A then put that in your resume.
| If you’d like to learn/try something new maybe you could do some postgraduate study in your area of interest.
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My job didn't inform me the hospital called to tell me my husband was admitted. Can I take action against them? My husband starting feeling sick at work around 9am. His boss let him leave. He went to urgent care, and from there he was taken to the hospital. When he was admitted, the nurse let him know that she called my job to inform me he was in the hospital. No one from my job informed me. I went home and started to worry when my husband wasn't coming home from work. I didn't find out until 9pm. Is there anything I can do? I'm in Illinois. Dupage County, in the Chicago suburbs. I haven't asked yet why I wasn't informed. I missed work the next two days. I'm hoping to get more information before I go into work tomorrow. I will be asking then. <Q> At the moment you don't know why this happened. <S> Someone got the message, wrote it down, but forgot to give it to you. <S> Someone got the message, was on his/her way to your desk to deliver it, but then got interrupted and forgot. <S> Someone got the message and sent you an e-mail, but due to some glitch the e-mail didn't get delivered, or the user was offline, or some such. <S> Upsetting as this is, do you want to go in angry and jeopardize your job over it? <S> It would be best to start by assuming it was a mistake rather than a deliberate decision by anyone. <S> If you feel the need to investigate nonetheless, make it as casual as you can. <S> Perhaps talk to your boss <S> : "It's strange, the hospital said they left a message here, but somehow I never got it... <S> " <S> Give them a chance to explain. <S> By the way, I'd say the hospital screwed up too. <S> They didn't talk to you , so they didn't have any way of knowing whether you'd gotten the message. <S> At least they could have left you the message at home as well as at work. <S> EDIT: <S> One thing that just occurred to me: Due to HIPAA , the hospital was probably not at liberty to say much of anything about why they were calling. <S> They certainly couldn't mention your husband's condition, and they might not even have felt it was legally proper to mention his name. <S> It's quite possible that all they said was something extremely generic <S> like "Please have [regina] call [XYZ Hospital] as soon as she can. <S> " <S> It's likely that the people you work with quite reasonably had no idea the message had much importance or real urgency. <A> I strongly doubt that anyone intentionally avoided informing you. <S> In all likelihood, there was some miscommunication, either the nurse called the wrong place or someone told someone else to pass a message along and they failed to do so out of forgetfulness. <S> Going into work looking for revenge is going to end poorly for you. <S> I strongly recommend that you consider this an honest mistake on someone's part. <A> Assuming the nurse did in fact call your place of work, you now know the quality of the people you work for. <S> So you need to ask yourself - are these the kinds of people that deserve you? <S> Because you sure as hell know how much they value you. <S> Polish the CV and move on.
| There are many possibilities: Someone who hates you got the message and ignored it.
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How can I get out of carpool, or ask money for it? I would like to know how to get out of a carpool agreement I already made with a coworker, or, how to charge her some money. For the past two weeks or so, I have been picking her up at a highway and leaving her at the same place. Travel wise, it doesn't bother me to carpool her...I just don't enjoy her company and would rather be on my own in my car. I hate having to inform someone at what time I might be passing by and at what time I might be leaving. I work far away from home, and gas is a mayor expense. I was thinking that maybe I should ask her to give me what she stopped spending on public transportation, so I can at least benefit from the agreement I can't seem to get out of. PD: she is a tremendous gossip with influence (one of the reasons I don't want to carpool her) and talking to her about this situation should be done carefully. <Q> If it were me, I'd attribute it to my introversion (and it would be true), and say something like, "Hey, [coworker], I have to be honest: This carpooling is making things tough on me. <S> It's not anything you've said or done. <S> It's just that I'm an introvert, and after a long day dealing with people at the workplace, I need some time alone to recharge. <S> And for that matter, having time alone on the way in helps as well. <S> I'd like for us to stop carpooling after this week. <S> I hope you can understand." <S> (Of course, the "It's not anything you've said or done" may be an out-and-out lie, but the important thing is to get out of the arrangement without hurting her feelings.) <A> You can probably check how much the tax office in your country allows you to deduct from tax for your car travel to work, or how much employers are expected to pay for every mile of car travel in your private car. <S> For example, in the UK this would be 45 pence per mile. <S> The expectation is that if two people share and only one drives and has the cost of car, fuel, insurance, maintenance and so on, then the other person would pay half of that amount. <S> If three share, then the other two each pay one third. <S> That way, the cost is shared fairly. <S> If cost of transport to and from work is tax deductible in your country, then you are expected to subtract that from your tax deduction, and the others can deduct their payments as cost of travel. <A> Ok- <S> here's the thing: what you describe is not a carpool. <S> A carpool exists to provide some sort of benefit to all of the parties involved in the pool. <S> In many carpools, multiple participants have cars, and some kind of schedule is agreed to to determine who's car is used, what the route should be, etc. <S> This doesn't preclude the car-less from participating in a carpool, but those who are unable or unwilling to use their own car for the benefit of the carpool are still responsible for contributing in another way - typically by paying towards the costs of those who's cars are used. <S> Now - you need to decide what you actually want. <S> You first write that you just don't enjoy her company and would rather be on my own in my car <S> but then later on maybe I should ask her to give me what she stopped spending on public transportation, so I can at least benefit from the agreement <S> A carpool is not supposed to be a free ride for one of the participants. <S> If, on the other hand, you decide that you just don't want to share a ride with this person then you shouldn't feel that you're under some sort of obligation to them - remember, what you currently have is not a carpool.
| If you think that you can tolerate this person, as well as the responsibility of participating in a carpool ("having to inform someone at what time I might be passing by and at what time I might be leaving"), then it would be perfectly reasonable of you to ask for a contribution towards your costs.
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Explaining recent title change on resume I've been working with this company for about 2 years now. I've performed well and in my time here I've received multiple, pretty significant raises, but my title has remained the same: "Software Engineer". I'm planning on leaving the company soon. It's a small company and many of us have gotten fed up with the management style and don't feel optimistic about the future. Now here's the thing: I just found out from my manager that he has worked out a title change for me to "Lead Web Applications Developer." My responsibilities however are not changing. This title is simply a more accurate description of the work I've been doing for a while now. I'm looking for advice about what to do in terms of my resume. I wont have any new responsibilities or accomplishments to put under the new title. Also, since the change is so recent, I wonder if its more trouble than its worth to even list it, but at the same time I feel that having a listing with "Lead" in the title would help me out. I was thinking of approaching my boss and asking if, in the paperwork relating to the new title (which hasn't been completed yet), the effective date could be back dated to my most recent raise before this (about 6 months ago) as this point in time would more accurately reflect the time when I became "lead," but I worry that this conversation would show my hand. <Q> Title is pointless, everyone should know this. <S> You can have title "Dictator For Life", but if all your day-to-day job responsibilities entailed was some light QA and a bit of a snooze, then you're just a junior QA engineer. <S> What I mean by this is <S> if you want a particular job, you should focus on tailoring your resume based on activities related to that job . <S> Stick lead on your resume - you've been at the company for two years <S> so just put 2016-2018 <S> , Some Company Lead Web Applications Developer I managed a team of 5 <S> I introduced unit testing, reducing time spent on bug fixes by 50% Introduced agile development practices and a morning SCRUM. <S> This increased team velocity by 10% Refactored the codebase, increasing performance by 33% <S> Note that what you've listed as accomplishments are "lead" accomplishments. <S> Please don't list your job as 2016-2018, Some Company Lead Web Applications Developer Created 25 Landing pages <S> Wrote the widget app and the baker app Worked in PhP, CSS, XML and JavaScript <S> What I mean is - in the first example, you have measurable examples of how good <S> you are and what changes you made . <S> It shows measurable impact, which is great. <S> In the second example, it reads just like a job spec. <S> Nobody reads job specs, and nobody will want to read a CV that looks like one. <S> Add all the technologies you have used either at the bottom of your CV or in a short line - but don't list " <S> I made a web thing" - because that was your job. <S> It's evident in the title "Web Application Developer" that you developed some web applications. <A> I'm a bit surprised @bharal answer is downvoted. <S> I wanted to comment, but figure my comment is basically an answer. <S> My last company had very strange titles. <S> I was a "web dev" <S> then it goes in levels 1 to 3. <S> Then in the end, I was "senior web dev" but no levels. <S> My last company had a HR nightmare because a web dev level 2 in one place didn't match up the pay for a similar role in a different department. <S> A lot of folks were angered and eventually they just got rid of titles and said each department/company made up their own. <S> So you could have called yourself "Lead Senior Web Dev Level 3" and it would stick. <S> I believe the reason why HR does this to avoid having to explain why a person in one place makes lesser than a similar title in another. <S> I have no proof other than my experience to say that HR can deflect any pay question by saying the title means differently for the next department. <S> With that said, put the title that best fits your role. <S> No two companies have the same titles meaning the same thing. <S> Just explain the title that best fits the role. <S> Were you in leadership position? <S> Or a senior most developer on the team? <S> Go with that. <S> Most people would understand junior and senior and lead developer role. <S> You can go with generics like <S> , "Junior Web Developer" with team lead experience if you only been there for 2 years. <A> This is one of those cases where ambiguity works to your advantage: 2016 <S> -2018 - Ace Widgets, Inc. <S> Software Engineer and Lead Web Applications Developer Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. ... <S> There's probably been some growth in your responsibilities over the last two years, and you can write the position description to show that. <S> Readers will infer that at some point, your title changed because of that growth. <S> If anyone is interested in the details of when or why your title changed, they'll ask.
| Don't tailor the title - or, don't think the title is what employers look at. The honest answer, that the change was a recent development because the company caught up with work you'd been doing for the last n months, would be the right one.
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Angry email from customer insisting he didn't get a refund I run a time management app with a monthly subscription model that gives users the freedom to cancel whenever they feel like so. Normally if a customer cancels at the beginning of the month after they get charged, they receive a full refund for that month, no questions asked. Yesterday I received an angry email from a Michael (Not his real name of course) who claims I didn't refund him. I look up Michael's account information and find out that he has, indeed, received a full refund. Upon informing Michael of this, he insists he still hasn’t received his money. Now it's getting really confusing, and of course I don't want to accuse him of anything, or communicate in any way that might sound like I'm saying that he's not being honest with me. Maybe there's a delay from his bank in showing the refund, I really don't know. So I'm asking what's the best way to communicate with Michael in an email format and if there's anything I can do to help. <Q> First thing to do is double check and make certain that you issued the refund on your end. <S> You say that his account says he has been refunded, but also go and find the actual bank transaction to be sure the money has left your own accounts. <S> At that point you know you have done everything correctly, even if the bank has not. <S> Second, share with Michael as much information as you are able, in as much detail as possible. <S> Our records indicate that on June 5, 2018 a refund of $53.42 was issued to the credit card account ending in 1234. <S> It's quite possible that Michael is looking at the wrong account, or the date of the refund is recent enough that it hasn't arrived yet. <S> Give him the benefit of the doubt by telling him as much as you can <S> so you know you're both on the same page. <S> If he still believes there is an issue, offer to contact the bank who made the transaction. <S> Verify with them that the money left your account and went to the correct destination account. <S> If you want to be proactive, you could even take this step before your first response to Michael. <S> Once they have verified that the transaction has been completed correctly, you can go back to Michael to say that the bank (a neutral third party) has verified that the refund was properly issued. <S> At that point there is nothing more you can do, but Michael is welcome to reach out to the bank to determine what has happened, and you can of course offer to supply any information he needs. <A> Normally if a customer cancels at the beginning of the month after they get charged, they receive a full refund for that month, no questions asked. <S> It would help if you were to be more specific about what you mean by "refund". <S> I look up Michael's account information and find out that he has, indeed, received a full refund. <S> WRONG! <S> All your account information has is records of payments you have made , not what payments other people have received . <S> If you deposited money in Michael's bank account, you have no idea whether his bank has posted the transaction. <S> One of the most annoying ways for a customer service representative start a sentence is a variation of "Our records indicate". <S> For instance, I had a customer service representative repeatedly say to me "Our records indicate that you cancelled your account", and all requests for them to explain how they came to "record" that were met with just repeating that claim. <S> I don't care what "your records indicate", do you have any documentation of the event? <S> You can "record" a refund to Michael all you want, but how is that supposed to help Michael? <S> In customer service, and really in life in general, it's important to be precise in your language. <S> Tell him your system has processed the refund, and give all the documentation you have on the transaction. <S> Things like how long the transaction takes to complete is information you should have, and if you don't know it, you should contact whoever you sent the money through to find out. <S> If this takes more than a few hours, you should send Michael an email describing what you're doing to look into it. <A> what's the best way to communicate with Michael in an email format <S> Don't. <S> Pick up the phone. <S> With this sort of thing, the personal touch goes a long way to improving things. <A> The best customer service would be to reissue the refund via Paypal or writing a check to the customer. <S> Your email could say, "sorry your refund did not go through correctly. <S> I will send you a check or a Paypal payment, whichever you prefer. <S> Please let me know how to send it." <S> For individual subscription products such as yours, this costs you FAR less than investigating the banking system to find out what happened. <S> It also contributes to your reputation as being easy to do business with. <S> For this customer the principle of the thing is the $20 for his subscription. <S> For you the principle of the thing is (should be) always leaving your users smiling. <S> That's worth the small loss. <S> The accounting category is "uncollectible debt". <S> If people start abusing your generosity, you can always rethink this. <S> But, experience says they probably won't. <S> (For what it's worth: At the SaaS place where I work, switching to stripe.com for subscription payment processing gave us really good tools for handling this kind of exception in a traceable way. <S> They even send an official-sounding email to the customer acknowledging the refund transaction. <S> It wasn't worth our trouble to build our own exception handling tools because exceptions are so rare.) <A> I particularly like David K's answer. <S> I suggest you follow his advice. <S> I'd like to add one more thing to it. <S> Show sympathy. <S> Cooperate. <S> Offer to look into the problem. <S> If there is any chance of the problem being on your side, offer compensation. <S> A happy customer, even a happy ex-customer is most likely going to cost you far less than an angry one leaving bad reviews all over the place. <S> And most of all do not blame your customer , even if you think they are making the mistake. <S> Remember Hanlon's razor: <S> Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. <S> Bottom line: <S> be kind and understanding , even if the fault lies with your customer or with their bank. <S> You have a business, your good name is important.
| Don't tell a customer he has received a refund.
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I was terminated after my last new job interview I was terminated during extended probation, due to a mismatch between my seniority and my competence, according to my boss. This was my 6th month, and although my colleagues don't agree with her and everybody acknowledges my skills, she terminated me saying I was not competent enough. I always felt she had a grudge on me since my first month. Indeed, my last day was on June 20th, and I new employer made their offer on June 22nd. My last job interview was on June 12th, where I was threatened to be terminated at the end of the month, but I didn't mention any of it, to my back then potential future employer. The thing is that to my knowledge it's very uncommon to be terminated if one had to resign from a previous job, unless there was a severe mistake made by the employee. Would my new employer be worried if they discover (through paper work) I was terminated instead of naturally resigning? <Q> Is it risky to get an offer for new employer just after being terminated by current employer? <S> You mentioned you were terminated because of " a mismatch between my seniority and my competence " so I guess the question you need to ask yourself is are you selling yourself to be someone you are not? <S> Only you can answer that question as you know your own ability. <S> If you are not, then no, this should not be risky. <S> It is fairly beneficial for your circumstances. <S> What are the chances that this new job would be impacted by such an event? <S> As you have already received an offer, I would be comfortable making an assumption that the company in question has already received any enquiries necessary regarding previous employment. <S> If they don't ask, there is no reason to tell them. <S> On the other hand, if they do ask, always tell the truth. <S> You don't want to get into employment based on lies, it will never end well. <S> If the new company does find out, the result of which is not something we can answer here. <S> Different companies will take this sort of news differently. <S> Could my new employer change their mind if they think I need to resign while I am free? <S> Should I tell them I am free? <S> No two weeks notice needed? <S> What have you told them already about your situation? <S> You don't need to tell them unnecessary details about your previous employment if it wont affect you. <S> I personally would stick to whatever I told them in the past, if you told them you need to give two weeks notice, give them a reasonable date and they won't question it. <S> If you have not told them previously to this offer (which I find unlikely) then when they eventually ask, just tell the truth that you do not have to wait any notice period. <A> Is it risky to get an offer for new employer just after being terminated by current employer? <S> If you were fired, perhaps because something not so positive you did or some problem, then that would probably affect your chances. <S> On the other hand, if you ended your last job smoothly then there is nothing to worry about. <S> What are the chances that this new job would be impacted by such an event? <S> Could my new employer change their mind? <S> Most of the times it is better/recommended to job-hunt while still employed, so a sudden firing could leave you in a less advantageous position. <S> Again, this depends in part of the nature of your termination, and also the way you portray it during interviews or similar. <S> However, I think that a termination would ring some alerts to most of the recruiters I know . <S> Edit post clarification: <S> It seems that your firing was not because some offense or something to worry about, so I doubt that this will be a stain on your record. <S> Also, you were there for 6 months, which is perhaps the minimum decent time worth including on your resume, so surely no job-hopper. <S> The tricky part will be how you explain this to possible recruiters (if they asked), as still a sudden termination could make some of them wonder. <S> The good thing is that you seem to have colleagues back there that could reference your work , and if you actually did some interesting contributions in your past job you will be able to back up your claims and clear any doubts the recruiter may have. <A> This is a broad question. <S> It depends on why you were terminated. <S> Was it was a position elimination because of changing business conditions (work in this field long enough and that will happen to you) or where you terminated for cause (such as stealing from the company? <S> Only you can answer this. <S> Just a question - were you terminated because you were looking for another job? <S> I work with someone that had this happen to them - one of the interviewers at the new company had a buddy at the old company. <S> Word got back to the old company and he was fired out if spite. <S> EDIT: <S> The original poster responded that is was a position mismatch between skills and seniority. <S> In this case it would be my belief that the shouldn't affect the new position. <S> Unless the he runs into the same issue with the new job. <S> That is a different question.
| Depends on the nature of your termination.
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Can I negotiate non-compete so I can still work in my field if I quit, move on or want a better job? I'm currently a student about to join a cyber security firm in their SOC department. My worry is that along with everything else I sign they may force me to sign a Non-compete agreement which probably will state that I can't work this field for X amount of years in X states. As a minimum wage employee at an entry level job I would like to have flexibility to grow and survive. EDIT:The reason I brought this up is because the IT job I worked now as level 1/2 had that agreement. Granted they were a small shop but I've asked around and I've been told that this is a common thing in the computer field. <Q> What can I do? <S> First, you should find if they do have such non-compete agreement . <S> If not, problem solved, no need to make molehills out of this. <S> If they do, and you definitely don't want one, then perhaps you should be looking for a company that does not ask for such agreements ; it is unlikely that you will be able to negotiate your way out the NCA. <S> If a company has it, it's because they have reasons, and it is unlikely they will make a special contract just for you when everyone else has another. <S> However, don't just throw this option just yet. <S> If they had a NCA, it would be wise to read it thoroughly first, to see if it's something you may be willing to accept or not. <S> Edit: <S> As suggested in comments, you should also check (with a lawyer, perhaps) <S> the legal enforceability of such document when you get a chance to read it or take a copy. <S> That way you will make sure it's the real thing and not some made up thing. <A> Non-competes are mostly just smoke and mirrors. <S> Don't let that impact your job search. <S> Don't speculate. <S> Read the agreement in question (when the time comes) and then check whether there is anything objectionable in there. <S> If you feel it's unreasonable, you can certainly negotiate. <S> Be specific though: suggest very specific changes and/or mark up the agreement. <S> That's not particularly unusual in the US <S> Check your local laws. <S> In many legislation non-competes are legal but not enforceable. <S> That means, the company can ask you to sign it, but they can't take any action if you violate. <S> Even if it is enforceable, the chances of a company going after a relatively junior employee are vanishingly small. <S> Legal action is time consuming, complex, very expensive, and really bad PR. <S> There is almost no benefit to the company, even if they do win . <S> Why on earth would they do that? <S> Any legal action is quite rare and almost always restricted to extremely senior employees of large companies, where there is enough money in play that it makes it worth the considerable pain of going to court. <A> You read the non-compete agreement and see if it is acceptable to you. <S> You could also post what country you are in - there are huge differences. <S> There are basically three possibilities: No agreement. <S> A reasonable agreement that you can accept without worries. <S> An unreasonable agreement. <S> The unreasonable agreement comes either from a company that will do its best to rip you off, so don't even think about getting a job there, or from someone who went overboard trying to protect his company's valuable rights, and doesn't have the imagination to figure out it might be inacceptable to an employee. <S> That kind of offer, you tell them "your non-compete agreement is totally unacceptable, no reasonable person would sign that. <S> Either that makes them think or it doesn't. <S> Anyway, you cannot be forced to accept a non-compete agreement. <S> You can ask for it to be removed from the contract, and if that doesn't happen, you walk away.
| If anyone says "it's just a formality and we would never enforce it", which happens, then you can ask for it to be removed from the contract.
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How to professionally prepare my manager for a buggy system The long and short of things is that my manager has me working on a project that has the most limited time scale I've ever seen. The timeline was given by the client, not determined by the project. He wants a full fledged enterprise level app in just under 3 months that can host 10k plus users. I am the only dev working on it and although I've approached my manager about needing help he hasn't been receptive. I've gone over with him several times that I don't believe I will be able to make the deadline and his response to this has been to cut every possible corner I can. I have written 0 tests and much of, if not most of, any user input isn't undergoing any validation. I'm honestly writing code so quickly that I don't have a lot of time to think about architecture either. He has stated that the company we are building the program for has a demo scheduled with their board of directors and that the deadline absolutely can't be extended and must be met. I'm incredibly nervous that I'm writing code which is introducing long term bugs that will be hard to track down and fix. To say this is putting a lot of worry on my place in the company is understating it. I've read a lot of questions about how missing deadlines is very common in the software industry and I wondered how other devs go about preparing someone senior to them for that news without getting fired themselves, especially if that person isn't a technical person? <Q> Make the worry your manager's, not yours. <S> "The timeline was given by the client, not determined by the project" is utter tripe. <S> You (or, more accurately, the company you work for) agreed to that deadline - so make sure it's not you personally that takes the fall for such a ridiculous requirement. <S> Cover your behind <S> , do so in writing, and certainly don't accept "just cut all the corners that you can" as a reasonable basis to work from. <S> At the moment, lines like this: He has stated that the company we are building the program for has a demo scheduled with their board of directors and that the deadline absolutely can't be extended and must be met. <S> ...are making the problem your issue. <S> Push it back on him, but specifically state what you can and can't do (rather than just saying "I can't do it, it's too much work. <S> ") <S> Instead, something like: <S> I've drawn out a timeline, and believe I can cover x functionality in the number of hours we have available; but it certainly won't be tested thoroughly and won't scale to any more than a handful of users. <S> Alternatively, I can cover (subset of x ) and have it much more thoroughly tested and production ready. <S> Which would you like? <S> If your boss still says "I'm afraid we need it all done", then just state something akin to: <S> I'm afraid I simply can't get that done given the timescale. <S> I'd be happy to work with more developers / testers to make better progress, or take any advice on board in terms of dropping additional functionality. <S> If it still goes on like this, then be prepared to share any timelines or breakdowns of estimates you've come up with, and ask specifically for a revised timeline. <S> Keep the email chain going until you feel you have enough of a paper trail behind you so that if the whole thing blows up, you can squarely and solidly CYA. <A> The key here is constant exchange of information and constant progress updates to the manager - if necessary updates every day on current progress and also updates every time you finish a task and start another. <S> Do you have a dedicated tester? <S> If not, get him do the testing <S> - tell him best practice is that the developer does not test their own work. <S> At the very least, this will keep him abreast of current progress and he will actually see with his own eyes what is working and what isn't. <S> If necessary, you can spin this to him as allowing him to be familiar with all facets of the application prior to him demoing it to the customer. <S> When requests for new features come in, you need to sit down with him and go through what you can do. <S> Tell him how much time it will take and you ask him what priority each feature has and what features should be delayed to accomplish the change. <A> If you work in this field long enough you will run into these situations. <S> One book that discusses this is "Death March" by Edward Youdan. <S> It's available on Amazon. <S> Document everything in writing. <S> If your manager tells you something verbally respond back with an email reflecting clarification. <S> If the goal is to have a prototype for the board meeting then that's what you deliver. <S> If it's a complete finished system then you need to specify using the matrix of time, cost, performance and have him pick two (in your case sounds like time and cost).
| You need to have a discussion with your manager as to what 'success' means in this project.
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How to communicate technical ideas to non-technical people In my workplace I am a process engineer that regularly works with people whose highest education is a High School Diploma. There is nothing wrong with that, as many of them are very intelligent, just do not have the same educational background as myself (B.S. Chemical Engineering). I work in a manufacturing facility. Due to the job I regularly interact with the employees on the plant floor, and some of them have shown initiative and have even been promoted into engineering positions, despite no background education. They do a fantastic job with their day to day work, but when it comes to thinking outside the box or proposing "unorthodox" solutions to a problem it is hard to get a reasonable backing behind it. Only a handful of others at the plant are college educated engineers, and none of them are in my department. The rest of the employees are in business/sales/customer service. My day to day job is simple enough to complete, but I want to grow and improve the systems we have in place to allow for better work flow, and higher quality products. There seems to be a communication barrier that I am having trouble resolving. How can I best communicate and explain my ideas to people with a non-technical background? Also, how can I get support from people who are needed to implement these new ideas, even if they do not completely understand them or think they will work (even if they have been proven to be effective solutions)? <Q> In order to make the "sale", i.e. their approval, you need to relate to them in terms they do understand, not things they do not. <S> People buy into ideas because two simple things, the expected benefits and the price. <S> Also be confident in your ideas, and be prepared to back up your ideas with well thought out responses. <S> If they don't trust you to get this done, they aren't going to buy in to your ideas. <A> I am a Sales Engineer and that happens a lot to me. <S> A particularly useful trick that i use is going step by step. <S> The issue here is that there are not only technical and non-technical, there are many people which are a bit-tech, enought-tech, and so on. <S> For instance: Is it possible to integrate A with B? <S> Yes. <S> you pause. <S> If looks like they want more informations <S> Yes, with API . <S> you pause. <S> and so on, adding more and more informations. <S> When they stop asking informations means, usually that they don't need more depth informations about the topic, and you can enrich your answer, with pratical examples and metaphores. <A> Business Analyst here. <S> Worked with people on many levels of expertise in the HealthCare IT industry. <S> From people that do not know a browser and to a level where the user can create Macros in Excel. <S> I would say that the 2 most success I've had to communicate technical components are 1) Storyboard and 2) Prototype. <S> Most people are visual. <S> Remember the KISS method (Keep it simple stupid!). <S> Don't throw tech jargons. <S> Don't deviate from your presentation. <S> Just convey your idea and how the components work as it relates to them. <S> If deeper tech questions arises such as component requirement (server, OS, maintenance, etc.) <S> schedule a separate meeting that answers these. <S> Don't jumble them with business users. <S> I can't guarantee they will agree with your idea. <S> However, I can guarantee that they will understand your idea and you guys can move on from there. <S> You may find additional information here: https://www.batimes.com/articles/beyond-use-cases-with-storyboarding.html Good luck <A> So far in my own experience, you can't do correctly something you don't understand (or, if you can, a good script will do it <S> x1B time faster than you, and more precisely). <S> So in my point of view, you have two differents matter : How to explain technicals ideas to non-technical people : <S> The best solution that I found to work around with is to find simple analogy to something there are familliar with. <S> You can see it as the most simple concept close to your idea in their field . <S> But you should think it carefully before, because this analogy must not harm the original idea (e.g : inaccuracy, contrary, etc...). <S> In my experience, it work pretty well without giving you too much headache. <S> But I will assume that if such a person exist in your coworker, you will not ask this question. <S> How to get support from people who will have to implements those ideas : <S> That point is quite troublesome to me, because you can't expect that someone who didn't get all the idea, or someone who don't understand the mechanic behind, will be able to implement it correctly. <S> I'm not familliar with the Chemical Engeeniring at all, but I expect that you could automatize some of your work (e.g : autotest, auto sample, robots, etc...) ? <S> If you can, I don't really get the point. <S> If you can't <S> and you just need some workforce, then I think you don't have to bother you too much : you should talk to your manager (or those guy's manager) and be entrust as team leader on your idea by him. <S> Then, you just have to reunite your team and explain how to do things. <S> If they don't get some part, it's not really important if there is no need to fully understand what they are doing. <S> I hope I have answered it at your convenience.
| If you can break down your ideas into pictures and show it works and how it's beneficial for them, more often than not, everyone will be on the same page. Take off your "Chemical Engineering" hat for a minute and start to think of yourself as a sales agent. Another but quite difficult solution is to find someone expert in both domain , and that can "translate" in non-technical term.
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Coworker stalking us with company camera I have a co-worker, this one is the wonderful sort that shirks about, can't do more than one task at a time, and decided to report every wrong move by anyone else in the cubicle farm. The worst part is, they got ahold of two work cameras normally used for teleconferencing. And they loaded up software to monitor everything that goes on in the 'farm', both cameras aimed just so as to see people coming in and out of the 'farm'. I know this because every time I approach the coworker to talk about work they are monitoring the cameras. Everytime they come into work they check the last 'crop' of video's to see what happened while they were gone. This coworker is also quite eccentric in their behavior due to personality difficulties. There are several reasons this is annoying, any one of which I would overlook the behavior: I don't know where the video is going, I don't know if I'm going to end up on youtube or something like that. They use this as a form of control. It feels like they are like a stool pigeon waiting to report anything that goes on. Since I have to work with this coworker, and they are already spending up to what I'd estimate to be one to two hours a day checking the camera, they are not getting work done, which is bad for me because my projects are dependent on this person. I talked to my boss about it and they said they would do something about it, it's been a few months and the cameras remain. The other problem is I also keep telling my boss that the lack of work from this coworker is unacceptable, but does not believe me because they have a longer history together. What are my options now to make this stop? <Q> If you're in the EU, this could be regulated by GDPR. <S> If you want you could start making requests for all footage of you, query data retention policies, etc. <S> Basically add an overhead to the person recording you. <S> If you could get other co-workers to do this it could become a nightmarish bureaucracy. <A> What are my options now? <S> First, you should try asking that coworker to stop recording you , in a polite but serious way. <S> It's usually better to try reason with these sort of people first. <S> If this continues, you could try making his lack of progress/work more evident . <S> Send emails (include your boss) reminding of deadlines; send another reminder when he misses them, or similar. <S> The idea is to have a paper trail to back your efforts and his lack of cooperation. <S> After this, he may reconsider adapting his behavior... try checking this great post for more depth on this: <S> What can I do to make a coworkers lack of effort more visible? <S> Chances are you are not the only one that is bothered by this, so consider getting other's to back you up , or perhaps make a group request. <S> This can prove more effective than just you asking. <S> Do note that doing this is not the best and most polite course of action. <S> If nothing works then perhaps it's a matter of waiting for his delays to start being undeniable so he is forced to stop. <S> A red button approach could be to raise this to HR or the corresponding department, as using company equipment for personal use (not to mention stalking) is surely something that is not authorized. <S> If you proceed with this last resort, be cautious and remember the phrase often heard around here: <S> HR is not your friend . <A> From personal experience: At one workplace, things disappeared. <S> Including very expensive company property. <S> So someone decided to set up a camera to catch the thief. <S> He got video of person X approaching the camera, the camera being covered, the camera being uncovered ten minutes later, and things missing the next morning. <S> X had to resign from his position. <S> HOWEVER the act of setting up the video camera was NOT LEGAL and everyone was told quite strictly not to do something like this again. <S> Now in my situation, there was a good reason for setting up a camera. <S> Your colleague has no good reason whatsoever. <S> It also seems to stop him from working. <S> I would ask my manager if he wants to talk to HR about this employee, or if I should do it myself. <S> If it's anywhere in the EU, your colleague will be in deep trouble. <A> As mentioned the answer will vary depending on local laws. <S> In Australia (NSW) we have the Surveillance Devices Act 2007 <S> In a nutshell if someone wants to set up a camera they have to explicitly have signs on entry and visible that the person will be under video surveillance whilst on premises. <S> That's for open visible cameras. <S> If you want a hidden camera the employer of the company has to have a reason (ie employee X is stealing) and must inform in writing everyone in the workplace who will be affected (except employee X) that the hidden cameras will be operating. <S> So needless to say what your workmate is doing is absolutely illegal and an anonymous call to the police will take care of that quicksmart. <S> But as I said thats Australian laws, I'd imagine other western countries would have similar laws to some extent, you haven't told us where you're from <S> so this is hopefully helpful to some extent. <A> Let everyone know you <S> and they are being recorded. <S> If you are in such an area you could take it upon yourself to provide such notification. <S> Your workplace seems to be one in which people may take action without authority from management so you could do so as well. <S> Check a search engine for examples of "video surveillance" signs. <S> I suggest making your own which includes something like "This area is under constant video surveillance. <S> Please see [your coworker] for details. <S> " You might get away with doing so anonymously if you avoid the aforementioned cameras and your coworkers. <S> The idea here is that any coworker who has put the cameras "out of mind" will be reminded every time they pass the signs that their privacy is being intruded on. <S> Further, the signs will be out for everyone to see including your boss's boss and anyone further up the chain of command who stops by. <S> If anyone confronts you about putting the signs up simply state that they are necessary and you were trying to limit the company's liability for an otherwise illegal/questionable activity. <S> [use the verbiage that describes your location]
| In most locations where it is legal to record employees in the workplace, it requires notification. If this is US, in some states this could even be illegal . Another interesting (yet passive-aggressive) approach could be to film him back , which would surely cause an impression and make him reconsider (just make sure you don't end up slacking ;-).
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What is the threshold between deciding to send an email or schedule a meeting? I would like to ask a colleague for some advice on a project, but I am unsure as to whether an email would suffice or if I should schedule a meeting. What things should I consider when making this decision? <Q> If the reply is suitably complex you can then ask for a meeting. <S> Basically you want to initially cause the least disruption possible to other people to get your work done. <S> Emails are low-disruption as they can type them up at their desk. <S> Meetings are high-disruption as you are physically pulling them away from their tasks. <S> Between these two are instant messaging and wandering over to another's desk for a quick chat. <A> If you're located in the same building, then suggest a meeting to have a convesation about the project. <S> You'll get a lot more covered than a constant stream of emails. <S> If you just want a few bits of information, then email is fine. <A> In addition of what other said. <S> What i usually use as a discriminant is the fact if the question can be followed by further questions. <S> if you are looking for a precise thing, e-mail . <S> if you are looking for an advice or a more complex question, meeting . <A> When it is urgent, call them. <S> An email can be ignored for days andthen forgotten. <S> A telephone call takes conscious effort to ignore. <S> They can't ignore youwithout violating social norms. <S> When you are in a situation where you might need a paper trail to not lose a blame-game, write an email. <S> When none of these special cases apply: The advantage of an in-person meeting over written correspondence is that the latter allows a far more efficient back-and-forth dialog of questions and answers. <S> When in doubt, rather talk to people than write to them. <S> Written communication is much less expressive than it seems. <S> We don't realize how much we communicate with intonation, and that this information is completely lost in written correspondence. <S> But how do you know that such a dialog is required to solve your problem? <S> Ask the receiver. <S> Explain your problem as good as you can in text form. <S> Ask them if your description is clear enough so that they can write an answer. <S> End your email with an offer to call you or schedule a meeting when they need further clarification.
| Send the email and see what he says first. When it is super urgent, go to their desk.
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How to respond to unprofessional gossip about colleague in the workplace? Jane is one of my female colleagues. She doesn't get on well with a third colleague, Joe. As he does every morning, Joe comes in to our office to say hello. Right after that, I receive an instant message from Jane through the office chat (in a private channel) saying: I don't want to be mean but does he shower in the morning? I know that Joe can sometimes smell sweaty, especially when it's hot, but it has never been a major problem for me. I don't know how to respond to that, without being rude to either of them and staying as professional as I can. Notes: Jane is from China, we work in western Europe. Jane can be really sensitive to body odours. Joe does not work near Jane, and the morning greeting is about the only physical contact they have every day. It's not the first time she said something rude about somebody else in the company : I always try to change the subject or not to respond, but it's the first time it's so blatantly mean. <Q> It is not rude to either one and more likely than not Jane <S> should get the hint that you are not interested in discussing Joe with Jane behind his back. <A> Close her question as off-topic. <S> Dismiss her gossip: Joe does not share his daily routine with me, so I wouldn't know about it. <S> You should probably ask him directly if you are so curious. <S> If she continues bothering you, you can choose to be more stern: <S> Jane, I do not want to have this talk. <A> At work, if somebody asks you a question or makes a statement that you find awkward, offensive or otherwise unpleasant, and it has no direct link to or effect upon your work, you are not obliged to respond and you always have the option of simply saying nothing and letting the comment hang. <S> In my experience it's an effective way of making it very clear you do not wish to discuss a topic, in a completely neutral way that doesn't compromise your professionalism or draw any sort of opinion out of you either way. <S> This is, I believe, what you want. <S> It can be a bit socially awkward, especially in person (though less so in chat) but that is on the other person - they brought the awkward situation about and it's not your duty to rescue it and make it less embarrassing for them. <S> In any case, something that may alleviate this in particularly awkward cases is responding immediately with your own question on a completely different topic, just to avoid silence and to divert both of your attention in a more positive direction. <A> Honesty. <S> If it isn't an issue for you <S> or you don't smell it,tell her so. <S> In general, it is good to stay out of interpersonal squabbles and gossip. <S> Is the colleague cycling to work? <S> Good thing to tell her too. <S> It might even be an indication to get communal showers at work. <S> Though that is a whole large can of worms on its own, so tread carefully if at all. <S> Also, don't use the colleague as an example why showers are needed. <S> In fact, you shouldn't even be talking about getting showers if there are none, since you don't have an issue. <A> Good answers here already, though I can't help but feel one is missing: it might not be about Joe at all. <S> Maybe she just has difficulties socialising and will use any occasion to talk (or email) <S> you, hoping it will lead to a conversation? <S> Maybe she would like to befriend you <S> or she might even be in love with you? <S> How are other interactions between you and her?
| I would simply say Doesn't bother me and leave it there. I am surprised that none of the other answers have proposed what I would consider the simplest response to comments of this nature: No response at all. If it really bothers you, you can talk to Joe directly.
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Should I report to my employer that my Resume had an error on it? I was hired by a new employer about 3 months ago. During the process, I submitted a resume multiple times, had an interview, and all my references were called. On my resume, I mistakenly had a part-time contracting job listed for 2013-2015. However, the correct date was 2014-2016. During the interviews and communications with the pertinent references, the correct date range was discussed and it was never identified that my resume was wrong. Recently, my employer asked me to resubmit my resume in a different format. During the process of updating and corrected my resume, I realized my mistake. As I resubmit my resume, should I notify my employer about the incorrect information? <Q> This was a mistake and not a lie. <S> The company would have hired you anyway. <S> Therefore bringing it up now will either be ignored or cause an unnecessary distraction for someone. <S> Correct the mistake in the new resume and leave it at that. <S> This assumes you don’t work in an industry that puts a very high bar on honesty and is suspicious by nature. <S> For example, secret government work or financial oversight. <S> In that case it is better to reveal everything. <A> The correct years are more recent, and for the same length of time. <S> It will be obvious to your employer that this was a completely innocent mistake. <S> I can't imagine it will make any difference at all to your standing in the company. <S> It seems so unimportant to me that I'm not even sure I would bother mentioning it. <S> If you really would like to point out the error, you could perhaps just mention it as an aside in the email. <S> Something like... <S> p.s. <S> I noticed while editing this that the years for my previous contract were slightly incorrect, so I've corrected it in this version. <S> I really doubt though that anyone would ever notice the discrepancy, much less be bothered by it. <A> You don't need too, but you could if you'd like. <S> and it's likely they wont cross reference the updated resume with your old one. <A> As I resubmit my resume, should I notify my employer about the incorrect information? <S> Seems that 2013-2015 is two years period, as well as 2014-2016, so <S> you didn't say you had worked more time than you actually did (which is good). <S> I don't see why not mention it , but don't just do it lightly. <S> I doubt this is going to be an issue, as you are already hired and the dates were just shifted (and not misleadingly extended). <S> If it makes you feel at peace then I suggest you proceed, but besides that this I doubt would serve any purpose.
| A mistake as small as this won't have any negative effect with your employer This is something that could well be overlooked (as it happened before when you were being recruited).
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Recruiter keeps calling me - how can I keep the communication by email I am in touch with an external/third party recruiter. He mentioned few interesting positions, so I'd like to stay in touch with him but I'd rather keep our interactions to emails. I'm annoyed by his attempts to call me when I'm working, but I also don't see the point of schedule an off working hours call when I could easily read a job description and tell him if I'm interested and or qualified. How can I explain him that I'd rather keep the communication by email?Are my expectations reasonable? I understand the preference for having a first voice conversation, but I don't see the point of planning when it could be done by mail. TL;DR brief summary of the answers: explain first, ignore after - the pesky recruiter will eventually learn (s)he is waisting time use a throwaway mail and phone number (Google Voice) <Q> Recruiting is sales. <S> The recruiter is selling you a position, and selling you to their client. <S> Salespeople work best in real time, whether that's in person or on the phone. <S> Are my expectations reasonable? <S> Yes, but not for the recruiter, who wants to work in real time. <S> Real time is faster. <S> Faster to convince you to buy, and faster to sell you on. <S> On the phone the recruiter can quickly determine what you want to buy, and counter any possible objections you might have. <S> How can I explain him that I'd rather keep the communication by email? <S> The recruiter will always default to phone unless you can prove that you're not buying that way. <S> You can prove it by not answering the phone, not calling back, and doing everything over email. <A> How can I explain him that I'd rather keep the communication by email? <S> Next time that person calls, answer it. <S> And then tell him something like: <S> R: Hello nic, nice to hear you. <S> I am calling you to discuss about that offer I mentioned. <S> nic: <S> Hello R, good to hear you again. <S> I am currently at work, so I am unable to discuss this now. <S> I'd prefer if we discussed this via email , as it is easier for me to read and reply promptly. <S> My email is nic@foo.com, mind giving me yours? <S> That would put it very clear to that person you wish to be contacted by email instead. <S> After this, if he insists on calling feel free to ignore it and reply back with an email when you have the time. <A> Email him and tell him you're job hunting on the QT and calls during working hours could put your current employment in jeopardy. <S> If applicable, time zone differences can work in your favor. <S> If you're on Eastern time and the recruiter is on Pacific time, scheduling a call at 1pm your time <S> / 10am <S> his time works well - just tell your employer you're going for lunch. <A> Use a Google Voice number (if Google Voice is not available for your country yet, look for a similar service). <S> Tell the recruiter in question you've changed your phone number. <S> He doesn't need to know it's a Google Voice number. <S> With Google Voice, you can screen calls <S> /forward calls any way you like. <S> It's super customizable. <S> It also transcribes the voice messages and sends them to you by email or SMS. <S> I posted my real phone number and my real email address on my resume on Dice four years ago for less than 24 hours. <S> That was a huge mistake on my part. <S> I'm still getting spam calls from recruiters because of that. <S> In hindsight, I should have used a Google Voice number and even a separate gmail address on my resume.
| Send the recruiter's calls to voicemail.
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Not filling out non-mandatory fields in HR forms Was given HR forms to fill out before my first day, it included non-mandatory fields such as including your various social media (which I'm not filling out) and education. Would I be shooting myself in the foot by not bothering to fill out a non-mandatory field like my education (school, gpa, degree, etc) they can fish it out of my resume from when I applied. I suppose I may be paranoid of giving HR any more information about me, or making it easily accessible seeing the old adage about HR is not your friend. <Q> the old adage about HR is not your friend. <S> They also aren't your enemy (unless you've done something wrong that could hurt the company), so don't treat them like one. <S> Protecting your privacy by not sharing social media is fine, but withholding reasonable information that could be found on line, just because you don't trust them, doesn't make sense. <A> Since they already have this information that was on your resume <S> you really aren't giving them any more information then they already have. <S> Anything listed as non-mandatory that isn't readily available on materials you've already submitted is of course totally optional <S> (I can see why you may not wish to submit social media info for example) <A> You're correct that HR is not your friend, but you're approaching this in the wrong way . <S> Someone who is not your friend would be more annoyed by your apparent unwillingness or inability to follow simple instructions. <S> So yes, HR is not your friend, so you should want to keep them happy by making their job as easy as possible. <S> For personal information not related to the job duties such as social media, obviously there is no harm in omitting this information. <A> You haven't started working for them but yet you want to take shortcuts... <S> I can totally understand why you would be reluctant to provide too much information that is not actually relevant to the job as your social media accounts. <S> On the other hand, I think that filling in the gaps for info they already have is something you could do just out of courtesy for the people that will have to deal with this paper. <S> OK the company might have that info already somewhere, but you don't know if it is easily accessible for the people dealing with that form, how long it would take them to copy/paste information from there, the mistakes they could make, etc... <S> If you can spare them these complications just by spending a few extra minutes filling it yourself, why not ? <S> HR may not be your friend, but you need to go through them to get hired anyway.
| A friend might not mind if you neglected to give them information that they already had elsewhere, unbothered that they need to retrieve that information themselves.
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Enforcing SW tools as a technical team lead? I am a technical team lead in a team of consultants. We have a software tool which we apply for a specific problem. The tool was started by me about 4 years ago, and was used by a bigger and bigger fraction of the team. This leads to tasks and input files (models) being exchangeable and well understood within the team, which is a great asset. Recently a new consultant joined off-site, and he insisted in his first project to use his own excel-based tool. I analyzed it, it has a subset of functionality. In the ares of engineering where we work the guy is competent, but he grossly overestimates his SW skills (~3 Programming languages,8y of experience) in comparison to mine (~13 Programming languages, 24 years of experience). My opinion is that it would be bad for the team if we allow a second tool to be used, especially since it's a badly understood/documented excel sheet. Now my question: Is it the function of a technical team lead to define (and if needed, enforce) the tools which are used in a team for common tasks? <Q> I had to do an all-hands on this once when we had let things get out of control with everyone using their own tools. <S> People couldn't take over from each other, even something as simple as writing up some notes was leading to tool time with people having to install readers and whatnot for each other's weird file formats <S> and I finally "clicked" on the key issue. <S> It's productivity vs predictability and it applies to a lot more than just tool choices. <S> People need to know what they will get from you and count on when they will get it. <S> The overall productivity of the team is what matters. <S> Yes, you might be 10% more productive if you get to use your own tools. <S> But if your 5 team-mates are each 3% less productive because of your choice (converting files, asking you to do it for them instead and waiting, etc) then the net effect on the team is a loss. <S> Heck if you are 100% more productive and 8 people are 15% less productive <S> it's a loss. <S> You can't always go for the local maxima (your own velocity) and ignore the team. <S> the rest of the team uses. <S> That's a requirement of the gig. <S> Whether that means using your tool, or doing an export and spending a day adding an import to your tool? <S> That's an implementation detail. <A> The team lead should define which tools are preferred but only enforce them when real issues arise. <S> Having led teams at different organizations, I would suggest encouraging team members to use the same tools for the sake of efficient collaboration and hand-off. <S> Given that you have a team of consultants and the member in question is off-site, I would be even more careful how you approach this. <S> A team lead who is authoritative and forces team members to abide by certain practices and tools will quickly lose respect. <S> My top goal when leading a team is to build good working relationships and help the team be productive. <S> At the end of the day, I don't have time to nitpick every detail about how the team works. <S> I would suggest that the new team member use the same tools and provide reasons why this is important, but that's it. <S> I wouldn't bring it up again until the use of the tools causes real issues with the team's collaboration or productivity. <S> In my opinion, the only metric that matters is whether the team is providing value to customers or stakeholders. <S> There is a good discussion on Software Engineering about this: <S> What is the role of the lead developer in an agile team? . <A> Counting software languages might be nice for the ego, but irrelevant for this question unless all of them are in use on the same project (in which case, Excel is not your issue). <S> If your consultant uses his Excel tool for his own use, then let him. <S> If he insists on everyone else using it, then give him a big resounding 'NO'. <S> You already have a tool that does the job, and that everyone else is familiar with; he is the one who should adapt. <S> It is most definitely YOUR job (with the input of the team) to specify which tools the team should use.
| In your particular case, I would say that the offsite consultant can use whatever they like to achieve a result, but the result needs to be submitted in a form that's consistent with the tool
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Manager and I have communication issues, how can we improve that? Background I've been working for company X for 2.5 years and this is my first job. I started as a project manager assistant, became a project manager and I'm now making a transition to technical coordinator. My manager started ~8 months ago. She already had experience in management from her previous job and she is replacing my former manager who is my N+2 now. Company X is a small company (~30 employees) split into 2 locations (~20 where I am) and our team is comprised of 5 people. I started my job transition with her as my previous role didn't suit me. The issue From the time my manager started, we've had some communication issues and differences in way of working. Where I want to take things slow, she seems to want it fast. Sometimes (or often), I can reply in an inconvenient/rude/harsh way to her (through Slack or email). But I don't intentionally do so or realise that I'm rude. I truly want to improve my communication with her but I don't know how... I also know that I need to improve my communication about deadlines or re-planning things I missed. Question How can I improve my communication (or maybe hers) with her ? I was thinking about telling her to send me a message when she thinks I answered in an inappropriate way <Q> When you have a clash of personal styles with someone, it tends to get frustrating. <S> When we are frustrated or angry, our writing style tends to reflect that. <S> Use Notepad for instance. <S> Once you have released the harmful emotions somewhat and have an idea of what points you calmly need to make, it is easier to write a response that is neutral. <S> So then you write the actual response. <S> Then you reread it before sending. <S> If you were particularly upset, you might ask someone you trust to review it before you send if you are not sure that it is truly neutral in tone. <A> I already experience this kind of situation from your side : I was harsh without (or barely) reasons with one of my teamate (boss or co-worker, here the problem will be the same IMO). <S> So, this is the way that I fixed it : <S> First, I have done properely apologyze to him, because there is no excuses for trashtalking someone in your team. <S> As I said, you are a team, and have to work together in the same goal. <S> you can't achieve proper cooperation if one keeps bashing on the other. <S> Second, each time I started to answer to him for any reason, this is what I have setup as self-control mechanism : each time, consider the answer you will give and read it like a mail someone in your team send to you for X reason. <S> The goal is to put you in the head of the receiver . <S> I know that this answer is pretty basic, <S> but in fact this solution worked pretty well for me and solved the problem : my mate have accept and understand my excuses, and I pay attention at the tone in every communication. <S> If it could help, this is others tricks to use when writting to someone : <S> When you don't agree, instead of bashing the idea like "It's dumb, it'll never works", put it in a question with an exemple (e.g : "Don't you think that this case X will break done the solution ?" ). <S> It sound really less agressive than the first. <S> Globally, be less assertive and more "inquisitive" if I can put it this way. <S> Instead of saying something like if it was God's word, try to put it in a suggestion in an interrogative form. <S> It's your N+1, don't forget it. <S> She make the decision, and you follow it. <S> You can alway share opinions, evaluations, etc, but never forget that it'll be your manager who will have the final word. <S> Be honest : if you really have problem with communication (I'm an ASD <S> , so I can perfectly understand your situation), you can't solve it alway by yourself. <S> Your last suggestion was not stupid at all = <S> > <S> I was thinking about telling her to send me a message when she thinks I answered in an inappropriate way <S> I hope my experience could help you a bit. <S> Have a good day. <A> This isn't a break-down in communications, it's a breakdown of basic process. <S> If you're dealing with projects, then you should really be talking about resources and time-management. <S> There needs to be a project plan outlining timelines for different phases (design, implmentation, text, deployment, etc.). <S> If you're not at a stage where you're using formal project management, you need to at least define and agree resources (how many people) and timescales (how long it'll take) for each work stream. <S> Also make sure you both understand what the timescale refers to (the whole lot, or just develpment, for example). <S> Define a process, then communicate with each other in terms of that process.
| What I have found best for returning to a neutral style of communication is to write out frustrated, angry response fist in a form that cannot accidentally be sent.
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Forgot to reply to a hiring team leader for a big tech company, do I email or not? About 10 days ago, I ran into a team leader at a big tech company by chance, and by the end of the conversation he had offered me an interview for a position as a software engineer. I'm a huge fan of the company and I've worked on projects with them and their software before, and while I'd like to work on some interviewing skills before I start interviewing to make myself a better candidate, I've considered applying to work for them, and likely on that team or a similar one. Basically, I was offered a potential position from the hiring team manager of a team I'd really like to work for at some point, but I got nervous about putting together the perfect reply and now 10 days have passed since I received his email. Considering I was hoping to try to basically defer to give myself time to improve on interviewing skills anyway, should I just not reply now that so much time has passed and hope he forgets about me, or should I reply with an apology and risk making it worse by reminding him about an email he might have forgotten about himself? Will it hurt my chances at this company in the future? <Q> It''s only been 10 days. <S> Acknowledge the delay in the response and say something like "sorry for the delay in getting back to you, I was focused on prepping over theast few days and wanted to make sure all my ducks were in a row before continuing with this". <S> For the future I would recommend looking at the cause for your delay in responding to an email. <S> Was it a form of analysis paralysis? <A> Send the email now - immediately. <S> DON'T especially acknowledge the delay. <S> Don't mention it. <S> Just start writing like this .. <S> Mr Jones, You'll recall we met at the XYZ party on Friday. <S> You'll also remember how incredibly excited I am about your "dream team" and the "dream company" and the "dream job"! <S> Is there a chance you'd like me to come by the office to continue our talk, as I surely mentioned I am 1000% rearing to go with a "dream job" on the "dream team!" <S> Please let me know what I can do for you in any way. <S> John, 255 505 1234 <S> (It is ALWAYS OK to "pile it on thick" - <S> enthusiasm never hurt anyone .) <S> Regarding the fact that you've waited ten days. <S> We make mistakes in life (I know I do) - just don't make the mistake again ! <A> Will it hurt my chances at this company in the future? <S> Not contacting the company now gives you zero chance in the future. <S> Drop him a short email to make contact, apologise for the delay (no explanation needed, or if you want to, just provide a woolly, non-specific reason), and ask if the opportunity is still there. <S> Don't worry about the reply being perfect, he wouldn't have offered you a potential position if he didn't think you were a good fit. <S> Remember - keep it short . <S> If you don't make contact now, you'll wish you had later - but don't delay any longer. <A> He can't forget about an email that you reply to, he'll see the context underneath. <S> If you take no action, nothing will happen. <S> You've got nothing to lose by replying to his email. <S> If anything it'd be worse to completely ignore his email, indicating that you're not interested at all <S> and he'll be less likely to remember you in the future. <S> 10 days is basically 1 work week, it's not really a long time to respond, especially considering that people take vacations and sometimes don't respond to emails for weeks during that period. <S> I doubt he'll think about this time as a long time and if you're not sure you can simply thank him for his email and apologize for not getting to reply to it sooner. <S> Nothing happens in life if you don't act upon it, and it's always better to act late than not act at all because not acting at all means that nothing at all is ever going to happen.
| So, IMHO, if you drop him an email apologising for the delay - the worst he can say is no, in which case you'll be no worse off than you are right now.
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Feeling insecure about my job I started working as a developer for a new company. I started at this company 2 months ago. I worked different companies before as a developer, but I didn't feel this insecure. My colleagues' code is really good. When I can, I replicate them but I want to know how can I be at that level. By the way I am coding in java for the last 3 years. But maybe they have been writing for more than 5-6 years of java. My question is how to be as good as them. How to overcome this feeling, or is this feeling good. Just need some advice on this issue. If you felt like this before I want to know how did you overcome. <Q> You're the junior in a team of more experienced people, and they no doubt know that and expect you to not be up to their level yet. <S> But they will also expect you to progress and get better over time. <S> Study, ask questions if there's things you don't understand and can't find answers to yourself in reasonable time, take advise from others <S> , don't be that guy who's convinced he has nothing to learn (NEVER be that guy, even if you've decades of experience and are the highest educated person in the company). <S> Your coworkers got to where they are that way, and if they're any good will realise that you need time and guidance/coaching to get there as well. <A> Best way to learn is by doing. <S> You can also get books in the area such as Code Complete (which is a fantastic general software development beat practices guide) and other domain specific books. <S> It is a good idea to not only do the research yourself but to let your senior colleagues and managers know that you are interested in improving yourself. <S> Ask them for book recommendations. <S> This probably won't cost much as most companies will have a library of books built up over time. <S> If you don't know what you're doing wrong you can't get better. <A> Well, for you this feeling is at first probably bad. <S> However, I think it is positive in the sense that it will (at least should) force you to re-evaluate your own skills and enhance your knowledge in the process to become more secure in your profession. <S> Obviously experience and routine will over the years do a similar thing. <S> As for how to become good, I believe previous answers will help you there.
| The only way to get as good as them is to learn, gain experience, and never be afraid to ask questions. Also ask for code reviews of your work and take any suggested improvements in board.
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Solo Developer: How to setup a new team environment to be ready for the future? I have recently joined a growing enterprise on its way to 50 employees approx. 2 months ago as the first internal web developer of the company. Since I am the only one right now, it is going to be extremely likely (given management perspective) to have another collegue in the team within the first months of 2019. As the acting Lead Developer, what skills and things do you suggest me to implement to make sure that I'll be ready for that task, and especially that the team will function properly and smoothly? In other words, how do I set everything up for the future in the proper way? We are currently working on Kanban and the main product is games, so Web Development will only have a support role / side role in the company (ie. internal tools, web shops, etc). The management perspective is to reach eventually allow me to reach a senior position, and eventually team leader in the web team. <Q> As a Developer, these are the things I look for when joining a team: Good structure <S> Ie. <S> the day-to-day life is not a chaotic mixture of " do it yesterday! " <S> ad-hoc work and massive tickets that were not in scope. <S> Since you have already implemented Kanban, it is a good start. <S> Optimally you will follow the format even when you are the sole developer. <S> It will take some extra effort, but don't cut corners. <S> Ideally adding someone else to the workflow will not affect the workflow beyond the obvious increase in tickets. <S> Adequate documentation <S> It should be possible for a new developer to jump right in by following a step-by-step (and tested!) <S> checklist to get the basic environment up and running. <S> Then from a stable basic env, you can continue to other repositories that are related to the work. <S> Each repository should of course have its own readme file with instructions on setting that up, with notes if something depends on the basic setup. <S> Clear todo list / sprint plan <S> There should be a clear list where you can see the backlog, and priorities, of the tickets and expected work. <S> A one-liner eg. <S> "Implement product catalog. <S> " <S> is not enough. <S> Good <S> introduction / boarding <S> All the expected things and general guidelines should be clearly explained. <S> Optimally they also exist in an easy-to-find document in some interal site eg. <S> Confluence where you can always return to. <S> This should also contain a high-level picture of the project, eg. <S> what components there are, what kind of data goes in and out from them, what tools are used, and so on, in high level - leave the details into the repositories. <S> Deployment procedures Should have clear instructions on how each component is deployed to Staging, Production, whichever. <S> Optimally you don't need to ask someone how to deploy this to that . <S> Clear workflow in the versioning system <S> You should have defined ways how the integration goes. <S> Ie. <S> fork this, create a feature branch, do a PR to upstream master, get approval, merge. <S> Deploy from Jenkins project <S> ABC to Staging. <S> Check that tests pass. <S> Then Deploy to Production. <S> Whichever style you use. <A> Beyond having knowledge of the applicable technologies, it'll probably make sense to buy and read a few books on team management and get a decent grounding in Project Management processes. <S> While you're doing that, adjust your current processes so that they'll be easily scalable when you get more team members on board (and it's good practice anyway). <A> They're quite some solutions specially on the technical side. <S> On the technical side, you could have a full disk image with everything setup or tons of others stuff. <S> However on the workplace side there is basically one answer : <S> choose the setup in which your developer will evolve, and document it. <S> You don't need expensive lengthy text of documentation <S> however you need to document : <S> To what need the current platform in its state answer, and eventually does not answer yet ("continuous integration is planned but not handled yet). <S> How it is setup mainly diagrams and some general explanations <S> , no need to explain each configurations files. <S> All necessary step to add one developer (machine installation, add the user into the git, the jenkins, the ldap,...). <S> The term "lead developer" may have differents meaning, so I'm not answering on the leading/managing side.
| It should be clear what the developer should work on next and the tickets should have good description of what is expected.
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Jargon-heavy and unhelpful presentation. How to give constructive feedback? My company recently gave a series of presentations regarding its progress and what their plans are for the next couple of years. As we have no large rooms to do a presentation to everyone at once, one of our colleagues in HR whom I'm on good terms with - 'Mary' - is giving the presentation to 10-15 of us each day. We can attend any session so long as we go to one of them. It started as a summary of the company's progress and what our financial projections for the next couple years are. Unfortunatly the rest was filled with too much jargon and almost no meaningful information; references to the likes of 'fostering synergy' and 'managing roadmaps', but without going into any detail about how these apply to us as individuals or to the company. In case it was just myself misunderstanding things, I asked a few of my colleagues (across different departments) who were at the same meeting and they were just as lost for words as me. I attended one of Mary's first sessions and so she has emailed a few of us asking for feedback. As she seems to have only emailed a few of us specifically, it's not likely I can ignore her. If I cared not for the consequences, my honest feedback currently would be "The first five minutes could have just been put in an email. I guess the rest will be fleshed out later? ". Aside from the obvious, I would be reluctant to give feedback like this because: Mary is technically my superior and was seemingly confident in what she talked about. She may not be pleased if feedback points to most of a talk making little sense. Mary might have been asked by someone above her to give an hour-long talk with five minutes of material and she tried to pad it out. Mary herself might not have known what she was talking about and I wouldn't want to come across as 'calling her out' on it. My question is; how can I effectively give constructive feedback to a presentation or event with little meaningful or relevant information? <Q> You explicitely ask for constructive feedback .There are actually fairly simple rules and steps to achieve that: State <S> what you have observed State <S> what was good State <S> what could be improved ( not "what was bad" but "how could it be improved ") <S> Focus on description rather than judgement. <S> Describe observations from your point of view. <S> ("I didn't understand" instead of "Nobody understood") Balance positive and negative feedback, as well as the overall amount of your feedback. <S> Don't overwhelm the recipient. <S> In general, following these rules will improve the chances of your feedback beeing percieved as professional and actually be accepted. <S> The receiver will not feel devastated because you found positive things to say about the presentation. <S> The receiver will not feel attacked because you concentrate on your personal experience of the presentation, not general judgement. <S> You can do a google search for "constructive feedback" and find more elaborate instructions. <A> As someone who's had to sit through 70 page plus powerpont presentations in the past, I feel your pain. <S> You can give feedback and suggest a different way of doing something with one simple sentence. <S> Thanks for the presentation - can you please circulate the document/PPT to the team - I'm not sure about anyone else, but I find it hard to read presentations and listen at the same time and take everything in. <S> This subtly passes the point that the presentation was too word heavy. <S> Hopefully, you can then lead on to suggest better ways of presenting this information in future. <S> More diagrams, less reading through of thousands of words, more questions/discusion in the presentation. <S> If the long presentations continue, consider inviting a senior manager to join the audience. <A> My question is; how can I effectively give constructive feedback to a presentation or event with little meaningful or relevant information? <S> Not really. <S> These kinds of presentations, unfortunately, are common in many orgs. <S> They're generally a waste of time because the exec-level people who really care about the content already know everything and the rank-and-file either don't care, or can't do anything with the info. <S> In particular, feedback about jargon might be useful. <S> People in finance/accounting tend to use jargon heavily and are blissfully unaware the normal folks don't live-and-breath the language of quarterly reports. <S> The person giving the presentation might not even understand what they're actually saying. <S> So, you can make some remarks about needing a bit more clarity and plain language. <S> I expect, however, that an HR person will only be interested in giving a polished presentation that fulfills the requirements of upper management to disclose some pieces of information to the company's staff. <S> The info was likely compiled by whatever scant information the c-level staff provided. <S> Don't be optimistic that your remarks will be at all actionable for Mary. <S> Additionally... Circulating slides is a no-no. <S> Such things have a tendency to get emailed to people outside of the org and that leads to a lot of problems for the company and the hapless soul that did the emailing. <S> If some piece of information is obviously missing, it is probably ON PURPOSE. <S> Making inquiries about that can lead to problems for the asker.
| While giving your feedback, you should: Stay objective. If you have a very strong relationship of trust with Mary, you can give some direct feedback.
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How do you deal with a colleague who is sharing information with you on a delayed basis? I am working with a colleague who shares information with me on a delayed basis. She's worked on an area which has been assigned to me now. There's no one else whom I can ask about that area except her. However, She responds back to me in single sentences, and, Literally every sentence is communicated with a delay of a couple of hours, sometimes even a day (we both work in the same time zone) Sometimes she doesn't answer at all. She doesn't give any replies on IM/Email and doesn't pick up my calls This makes her help practically useless because you cannot discuss something worthwhile with just a single sentence. Moreover, when we do have discussions, she shares the minimum information. Because of her delays I'm mostly managing without her help and figuring out things by trial and error. I'm not complaining about this. I'll keep doing it till the job is done. However, this slows down the work and there's pressure from my boss to finish up the work faster. I've already tried speaking to my supervisor about this. He responded that she has a two year old kid and hence she's got no choice but to work for an hour and then be away for an hour or two, repeat. He wants both of us to figure out a way to communicate on our own. How do you deal with a colleague who isn't sharing information in a timely manner? <Q> First you have to escalate, because that's actually what a manager's job is - to clear the issues that their reports have <S> so the reports can get the work done. <S> If your manager is pushing back on you to solve the problem then they are, quite frankly, a rubbish manager. <S> Given you have a rubbish manager, and that's <S> she's normally remote: <S> setup a recurring meeting with her every day or two or week for a half hour or an hour. <S> CC your manager on this <S> so he knows what you're doing (optional invite). <S> In this meeting, explicitly note this is a time for you to talk via phone to cover your questions/queries. <S> State it will be for a half hour (or whatever) but might run shorter if there are less queries. <S> You can even let your manager know the lengths of the meetings or imply that as transition moves forward the meetings will be less frequent - this lets him get visibility on how well the knowledge share is going, which is useful to him as a manager. <S> Well, it might be, but he's rubbish, so who knows? <S> IF a meeting is missed by her escalate up to the manager with a "missed meeting" so he gets visibility as to how often she's unable to help. <S> AND <S> /OR <S> There are q&a style company intranets, your company might have one. <S> Gosh, SO sells this stuff too. <S> Use your existing one or ask for one to be setup - then push your questions onto that, flagging her each time. <S> This will let her plow through several questions when she has time, and will also let your manager have visibility on how many questions you have, the answers she provides and the timeliness of the responses. <A> If your manager is ok with the time that things are taking, then just accept it. <S> If you're left without work for periods of time because you're waiting for information, then ask for other work to do - you having more responsibility should improve your own career. <S> If other people are complaining about how late things are, then refer them to your manager. <S> It sounds as though you're gradually learning the things that help you in your work, so this problem should hopefully diminish over time. <S> If your manager isn't ok with the work being delayed, then it's your manager's job to address the problem. <A> Schedule a handover session with her. <S> If she's overworked as you say don't expect her to come prepared, but you can at least agree on a strategy in which your questions get answered with minimal friction. <S> Make it clear <S> if you must that the sooner this happens, the sooner you'll stop bothering her. <S> Notify your manager about this so that he knows about the pending knowledge transfer <S> , so he won't expect miracles from you in the meantime.
| Point out to your manager that the lateness of the replies is having an impact on your own work, to the extent that you're not able to work as quickly and efficiently as you might be able to. Give her plenty of time, couple of weeks if needed, so she can arrange her schedule accordingly.
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How do low wage workers get to work in the absence of public transport? I was at a Wendy's late tonight and I noticed that the parking lot was empty, except for a customer car. Yet there were 7 or 8 employees inside. The location is not accessible by public transportation. Low wages often mean that having a reliable car is not always possible, in fact unlikely. What methods are available for low-wage workers, such as fast food workers, to reliably get to work? <Q> Having worked minimum wage (or slightly better), I can offer some insights). <S> It largely depends on your circumstances, but it's usually a mixed bag. <S> Public transportation not always reliable and sometimes doesn't drop you near enough to work. <S> Family or friends drop you off. <S> For the elderly or disabled, there is something called "Para transit", which is publicly funded transportation for people with mobility issues. <S> Bicycling (not good in the rain) <S> This is common in both urban and semi rural areas. <S> (In the American Midwest it is more practical as the weather is drier, and rain is less of a problem <S> Most often, you are going to have to use multiple methods and have a few backups. <S> When I had to do it, I had to walk 1.6 miles to the bus stop, then take the bus, then walk another half mile to get to work, in one case. <S> In another, I had to take a bike to the bus stop. <S> This presented another problem because the bus only had a rack that would hold two bicycles. <S> If that was full, you had to wait for the next bus, which meant you always had to plan as if you were going to miss the first bus. <S> You want good relations with your coworkers if you do this, because you cannot always rely on family and/or friends. <S> You will need a backup plan in case of weather/flats. <S> Get puncture resistant tires and always have a patch kit if you take this plan. <S> Walking as an option will work if you are within two miles, otherwise it's just too far to be practical in most cases unless you are in very good shape. <S> But do this for a few weeks and you will be regardless. <S> Most likely, you are going to be using several of these options, possibly even at once. <S> (Bike to a stop, lock up your bike, take the transit, walk the rest of the way) et cet. <S> Lots of planning is required. <A> When I was a student, I worked in a rural beach resort as a cleaner. <S> This was a significant trip from the closest city by public transport and a reasonable one by car still. <S> A special staffing company arranged transport between their office in the larger city and the resort. <S> I lived about a mile from their office, so I would use my bicycle to get down to their office. <S> Side note: <S> the two hours each way on the bus was not paid for, only 4 hours of cleaning. <A> What methods are available for low-wage workers, such as fast food workers, to reliably get to work? <S> This depends highly on the region, time of year and distance from your home to the working facility. <S> My suggest Good weather/summer: <S> Assuming that the place of work is not more than 10 km away you could go by bike. <S> Bikes are relatively cheap, easy to maintain and can be used by nearly everybody. <S> Bear in mind if you are living in the swiss alps this might not be the best solution ofc. <S> Walking: <S> No need for any infrastructure and cheap. <S> is an option if you live near by. <S> For bad weather, winter or long commutes <S> you could do carpooling. <S> Relatively cheap and the responsibility is shared with your co-workers. <S> With this, a car does not need to be there all the time which helps in case one of the cars of your co-workers broke down
| If it's to far to walk, and no public transportation, a bicycle will do, but again, you have to watch out for flat tires and weather. Various co-workers of mine cycled too, took the public transport to the office (which had a bus stop in front) or hitched rides from colleagues. In some cases, the employer may provide transport. Picking a job that is local, or close enough to walk to. You can also bum the occasional ride.
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How to navigate working with a development process that is not supportive of clean code? I started working at my current job just over a year ago. When I started the code base was a complete mess. All of the code was in one file, it was not maintainable and best practices were not considered. There was no separation of concerns, single responsibility principle, and some major best practices for the AngualrJS framework were ignored. While working on it, I managed to pull the code into separate files and make it more manageable. However, when I bought the poor code quality up with my peers and my supervisor they were not supportive of refactoring it even though I could not really work with the code in its state. I did it anyway. It turned out that before I started at least 4 different people had worked on the project. The person who wrote the code was very junior and was left to his own devices without any code reviews. The subsequent developers quit the role after 8 months each. One of my current coworkers did work on it for a short time but I am not sure what he did. Every time I have brought up in the past that this code base is not following best practices my colleague has gotten very defensive, resistant and emotional. He even says things like 'oh well even though it's a mess at least it works'. He seemed to have his pride picked because I said a project was not in good form. The problem is I am going on maternity leave in September and my difficult colleague will be covering for me while I am away for 6 months. I am concerned that he will not follow the best practices while I am away and I will come back to a mess again. How can I address this with my supervisor? This company does not do code reviews, unit testing and code quality is not on the minds of supervisors. <Q> This is your answer right here. <S> This company does not do code reviews, unit testing and code quality is not on the minds of supervisors <S> So the only person doing anything in a structured way is you. <S> Even though the code is (in your opnion) <S> a mess, the other developers know it, and understand it. <S> You fixing things up breaks their view of how it all hangs together. <S> So, just carry on working the way that you want to, but don't take extra time to refactor everyone elses code (you've already seen that they don't like that). <S> If someone screws up your part of the codebase while you're away, then schedule some time to fix it back up when you return. <S> If you can't live like this, then you may need to explore other employment options - you're not likely to change the way this team works without being a team lead. <A> An emotional approach to work related issues is not at all productive, but it is very usual. <S> You mentioned in a comment that the change-resistant colleague is not the same person who wrote the code in the first place. <S> This means that he might get defensive because he didn't try to fix the code himself, therefore he perceives your recommended change as a challenge. <S> Or maybe he's just lazy and doesn't want to refactor the code. <S> I am sure you have used arguments such as: badly written code may work <S> but it's bug prone, not understandable by new employees <S> , cannot be maintained easily and all these lead to loss of valuable time. <S> If these didn't work, you should try to use emotionalism yourself. <S> I know the code works <S> , that's because you did a good job on the implementation/maintenance, but it is very difficult for me and potentially to any new member of the development team to understand and work on it <S> (this can also ring a bell as to why all your predecessors quit). <S> I know you have done a good job <S> and I respect your opinion, but I feel mine is not as respected. <S> I am trying to help everyone with a change that will benefit us in the long run. <S> You can also arrange a meeting with the developers, team leader AND project manager/supervisor to make a brief presentation of the beneficial nature of clean code and testing. <S> Bring as many examples as you can as to how this will help you in the future. <S> Make an effort estimation. <S> Most importantly ask for their recommendations on how the code can be optimized and how you can work together to implement the changes. <S> Make a plan as to when this can take place. <S> In other words, make an organised and well documented effort in order to introduce code optimization to the project. <S> Educate them. <S> Good luck! <A> When viewed from the point-of-view of management, a huge code refactoring Burns hundreds of hours of staff time, Adds no new features to the code, Risks adding new bugs that weren't there before. <S> Requests to stop everything and just refactor are unlikely to be met with enthusiasm by anyone other than the person who wants to do it. <S> A more realistic option is incremental improvement. <A> This company does not do code reviews, unit testing and code quality is not on the minds of supervisors. <S> If you want to change this, it's up to you to come with good arguments why it should change, backed up with data . <S> Remember that code reviews and writing unit tests take time of the programmers, and that's a cost. <S> Any hour spend reviewing someone else's code is an hour in which you're not writing code which brings in money. <S> Any unit test written which never fails (that is, never catches a potential bug) is a waste of resources which will never pay itself back. <S> Management will know how much it cost to do X hours of code reviews, and Y hours of writing tests, and an additional Z hours to "improve the code quality". <S> A statement of "but we'll have less bugs later" or "it makes writing code in the future easier" is vague, and it's not quantified; it will carry little weight with management. <S> Can you quantify how much time is lost due to bad code quality, lack of code reviews and lack of unit tests? <S> Take into account how long code survives. <S> In the company I work for, a lot of code lacks unit tests -- but a lot of code will also be either discarded or rewritten within 6 to 12 months. <S> Unit tests and code quality are good things to have (code reviews OTOH <S> , I disagree with), but so are fast laptops and an in-house coffee bar with free, quality coffee. <S> They will improve productivity, but they also come with a cost. <S> Only if the gain of the improved productivity exceeds the cost, it makes sense for management to implement those.
| Whenever you add a new feature, or fix a bug, then leave the code in a better state than when you found it.
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Discovered a bug that cost the client money. How do we resolve this with the client? We recently discovered a bug in our payment gateway software. The amount of the transaction passed on to the client is less than the actual amount. The last time this piece of code was modified was 5 years ago. Since the payment gateway supports several other payment options, and the amounts lost were small, this didn't draw attention until recently. The company has a tradition: whenever a developer resigns, he/she puts something bizarre (such as a silly comment or an easter egg) into the code. This tradition has generated some funny moments among colleagues. It is possible that a developer introduced this bug deliberately as part of this tradition, but we are not sure. Nobody who was with the team back then is working here now. Moreover, our company has a policy of deleting or anonymizing records of past employees, so we cannot be sure who introduced the bug. How should we professionally handle this situation, and limit damages in the next meeting with the client? Is it professional/ethical to disclose that this "tradition" might have been responsible for this bug? <Q> Pass this off as "this bug was introduced by a former employee" Log the bug, get it fixed, get it tested and deploy it. <S> Then move on with things. <S> That's all you can do really. <S> If you want to continue this practice going forward, then all future easter eggs should be approved by the Team Lead to make sure that these "loose cannon" changes don't affect the build or end-user functionality. <S> Let your manager decide how the fallout from this previous (and costly) change should be managed (communication/compensation/data fixes/legal action/whatever). <S> If this practice is common knowledge, then it's your TL's role to ensure that whatever is inserted isn't damaging in nature (intentional or otherwise). <A> The last time the piece of code involved was modified is more than 5 years ago company policy is to complete delete or anonymize all previous employees records <S> I'm assuming that 1) a colleague has left recently, 2) <S> you saw a recent commit to the old codebase by anonF35te3S99 , which is not related to a known issue, and 3) assumed it's a former colleague playing a farewell prank. <S> First of all there's a difference between leaving a silly comment, a silly log message, and causing loss of income in this way. <S> 1.2% compounds <S> fast over time even for small transactions. <S> You should mention that to your boss and maybe call the former developer to get an idea why he made those changes. <S> In the long run, consider buffing up your deployment / testing infrastructure to catch these sorts of things before they make it to production. <S> As an engineer this wasn't a prank, it was a reminder that a critical assumption goes untested in the bit of code that handles money. <S> That's important stuff . <S> Avoiding such embarrassments in the future will be a strong incentive to get the resources you need, if any are needed. <A> Full disclosure would damage your relationship with the client, probably permanently (you would lose them). <S> A "tradition" where someone can deliberately put flaws in what you deliver to the client is idiotic and intolerable, and would likely get your company a (deserved) terrible reputation with your market.
| All you can do is to say that you have discovered a bug, it has these effects, here is the plan and timetable to fix it, here is what you will do to make things right (if possible).
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Planning to leave startup which is about to raise funds I am planning to leave my current job. The company is a startup which has been working on the product for two years and i have worked here for a year. I take care of the Backend and Machine Learning. While also overlooking the development of Andorid and Web.I dont own any equity in the company. The general story is that the CEO does not spend time in office generally. He did not come to office for 3 months while he got married. Then has been on and off with his visits. The features are vaguely decided by him and then handed to me and the Product Head. The product head is not very useful. It is me who has to generally decide and take decisions. All the PH does is suggest changes and point out issues. PH had the dev team of 3 working on a simple feature for a month just because of changing requirements and because things are never according to their expectations , which are never made clear. I have highlighted this issue multiple times to the CEO, and he has always got back with it will be fixed soon . With no tangible outcome at any point. I have tried to make things better by trying to be as instrumental in designing features, streamlining implementations, mentoring the dev team and also helping them overcome the trauma they face at the hand of PH. At this point, I just want to get out of here. There's no technical advancement for me here, and generally the environment is very toxic. I am planning to give in my resignation tomorrow. Now today our CEO says that he is in talks and about to raise fund in this quarter. Not to exaggerate, but it is me who gets anything done here. I plan, I manage, I execute and test. The Android developer has already given in his resignation, and the frontend developer left a few months ago. And my resignation hurts their chance to raise any fund, primarily because there would be no tech team left. The other devs gave up because of the toxic environment. The PH harassed them to a great extent with illogical demands, working Sundays, extended working hours and having no accountability. While the post burgeons the fact that this isnt a good place to work, my resignation leaves them with no tech team, and thus no funding. Is it unethical to put in my resignation right now? <Q> No, it is not unethical. <S> You mention twice that the work environment is toxic and that other devs have already left because of this environment. <S> Why would you want to stay there and help them when they won't even make your work life miserable? <S> There's no technical advancement for me here, and generally the environment is very toxic. <S> The other devs gave up because of the toxic environment. <S> The PH harassed them to a great extent with illogical demands, working Sundays, extended working hours and having no accountability. <S> Its not your problem if they will not get funding from you not being there. <S> Resign as normal and let them deal with the fallout. <A> I don't think it's unethical. <S> People resign, and in this case, it sounds like management is to 'blame' for the way you feel about the company right now, as there is basically no vision or roadmap for the way forward. <S> You have to make the decisions. <S> If I have learned anything in life so far, it's that you have to take care of your own (professional) happiness. <S> If this job doesn't make you happy, try and find another one. <S> Of course, sometimes there is no other way <S> but it sounds like you don't worry about not being able to find something else. <S> Probably/ <S> Maybe management at your current job will be unhappy with your resignation but that doesn't make it unethical, whatever they will say. <S> Their funding is not your job. <S> Don't let them make you feel like you owe them anything. <S> You don't. <A> Your only responsibility is to think about your well-being. <S> Resigning now might shake them enough so they will realize that they messed thing up and might come back with a counter offer and induce changes to the work environment. <S> The only reason I would see for you to stay a few months more, is to have in your CV the mention of a company which achieved the status of being funded.
| Staying in a job that you are not happy in, is not a good idea.
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Should I notify the new company to use my preferred name in the on-boarding process? I got this job at this new company. I used my legal name when I filled out the job application form. I also had my legal name on my resume as well when I applied for this job. Now, I just got the welcome email from the company stating my starting date and other information. They said, "Feel free to ask any questions". Is this a good opportunity for me to notify them that I would like to be called "Vin" and not "Shervin" around the office? Ideally, I would like my preferred name to appear in my company email, Slack username, JIRA, etc. I think it would be less confusing for my co-workers. Should I notify them via email? <Q> Yes, this is the right time. <S> At my company, people are asked this at the end of the interview process ("do you have a preferred name?"). <S> So, we have plenty of names like Dave, Mike, Bev, etc. <S> I use a shortened name (ostensibly to be slightly different from an existing team member), and my shorter name is now all over the employee databases. <S> If the company has to use your formal name, they'll tell you. <S> But, let them know that you want to use a more informal form of your name sooner rather than later. <A> It is the best time for such a request, because they are now starting the process of adding you to all kinds of databases, creating accounts for you, updating door signs, printing name tags and what not. <S> You give them the chance to "get it right" from the very beginning. <S> If you wait until your first day of work, most of this work could be done already. <S> Informing them <S> then will either result in a lot of rolled eyes and additional work for some poor lad or in your request being ignored. <A> Yes. <S> Do it at the start. <S> My legal name is Edward <S> but I am known as Ed. <S> The only person to call me Edward is my mother, and that is an indication that I have done something wrong. <S> Other times she calls me Ed. <A> Definitely do this as soon as possible. <S> One place I worked was sold to a larger company, and that company added everyone to their IT systems under the name taken from their passports. <S> I think about 15% of employees appeared with slightly different to totally different names. <S> Turned out to be impossible to change. <S> (Reading Ed Heal's answer: We also had an Ed who got changed to Edward. <S> He was not happy.). <A> When I signed my contract with my current employer I asked it first thing. <S> Even though I got a 'no' as an answer that was because they use heavily interconnected systems (including payroll). <S> If there is no practical reason for denying it, your request should be easy. <A> Yep, bring it up now. <S> If they set you up name tag or ID, set you up an e-mail address or other logins or accounts for company systems, they'll typically be only too happy to use your preferred name now rather than changing it later. <S> That said, everywhere I've worked coworkers tend to pick up each other's nicknames pretty fast anyway.
| Do it as soon as possible. Make sure you contact them as soon as possible, once you have your first name in your email address you can never get rid of it (talking from experience).
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How to get help on an issue from someone above the issue's paygrade I am a junior programmer, and one of my assignments is to maintain our company's website. Earlier this morning, someone in upper management messaged me saying he ran into a bug on the website. As I'm in charge of the website, our computer help team redirected him specifically to me; I am solely in charge of fixing this issue. Unfortunately, I cannot repeat his bug (and believe me, I've tried a lot). Even more unfortunately, this manager works from a separate office, so I cannot see it either. The only avenue I can think of for getting a complete description of the issue is to ask him for details of the problem as I need them, and to occasionally bother him to test my prospective solutions. The obvious problem here is that none of what I just suggested fits the manager's job description at all; he's not even vaguely in any tech sector. It's not that I think he wouldn't be able to help me debug this issue, it's that I think it would be a misuse of his time. I don't feel like it's appropriate to repeatedly ping an upper manager with questions and requests to try seemingly arbitrary behavior that might help a junior programmer find a bug. On the other hand, I need to fix this issue. If this bug is taking place on other users' computers, it has to be fixed (it should only occur in a very specific environment, but when it does it's a showstopper). Even if it's only happening on his computer though, I still can't just tell him "I couldn't find that bug so I'm just not going to work on it, sorry." Are there any tried-and-true techniques and strategies for getting help on an issue from someone above the issue's paygrade? What I've done so far is: Tried to get as complete a description as possible when he first let me know. Only bothered him for information I think is absolutely essential to fixing the issue. Tried to bundle up requests for more details so I'm not pinging him every few minutes. As a note, I've never communicated with this manager before, so I'm especially wary of making a bad impression. <Q> If you can't reproduce it, and you don't feel comfortable simply marking it as "unable to reproduce", can you try to schedule a phonecall and a screen sharing session using TeamViewer or Join. <S> Me or similar and have the manager walk you through it? <S> You can justify the request by listing the steps you've taken in your unsuccessful attempts to reproduce the bug, and that the screen sharing session is the next step as you've exhausted your other options. <S> The manager could be doing something so esoteric that you might have thought no sane person would ever do it, but the customer will always find a way. <S> If the error occurs you then have a reproducible test case. <S> If it doesn't, then you have your way out. <A> Message your supervisor and ask if he can reproduce it. <S> If he can, it should be pretty quick for him to do so, and then you can liaise with him instead about reproducing it / getting a fix. <S> If not, then he can give you guidance on what to say to upper manager x , including how much communication would be appropriate, whether a screen share would be appropriate, etc. <A> that 1) the VIP experienced a bug 2) after (number of hours) work you could not resolve it 3) <S> you are far too junior to personally bother and interact with VIP on it <S> so, it is your supervisor's problem. <S> End.
| Simple, bring the problem to your supervisor, Explain
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How can I deal with abuse by my boss? I have had very difficult situations with my boss recently, with whom I have worked almost for a year. The recent events made me realize that she had created a hostile work environment for me and demonstrated abusive behaviors for a long time. Previously I thought it was just misaligned expectations and unmatched communication style. I was new to my function so I also thought maybe I wasn't able to perform well enough. She was recently promoted so maybe I should give her some benefits of doubt and provide specific feedback to help her grow as a manager as well. So in the past 11 months I've tried my best to communicate with her, set better boundaries, document everything so that we could have fact-based conversations. Went to training sessions to learn how to give feedback. Also worked really hard to perform better and match her expectations. We have started plans towards a promotion for me over the past quarter, and the general feedback from my team has been positive for two quarters. But it doesn't seem her behavior is changing any time soon. A few examples of her behavior: It happens almost in every meeting with her that she'd make false accusations about me. "This update looks exactly like last time”， “Your team doesn't know what you are doing”, “You have only finished 1-2 things last quarter”. Those comments were made so suddenly, so off from the fact or my perception of what we had agreed on, with such a harsh accusatory tone, that it always threw me off balance a bit on the spot. It took me a while to know how to fight back and always keep things in a mental log as well as in writing. She never apologized unless I confronted her. When I confronted her with above comments and stated very clearly the impact he behavior has made on me, she would listen, apologize, but then quickly turn the conversations around and blame me for having made her feel frustrated earlier for some other reasons. For me it should be a totally separate event and without specifics I couldn't even defend myself. Again, I was left feeling very rattled, worse than before the conversation. There was very little understanding or empathy and the conversation almost certainly would derail somewhere without having any real resolutions to the issue I raised at the end. She would talk about the negative feedback other people gave her about me without specifics, impossible for me to defend myself or find out what's really happening. When we disagreed on something, instead of walking me through her thought process, she used to pressure me into agreement by telling me how other senior stakeholders had been frustrated or disappointed about my performance -- until I took those relationships in my own hands. Working with her has really taken a toll on my mental health and my productivity. Especially this week after a few roller-coaster conversations with her, I found my whole body aches, I couldn't concentrate at work, my energy level and even my voice became much lower than before. I certainly cried more than I would want to admit. I have reached out to our company's employee assistance program and scheduled a therapy session as I didn't feel I could make past this week by myself. Question: What should I do both immediately and in a 2-3 month range? What leverage and consequences I should be aware of if I haven't been already? I have decided it's not acceptable for me to work like this. I would like to immediately stop working with her tomorrow if possible. Generally the company is pretty flexible in terms of rotation and changing teams. But I have a special situation where I might be moving to another office in another country in 2-3 months. The plan hasn't fixed yet, and there is a chance that I might stay here for another year. My concern about switching teams now is that I'll have to let the new team know this possibility of me leaving after such short time on-board and I'm not sure if any teams would take that. Also, I'm worried that it'd add much more work on my plate to switch to a new team right before the possible international relocation. In the short term, I have a pretty full to do list that I just confirmed with my boss this week. Now dragged into this emotional black hole, I'm concerned I might not be able to deliver on time, which again gave her more reason to ridicule me. I could really try to work extra hours on the weekend, but I didn't feel it would be fair for me to do so. Also I dread on having more meetings with her next week. If possible, I'd like to keep some distance from her to recover first. If I couldn't immediately terminate working with her, I might have a few other options to make my life easier: Give her feedback in writing in the official system that counts forher performance review. We have a 360 feedback system where directreports are asked to give feedback about their managers. I think thereason she hasn't changed was she didn't feel the need to . Myprevious feedback was very gentle and didn't even scratch thesurface of the issue. Like I said, I always thought it was solvable. Call in sick for a week preferably with the company therapist'srecommendation. Give myself some space to rest and recover . Myconcern is that she might start a smear campaign behind my back,which has happened before. Meet her boss in person and request a change of manager or ask him to sit in my 1on1 meetings with her from now on. My concern here is that he might be on her side. After all, it's he who promoted her when her first report was me. File an HR report. I have never done this before and am not sure if any ramifications. Some context that might be helpful: I have been recovering from an emotionally abusive relationship since last summer by working with a private therapist (paid out of my pocket). It's very difficult and shameful now for me to even admit that similar abuse is happening in my work environment. A few reasons for me to stay in this office and not move internationally: 1) that I might have a better chance finding a better company in this country due to more flexible visa policies: 2) I thought I'd need more stability to recover and a big move certainly will disrupt my life <Q> If it is possible to solve, it definitely isn't work you staying there long term <S> unless it is solved, so don't hold back in your efforts to solve the problem based on some potential future with the company: <S> Don't refrain from doing things that will be good for you based on your future at the company. <S> Get the resume ready, check with your network, and start searching for a new job. <S> In the mean time, make sure you are using your allotted sick days and paid time off. <S> I don't believe you should fake sick, but if a therapist recommends you call in sick due to the stress of the job, then follow that. <S> Certainly don't go into work sick to go deal with this person (that's a bad idea even at a normal job). <S> Give her feedback in writing in the official system that counts for her performance review. <S> We have a 360 feedback system where direct reports are asked to give feedback about their managers. <S> I think the reason she hasn't changed was she didn't feel the need to. <S> My previous feedback was very gentle and didn't even scratch the surface of the issue. <S> Like I said, I always thought it was solvable. <S> Companies aren't always the best at incorporating feedback, but often people get away with unprofessional practices for years because others neglect to speak up. <S> No one has to be unnecessarily brutal in the reviews, but if someone is being unprofessional, making personal attacks, etc. <S> etc. <S> you should be honest in your feedback. <A> Is my boss abusive? <S> ...is a very difficult questions for strangers on the internet to answer decisively, because there's a lot of factors that come into play here (the tone, situation, context, frequency, as well as the words that were said.) <S> That being said, if you need therapy to continue working in that environment, then that's definitely at the point HR should know about it. <S> So my advice would be to contact HR stating (broadly) what you have here. <S> You can certainly state that you're open to moving locations, teams or roles, but that your mental health has suffered by working under <S> x <S> to the point that you need therapy, <S> and you feel that is unacceptable. <S> They should follow up with a suggested plan of action, and at that point you can liaise with them about a potential solution, whatever that might involve. <A> Is my boss abusive? <S> Based on the points you made, particularly your boss making vague accusations that have no detail <S> so you can't defend yourself, yes, your boss is abusive. <S> Your boss is saying whatever is necessary to make you feel bad about yourself. <S> I've run into that myself with a higher-up (fortunately not my direct boss), and it was the same pattern of unfounded accusations just to make me and my co-workers feel lousy. <S> What should I do? <S> One thing that can help is to try to talk directly to these other "senior stakeholders". <S> Sounds like you are already doing that to some extent. <S> That doesn't solve the problem, but it does at least give you some reassurance that your boss isn't correct.
| Look into every option you have for changing jobs within your company and or leaving the company. I wanted to address this one specifically: always give honest feedback on these reviews. Based on your description of this being a long standing pattern of behavior that hasn't changed despite you discussing it with your boss, you have a situation that is really unlikely to be solved as long as you are working with this boss. File an official complain with HR, meet with her boss if necessary, and generally do everything that your company allows that might solve the problem or improve your situation.
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Dealing with interference from senior manager from another department Backstory: Our group (IT) has been functioning well for several years with few incidents and none worth mentioning. The problem: Recently, we've had someone from a different group, who is a super-user, and pretty far up in the food chain in his group, interfering with our operations. Our own manager is fairly new and has less time with the company than "Super User" and "Super User" has been trying to throw his weight around due to fact that he is senior and knows a bit of what we are doing. He is technically higher up in the ranking than our manager. While "Super User" is very competent in his role , he thinks (and acts) like his competence translates to our group, and our manager is tired of playing games . Naturally, this has had double the effect on morale as it is affecting our manager and our team as well. It's bad because "super user" is extremely rude to our manager. I even heard him insult our manager to his face. QUESTION What can our manager do, or we as a team do, to stop the interference of a more senior manager from another department? <Q> What can our manager do, or we as a team do, to stop the interference of a more senior manager from another department? <S> This is something your manager should handle. <S> If this person is impeding him from making his job, then this manager will have to discuss this with his own boss further up in the chain, so this person can come up with a solution and define those boundaries. <S> Having two heads can be problematic and affect your performance, it's best to follow only one. <A> Your manager ought to escalate to the next highest level of management and request a clear delineation of duties for both managers. <S> They need to define exactly where each of their responsibilities begin and end. <S> He needs to demand that the other manager cease undermining him. <S> These steps must be done by your manager, nobody else can fight his battles for him. <A> Your manager has the duty to handle the interference, by himself or with the help of his own line manager. <S> As you mention interference, one way to help your manager is to document incidents. <S> Your manager will be able to use this information to discuss a suitable resolution with his own boss. <S> It is possible that "Steve Jobs Sr." is trying to demonstrate your manager is ineffective, in an effort to get him replaced by a friend, or by himself. <S> Your manager might or might not be aware of this, depending on how much politics he has experienced. <S> Documenting interferences will go a long way helping everybody stick to their own organisational boundaries. <A> You are conflating several issues <S> You have a problem at the organisation regarding separation of interests / concerns. ' <S> SuperUser' should not be in a position to interfere in the first place, unless he is part of your group. <S> This requires opening a formal investigation into the structure and boundaries of operational teams, which is normally a board issue. <S> Your manager should open a formal investigation, following your organisation's complaint policy , due to the bullying nature of 'SuperUser'. <S> Everyone has the right to peace in the workplace.
| The part that the team can do is to keep doing their job the best they can, while also respecting that "chain of command" and be receptive to this super user's suggestions, but at the end of the day report and execute what your manager plans.
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High standards and maintaining them without sounding like I am taking things personally I recently had my mid term review. Everything was great, except one thing that my manager mentioned was to not take things personally when someone disagrees with my high standards on work products. For context, I am a Senior Software Engineer and part of my job is to review all engineering products such as requirements, test plans, tests, code and architecture. So my job by nature is to criticize and validate. I don’t think I take it personal however I am charged with ensuring that the work products I do review for the organization are top notch because it goes to our customers. I do have a tendency to be very strict and firm in adhering to excellent engineering processes and standards. How can I maintain these standards without being accused of taking things too personal? <Q> Back your opinion up with objective facts. <S> Your question suggests that your manager is pleased with your work, but those who's work is criticized by you are not. <S> That's no wonder. <S> They take your critique probably just as personal. <S> So the key is to keep emotions calm and stick to the facts. <S> The requirements are unclear? <S> Don't just say "this isn't enough", but give an example of a scenario that is not clearly defined. <S> The Unit tests don't cover enough lines of code? <S> Explain why you require more tests, recite the companies quality standards. <S> You'd like the code to follow another architectural concept? <S> Explain why it's best practice, how it has an impact on future developments and the shortcomings of the current approach. <S> The developer has a valid argument why he did what he did and can explain why your suggestion doesn't benefit the solution? <S> Let it go. <A> The best way to criticize is to begin in a positive way. <S> Before you mention ANYTHING that needs to be fixed, find things to comment on that were done correctly. <S> Okay <S> Joe, I was looking at your code. <S> I like the way you commented the more complex processes <S> , that will really make things easier to maintain. <S> or something like that, <S> but you want to start with SINCERE PRAISE . <S> Don't BS, don't make things up, but point out actual things they did right. <S> Then. <S> Now, I see a few things we can work on to improve the code. <S> If you would just take care of that and bring it up to spec, I'd appreciate it, thanks. <S> Being critical is only part of your job, the rest involves dealing with people, and people have feelings which you have to take into account. <S> If you only criticize, you will come across as either being a hard-ass or as you manager put it "taking everything personally". <S> Just come across in a more friendly tone, add some sincere compliments, and you should be fine. <A> While I agree that to interleave critics with praises may help with some people... <S> I strongly believe we're not children to be praised. <S> We do reviews to ensure quality and spot errors. <S> To edulcorate our comments is time wasting (and we seldom learn from praises but often from critics). <S> What then? <S> Take the long way <S> and teach them why quality is important . <S> They won't stop to think you take it personally if they don't understand your reasons . <S> This should, at least, intrigue some of them and you may then ask your management to allow some "all hands" sessions for sharing expertise and insights. <S> To be senior is also about mentoring , in every aspect of the process. <S> The end goal is not to require high standards (which are not absolute, they're trade-offs and driven by the domain) but to constantly shift the bar upper. <S> Also, your job will be easier and overall quality will improve (because there are, honestly, limits to what a single person can do and understand alone). <A> I'd say it's fair to do a meetup with your supervisor and ask what he means by "taking things personally". <S> Can he point to specific behaviors (verbal, non-verbal, in writing) that you do that makes it look like it's personal to you. <S> It could very easily be a misunderstanding - reading intent is often tricky, especially if you are communicating in writing, because it is devoid of tone and therefore open to implied intent which is often incorrectly interpreted by the reader. <S> But it helps if you can know particularly what has seemed "personal". <S> If that doesn't yield anything useful, try switching up the format of how you deliver commentary - for example: If it's mostly provided in writing, try writing up a very minimal amount of commentary and then saying "I'd like to go over the details in person so we can ask each other questions" and then follow up with a meeting or a phone call. <S> If you usually have meetings/in person discussions, try moving into asking questions rather than framing demands as a first mode, and only getting into stating requirements after you've let the person explain their thinking. <S> If the meetups are in groups, try talking to the key owner/stakeholder before or after the group meeting. <S> All of these are ways to improve the fidelity of the feedback and hopefully get more insight into what seems so personal. <S> Also be aware of any stress or tension that you are carrying into meeting of this sort. <S> Even though that stress may be totally disconnected with the tasks in question, the fact that you may be tense may be being misread. <S> If the stress is unavoidable, then preface the meeting with "sorry if I seem stressed, I've got some other stuff going on - it's not you."
| There is a time for praises but it's not during reviews (unless you sincerily see something awesome). The opposite of taking things personal is staying objective. You may start explaining why a defect should be fixed and which consequences it may have.
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Side effects of asking co-worker to review your CV I have this co-worker who is really clever and to the details, he knows how to structure a sentence to win the game. Assuming they won't going to have any problem reviewing my CV, could it lead to anything serious, like a dismissal or something assuming all possible scenarios ? <Q> If management get the idea that you're thinking about leaving, then they'll either seek to talk about it and see if you're happy (if they really want to retain you), or they'll side track you away from anything interesting, or <S> just stary freezing you out. <S> Lead the <S> "can you review my CV" conversation in the right way first to avoid the obvious question, and hopefully mitigate any blow-back. <S> Hi <S> Mike, I've not updated my CV in years, so I just took it out and dusted it off. <S> Can you take a read through and see if it looks ok to you? <S> I'm not looking for anything right now <S> , I just wanted to keep it up to date in case <S> I forget anything.... <S> Then offer him a drink. <S> Or something. <S> Whether you ask or not depends on whether you think that Mike will talk about this to your manager/lead or not. <S> Sometimes colleagues are trustworthy. <A> One common reason why somebody is updating their CV is because they are going to start applying for other jobs. <S> It isn't part of an employee's duties to help other members of staff find new jobs, so I'd be somewhat careful about making sure all this happens very definitely "off the clock". <S> The other obvious risk in talking to <S> any of your co-workers about plans to leave <S> is that information gets to management before you want it to. <S> That can make your life difficult. <A> Any decent person will keep quiet about your CV. <S> Blabbing our that <S> you had them look at your CV <S> would be an absolute dick move. <S> So it’s unlikely to happen for that reason alone. <S> It would also make them a pariah if it became public knowledge. <S> In the U.K. you cannot be fired without a reason. <S> And writing your CV is not a reason. <S> Writing your CV doesn’t actually mean you want to leave. <S> It means you want to be prepared if you need it. <S> Firing you for that would be both stupid and illegal. <S> If your boss is a normal person, you’re fine. <S> If not, you use your CV to get a better job. <S> And then you can tell your boss how much more money you’re making now and hope it upsets them:-)
| So unless you have a reason to distrust them, nothing will happen.
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Altering time card to show a employee took a lunch when the employee did not take a lunch My employer was altering my time card to show that I took a 30 minute lunch when I didn't to meet the company policy of mandatory 30 minute lunch. He would then add 30 minutes to the end of the day. Is this legal? I was a delivery driver and had to make stops within a time limit so I could get back to the warehouse and reload for a second trip therefore I wasn't able to take a lunch ever day. Each trip was about 150 miles with 10 to 15 stops. <Q> I'm assuming you're in the UK. <S> On that day you either worked 8 hours, which means 30 mins overtime, or 7:30 hours, which means you left 30 mins early. <S> you are provided with a 30' lunch in an 8 hour workday, and your employer put it in your contract that you have to take it - so, it was really you violating your contract. <S> Your boss decided to cover for you. <S> edit <S> I didn't realize you work as a driver. <S> Yes, your manager is probably breaking the law. <S> I didn't focus on that because this isn't Law. <S> SE, but it's important because of obvious safety concerns. <A> “Is it legal” is a bad question here. <S> Not mentioning the country is worse. <S> And you are in a bad situation: If you are not taking a mandatory lunch break, your employer can give you the choice between following the rules and seeking employment elsewhere. <S> What your employer did means you get paid for the time you worked. <S> Complaining will get you into trouble. <S> Take your lunch break. <A> It looks like the employer might be regarding this as a "Compensatory Work Break" (good link in rath's answer) to cover for an employee not following company policy - even if this wasn't the employee's choice. <S> Dependent on whether not taking the break at lunch time was the employee's or the employer's idea - including trying to meet unrealistic schedules - this could be covering for the employee, or covering their own backs. <S> Or possibly both. <S> It sounds legal (depending on jurisdiction) <S> but not what the people who wrote the company policy would want. <S> [Edited 07/07 after further information added to question.]
| It's a legal requirement
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Getting into IT after second studies I have an economics master's degree from a german university and started working nearly three years ago. My first and current position is within the company's sales coordination department where I do most of the numbers stuff: calculating KPIs, talking to controlling etc. Additionally in order to make my team's life easier I wrote some VBA macros in excel which really helped us save time. Recently I did some IT-like projects that caught my superior's attention using php/js/python. As a result I'll be working together with our data science team to scale up my project. In my sparetime I'm doing some android app work and focus on two apps:one is just used within my family but the other is already released as an alpha version in the app store and there are also some outside testers which are more or less happy with the app.Dont get me wrong, those apps are far from perfect but they do what they were built for w/o any major bugs yet. I guess that skillwise I could compare myself with some juniors after their bachelor's. Since I'm not really happy with what I'm doing right now, I want to swith to IT (app development/software development/data science resp. analysis). This is something I can really see myself doing until retirment. In order to have something to show to a potential employer I'm thinking about doing an IT bachelor (and maybe a master, too). So here are my questions: How well do employers (HR/IT managers) perceive IT degrees, that are done as part-time studies? Are there schools that have a good reputation for what I'm planning to do? If I start this year, I'll be slightly over 30 when finishing my bachelor's. Is this too old? All the questions apply to the german job market. <Q> Speaking as a Belgian (which is not too far from Germany and has similar market situations): <S> Yes, you should. <S> There are several non-bachelor programmes that you could follow but in my experience (as an IT manager) a candidate that holds a bachelor degree usually (not always) seems to be more aware of both the theoretical and practical implications of design solutions. <S> If nothing else; HR managers often select people based on their degree. <S> The fact that these were done part time (or in the evening) won't reflect badly on you at all... <S> if anything, it could serve to prove your passion and persistence. <S> As for the age part of your question: 30 years is not that old. <S> But, if you could, why not check with your managers to see if they'll let you be more involved in the coding part of your collaboration projects? <S> It could be a nice way to get your feet wet in an actual IT setting. <S> And it could help you on your quest for a new job afterwards (it would allow you to gather some professional IT experience). <S> I can't provide you with any schools, but perhaps you could ask your IT colleagues at work where they studied and if they have any recommendations? <S> If you're not keen on letting them know you want a career switch <S> then you could always ask "for a friend"... <S> Edit (after reading other comments and answers): In my years in IT, I've learnt that the answer to this question does tend to vary depending on the age of the person giving the response. <S> Back in the early 2000's, IT people got hired without nearly any credentials (or with unrelated degrees) and a lot of people hired back then still assume this is still the case today because they happened to get a job in the same manner (or know some people who did). <S> Starting wages were also somewhat higher than they are now. <A> My locale is France, so YMMV. <S> In my opinion, getting another master in IT with your background would be overkill. <S> You already have experience working with feature teams, and had the occasion to write code (albeit limited) for your company. <S> More importantly, your pet projects will be very concrete proofs of your programming skills. <S> Even when speaking to a non-technical HR, saying you developed an app that was downloaded XXX times is very tangible. <S> Lastly, if you want to further boost your profile, you could think about passing some certifications. <S> It usually takes between 1 and 2 month for you to read the book (after your work day) + take the exam, and some of them are worth more than a degree for some <S> HR.As you mentioned <S> Android, OCA and OCP are the Oracle official certifications for Java. <S> Google might have other certifications available. <S> Anecdotically, a colleague of mine has a Math degree, and got hired as a dev in my firm after showing personal projects on github (he passed a technical interview, of course). <S> So yeah, that happens. <S> PS: <S> The skills you learnt in your master and your former jobs are still relevant, be it for human relations, your knowledge of the business and the ability to work as a team <A> How well do employers (HR/IT managers) perceive IT degrees, that are done as part-time studies? <S> This doesn't really matter to most. <S> Actually, most employers might even prefer someone that has practical experience over a pure student. <S> Are there schools that have a good reputation for what I'm planning to do? <S> Can't really help you here, but I assume most "Fachhochschulen" are better for part time studies over universities. <S> Here's a link: https://www.hochschulkompass.de/studium/rund-ums-studieren/studienformen/teilzeitstudium.html <S> As said, I think working part time during studies is a plus for future first employers, some might even hire you knowing of and supporting your education, if you promise to stay with them for x years after finishing your degree while being employed. <S> Just be open about your goals and plans, and I think you will find a company that will happily let you work part time during your studies. <S> If I start this year, I'll be slightly over 30 when finishing my bachelor's. <S> Is this too old? <S> Doesn't really matter in IT. <S> Just be aware that the first 1-5 years your salary will not be up to par with people aged the same that finished their studies years before you. <S> Just don't expect your old degree and experience to make too much of an impact (on your salary). <S> It's no disadvantage either way, that's for sure.
| In my experience formal training often makes the difference between a good and a great developer.
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Declining post-internship offer when I already have another full time offer I am graduating college soon, and have interned at a company (Company A) for multiple years. Aside from this company I have interned at one other. I don't particularly mind working here, but it certainly isn't my ideal job. Since I first came to university, I became really interested with certain company (Company B), so much that I took classes for that they specifically recommended/required in order to possibly get a job there one day. This company has a reputation on my campus as hiring very rarely, and are looked upon as a great company to work for. Now, I had accepted my current company's offer of a summer internship as of last September, so that was locked in a while ago. I also managed to successfully get/pass the interview and obtain a full-time offer from Company B earlier this year, while letting them know about my internship with Company A. I know that they pay much higher than the market rate in my area, while Company A pays slightly below. Also, the work would be significantly more interesting and greatly in my interests. With this knowledge, I accepted the offer from Company B to start full time after I graduate. Now, my problem: Company A is going to want me to reapply for a full time offer, and as far as I can tell, I have a few options: Reapply and decline the offer. Tell my recruiter preemptively to avoid wasting his (and my) time. I do feel bad, since my recruiter has really went above and beyond for me, and helped me personally with some issues outside my internship (related to work). It's undeniable that I plan to work for Company B. However, a big part of this question is, when asked, how do I talk about it? Do I feign ignorance, or should I tell my recruiter and team? What should I do? <Q> If you have already accepted the offer from Company B for full time after you graduate, don't bother with reapplying. <S> Don't feel bad about going to another company, its normal that people leave to focus on career advancement. <S> Personally, and if the recruiter is going to automatically reapply you for the job, I would let them know ahead of time just so that you don't waste their time. <S> If they extend an offer to you while you are still working there, just decline and thank them. <A> If I understand your question correctly, you have lined up an internship with Company A and a job with Company B. Company B is cool with the internship. <S> Company A are likely to ask you to apply for a full time job. <S> You want to work for Company B and not Company A, but Company A would also like you to work for them. <S> My advice: Work for Company B. <S> It's where your passion lies, it sounds like it's a rare opportunity, and the pay is better. <S> The downside is you will mildly inconvenience Company A, which might make it tricky to go back in the future, but honestly, if they pay low and you're not that interested, should that really be an issue? <S> It reflects well on your personality that you feel bad for inconveniencing the recruiter, but you won't be the first one, or the last. <S> Do let them know as soon as you've made up your mind though. <S> When it comes to this sort of thing, you have to think about what you want most. <S> If you join Company A out of guilt, you'll regret your choice of not joining Company B and will more than likely grow to resent your job, at which point you'll probably end up quitting anyway! <A> What should I do? <S> Seems you already made up your mind for Company B. <S> No need to give big explanations <S> , if any just say you want to explore new options now you finished your studies, and that you are really thankful for everything they did for you. <S> You are graduating and about to start a new journey on your professional career, so don't hold back to a great opportunity just because something "will be expected from you". <S> Declining their offer is a professional choice , no one has any reasons to expect you do decide the way they want, nor any reasons to take it personal if you don't. <S> It's your career after all.
| If Company A eventually offers you a full-time offer, then you should decline and thank them for their offer.
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Best way to give notice to boss if I haven't signed the contract but boss is going on holidays imminently I have received a verbal offer from another company this morning and I have accepted it.The company has just now requested my postal address from the recruiter. (I assume this is to send me the written contract). The problem is my boss is going on holidays for 2 and half weeks end of today. I have a very good relationship with him and I greatly value the mentorship he has given me. I believe I have 3 options: Verbally face-to-face inform him today Call him next week once I have signed the contract Verbally face-to-face inform him on his return What should I do? <Q> I would sign the contract before anything else as when you sign its legally binding so should anything go wrong they cant retract the offer, then tell him how ever you can, I have actually had this same issue before, this is what I did: <S> I waited for the official offer to come through, agreed and signed the paper work <S> I then emailed HR <S> so it was official (that was our company policy). <S> Then I asked HR not to inform my boss but start proceedings as I wanted to tell him out of respect, as my boss was on holiday and couldnt wait I then called him, apologised it happened this way and told him I had no other choice as it was time sensitive. <S> I then told the rest of the team and people I wanted to know the following day, once i had replies from HR and my boss. <S> So with you I would say: Wait for the official offer to come through, agree and signed the paper work to make it official first. <S> Before you don't have any obligation to until its official. <S> This also protects you incase something happens and you will be protected. <S> Tell HR. <S> Tell him face to face, if not call him and explain you are sorry you are having to do it this way <S> but you have no other choice. <A> Wait. <S> You haven't signed anything yet. <S> The verbal offer may have not told you about some very important detail that you will never accept. <S> That could mean that you never join the new company. <S> Or the negotiations could take weeks. <S> We have questions on this site about written offers that never arrived, and about companies that ghosted after giving a verbal offer. <S> The written offer could include conditions that will require you to pass a drug test, or background check, or even a physical. <S> These take time. <S> But assuming that everything goes quickly and your boss in still on leave, approach their temporary replacement, they will know the best way to inform the boss. <A> This is company and manager specific. <S> The general rule is that you shouldn't inform your manager about planned job switches if they are likely (in your opinion) to terminate you immediately afterwards. <S> I have personally gave effectively several years notice <S> , I have seen a question/answer in this site where a years notice resulted in working out the year <S> and then a transfer to an office close to the new location (in another state). <S> I have also personally seen two weeks notice turned into "don't bother coming in". <S> There's no universal laws or customs that you can count on, only company culture and your relationship with your manager.
| Only after all the written offer is signed, all the conditions are met, and the starting date determined, do you think about when to tell your current company.
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Is it polite to ask the company to mention the future raise -which we had discussed in interview -in their written offer? I got an offer from a company who just verbally told me "we will give you this much and after 60 days if you were doing well, we will give you a raise for a higher rate ." which they specified. So my question is; Is it polite to ask them to mention this in their written offer? <Q> If it isn't in writing, it doesn't exist. <S> If you don't see it in the written offer, by all means mention it. <S> It is not impolite, it is being diligent and making sure all the terms agreed upon are met. <A> Yes, absolutely. <S> If it's not in writing, you'll have a hard time making a case for it if they "go weird" on you. <S> A company that has an issue with it is probably not one you want to work for, anyway. <A> It would be very wise to put this in writing, however if this is tied to their subjective perceived opinion of you doing good, and not tied to any specific and hard metric easy to measure, the offer will not be worth the paper it is written on. <S> Actually HR tried to pull this one on me on a very well paid contract in the past, offering me less 20% than I was asking, and the rest be on condition on a positive evaluation 6 months in the future. <S> Fortunately I had the presence of mind to tell them, either they gave me the full amount, or I would not be interested in the position. <S> Much later on, through the grapevine, I found out they did that stunt to all people working for that company, only as a strategy to get the salary down, and never followed up on their promise. <A> It doesn’t matter if you have this in writing or not. <S> The company is not going to give you the raise. <S> This company is so cheap they are suggesting they will pay you less for two months. <S> They are either very tight cash flow or they enjoy playing mind control games with their employees. <S> There will be a reason in two months for not giving you the raise. <S> You shouldn’t accept the offer unless you you get the salary you want from day 1. <A> It is all about asking it politely. <S> Do not sceptically ask to put that promise in wirting <S> Better ask them for details on the promise (when it will happen and how it will be evaluated Or if you had enought details oraly: <S> summarise them in writing and ask more details on what they consider to be a good performance. <A> First let me say I am all in favor of politeness, politeness is the grease that gets things done smoothly and efficiently. <S> But politeness is a method not a goal. <S> You want to do X <S> politely, not be polite. <S> In your particular you seem to have three possibly conflicting goals, getting it in writing that you will get a raise shortly after being hired, getting a raise shortly after being hired, and of course getting hired. <S> You want a method of asking for the first goal that minimally impacts the third goal, in order to enhance your chances of achieving the second goal. <S> Politeness is obviously your go to tool in this case. <S> But you need to decide not whether it is polite to ask for it in writing, but whether asking will reduce your chances of achieving the other goals (and determine how that effects your desire to work there). <S> My advice would be to simply ask for it, something along the lines of "During our discussions X said that the starting salary would be reassessed after Y, could you please include that in the written offer? <S> Thanks"
| A reputable company never has an issue with putting a promise in writing.
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Is there a less technically intensive job for someone who's a Software Engineer? I'm currently an employed Software Engineer for a moderately sized IT company. Initially I enjoyed the challenge of my work, but over time I have become burnt out of the non-stop technical learning required of the position. I enjoy the design conversations and high-level discussions on architecture/framework, but once I get to the actual programming and half a dozen technologies involved... not so much. I would like to ask if there are other less technically demanding positions for someone with a decent understanding of the front-end/back-end/SDLC who is also a good communicator? To clarify; I'm not against learning. I want to put my technical skills to use and continue to grow my knowledge. But I'm curious as to if there are maybe more collaborative positions where the amount of knowledge required is relatively defined, instead of now where I spend all day everyday trying to learn and apply new technologies/concepts. <Q> There are domains withing software development which shun the momentum to evolve technology at a rapid pace. <S> One great example is COBOL programing within financial institutions. <S> It can pay very well, and you will not be expected to learn the popular programing language or framework of the season. <A> I am in a similar position and have started looking into Technical Product Manager/Owner positions. <S> Being a Scrum Master may also be a good idea too, it will allow you utilize your technical knowledge within technical teams in addition to communicating with the business side. <A> There can also be companies where you don't need to constantly learn. <S> If company develops their own product. <S> Technologies/frameworks/languages are typically set beforehand, and they don't change too often. <S> However this isn't always the case. <S> I've heard about start-up where CTO/lead architect wanted to embrace all latest frameworks <S> and it was pretty chaotic in the end. <S> Or in those cases where company has delivered a product for customer and is still responsible for maintaining it. <S> Maintenance work usually avoids any drastic changes to prevent issues from emerging. <S> Developers with certain expertise from these companies are then hired to deliver something specific. <S> But how well this works in practice varies quite a lot.
| And there are also consulting companies who specialize in very limited skill set.
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To leave on the job in spite of the pressure to quit I have been on a managerial position for almost 10 years now. I never had perfect relationship with my direct boss while his superiors supported me all the time. I have 2 more years to go before retirement, but I still have mortgages to pay off. Now, it seems that everyone wants me to go. My subordinate has already taken all my duties and responsibilities although I am formally still on the position. Managers does not address to me at all, they don't e-mail me, they don't call me on meetings. I am just doing tasks that have been left but no one even knows about it. I have sent hundreds of CV to other companies but none even responded to me. Is it ethical at all to stay further on the job in spite of all humiliation and pressure to leave taking into consideration the fact that I have no other option? <Q> Is it ethical at all to stay further on the job in spite of all humiliation and pressure to leave and taking into consideration the fact that I have no other option? <S> You are doing the best you can, so you are holding up your end of the contract. <S> The current situation is not your fault. <S> That said, if I was the company I would be looking for a way to terminate the employment relationship because a) <S> it's waste of company resources, and b) it probably affects employee morale as well. <S> This is however the company's problem and not yours. <S> You have to look after yourself, and there is nothing wrong or unethical about pursuing the best option you have. <S> I would certainly look at finding another job (perhaps you want to look at lower paying options etc. <S> - in the end it must be depressing to go on like this, so overall you might want to make some sacrifice on the salary/status front). <S> Otherwise I'd wait until your employer starts any process. <S> Perhaps start documenting things and be vigilant about things that could work against your favor (like coming late to work etc.). <A> It is ethical to stay on the job of course. <S> But you need to look for a new one in case they terminate you. <S> You write that you are doing it. <S> Maybe you could think about working as a consultant for the time still left until your retirement? <S> You've got plenty of management experience, maybe some companies would like to benefit from it? <S> Do you have networks you could use to search for new consulting opportunities? <S> Maybe you could network among the persons you've met in the professional context, or go to conferences, seminars, etc. <S> to meet new people? <S> You can also try to be more visible by sharing your knowledge and establishing yourself as an authority in your area. <S> For example, there are meetings on different topics (startups, retail, programming languages, etc. <S> etc.) organized in many cities. <S> You can find them on meetup.org or on facebook or via industry organizations. <S> Go there and if you find it corresponds well to your area of expertise, propose yourself as a speaker of the next meeting. <S> Attend as many meetings related to your field as possible. <S> And have a website or at least a good linkedin profile. <S> The objective here is to establish yourself as an authority in your area of expertise. <S> The fact you don't get responses may be because of agism, but you should also get your application documents checked. <S> If you hadn't applied for a few years, it might be <S> you don't know what the current trends in job applications are. <A> Of course it is ethical as long as you try to do meaningfull work. <S> You should, however, prepare the day you are not there anymore. <S> The risky but most correct way to do that, is to organize the hand over openly. <S> The safe way, is to document it your work. <S> If they tend to lay you off, you can then explain what should be done for that hand over, not telling most of it is already prepared. <S> They might delay your departure to complete that. <S> What else are you doning, appart from getting to work every day? <S> I do quite some volunteer work. <S> If I were in your position, I would try to do that for a living. <S> It would pay less, but I could keep doing it well over my retiring age.
| It is obviously ethical to stay on the job. I would just stay on and focus on how to extract the maximum financial gain out of the situation.
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Client responsibility for conduct of contractor? I sometimes run across insinuations that contracting provides a measure of insulation from accountability or lack of expertise/capacity, e.g., for companies or government offices that are subject to many regulations, militaries in expeditionary missions, property managers running large building complexes. In general, if the client is supposed to uphold certain obligations in providing their services, and they contract out some of their responsibilities, are they responsible for ensuring that the contractors uphold those obligations on their behalf? These obligations can take many forms, e.g., environmental obligations, supporting domestic economy, ethical rules (applying to militaries, governments, and corporations), safety, acceptable or reasonable quality and timeliness of work, etc. Having just done a quick jaunt through the web, it seems that certain aspects can get quite complicated especially when outsourcing abroad, and/or when a home-based client performs operations abroad but outsources some work to home-based organizations with a presence abroad. I wonder if the question can be simplified by focusing on the most basic concept of a contract. Is there be some fundamental expectation that a client is not absolved of obligations by the mere act of outsourcing their responsibilities? Would this also apply if a contractor sub-contracts? <Q> TL;DR; <S> Yes. <S> Part of contracting with the government is that a contract company agrees that its consultants will abide by all the rules, regulations, and Laws regarding their work for the government. <S> There are provisions for damages and remuneration based on bad conduct by the contractors. <S> This is part of why some government contracts can be thousands of pages long for seemingly simple tasks. <S> And if you perform poorly enough the company can be blacklisted from government work . <A> In general, if the client is supposed to uphold certain obligations in providing their services, and they contract out some of their responsibilities, are they responsible for ensuring that the contractors uphold those obligations on their behalf? <S> The client has responsibilities to their stakeholders (customers, government offices, etc). <S> Those responsibilities cannot be shirked by passing on some of the work to sub-contractors. <S> How they assure their responsibilities are met varies (auditing, direct oversight, financial penalties, etc.), but they are still ultimately responsible. <A> 2 excellent answers already, so from another angle. <S> Pragmatically it does provide some insulation both for the department and more importantly for the individuals involved because it gives them more leeway for excuses when things go South and therefore makes the individual less accountable (in practice, not theory). <S> I have seen whole govt careers built on series of failed projects for which the people involved were not held accountable and steadily rose to high positions. <S> It's par for the course in the third World <S> but it also happens everywhere else.
| The client owns the responsibility.
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What is the difference between being "fired" vs "let go"? I saw somewhere on here that was a comment about the original post that said something like “the OP was let go, he was not fired.” With that being said, is there a difference between being “let go” and being “fired?” <Q> From What is the difference between being fired and being laid off? <S> : Being fired is reserved for individual personnel issues: performance, behavior, etc. <S> This would be targeted at a single individual. <S> Being laid off is when the company is having financial issues and needs to remove costs. <S> This is almost never just a single individual losing their job or the suspicion <S> would be that it's actually a firing. <S> Although I'd say it's more commonly a euphemism for getting fired. <S> This is presumably because firing someone is pretty harsh and being laid off is preferable (so it would make sense to make it clear that someone is being laid off and not fired, when applicable). <A> In the UK they are pretty different: <S> Fired : <S> refers to disciplinary, personal or poor performance issues and as a result the business have made the decision to dismiss the individual from their role in the organisation. <S> Let go <S> : is a business lead decision to lay off/dismiss staff due to the financial and economic conditions of the organisation I.e. redundancy. <S> However depending on the context ‘being let go’ can also be used when referring to being fired, I’ve often heard this when the person disagrees with the firing or considers it harsh or are trying to dull it down. <A> In some countries, there is a difference between being laid-off/let go and being fired. <S> In those cases, being fired generally means you made a mistake. <S> Whereas being laid-off/let go, it means the company made a mistake, eg. <S> bad business decision that lost them business/money <S> and they cannot afford to keep some employees anymore. <A> You are "let go" for no fault of yourself. <S> Someone who is "let go" hasn't done anything wrong. <S> It's just bad luck. <S> It will be held against you.
| Being let go is informal and can refer to either of the two. When you are "fired", it's either your own fault, you didn't do your job properly, you did something else that was unacceptable - or you have the bad luck that someone with power in the company strongly dislikes you and got rid of you.
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How to handle interpersonal issues with my supervisor at work? I have been working at my job for over a year now and I have some minor but extremely annoying interpersonal issues with my boss. He's British and I'm Canadian but we are living in Ireland. I'm a software developer. I think it comes down to having different temperaments and lifestyles. For example, I am 28 weeks pregnant. During this pregnancy I have been really struggling with sleep disturbances. I tend to wake up at 2AM or 4AM and cannot get back to sleep. I am also a little overweight so the extra weight is really wearing on me now. I'm also hormonal and more irritable than usual and a little stressed about this big life-changing event that will happen in 12 weeks. My boss likes to do some 'niceties' before diving into talking about work. I don't really enjoy this because I have to lie to him to have a smooth conversation. For example, he asks me how I am. I tell him the truth: I am struggling or I am really tired. He doesn't respond well to this or he said things that I consider to be kind of sexist such as 'oh, it's normally not a problem.' A man telling a woman how pregnancy normally feels doesn't sit well with me or else he doesn't like to hear that I am tired etc. He also didn't want me to work at home even though I am struggling. I have to lie to him to get through these conversations. If I say 'fine/good, how are you?' it gets this conversation over with but it's incredibly boring and repetitive to have to do this everyday for 5 days a week. I'd rather just jump into saying stuff like 'hey, did you see that email?' or 'hey, did you see that new ticket? What's the priority for the day?' I also get sick of the routine of a 9-5 job + 1hr 15 mins commute at times and I'm not always thrilled about coming into work but I don't hate my job. My boss has repeatedly said that his children drive him insane and he'd rather be at work than at home. I don't always find my work to be interesting. Other people don't seem to have an issue with me being honest about being tired. Do you have any suggestions about this situation? <Q> Lying in answer to platitudes is normal. <S> It's always best in a work environment to put your best face forwards and appear positive. <S> So if you don't want to create a drama about your situation, just say 'I'm fine thanks' like everyone else. <S> I've been proactively keeping a positive outward expression for so long that it has actually made my whole outlook much more positive. <S> So it's something worth cultivating. <A> It's a false dichotomy that you must either lie or endure patronizing or normative comments from your boss. <S> Try acknowledging your difficulties, emphasizing that you are coping with them, and seguing to whatever you are planning to do or discuss. <S> Examples: <S> How are you? <S> I've been more comfortable, but I don't want to complain. <S> My work still needs to get done, and I'm raring to tackle today's priorities. <S> What's top of the list? <S> or How are you? <S> A little better than yesterday, thanks. <S> Getting a bit of my energy back. <S> Just the ticket for tackling tickets -- did you see that one about the reports? <S> So something positive that's not a lie of "fine thanks" and that both acknowledges you are working through difficulties and puts a positive tone to it instead of complaining. <S> Then straight into the work. <S> Now, it's possible <S> your boss also wants you to ask about him. <S> In that case try something like: <S> How are you? <S> I've been more comfortable, but I don't want to complain. <S> How about you? <S> I'm fine, thanks. <S> If the boss then moves into the actual topic, great, but if he kind of sits quiet after answering, you can pick it back up: <S> The work still needs to get done, of course, and I'm raring to tackle today's priorities. <S> What's top of the list? <S> If you really truly need to work from home sometimes because of how tired you are, that's a conversation of its own and not a response to a scriptlike <S> "how are you today?" question. <S> In that conversation you present your problem and your proposed solution to it, and you brush aside any suggestions of what pregnancies are normally like with " <S> well, that's not the experience I am having with this one. <S> " But that's a separate thing. <A> There seem to be two issues that you raised: Issue #1 : what's the best way to deal with pleasantries? <S> Be direct: <S> why not just say, "Thank you for asking, but I'm eager to talk about that email that you sent last night. <S> Do you mind if we dive right into that?" <S> A small note about pleasantries: I can't speak for all managers or supervisors, but I genuinely care about how my team is feeling. <S> It helps me navigate how much work and which work to assign if they've got something going on, it gives me context for PTO requests, and it ultimately helps me relate my direct reports on an interpersonal level. <S> All of our daily interactions involve strokes , and pleasantries are very much part of those transactions. <S> Issue #2 : you want to work from home but your manager / supervisor won't let you. <S> Issue #2 is not one that you will win. <S> All managers, including myself, exhibit the some form of extrapolation bias--where we use our experiences to determine rules that prescribe what would be the "best common good" for our workforce. <S> Your supervisor believes working from home is not good for the team's morale or productivity and that is based, at least to some extent, on his or her own personal experiences. <S> He or she could have many reasons for this view about working from home because it is not uncommon <S> --I personally share it myself and, for example, insist that my team use time off instead of trying to "work from home."
| Positive spin: as @kate-gregory stated, just put a positive spin on how you're feeling and help direct the conversation to the point.
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Being fired from previous job wasn't brought up in the interview. Should I be concerned if I have got the job? I was recently fired from a part time job. During an interview, I wasn't asked about it at all. I ended up getting the job. Is there any reason I should be concerned about not bringing it up, or is it their job to ask about being fired in the past? <Q> Don't overthink this. <S> If "being fired" were an important criterion in making their decision, they would have asked you at some point during the application process. <S> Being fired from a previous job doesn't make you any less qualified for this job. <S> Unless you were fired for doing something bad, like stealing company property or assaulting a coworker, you shouldn't worry about it. <A> If they did not ask they don't care. <S> Some places might ask and some not. <S> Hiring criteria vary wildly between companies so there is no standard, especially not one that includes asking about a history of being fired. <A> There is no reason for you to be concerned as others pointed out but at the same time be prepared with an answer of why you were fired, because this can come up anytime during your employment. <S> (Formally or informally!)You should have a reasonable explanation of what happened; Honest and humble. <S> Instead of blaming anyone, you can just focus on what you have learnt from that experience to ensure it will not happen again. <A> Everyone has been fired. <S> Back in the ancient times of the 1980's it was a big deal. <S> This was back in the day that if someone had two jobs in a lifetime, and one wasn't fast-food or something similar, they were considered job hoppers. <S> Now, people change jobs frequently, the rise of the "professional manager" has also made people aware of what Dilbert terms the "pointy hair boss". <S> People can get fired for any reason or no reason at all with part-time jobs being seen as purgatory for the worker, and are not taken seriously with regards to firing. <S> Nearly everyone who has worked retail, for example, has been fired at least once.
| Don't worry about it, just don't make a habit of being fired and you should be fine. You got the job because they think you are qualified for it.
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Ask for quick response in job interview due to current job commitments I have been offered an interview in 2 weeks time for a role in a different city. It is essentially the same as my current job except with a higher salary and is in a better field (for me). The decision on who gets the role will be made within 2 weeks of then. I think I have a good chance of getting this job as I have a good range of applicable work experience and qualifications. My current role is with a charity and they are sending quite a few of us abroad as part of a regular trip away (that I have not been on before). The flights and accommodation for this are quite expensive and are getting more pricey by the day. My worry is that I will end up costing the charity money by allowing them to buy me flights and accommodation only for me to not use them or by delaying until the flights double in price. Is it a good idea to ask in the job interview to reject my application sooner rather than later if they know they will eventually? How would this make me look to them? Loyal? An idiot? Prudent? I don't want to affect my chances of getting the role however. <Q> If you feel that bad, you can reimburse the charity of the funds they lay out. <S> It's unfortunate, but you don't want to flag your current employer by refusing an assignment, and you don't know for certain that you will be getting this job or not. <S> Your current employer may end up being a victim of bad timing, but that is their misfortune, not yours. <A> Is it a good idea to ask in the job interview to reject my application sooner rather than later if they know they will eventually? <S> I would not recommend telling them to "reject your application sooner" , as it has a negative connotation. <S> If you need to know an estimate on the time they will take to make a choice, I suggest you ask them for such estimate during or when concluding the interview. <S> Chances are they will also say something like "we will get to you in X week(s)" , moment in which you will have an estimate to decide what to do. <S> After getting the estimate, you should then carefully manage this with your current Notice Period and the time of this possibly upcoming trip. <S> Do have in mind that it's not definite that you will be going to that trip <S> , so don't let go of a better job opportunity just for the possibility of going on a trip on your current gig. <A> Is it a good idea to ask in the job interview to reject my application sooner rather than later if they know they will eventually? <S> No. <S> Don't interfere with their hiring process. <S> My worry is that I will end up costing the charity money by allowing them to buy me flights and accommodation only for me to not use them or by delaying until the flights double in price. <S> Do you know for a fact they are buying non-refundable travel plans? <S> People miss flights, flights get delayed and transfers are missed, and people don't always buy travel insurance. <S> There are many other ways you can loose lots of money on travel. <S> What happens if before the flight you catch the flu, or pull your back <S> or you get fired? <S> The person planning this travel is the person responsible for managing the risks. <S> So I would continue with the hiring process as normal. <S> If you have to give your current employer <S> X number of days notice, then this is how many days you until you are available.
| If you ask the potential new employer to reject your application sooner, rather than later, you can pretty much be assured that they will indeed reject you.
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How to defend myself from someone trying to undermine me? TL;DR Co-worker doesn't do his job and is trying to blame me for his low performance, what is the best way to get out of this situation? Is talking to his manager a good option? At my company, my boss asked me to do some side work on another team because they didn't have enough people at the time (only one person was left), this situation wouldn't go on forever, but it has been going on for some time. The work I do on the second team isn't too bad, just annoying, but the person who was left on this team was just terrible. First of all, this person has a company of his own (more like, he owns an eBay account that sells some products) and he spends a lot of his working hours inside our office handling problems that his own company comes up with. He's constantly going out to pick up personal calls, and recently he gave his ramal number to his own clients, who have started calling him on the company's phone. He also spends a lot of time (around two hours) just hanging around the office using his cell phone, probably taking care of his personal business. None of that should matter to me, except that at the beginning of my "helping", he gave me a lot of tickets to work on saying it was necessary for me to get some experience. If I asked him how to do something, he'd say "I'll let you work on that for a while" and proceed to take care of his company. He would then forget he asked me to do anything and only show up to ask me how it was going when a superior asked him how it was going. Many times some solution he had wouldn't work and I had to ask other people how to solve it. I wouldn't mind doing this at all, because I'm learning after all, but all the time (I found out later) he wasn't working on anything our company needed, he tricked me into thinking he was doing essential office work that kept him very busy, while in reality he was managing his own company from his cell phone. When I realized that I got really mad, but I didn't want to do anything because I didn't want to create a toxic environment by complaining to him or to his manager. Instead, I've tried as hard as I could to stay only on my own team (whose work I did there started getting slower because of all the demands this person was throwing on my back) and kept swallowing this person's actions all the time. Then, when he started sending me messages when I had already left the office to ask for something his manager asked him how was going, I couldn't take it anymore. When I informed him I still had not done it, he started being ironic when I asked him to teach me how to do it, ending up with him completing the task. I then started focusing more on my own team instead of doing his job for him and that seemed to get him annoyed, but he never complained to me or demanded I did more work on his team. Instead, another employee told me that this person was asking my manager if I was relieved from this person's team, because I wasn't doing anything to help him anymore and that he was going to file up a complaint about me to his own manager. The thing is, I was informed I was going to leave his team (since they hired two other people to help him), so I just focused more on my own work instead of his demands. My manager and coworkers were aware of this and stood up for me, but he said he was filing a complaint and we never found out if that was true or not. His own manager seems to be aware of this guy's behavior and terrible work habits, but he only complains and fight him without ever solving the problem properly. To make matters worse, he's now on vacation and this guy has started getting even more annoying and explicit about managing his business and spending free time during work hours. Another employee noticed he was taking pictures of his teammate's notebook when he thought no one was looking, as if he was trying to get evidence for something. He also called a woman once and pretended to be a cop (a crime in my country) to get her scared because she owed him money (I listened to the whole conversation as it happened beside me), while collecting her data (such as SS number) from a company he used to work on (and who didn't remove his access). Is there any way I can let people know what he's doing, specially his manager? It doesn't seem ethical nor appropriate to behave this way and still try to shift the blame to other people... my major concern is that people will listen to his complaints about me and not look into his behavior, making things end up badly for me because of that. The only ones who know about what he's doing are those who sit around him and those who worked on his team previously, I never complained about him to my manager or his, so I'm not sure if there's a formalization about how displeased I was. This is my first job, so I'm afraid to handle it improperly and on a non-professional basis, as I feel I've already done it. <Q> If you are doing a good job then you have proof to back up that claim if he ever decides to report you to your manager. <S> You can even document the times he is on personal calls while in the office if you really want to bring it up with a manager so that you can show how much company time he is wasting on personal matters. <S> However when you say: He also called a woman once and pretended to be a cop (a crime in my country) to get her scared because she owed him money <S> (I listened to the whole conversation as it happened beside me), while collecting her data (such as SS number) from a company he used to work on (and who didn't remove his access). <S> This is a massive red flag that you should report right away to the old company and to the police. <S> Impersonating a cop while using another companies software would reflect badly on the old company (and possibly the current one to some extent) and would cause some negative attention. <S> This sounds like an unstable employee who might cause some damage to the company if he is forced to leave, which is why I would recommend bringing the old company and the police into this situation. <S> If you have any proof of this taking place I would report it immediately. <A> Document, document, document. <S> Document anything you do. <S> Report what you did. <S> When e-mailing him, CC it to your manager. <S> This will defend your position as "the one who do". <S> Contact your manager and ask him to raise the issue to the higher tier. <S> Contact your HR and (IT) security and describe and prove the issues with this worker. <S> HR are very sensitive to legal consequences to the company. <S> And such employee is a ticking bomb. <S> IT security will take extra care for limitting the backfire this employee can try as a revenge. <S> Word <S> it like you are concerned about your company's image when some of this employee's tricks fail <S> (the lady identifies she was threatened by an impostor and raise it to the court). <S> You can also argument, that two sallaries are paid for one task (and one is paid for nothing), so the company is losing extra $X per month. <A> Talk to your manager and ask for advice. <S> You stated that your manager and colleagues already stood on your side against that person so it should be an easy talk; just ask for direction and hints to handle this situation properly following the company culture/guidelines/whatever. <S> You may discover that that person is already known company wide and any threat is to be handled as noise.
| Ask your manager to assign you fully in their team again, because you want to work for their team and do not want to be connected to that worker any longer. Document everything you are doing and continue working as normal.
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How to balance faster employee and their peers? I work in the Fintech/IT/Banking industry and understand the pressure of this field. Recently, we had a product UI overhaul and everybody has to work over time. What gets me is, I work faster than everybody else, and this turns out to be a wrong way to work. My supervisor just assigns me my peers tasks. I've seen my coworker slacking and avoiding working too fast and now I know why. Is this okay and to be expected from any work field? I can sort of see the perspective where we need to help others as a "team". Is there a balance between giving incentives and helping others? <Q> Either you step back, or you negotiate for a lead position. <S> It's a sad truth, but some employers simply assume that nobody is working at 100%. <S> How many times have you heard "Well, it's crunch time, so I need everybody to step it up a notch" or <S> something similar. <S> If you don't step back, you will find yourself doing the work of six people. <S> That's fine if you're being paid for the work of six people, otherwise, no. <S> TLDR <S> You have several options. <S> Continue as you are, and risk burnout <S> Negotiate for more pay/promotion since you are doing more work <S> Step down your efforts Continue to take on more responsibilities, update your resume and move on. <A> Good on you for showing so much initiative and productivity. <S> If you're doing the lion's share of the work, that needs to be reflected in your salary. <S> The correct response to this is to go up to your boss and say "I seem to be doing a lot more work and creating a lot more value for the company than the other guys on my team. <S> I think my pay packet ought to reflect that." <A> No, you should never "strategically slack off". <S> They probably already know how strong of a worker you are and would consider this a drop in your performance. <S> There needs to be a balance between you getting your work done, and helping the team get there's done as well. <S> If there is a imbalance enough to cause you this much anger or personal conflict, you need to sit down with your supervisor and managers to discuss the problem. <S> I wouldn't throw any of your peers under the bus, because while you see them as slacking off, maybe there is other factors. <S> Make sure that you are recording all of the work that you are doing, and when it comes time to have a sit down meeting with management about your performance, use this number of tasks completed as a metric to suggest that you are out performing your peers (which can lead to quicker promotion, depending on the company).
| One reality of the workplace is that some people are just faster, and good work is rewarded with more work. Also, NEVER give your full effort unless it is "crunch time".
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Can I ask more salary if the interview was really good? Is it OK to demand higher salary just because the interviewer look impressed ?Higher salary in comparison with that of current company and industry standards? Update : I still have to give them a price. And just for the notice, I have to relocate to a city where cost of living is higher comparatively. <Q> You can do anything you like, but I wouldn't advise it. <S> You're only worth what the job pays, and if the salary has already been negotiated, it's bad form. <S> If it hasn't, then you risk pricing yourself out of the job. <S> So, if you don't care whether or not you get the job, you can ask for more, just understand that in doing so, you may damage, or even ruin your chances. <A> Is it OK to demand higher salary just because the interviewer look impressed ? <S> Higher salary in comparison with that of current company and industry standards? <S> Certainly. <S> You can always adjust your salary demand based on anything you feel might work in your favor. <S> In this case, if you think they were particularly impressed, you can indeed ask for more than you had initially intended. <S> Now of course there is a risk that you will price yourself out of their range and not get to an acceptance. <S> You'll have to judge the likelihood of that based on how impressed the interviewer looked and how much more than the current company and industry standards you are seeking. <S> Companies are usually willing to give more to the best candidates, but not always. <S> And sometimes they are willing to negotiate. <A> That really depends on how much you were planning to ask. <S> How much is "higher"? <S> If you already were planning on asking for an above-average salary given your skill level and your market research, asking for something even higher could easily backfire. <S> However, if you (for whatever reason) were planning to lowball your demand and the interviewer's response has given you the confidence to ask for more, that might be a sign you deserve more than you thought you did. <S> Disclaimer: This second case happened to me once, and they ended up going above even my adjusted demand. <S> As always with salary discussions, you need to balance what you want/ <S> feel you deserve with what you think the company would be willing to pay. <A> I still have to give them a price <S> Good. <S> Don't . <S> You're playing the wrong negotiation strategy. <S> Your interviewer has an advantage over you and he's using it. <S> The advantage is that he knows what he's willing to pay <S> and you don't. <S> Therefore, a number that in your case may be reasonable, might seem to you too high. <S> Never name a price first. <S> Especially in your case, if they were truly impressed, they might offer you a number that was higher than you thought. <S> And then you ask for more. <S> How do you do that after they asked you to name your price? <S> Repeat after me: <S> You're in a much better position to know what I'm worth to you than I am . <S> Are they pushing back? <S> I don't think I should dictate to you what you should pay your employees . <S> You might have come across Patrick McKenzie's salary negotiation guide . <S> I will also direct you towards his podcast on the same subject with Josh Doody. <S> I was listening to that stuff on my way to my latest interview a few months ago, now I make double. <S> Sorry to sound like a sleazy salesman, I'm in IT as well, and this stuff works. <S> Give it a chance. <A> If you receive an offer and a salary lower than you'd like, you can negotiate. <S> Ask politely for something 10-15% higher than what you think would be ideal <S> and they'll hopefully meet you somewhere closer to your desired salary. <A> You have more negotiation power in this type of circumstance. <S> You are free to ask for whatever you like given that it's an open negotiation. <S> The company may not give you exactly the salary you want, but you may get a better signing bonus or relocation package if they really want you.
| You can ask for an above average salary if your interviewer gave you the impression you are an above average candidate. I wouldn't "demand" a higher salary. I advise you to do your homework and ask for a fair number (likely between 10-20%).
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Is it unprofessional to ask a coworker at your workplace to review your resume? I am a co-operative education student at my plant and am interested in working here full-time. However, I do not graduate from college for another year and am still actively searching for other job offers in the hopes of getting something better than where i currently work. I am expecting a job offer here as well, and they know my intentions to come back after graduation if I do not find something better. I want them to review it, since they are likely similar to the people at other companies who will be reviewing my resume for job openings and know what areas to improve or specific words and language to use. Should I ask others in my department to help review my resume? Or is that unprofessional because it tells them that I am still searching for other jobs? In general is this a bad practice? <Q> In your very specific situation it would be OK to ask your co-workers for input. <S> Co-operative education is meant to prepare you for the workforce. <S> That said, consider whether you would ask any of these people to review your resume if they were not your co-worker. <S> Someone you barely know has little motivation to take some time out of their normal responsibilities to help you personally. <S> If you have mentor(s) <S> with whom you've developed rapport, it is certainly OK to ask. <S> Please note that under normal circumstances it is not professional to ask co-workers to review your resume. <S> Even as an intern, rather than a co-op it would be questionable. <S> Finally, although it is OK to ask co-workers whom you know fairly well, consider their experience. <S> If they've been in their role for a long time and haven't revised their own resumes then the advice may be dated. <S> There are free to low-cost resume services available and nearly every college and university offers resume building workshops, consultants, or even seminars. <S> The advise of a professional with the job you seek may tell you what to list on the resume but a professional resume preparer can make that information stand out. <A> Should I ask others in my department to help review my resume? <S> Or is that unprofessional because it tells them that I am still searching for other jobs? <S> In general is this a bad practice? <S> Certainly it's okay. <S> Generally, internships are as much about learning and putting yourself in the best possible position to launch a great career as they are about doing work. <S> You aren't bound to take a position with them. <S> You may not even be offered a position. <S> When I hired interns, I often gave them help on improving their resumes. <S> Sometimes I hired them (and didn't need to see their resume), sometimes I helped them find jobs elsewhere and gave them a terrific recommendation. <S> Some companies will feel offended that you are looking elsewhere, but in my experience most won't. <A> I think it is perfectly <S> okay to do so. <S> I was an intern once, and, in fact asked a few of my coworkers including boss to help me out. <S> They knew I was a student <S> and it wasn't guaranteed <S> I would get a position there after my internship so they had no issues with me asking for help. <S> That being said it is always good to get different eyes on a resume, so try to find another source of input. <S> School, family, classmates, etc. <A> Does your college have resources for resume preparation? <S> Usually there a job center for helping with the particular issue. <S> While I wouldn't deem it 'unprofessional' if a colleague asked me to review their resume, I'd also be fairly indifferent to providing you with serious feedback, particularly if this was detracting from my professional duties. <S> I guess what I mean to say is best case scenario, you get some marginally helpful input on the formatting of your resume. <S> Worst case scenario, you annoy a coworker and out yourself as an intern who is seeking employment beyond the company you are working for. <S> All in all, it's a better idea to seek for job preparation resources from your school .
| Although resume preparation is almost certainly not included in the career development opportunities a co-op employer explicitly provides, they should not be surprised or offended to be asked.
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Is working in maintenance career suicide? This is specific to software development in a large IT firm. The company has an extremely large legacy codebase riddled with issues. There's plenty of project work being done but also plenty of work in maintenance. I enjoy the shorter term mini-projects that are finding and fixing issues in maintenance but I am also concerned how future potential employers might see that. Personally I've worked in projects and now in maintenance I'm finding this more challenging but does the industry see it this way? Is working in maintenance a somehwhat "dud" job that would harm my career? <Q> Are you supporting your company in terms of current and future profitability? <S> If you are, then congratulations - you're not sabotaging your future career. <S> Maintenence is something that happens in all large companies (whether they're IT based or not). <S> There's always going to be bugs to be fixed, improvements to be made, compliance regulations to adhere to, etc. <S> , etc., etc. <S> This is normal, business-as-usual kind of stuff in which you're gradually bringing this codebase up into more modern ideas of performance, security, structure, and everything else that facilitates company profit and efficiency. <S> Not everything is about building new products/software. <A> The vast majority of software work is in maintenance. <S> Getting to work on a greenfield project is extremely rare for the most part. <S> They can be a whole lot of fun though, so if you feel so, you should pursue that specifically. <S> You need to find a place that tells you it is a new project - not that they are planning one or that you might get to work on such. <S> Those rarely happen in reality. <A> Career suicide is, as far as I understand it, working on/with outdated technologies and concepts without ever learning anything new or up-to-date technologies and concepts. <S> Just doing maintenance work doesn't automatically count as carrer suicide. <S> I estimate that (outside of startups) <S> the major amount of work done is actually maintetance and improvement of existing software. <S> However, if the software you maintain is not being developed any further and your job is solely to fix bugs that managed to hide for years in a code that hasn't seen any improvement in as many years, that is certainly carrer suicide. <A> Current status of jobs for developers is there are way more jobs as there are developers. <S> Nobody knows the future but I expect the only reason this will change is when machine learning is going to replace part of the developers job. <S> Maintenance it jobs and higher level jobs will even then still exist. <S> If you want to work in the next new hipster company in the future, than probably you should focus on learning new frameworks, tools and languages. <S> otherwise you are fine. <S> It's always good to learn new tools and frameworks to broaden your vision but so is learning solid standard, code smells, good architecture and design patterns. <S> If you are afraid of this machine learning (or AI, probably not) taking over your job. <S> Than you should invest in learning more about this so you could in the future have a job maintaining these algorithms. <S> Simply put: Work in the area you want to work in in the future. <S> If this is maintenance, keep doing maintenance. <S> If you want to code new applications, find a job where you can do this.
| So as long as you have the chance to learn new concepts and integrate them into the maintained code, or once in a while develop a small module with up-to-date technology, it should be fine (and in fact quite usual). If you enjoy doing maintenance there will most probably always be other companies that have software that needs maintenance and pay good money for doing this.
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How to handle disagreements in an email conversation? Alex wrote an email to Bob which said Bob's incorrect information wasted Alex's time. Bob replied that his information was correct and provided some supporting reasons, thus putting the blame back on Alex. Alex doesn't find this explanation acceptable because he thinks the information is not true. Alex believes that Bob's reply is just to protect himself from the higher officials (in the email cc), since they would be taking decisions based on the information in the email. How to deal with such disagreements, so that decisions can be made faster in such cases? <Q> This is called "Having a discussion". <S> ) why he thinks what Bob saying is wrong. <S> If Bob responds with supporting information that Alex still doesn't believe is acceptable, then both should discuss that information until an understanding is reached Also, Alex should take a moment and assume that he might well be wrong and that Bob might just be correct and see things from another perspective. <S> If they're still in conflict, Alex someone in an impartial position to view the email trail and help make a judgement one way or the other. <A> I have a very simple rule for these kinds of situations: whenever I find myself typing a lot of subjective text into an asynchronous medium (mail, chat, text), I stop and get on the phone with that person instead. <S> Who are you writing this stuff for anyway? <S> Most people don't want to read a wall of text nor do they care and for those who do, you are better off resolving the issue in person in almost every case. <A> The way you've described it, both sides are engaging in suboptimal communication. <S> Alex wrote an email to Bob which said Bob's incorrect information wasted Alex's time. <S> Alex should say what the effect of Bob's information was, and what leads him to think it was incorrect. <S> Bob replied that his information was correct and provided some supporting reasons, thus putting the blame back on Alex. <S> If Alex feels that his "time was wasted", then presumably something bad happened based on Bob's information. <S> Bob should find out what it was (although, Alex should have said it to begin without Bob having to ask) and address that. <S> Simply citing reasons to expect that a claim will be true can come off as dismissive if someone has personal experiences that contradict the claim. <S> I'm reminded of an episode of 30 Rock in which one character notes that the roof is leaking, and another character responds "No, it's not. <S> We did a study." <S> Alex doesn't find this explanation acceptable because he thinks the information is not true. <S> Alex has already stated that he thinks that the information is not true. <S> Simply repeating that claim doesn't address Bob's response. <S> Alex believes that Bob's reply is just to protect himself from the higher officials (in the email cc), since they would be taking decisions based on the information in the email. <S> You don't make it clear at what point the cc's were added. <S> If there were in Alex's initial email, then it's quite reasonable for Bob to consider the higher officials to be part of the intended audience of Alex's initial email; it's rather silly to present higher officials with a claim, and then pretend that there is something untowards in Bob wishing to refute it. <S> On the other hand, if the conversation was initially between only Alex and Bob, and Bob cc'd the higher officials, then that does create the impression that Bob either was directing his response to the officials, and wasn't trying to resolve things with Alex directly, or was concerned that Alex would bring the officials into it and wanted figured that it would be more favorable to him if he got his side to them first.
| If Alex think's that Bob is wrong, he should respectfully point out the fact and (crucially
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How to reply to a recruiter if I am going on maternity leave soon? A recruiter from a high-profile company that I'd like to work for has reached out to me on LinkedIn. The trouble is I'm going on maternity leave in September and it's probably not a good time to start a new role. My current company also offers maternity leave income top-ups as a benefit so it'd be foolish for me to leave right now. I don't want to put the recruiter off but it looks like now is not the time to start a new role. Here's what I have so far: Thanks for reaching out. I certainly am interested in talking about opportunities at xyz company. I should probably let you know that I'm going on maternity leave in September. I'm due to return to work next March. <Q> If you want to say something, I'd change your current text to: Thanks for reaching out. <S> I certainly am interested in talking about opportunities at xyz company. <S> However, I am unable to change jobs before [date]. <S> We can discuss what would be available at that time or wait until closer to [date] if that makes more sense. <S> I'd leave out the specifics of why you can't leave yet. <S> It's medical information the recruiter doesn't need. <S> Also, people can make bad assumptions around someone else's maternity . <A> Wouldn't worry about it, to be honest. <S> Just say you're happy in your current role and aren't seeking to move yet. <S> Next year or whenever you feel up for it you can contact them again. <S> Not sure if I would bother letting them know why you aren't interested at the moment though beyond the generic <S> - it's not really any of their business. <S> The fact is, I rarely respond to LinkedIn messages since they're usually just scattershot mails using autopopulated fields. <S> The person who messaged you possibly doesn't even know that they did. <A> What you wrote in the question sounds fine. <S> If you say that you're not looking to move right now then that's just a needless lie that, if anything, only makes you look disinterested in the company. <A>
| You simply reply "I am not looking to change roles at this time". I can't see any harm at all in expressing your interest for the company now, and mentioning that you're going on maternity is not going to count against you in any way (except maybe at companies that you shouldn't want to work for anyway).
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Will hiring managers and recruiters understand why I left so early? I’ve been working as a software developer for the past six months at the same company. However, I’ve recently had thoughts of leaving for a company that better fits my interests (culture and team work). The main problem that concerns me is I left my first job after six months to work for the company I’m at now and I don’t want to be seen as a job jumper. I worked for a software consulting company right out of school but left after 6 months due to never being put at clients with work related to software engineering. I am now working at another company as a Software Engineer. I am guaranteed a year of work but may or may not be brought on full time at the end of the year. Three months in I had some concerns about the work and culture but stuck it out to see if anything changed. Six months in, I am starting to realize I don’t really like the work. Almost all of the work I do is by myself with small help from a senior developer. She works on multiple projects so she doesn’t have much time to spend with me. I can spend entire days without talking to anyone (besides lunch and small informal chats here and there) and that’s normal. There is basically no culture as a team. We never go out for drinks or anything of that nature. We pretty much show up then go home. Is this a valid reason for leaving? Will hiring managers understand my reasons for leaving so soon? I don’t want to be blacklisted as a job hopper but I also want to be happy and fulfilled when working in an industry I have great passion for. <Q> Back to back 6 month jobs certainly would be a red flag for hiring companies. <S> However, it sounds like your current job is actually a 1 year contract with the potential to go full time after. <S> This gives you a strategy to deal with your situation. <S> I would wait a few months and start looking for a new job, listing the current job as a 1 year contract on your resume. <A> Stick it out for at least a year. <S> Also, your coworkers are not your friends <S> Expecting them to get friendly with you, especially if you are on contract is a bit unrealistic. <S> Recruiters will not be sympathetic to your reasoning, and even though contract work excuses job jumping to some extent, it still raises concerns and you will be asked about it. <S> At that point, an answer like "there was no culture" is not going to earn you any points. <S> Work is not supposed to make you happy or fulfilled, but the paycheck justifies it. <S> If you were to interview with me and gave me those reasons for leaving, I'd have serious doubts about hiring you. <S> Now, after a year, you could move on and say that it wasn't a good fit because you do better in a collaborative environment, and the one you were leaving was one where everyone worked in isolation. <S> THAT would be perfectly acceptable. <S> But leaving two jobs after six months? <S> No, I wouldn't expect to be well received. <S> Stick it out for a year, then look, or start looking at about 11 months. <S> THAT you can justify with " <S> well, my contract is almost up, so I'm looking again" Or "I'm looking for permanent employment." <S> But right now, it's too soon to have too short jobs in succession. <A> IMHO, if you are on the contract you cannot be seen as Job-Jumper Contract implies term and, sadly, it is often a short-term <S> You should describe both of you current and previous engagements as term contracts. <S> And as great answer regarding job search - "looking for a full time position" No one wants to be hanging in mid air, hoping for contract renewal
| No one will question you trying to line up a new job near the end of a 1 year contract. No, this is not a valid reason for moving on.
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Asking me to sign a document to mention new employer if you leave the company I have a job offer and they sent me some documents to sign. There is no non-compete agreement but in the termination certificate annex (That I certify I returned all stuff etc) there is a line that asks me to specify who I will be working with after I leave the company along with the position. Is this common? I don't feel comfortable in this and can I not mention this when I decide to leave this company or if I do I will be sued? How to properly tell them I'm not comfortable with this in that case? (California based company if that matters. And its not a hard copy, its soft copy and I cannot strike anything) <Q> Edit (after learning that it was a soft copy) <S> If there is no hard copy to strike through, all you can do is tell HR etc that while you want to work for the company, you don't agree with that clause and request that it is removed. <S> Their response to that request will drive your next step. <S> Note that once you do sign, those conditions effectively become set in stone and will be nigh impossible to remove. <S> I would take the document, cross out that clause, initial the cross-out, take a copy of all documents and then return them to HR (or whoever) and note that you have made that change. <S> Then it becomes their issue to push on you if they want you to sign. <S> Only at that point you have to decide what you want to do. <S> More likely is that they will either ignore it or forget that it even exists - so when you do leave you can just pull up your copy of the document and "look at this!" <S> But IMHO there is no reason for them to know where you go. <S> (Gee I wasn't going to work with anyone .. <S> I'm taking 6 months off to travel!) <S> FWIW non-competes are pretty much unenforceable in California anyway. <A> It is highly unusual and very misguided. <S> It’s probably in the contract because someone thought it was a good idea, without considering what the candidate would think. <S> They probably have no idea what they would do with that information. <S> So I would say that I cannot see any legitimate reason why they would want that information and ask for it to be removed. <A> Hm, I would suggest you just tell them where you go next. <S> You are in California, and non-competes are, apparently, rarely enforced due to state laws. <S> But as Dan kindly points out in the comments <S> you don't have a non-compete <S> so why am I talking about one? <S> More to the point, where you go next is hardly a world-class secret. <S> It will appear on your linkedin, on your CV, everyone at google will be able to work it out by checking where you go each day with your phone... <S> heck, a company can just hire an investigator to follow you to work after you leave. <S> I have no idea why you would wish to dissemble from your company where you next go, but I also don't know why a company wants this on record. <S> One assumes you can just not fill it in at the time, or write whatever you like, should this truly bother you. <S> Nobody can force you to tell the truth outside a court of law, and I cannot see how a company could claim loss by being misinformed or not knowing where an employee works next <A> It's not common, and it's not enforceable. <S> . <S> If you "decide" one day after your last Friday that you'll start working at another company on Monday, that's no longer their concern. <S> (Yes, I suppose there's a hypothetical world where they could sue you and find out you signed an employment contract with somebody else before leaving, but this sounds exceedingly unlikely, since they would have nothing to gain.) <S> For example, I've worked for one whose official policy was that anybody joining their biggest competitor was to have their access terminated and be placed on gardening leave the moment they announced their resignation.
| As for why companies ask (and many will, although few would atttempt to bake it into the employment contract), many have special policies regarding certain competitors. You can simply state that you quit, your last day is X, and your next job is undecided.
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Addressing people in an email without using a title My question is that sometimes if I am unsure of a person's specific title, is it rude to use Mr. or Ms. if they do indeed have a doctorate? I often try to just address them as Dear John Doe, until I know what their title is. However, does it come across as rude or too relaxed if I use both their first and last name instead of a title? <Q> The answer is totally country-dependent. <S> I would not advise you to do this in Austria - there you should always try to find out the titles of the person and use them. <S> Try to google these norms - if in doubt, ask someone in your area or ask a question here with country-tag. <A> However, does it come across as rude or too relaxed if I use both their first and last name instead of a title? <S> Depends, but generally speaking there should be no problem with that. <S> Using Mr./Ms. <S> + last name is OK to do in case <S> you don't know the specific title they have. <S> If you then happen to find their title, you can use it instead. <S> However, have in mind that sometimes people don't like being called by titles, so the best course of action would be to ask them how do they prefer to be addressed. <S> Some people I've met even foresee this and ask in advance to drop the titles. <S> Bottom line, using Mr./Ms. <S> is Ok when in doubt, and use titles only if the person is not uncomfortable or against such use. <A> No it's not rude to just use Mr. or Ms. <S> I typically use just the person's first name (it's more inclusive non-binary individuals than Mr. or Ms.) that I am emailing unless it's a medical doctor or a professor.
| If you have met this person before, or you know them already, using their first names is OK, otherwise I'd try not to use just their first names as it is more personal phrasing. More generally, you should always use the norms of the country these persons are in.
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Two recruiters have contacted me about the same position. One suggests the other is unreliable. How do I handle this? I'm currently looking for work, and have been contacted by two recruiters about the same position. The first one asked me to confirm that I'm not in contact with anyone else regarding the same company , so when it became clear that the second one was about the same position I politely informed them that I could not work with them because I'm already in contact with someone else. I did not use any names. Then the second recruiter requested that I tell them who the first one is, as they claim that some are not really working with the companies they claim to be working with and only intend to create a fake rejection in order to promote other companies that they're working with. The way I see it, either or both of the above might be scamming me. If I decide to work with the first and the second is correct I could be passing on an opportunity. If I decide to work with the second one as well, I'd be going against what I said to the first. Although I don't believe it was legally binding, as no contract or anything was signed, it could make them less likely to want to work with me. How should I handle this situation? Edited to add additional question: Would it be acceptable to contact the company directly, not to apply, but to ask if the recruiters are sincere? Edited to add: It has been suggested that this is a duplicate of How to deal with a potential turf war between three recruiters for the same job? . However that question seems to be focused on genuine recruiters acting unprofessionally. I believe this one is different because it deals with a possibly fake recruiter. The answers given seem to agree with my gut, which is that the second recruiter is at the very least unprofessional and perhaps a scammer themselves. This opinion has been strengthened by their response when I formally requested that they remove my data from their records, which I will not quote but sounded like trying to intimidate me. <Q> "The first one asked me to confirm that I'm not in contact with anyone else regarding the same company" I've heard this before, it seems a little forward to ask, it is just them scoping out the competition but there is a good way of answering <S> , I would answer this like "I haven't applied nor have been in contact with this company about the role" so <S> you're not indicating you're using multiple recruiters (if you are) while answering the question providing the information that is most relevant. <S> Good call not to name names. <S> "Then the second recruiter requested that I tell them who the first one is, as they claim that some are not really working with the companies <S> they claim to be working with and only intend to create a fake rejection in order to promote other companies that they're working with." <S> This is incredibly forward and unprofessional. <S> There is no certain way that they know that is what the other is doing. <S> They could be doing the exact thing they are accusing the competition of. <S> Not to mention they are openly slating the competition rather than just trying to compete with them, dirty tactics and very unprofessional. <S> Big red flag. <S> You have the right not to tell them who your other recruiter is, people use multiple recruiters at a time. <S> Its normal. <S> I've used 3-4 at once to get roles before. <S> The one openly trying to slate the competition is the one least likely I would go with. <S> They come across as really unprofessional and presumptuous. <S> Personally I would go with the first one as it seems you have some form of agreement and understanding and they seem the more professional of the two. <A> One is certainly unreliable, and I'm inclined to think it's the second. <S> It is typical for recruiting companies to ask that you don't speak to other companies about the one you're dealing with as it causes all kinds of troubles as fees are involved. <S> In the very least, it's poaching their fee, at the worst, if you are double submitted to a company, the company will not even look at you. <S> The reason being is that the hiring company could get itself into a legal entanglement if both companies demand a fee, or if one does and one does not. <S> THE BEST WAY TO HANDLE THIS <S> Proceed with the first company and avoid the second. <S> Even if everything the second company said is true (which I doubt) <S> they are being very unprofessional about bad-mouthing a competitor. <S> So, if a company has the lack of ethics to bad-mouth a competitor, why would they suddenly have the ethics to speak truthfully about that competitor. <S> The second company sounds shady to me. <S> Go with the first. <A> I had recruiters chasing the same job when I was out of work in 2016. <S> Normally the call (from the recruiter) would be along the lines of: <S> Recruiter: <S> Hi, I'm calling about an opening we're trying to place at XYZ co. From your Indeed profile (or Monster or...) <S> you could be a good fit. <S> Me: <S> I was presented to them last week. <S> R: <S> Ok, XYZ Co. will only accept an application every six months. <S> I'm also working with... <S> A professional recruiter should respect that you've already been presented as a candidate to the hiring company. <S> A simple <S> "I can't share who submitted my application to XYZ Co. <S> I find your asking to be unprofessional'" <A> "The first one asked me to confirm that I'm not in contact with anyone else regarding the same company" This can very well be. <S> Some companies have strict policies on how to handle candidates, for example requiring that the same person has no more than one open application. <S> By knowing if you are already being proposed to a company, you make them save everyone's time. <S> "Then the second recruiter requested that I tell them who the first one is, as they claim that some are not really working with the companies they claim to be working with and only intend to create a fake rejection in order to promote other companies that they're working with." <S> Trash talking the competition is a bad way of doing advertising, and that hints on what the work ethic of these people is. <S> But, ethics concern aside, you can use this to your advantage, by asking both what they have to offer. <S> Their competition can turn into your advantage. <S> I was once in your same situation, and the second recruiter made clear that if went via them, they would have offered an higher salary than I was being offered by the first recruiter.
| Any recruiter that would trash talk another recruiter would be off my list of who I will work with. Inform the second one that you have already been working with the first one and as its already in motion you don't want to disrupt it. Do your research on the two companies.
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Does this mean that he has been put 'on hold'? My friend interviewed with a big multi-national corporation for a Software Engineer position two weeks ago. The day after the interview he received a call from the recruiter saying that they are extending an offer to him and asked him about his expectations, etc. He mentioned that the offer letter would be delivered to him by the end of the week. However, now it has been two weeks but he hasn't received it yet. When he contacted the recruiter, he was told that the letter is being generated and that he will receive it soon. My friend was actually supposed to start working after these two weeks, but he still does not have the offer letter. Could this mean that he has been put 'on hold' while the team is looking for a new member? Do recruiters and companies do this sort of thing - saying that you have been selected but then putting on hold? <Q> Do recruiters and companies do like this - saying that you have been selected but then putting on hold? <S> Sadly <S> yes, this is something that happens. <S> I can only speculate as to whether or not they're still planning to make you an offer; however, in the meantime, you can and probably should continue to quietly pursue other opportunities. <S> A lot of separate forces have to come together to approve a new hire, especially at large companies, and unexpected setbacks can occur at any point. <S> I don't mean to be discouraging--there's a good chance they're still planning to hire you and just need time to work out the logistics. <S> Just don't put all your eggs in one basket. <A> The number one rule here is to follow up a verbal agreement with an email transcribing what you've understood from the call/meeting, acting as a starting point for the paper trail. <S> And call again when you feel it's appropriate. <S> In this case, as the timeline was set for 2 weeks, I'd have sent them a generic reminder after about a week, then one in the middle of the following week, asking for an update about the written agreement, and become more pressing as time went by, until I had a satisfying answer. <A> As others have said, the offer is not an offer until it is in writing. <S> Therefore, even though "your friend" ( ;-) ) has an "offer", he does not actually have an offer. <S> As such, he should still be interviewing, and if he gets another offer with another company in the meantime, he should take it and throw this other company to the curb. <S> As for the timeline, he should make it clear to the company that he will not start working for them until the offer letter is delivered, signed, and returned. <S> Start dates are always negotiable, and no respectable company will expect someone to work for them without an official contract of employment. <S> Depending on his feeling about how much the company likes him, he may want to consider telling the company outright: "You may say you have an offer coming, but to me an offer is not an offer until it's in writing, so in the meantime I will continue interviewing elsewhere, and I may take a different offer if one is presented". <S> If the company in question really wants your friend, then this will kick their butt in gear to get the offer letter out ASAP; contrarily though it might make them question their offer if it comes off too aggressive and he's not a rock star. <S> I actually did this myself when I was interviewing for my current company when they did something similar to me, and I had the offer letter in hand the afternoon of the next day, although YMMV.
| Nothing is set in stone until you get an offer in writing.
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Freelance co-worker not doing anything at all TLDR: Alice is not doing her job and I end up pushing all the activities and doing her tasks because I'm afraid of being let go. Should I inform management about this ? The backstory: I've been sending a lot of cover letters via a popular freelance site and ended up landing a 30hr weekly remote job. The position was about QA Engineer(automated testing, manual testing, processes etc.) Everything was well and I started working on the project right away, however I found out that the company has hired one more person in the meanwhile for the same position so we would be working together. This didn't bother me at all since I am a team player and like to share knowledge and collaborate.(lets call her Alice) Then the first red flag came. We were going through the standard access/account creation process where there was a small misunderstanding between Alice and our supervisor where she caused a duplicate creation of accounts on production (nothing serious). I just confirmed that my account has been created only once and their discussion continued. After 2 minutes I received a PM on Slack from Alice which was something similar to "Hey Bob (I'm Bob) just to clarify/mention that we are here to bring quality to the product and we shouldn't be doing stuff behind our backs and backstabbing" . My response was: Of course I wouldn't agree more. This was a big red flag for me, because I didn't like the approach and context (it might be just me) The real problems came afterwards when we started doing tasks. We would have a meeting agreeing on priorities and distributing tasks between us. however Alice never did her tasks and since we were freelance I ended up doing all the work and pushing all the processes. After the daily sync she disappears and never says a word till the end of the day. I've also noticed she sometimes says stuff she hasn't done in our daily updates channel (I've confirmed my suspicion by crosschecking this a few times). Numerous times I've asked her to transfer our existing Smoke test suite from one tool to another, however she never did it and yesterday I ended up doing it since we had an issue leak on production because we missed it in our smoke test (I missed it since she never probably done it). Alice also asks obvious slacking questions (eg. Link to QA, after working for 2 months on the project, asks obvious discussed issues and questions that a QA would easily know after 1 day of testing) Up until now I was pushing all the QA activities and the management is very satisfied with the progress (I even received a raise). I have been working for 2 people for 2 months, since it is freelance and I just started so I didn't want to get fired (because management looked at us like we are in the same boat with Alice). We have an upcoming Go live and we have 2 days to finish up our regression suite so we can perform the test next week. I've communicated this with Alice and we agreed we will both be creating test cases. One day has passed and I created ~140 (creation means i just create titles with all the combinations) test cases and completed ~60 of them, but Alice has done none so far and there is one day left. So my question is: Should I talk to the management about her not doing her tasks, since I am scared we wont be ready for the regression and the blame will fall on me for Alice not doing her tasks ? I've never wanted to blame anyone or accuse, I've always said "We" even when I was doing something, but I am really getting frustrated of Alice's slacking and i don't want to lose this job. If i stop pushing for activities she will never move a finger and we both get fired EDIT: I haven't talked yet since it is a doubled edged sword, because she might start performing and I might end up as a backstabbing guy and not a team player (which is not at all my nature). EDIT 2: She also has no raised issues in our defect tracking system which is really weird and the others including me have raised a lot (most of them obvious). We also test resolved dev tasks and she has closed like 5 of them total, while me and the other QA colleague closed the rest. EDIT 3: To clarify that me and Alice are at the same position and we don't have a person assigning us tasks. We should be driving the whole QA process by ourselves and testing as a whole, however I am the only one doing this + creating tasks for both of us and coming up with activities to work on (So in other words i act as the lead) @Owen Hughes Yes we are using JIRA she has created 0 total tasks/defects. @user1666620 I am usually coming up with all the tasks and what should we do next, so that we are involved in the whole project and its activites. Alice just nods, agrees and proceeds to not do anything we agree on mutually and the management looks at us as a whole not as individuals. So if Alice doesn't work they will blame me also <Q> Make sure you've document all of the work you've done and let management know all the work you've been doing. <S> If Alice was assigned a task that you have ended up doing, management need to be aware that it was you who did it. <S> Do not assign blame, state it as a matter of fact. <S> If somebody else isn't performing, the only way that is your problem is if you are their supervisor. <S> You concentrate on your job. <A> Beat her with professionalism. <S> Make sure you are making your presence known on JIRA_ <S> *, commenting when things are done and awaiting sign off, assigning tasks back to the right PMs when completed etc. <S> This will flood the system with notifications with your name on showing that you are active on projects and thus busy. <S> Any work you are taking off her, take her JIRA task too, assign it to you and note in the comments you are taking this off her to do and comment why (youre trying to hurry things along etc), make sure its documented loudly. <S> This will make you look like the more productive one and in turn people may question what she is doing with her time. <S> You will have the JIRA logs and email chains to back you up. <S> Be vocally proactive, ask for more work, give constant updates on where you're at (even outside of stand ups), tell PMs you're taking X task of her to help her hurry things along, <S> things like that. <S> If you are hammering out JIRA tasks, taking tasks off her and giving constant vocal (and JIRA) updates and she is plodding along slowly on 1, who is going to be questioned about productivity? <S> If she messages you asking why you are doing the above or saying comments like she did, just be honest and professional. <S> If she is accusing you of anything all you are doing is your job. <S> It wont shed her in a good light if she is reporting you for those. <S> All of this may sound very passive aggressive but you will be looked upon as the more reliable, proactive and productive of the two. <S> _ <S> Its worth noting i <S> m using 'JIRA' in place of the tool youre using as I dont know the name of your Project Management tool. <A> Are you using a tool like Git to store your work? <S> Usually Version Control systems track who has committed what, how many lines of code, how many commits, etc. <S> If you do go to management, that may be something you can use to your advantage to show how much you have been doing compared to her. <S> Your JIRA contributions will definitely help too. <S> I don't know if talking to management is definitely the right solution though; maybe start using the word "I" instead of "we" when talking about what you've done (and keep track of what you've done as you do it in order to prove it). <S> This makes her have to say exactly what she has done too. <S> I don't know how you relay your progress to management/whatever, but I would say something like "over the past <S> X days, I have been finishing up Y area of the testing" - make it so she might feel like she has to justify the work she has done too instead of just smiling and nodding along. <S> As long as you can justify what you have done as an individual without coming across as vindictive or petty, I think the rest will eventually follow naturally. <S> I don't know if there's any need to talk directly to management about a colleague's performance unless it is the last straw.
| Some things that will solve the issue while equally calling her out, if youre not doing them already: Document everything you're doing.
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What reasons would a supervisor have for silently listening in to a phone interview being conducted by his subordinates? I've worked in the IT profession for 12 years and participated in maybe ~40 phone interviews as the interviewer and interviewee. Never have I seen or heard of the interviewer's boss silently listening in to the call and not introducing themselves. This happened for the first time I'm aware recently. In this case, the interviewer made an offhanded joke referring to his boss in the room. I see the red flags in this, as the subordinates may feel pressure to hold back on any perceived negatives. Their boss also called me personally to ask me to apply, as I had a previous working relationship with him elsewhere. I don't want to ignore red flags, but what would be neutral or positive reasons for this? Edit: I took @mutt's (obvious in hindsight) advice and asked the boss directly. Turns out I made an assumption that the subordinates were in a conference room. They were at their desks which are located next to the boss. While I question not being in a conference room for guaranteed privacy, it wasn't on the boss and more on the subordinates in that case. <Q> I personally would do this to know about the interviewer. <S> I would also introduce myself and let people know I am listening in, but I have run into a few folks that seem to like to be secretive. <S> It is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does indicate they are a type of person that keeps secrets vs. sharing alot of info with others. <S> This could be a red flag, but you really should just ask them why they are on there without introducing themselves if you want to know. <S> There is not enough information to assume anything realistic or certain from this simple interaction. <S> Also, there are some places that require supervision on interviews for internal company political reasons. <S> If the boss must be on the interview but really doesn't plan on saying anything this could be a reason. <S> Again, when in doubt on something like this your best bet is to be direct and ask. <S> Their response will either throw red flags or ease them which it sounds like <S> that is what you need in this case. <A> Personally I (technical team lead) would see it fit in the following occasions training/feedback; I have a junior co-worker which starts to do interviews. <S> In such interviews I typically make a very brief introduction like ('i am another colleague') and remain silent for the rest of the interview, and then share my thoughts about how my colleague performed in the interview later; I could imagine that some people may even skip the short introduction completely. <S> schedule. <S> Sometimes my colleague starts without me (i have a tight schedule). <S> Instead of interrupting the interview by introducing myself when it is already ongoing for 20 min, i rather remain silent instead of making the candidate more nervous. <A> IMHO, there can be 2 main reasons, neither of is reflection on you. <S> Subordinate is being shadowed by the boss as part of training / skill confirmation <S> You mentioned that you are familiar with the boss person <S> , perhaps he didn't want to cut his subordinate from the conversation, that happens a lot when interview parties are familiar
| In general a boss would "listen in" to get the gist of the candidates, but most likely to get the style of the interviewer themselves to know better how they go about interviewing and selecting candidates.
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Office manager smoking in office; how can we make this stop? The office manager will often smoke in her office after 5:00 pm while some of us are still working. The air conditioning carries the smoke into our offices. I have asthma/bronchitis and the smoke makes me choke and cough. It also hurts my eyes and throat. Another person in the office has a heart condition and is not supposed to be exposed to second hand smoke. It is against the law in our state for anyone to smoke in the office. Several people in the office have gone to the owner of the company and asked that it stop. He has repeatedly asked her to stop but she has not. What can we do? <Q> First, if you haven't already, I'd suggest you speak to her directly about this issue. <S> Sometimes it's better and more effective than just escalating to the owner or superior. <S> Politely explain to her about the harm this causes to you, and ask her to stop this (or at least go outside to have a smoke). <S> When she sees that her smoking is impacting several coworkers she will surely reconsider. <S> If this proves ineffective, even after repeatedly asking her directly, escalating would be the alternative. <S> You say you already have taken this to the owner, whom has asked her to stop doing this. <S> In a way, disciplining this person is responsibility of the owner ; you can escalate and also make the owner aware that the problem continues, but it's up to that person to decide what actions to take. <S> On a more personal note, any decent owner should be aware of the relevance of this situation (both for the legal and health aspects), and should take swift action if the smoking continues. <S> I doubt that this situation will continue indefinitely, as it is likely the owner is close, if not already there, to give her an ultimatum. <A> In the UK, according to https://www.gov.uk/smoking-at-work-the-law <S> it is a fine of up to £200 for the smoker, and up to £2,500 for the employer if they don't stop the smoking. <A> Some of the existing answers take the approach of convincing the smoker to just wait until everyone who is sensitive to smoke has gone home. <S> That's not enough -- even if the smoker only smokes when they are alone in the office, the smoke gets into everything and can cause problems for sensitive people the next day or in the longer term. <S> (It can also cause long term damage to computers and other office equipment .) <S> In any case, it doesn't matter -- it's illegal to smoke in the office. <S> Period. <S> It's an OSHA violation, it may cause problems with insurance, and more and more, society sees it as just plain rude. <S> I'd put it in email <S> so there is a paper trail: <S> Firstname: <S> In addition to it being illegal, bad for the computers, and probably a violation of the fire insurance policy, it's directly affecting the health of several of your co-workers. <S> Please step outside to take your smoke breaks in the evening <S> , as you already do during the day; we know it's inconvenient, but your smoking is inconveniencing everyone else, especially those who are still in the office and directly exposed to your second-hand smoke. <S> Thanks! <S> YourFirstName <S> (and on behalf of other members of the OfficeName team.) <S> If that letter doesn't make the office smoking stop (and it is unlikely to, as you said the owner has already tried), then you can follow up with a letter to the owner (forwarding a copy of the first email, and any email response the smoker is unwise enough to send) where you request that he address the conditions in the office, mentioning how many times you and others have already spoken to him about the problem. <S> I know you have tried before to address this issue, but it's helpful to get a paper trail of this long-standing problem before you file a complaint with OSHA or your state regulatory agency. <A> You mention that she does this after 6. <S> Assuming she has been in the office all day, it's likely she's waiting until she thinks it's ok to smoke. <S> All you need to do is convince her to wait a little longer. <S> Perhaps she waits until the boss is gone and she won't be caught, or until one particular employee who she knows has health issues with it is gone. <S> You need to know which it is, and this is best done by asking her. <S> The moment you smell that smoke, stop by her office or use a chat app if that's what your office uses, and <S> ask "how come you smoke in here in the evenings? <S> " If you want, you can add "it really affects my breathing" or the like. <S> Depending on the answer, you could then say something like <S> Well, if you smoke while I am here, I'm going to email the boss and report it, because I was told the boss had arranged for there to be no smoking when I'm working or <S> Well, just because X has gone home doesn't mean nobody is hurt by the smoke. <S> I am, for example <S> Either way, try to end on a positive note like <S> I would really appreciate if you could wait until I am also gone. <S> If you like, I can let you know when I'm headed out. <S> And then smile. <S> You have control here because you know the boss doesn't want this happening. <S> You're offering her a way to get some of what she wants (smoking after you leave.) <S> Should you mention the heart condition person? <S> I wouldn't at first. <S> It could trigger a sense of being ganged up on. <S> If your approach works, you can just repeat it for the other person.
| Please don't smoke in the office in the evenings. This would be more effective if you do it with the support of other coworkers that are also uncomfortable or harmed by the second-hand smoke, like your coworker with the heart condition.
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After close to two years, Senior is still suggesting unsolicited changes that break code I used to be a Junior at my work. The 25 year Senior who sat next to me has taken to coming over to me and making suggestions about changing and reordering my code... Initially I took him at face value and tried to implement to his suggestions, but I have found the suggestions he makes usually either totally break or at best degrade the quality of my code. I get on well with the Senior on a personal level and sometimes he does achieve valuable things with his own code -- in some ways strangely because he often seems to be telling me to implement practices he avoids in his own code. The conversations around this are increasingly taking up my time to the point of almost getting in the way of my producing to task. Today we got to a point where after my rebuffing numerous suggestions on the grounds of them being unworkable or involving a focus on polishing minutia at the expense of MVP we got to the point of him saying "yes, but if you finish this yourself what will other people have to do?". There is far more to do than could possibly be done and always lots to be getting on with, and I even suggested he could contribute to the task if he wanted -- something he didn't seem very keen on. After two years, at the point I will soon be Senior, another developer has started joking about how when this Senior 'helps' him he wants to die. A female Senior said 'he's joking, but he's actually not'. As I said I get on well with him in general, but I am keen to resolve this issue before it escalates. How best to deal? <Q> I am a Junior at my work. <S> Often recently the Senior who sits behind me has taken to coming over to me and making suggestions about changing and reordering my code... <S> He's giving off the cuff advice. <S> He is trying to help you, but he's not doing a good job at it. <S> Initially I took him at face value and tried to implement to his suggestions, but I have found the suggestions he makes usually either totally break or at best degrade the quality of my code. <S> Quality of code is very subjective. <S> Does your R&D department have documentation that outlines code quality? <S> My experience has been that juniors don't translate advice from seniors into practical application. <S> A lot gets lost in translation and there is a lack of common ground to fill in the gaps. <S> Maybe he's telling you to implement "A" and you've implemented "B". <S> You can see that "B" isn't really that good. <S> You feel like your work was railroaded and next he comes along and says you should implement "C", but again you implement "D". <S> I can't blame you for getting frustrated. <S> It's a communications problem. <S> Document, document, document. <S> Use email, a document or a bug tracker but do get it in writing. <S> Respond to him with your questions but try to organize your questions in a single response. <S> Include source code examples, reference files or provide links to the Internet to verify what design patterns should be followed. <S> If he won't provide written version of his advice, then you write it down and forward it to him for his review. <S> Ask for clarification on anything that isn't clear. <S> Pair Programming <S> Next time he comes over to you ask him to sit down next to you. <S> Hand him the keyboard and mouse. <S> Ask him to demonstrate what he means. <S> Ask him to write some of the source code. <S> Ask him to stay while you give some of his advice a try. <S> Let him see how it causes you trouble . <S> Give him the chance to explain how to fix it. <S> Ask him to come back and do it again . <S> Learn to write code together. <A> I may be wrong about this, but it sounds to me like your senior is just joking around with you. <S> Both the suggestions of changes that break the code, and also the flippant remark about no one else having work to do sound like sarcasm to me. <S> Because you're a junior, you may not realize the suggested code changes are bad until you make them. <S> In this case, ask him if he's serious when you aren't sure. <A> IMHO, move his suggestions avenue to traceable medium and separate it from personal interactions, where you say you getting along. <S> Tell him to send you an email due to being a bit busy currently to understand his entire suggestion. <S> Believe me, you will get maybe 10% of what you have now from him. <A> Carry on with what you know and take your feedback for improvement from the normal sources like reviews etc,. <S> Many peoples work experience is of inferior quality even if they have been in an industry for decades. <S> Just politely ignore the suggestions, it's not a beauty pageant and popularity isn't a primary focus above putting out solid work and advancing your professional career. <S> After a while he'll find someone else to bug. <A> This may be a cultural thing. <S> In some cultures “suggestions” are taken as orders and not following them would be highly confrontational. <S> In other cultures, making suggestions shows you are interested, but you would ignore suggestions unless you think yourself they were a good idea. <S> The senior might not even realise that you follow suggestions against your better judgement. <S> I would suggest that you are open to suggestions, but always do what you think is the best unless someone orders you to do otherwise and takes responsibility for it.
| Next time he offers advice ask him to put it in writing. Just ignore suggestions that do not improve your code, I'd just ignore the whole lot after the first fiasco or two. Seniority does not automatically mean better or even more knowledgeable. Get everything in writing. The response would be to laugh it off and continue writing (good) code.
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Should I try to push back on my boss' decision to remove a feature that it useful to myself and other employees? Recently, my boss announced a decision to no longer allow me and my coworkers to swap or drop shifts using the When I Work app. Their alternative has been that all parties must physically be present to fill out paperwork to allow for time off or a shift change. Though this option has been available for the duration of the time I have worked here since the arrival of the app in our workplace, myself and many of the other younger employees have found it to be much easier and a lot faster to make these changes. The main issue I take with this change is that it requires the signing off of both parties, which may not always be possible due to differences in schedules or emergencies in which someone covers for someone else at the last minute. The app is even set up to require consent for time off and notifications of any changes made. The reason cited by my boss is that too many changes are being made at one time and that some associates are not following through on their commitments. While the latter I can very well see being true, that does not mean the rest of us should be rendered unable to utilize the easiest avenue for change as need be. The former, however, I believe to be more deeply rooted in a desire to prevent employees from obtaining too many hours, which would cause the system to pay out overtime. I have observed my boss talking to a coworker about trading shifts with another coworker, a swap that occurred on the day of the shift. Both are capable of carrying out the tasks necessary throughout the day, and neither was obviously absent, so a failure to carry out one's duties was not the case at hand here. All in all, I do think that this comes down to a need to control the employees on the behalf of my boss, and to their credit, they are still rather new and establishing authority. Admittedly, this is a bit of motive-guessing on my behalf. However, I sincerely do not believe this is the best path they could have taken, and would like to propose the restoration of permissions to swap and drop shifts on the app. On the contrary, I am not entirely certain this is appropriate for me. While I have been there much longer, I feel this could be perceived as challenging my boss' authority when my only real intention is to be able to easily change shifts (I do not feel like making an unnecessary 20-minute drive out to my workplace only to sign off on a shift change with someone else). My question then is this: should I push back on this decision, and if so, how? Side Note: I am fairly certain this could have been posted to IPS as well, but I chose to ask the question here to better garner responses that deal with the workplace side of this issue rather than the interpersonal aspects that will likely play a role in whatever decision I ultimately make. If you believe this decision to be in error, please let me know and I will appeal to have this moved to the appropriate Stack. <Q> You need to provide your boss an alternative which will address the reasons he is making this change. <S> He wants to Limit overtime costs. <S> Ensure that employees will show up for work. <S> He may have other reasons you need to learn from talking to him. <S> You need to show him how the current app or an alternative app has the following features: <S> The app prevents people from swapping shifts if it will put them in an overtime situation. <S> The app allows your boss to easily turn off the ability to swap shifts for employees who miss shifts. <S> Address any other concerns he has. <A> should I push back on this decision <S> No, at the moment you're just second guessing motivations and it's not your decision to make. <S> New bosses may just stir the pot to see if anyone wants to volunteer for disciplinary action in order to establish their authority. <S> Not the most likely scenario, but I have seen it happen more than once. <A> I encountered this situation many times in my career and with a good motivation about why you want to do in your own way you can change the mind of your boss. <S> If your boss is smart and open-minded <S> he doesn't have to be upset on you if you disagree with him. <S> But just speak in a professional way, be objective, not subjective to avoid bad interpretations. <A> Maybe it goes without saying, but since nobody else said it yet: <S> Keep any such conversation private, between you and him. <S> If he's trying to establish authority, the last thing he needs is a respected employee questioning his decision in front of others. <S> On the other hand, sharing your suggestions privately might actually build trust. <S> Similarly, if you do discuss it with him, base it only on your interests and his. <S> Ask for the flexibility <S> you want/need, but don't try to advocate for your co-workers directly. <S> His decision to stop allowing the old system indicates that some of your co-workers were using it in a way that's a problem for him. <S> If you're more reliable than them, he might be willing to treat you more flexibly, especially if you have a specific reason. <S> One other approach, again in private conversation, would be to offer your ideas on flexible scheduling, as suggestions to help him be successful in his role. <S> For this to work, you have to sincerely want to help him be successful, and open-minded that he may take your ideas or leave them. <S> He may or may not agree that allowing such flexible scheduling helps him be successful.
| First you can try to tell your boss why this feature is necessary to be there and how much does it help you and your teammates.
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Referring a friend to a company where I don't work I recently interviewed with Software Company X, declined their job offer, and left the process on good terms. They were not quite the right fit for me at this point in my career, but I could potentially see myself contacting them again down the road. Now, I have a close friend who has applied to several positions at X and has not gotten any response. The friend has asked me if I will put in a good word for him with my recruiter (who is internal to Company X). Obviously, I would like to do a nice favor for my friend, since he's very excited about this company. But I have some hangups: In general, I don't know whether it is considered unprofessional to refer a friend to a company where I don't work. Is this a faux pas that would somehow damage my relationship with Company X? While I went to school with this friend (our majors were tangentially related to our current jobs) and can vouch for him as a generally smart and talented person, we went (relatively) separate ways in our careers and I have not actually worked with him professionally at any point. Also I don't really have an understanding of what the company is looking for in the roles he is interested in. So, I can't genuinely vouch for how good a fit he is for these positions. So all in all, I would like to do a nice thing for my friend, but I am hesitant to full-on tell the recruiter that she should (re?)consider his resume. Given this information, would it be potentially harmful to my relationship with Company X to refer my friend? Edit I think this isn't quite a duplicate of this question because of several complicating variables: My friend solicited this favor --- it wasn't my idea. My friend has already sent in several job applications to this company which have not gotten responses. It is a personal friend, not a previous coworker. <Q> would it be potentially harmful to my relationship with Company X to refer my friend? <S> Harm your relationship perhaps not, unless you were too insistent or unprofessional in the way you do it. <S> Or well, if the candidate you refer ends up being less experienced than portrayed. <S> However, they may find it strange or out of place... <S> Why? <S> Because such reference will have few to null weight , as you are not in a position to be recommending candidates to this company; you've never worked there for them to trust and respect your professional expertise for your references to have the desired impact on them. <A> It doesn't sound like you have a good enough relationship with the recruiter/company to refer your friend, and it doesn't sound like you have enough professional knowledge of your friend to do so either. <S> BUT It does sound like you have a good enough relationship with the recruiter to drop him a friendly message, asking about your friend, and containing the info in your post here. <S> I'm thinking something along the lines of: Hi { Internal Recruiter } <S> I was talking to a friend of mine about your company, and he mentioned that he'd applied too, but not received any response. <S> I know from when I went to school with him <S> that's <S> he's a generally smart and talented person, but I've not actually worked with him professionally at any point. <S> Is there any chance you could do a me a favour and check the status of his application and/or give any feedback? <S> Thanks <S> Adam <S> This is just leveraging your professional network to help your friend a little bit, while avoiding the "putting your reputation on the line" that happens with a referral. <A> It's true that your recommendation, as someone who does not work there, will probably not carry much weight. <S> However, it might be enough to make sure that an actual human, and not just a brain dead key-word matching system, takes a look at his application. <S> On the flip side, since you are so tenuously connected to the company, it also seems unlikely that his performance--or lack thereof--would be tied back to you, unless it was absolutely spectacular (in either direction). <S> This is particularly true if you recommend him to the recruiter, who probably does not know much about hired employees' skill levels. <S> It seems like your friend would appreciate it, recruiters often appreciate leads, and there's minimal risk. <S> Go for it! <A> would it be potentially harmful to my relationship with Company X to refer my friend? <S> If for any reason there is an issue with your friend, then company X will blame you. <S> But if you 100% trust your friend to be a decent worker ( behaviour and skill) then there should be no issue. <S> In the end, if your friend is hired then it is the company responsability as they think it is a good fit. <S> But be sure that your friend's performance will reflect what the company X thinks of you.
| I can't see any harm in a low-key comment to the recruiter.
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Should I add interviewer on Linkedin before Interview? I have an important interview this week and I happen to know my interviewer's information. I need some advice on whether I should add my interviewer on Linkedin before the interview. I am not intended to ask any question about my interview details. I am just not sure if it is a good idea to say Hi before the interview so that he may have more impression on me. Any suggestions would be appreciated. <Q> View their profile, don't add them to your contacts list. <S> If you have your interviewer details, you have them for a reason - the company wants you to be prepared to the best of your abilities. <S> For some people it means they also want you to see someone's face, or be able to know the name before the meeting, so you have one less reason to stress about during the actual interview. <S> View their profile, and also view a profile of other people who work for the company. <S> Get familiar with the work they are doing, check people you might work with, check if they write a blog, or lead a podcast - if so, check it out too! <S> You might use it to your advantage during the interview, you might learn a thing or two. <S> Consider following the company you're going to interview to express your interests and proactive attitude. <S> Don't add them to your networking list on LinkedIn just yet. <S> While it wouldn't necessarily hurt you (although you might be perceived as overeager!), it's better to wait for a connection request until you actually meet the person. <S> Do that after the interview! <S> Send the request with a post-interview thank you note . <S> You might score some extra points, remind about yourself and get them a second chance to get familiar with the type of work you've been doing so far. <A> Well, or, I should say I have some candidates add me <S> right before the interview <S> ; sometimes I'm interviewing people who have been connected to me for a long time (IMO the ideal case). <S> I don't mind it. <S> My assumption is that they are trying to learn about the company and about me to determine their level of interest in the position and to prep for their interview. <S> If it turns out they're a grade-A psycho, which has only happened to me once in years of hiring, I can always drop 'em later. <S> So add them, but have a reason for adding them - if a candidate were to add me and then in the interview appear to not know anything about me or my company <S> , I'd kinda wonder what their problem was and take it as a mild negative. <S> Don't just add them to be "friendly" or something. <S> Add a message about your intent <S> , e.g. "Hi! <S> I'm interviewing with your organization next week <S> and I wanted to connect and learn more about you to prepare." <A> This might seem to be presumptive of you. <S> On the other hand, it might be viewed as proactive. <S> I'd err toward being cautious and use what information that you can publically see - people who don't want to be stalked won't want to be stalked. <S> People who accept all invitations probably won't bother looking at each invite to see who they are. <S> My manager refuses all LinkedIn connections simply because he gets so many. <S> I'd assume this interviewer will be the same. <S> I personally refuse all invitations where the person doesn't bother to change the default message. <S> Even then I'll only accept if I really want that connection. <A> I don`t think you should do it. <S> As HR professional they most likely have premium and have access to your LinkedIn profile if they need to, so you information already available to them. <S> Adding him can go unnoticed or stir up his guessing game about your motivation / next step. <A> As a seasoned Sales Manager, with F500 experience, I would recommend that you review the profile of each person you will interview with, a day before your interview time, if poss. <S> See if there are any mutual connections to pull from, and if so, reach out to them for a reference if appropriate. <S> At the very least, you are doing your due diligence to learn more about your prospect (the interviewer). <S> IMO, interviewers should appreciate when they see that you looked them up on LI. <S> Good luck!
| As an interviewing manager in tech, I have some candidates add me as a LinkedIn contact prior to interviewing.
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What do I risk by participating in a recruitment process for a position I'm probably not interested in I've applied for position A at a big company. They replied that they would see me in position B (the same level, a different focus) and asked whether I'm interested. I'm not convinced I'm interested in B. Actually, I'm quite sure I'm not. However, I figure that positions are sometimes described unrealistically. I've already had interviews during which a position that was good on paper resulted to be something totally different. So maybe it happens also the other way round? That's why I would like to go to the interview. However, I'm not sure if by going there I don't risk being excluded from future applications for positions related to A or other areas, but not related to B. What is the right strategy here? Should I tell them in advance that I probably won't be interested but would love to learn more anyway? Of course the question is different from a question whether a person should go to an interview for a position they are interested in, but wouldn't accept just now . These are two different situations. <Q> Well, are you sure or are you not that you don't like position B? <S> If you still want to know more about position B, I suggest you carry on with the process. <A> I am currently working on a position I did not apply for, and am happy it worked out this way. <S> I do not think you risk anything, but there is certainly a lot to gain. <S> Originally I applied for a position A. <S> While waiting for a reply, the company posted a new job offer B, which I was also interested in. <S> I called HR and asked whether it was possible to send another application for B, and was told not to worry: During interviews, it is common to check if there are other, more suitable positions. <S> In the end I decided to neither go for A or B, but for C, which came up only during the interview process. <S> One year later, I am still happy with that. <S> When re-reading the job offer for my current position C even now, I would still not apply for it. <S> Often it is not easy to describe in a few sentences what a position is about, what you will do on a daily basis, what there is to learn, what opportunities are connected to it, and so on. <S> It is far easier to gain that kind of insight during an interview. <S> Additionally, there is a lot to learn about yourself from this. <S> Why did the company think that you are better suited for B? <S> Maybe they are correct. <S> What do you lack to be offered position A? <S> This is something you can work on. <S> And finally, I do not think there is a risk here. <S> You stated from the very beginning that you are interested in A. Nothing changes about that, just because you state that you might also interested in B. <A> It is up to you (obviously). <S> If you want to get a foot in the door, get some face time with people at the company, and get some interview practice, then go right ahead. <S> If you don't want any of that and are sure you don't want the role, then be honest with them and decline because it would be a waste of everyone's time if you know you don't want the spot. <S> Let them decide from there if they want to entertain you in spot A <S> or if they really need to fill spot B and they need to go look elsewhere.
| During the next interview learn the most you can about position B, so you can then know if you consider it taking it or not. If you are sure, then you are going to waste your time and theirs in a process you know you won't complete and reject the moment you get an offer.
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How can I be more "proactive" at my job? Some background: I'm a programmer working in a group of electrical engineers in a very engineer-focused department. I have no education or training as an engineer, and have next to no overlap with my coworkers in my duties. I was hired three years ago to take on reporting, automation, programming, and database administration for this group (i.e. purely technical tasks). My first boss, let's call him Andy, was rarely around and thus we barely spoke. He unofficially assigned a coworker of mine, let's call her Sue, to supervise me. I very quickly automated my daily tasks, taking what previously amounted to a full day's worth of busywork into around 30-60 minutes. After that, I repeatedly asked Sue for more work, but she rarely had anything to do. At the end of the year, Andy gave me a poor performance review, saying that while I did my job very well, I didn't "go above and beyond," saying I should have asked for more work (even though I did). The next year, Andy and Sue left the group, and I got a new supervisor. Let's call him Bob. Bob was very communicative, friendly, and supportive, however he also rarely gave me anything to do, despite my repeated requests and communication to him of my situation on my daily tasks. Despite this, Bob gave me a favorable performance review. Then this year, Bob left and I have a new supervisor. Let's call her Cindy. Cindy is not as communicative as Bob, but slightly better than Andy, since she's at least around most of the time. I tried my best to explain to her my situation, but she changed my very detailed job description to something along the lines of "perform daily duties and help as needed." I tried to communicate to her that in the past I have received little guidance as to what is expected of me and that clear communication and direct delegation of duties would help me to be as productive as possible (i.e. I can't read people's minds), however, she seems to have disregarded this. While my workload has temporarily increased slightly due to a new project that is soon coming to a close, I find myself being harshly criticized by Cindy for not being "proactive." In these scenarios, there was a task that Cindy wanted me to perform that often is only tangentially related to my daily duties, however in these cases she either did not inform me of the task, or delegated the task to herself or another employee. She will not allow me to explain my position when reprimanding me, so I can't help but feel like at the very least, there's some sort of miscommunication going on here. Starting this year I have kept a log of tasks I have performed that are outside of my daily duties, however the list can be a bit bare if no tasks are delegated to me or there are no fires for me to put out. I'm fairly certain that if this continues, I will have another poor performance review that criticizes me for not being a mind reader and that this will damage my chances at finding future employment. I feel like I'm at my wits' end, here. TL;DR : I'm in an awkward position in my group where I have completely different duties than my coworkers, I keep getting new supervisors who won't delegate work to me despite my asking for it, and they keep criticizing me for not doing more than what I'm asked. My question: How can I be more "proactive" in my job when I'm not given work to do outside of daily duties, and my boss often fails to delegate necessary tasks, or is there some larger issue here that I'm not seeing? <Q> To me, asking for work when you are completed with your tasks is different from being proactive. <S> Being proactive is doing what needs to be done without someone asking you to do so, such as when you automated a lot of your job. <S> Are there other pain points you can automate or optimize? <S> Document the problem and the existing statistics, implement your solution and share the new statistics. <S> Learn to network with other folks in your department and other departments, look for new possible projects and ask to join them. <S> There is another problem. <S> Because your manager keeps changing, the expectations on your work keep changing. <S> Your new manager might be not delegating your tasks, because 1) she is looking to downsize and make your job obsolete or 2) <S> you are missing some essential skill to take on the project. <S> For 2) understand what skillset is missing and pick it up. <A> Simple. <S> In your opinion. <S> Then you send an email to Cindy saying " <S> Hi Cindy, I think XYZ needs doing, so I'll start with this unless you have more important things". <A> The same situation has apparently been going on for 3 years now. <S> From your post I infer that you are not an engineer but have enough skills to function in a support role. <S> It is possible that your skills would allow deeper collaboration but for some reason this is not happening. <S> Maybe it’s a culture issue, only educated engineers are trusted with deeper tasks. <S> Maybe the skills gap between you and the engineers is such that you would need a phd to join them. <S> And maybe some long standing managerial issues are in your way. <S> Either way, you need to take charge, not of “tasks” but your life and future. <S> Clearly the three year old situation can’t continue. <S> Go back to school and join the engineers. <S> Or find a work place where your skills and personality match the culture better.
| For 1) start studying for a new role. If you have no work to do, then look around you and find some work that would make sense to do.
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How to handle a subordinate who asks the same question repeatedly? I just joined a new company. My team of direct reports is new as well. We all started the same day. I have a direct report who tends to ask the same question multiple times but rephrased. For example, she questioned why a document was set up a certain way which could be confusing. I replied, "I don't know but I will reach out to the person who created it and find out." I asked some clarifying questions to get her perspective. She then asks "But why is it like this?" I replied again I will find out. She proceeds to tell me again that it can be confusing and needs to know why. If this had been one isolated incident I would not think much of it, but it happens frequently. I am not sure if she is trying to showcase her knowledge or if there is something I am missing. I have heard several side comments made to peers that makes it clear she is motivated by money. She is also concerned about her having to deal with more clients than her peers if she is faster. How could I help this person, but without having to repeat myself over and over again? I want to handle this as professional as possible. <Q> Put the ball in her court. <S> After she repeats the question for the third time, tell her: Like I said before, I will ask the document author and let you know. <S> I would ask you to wait until get the information. <S> If that doesn't work for you, I suggest a couple of other options: (1) you can ask the document author directly for clarification, or <S> (2) you can suggest edits to the document, and send it to the document author for review. <S> What would you prefer to do? <S> This would most certainly stop her repeated complaints, because it is very easy to complain, but solving the problem requires effort. <S> If she chooses one of these two options, even better! <S> Money is the primary (or only) motivation to work for a lot of people. <S> Nothing wrong with it, so don't worry about it. <S> To address her concern about having to deal with more clients, ensure she is suitably rewarded (higher salary, promotions, awards, etc.). <S> If everyone gets the same reward regardless of the quantity and quality of work done, few people would be motivated to work more than the bare minimum necessary to keep the job. <A> I found that people who ask the same question but slightly differently tend to not want to ask the real question due to fear of appearing incompetence or otherwise. <S> It may also be a XY problem where she ran into a problem but doesn't want to actually describe the problem, only the proposed solution (trying to find a documentation on it). <S> For example, "Why is this document written like this?" <S> "What do you mean?" <S> "It is confusing like this." <S> "What part is confusing?" <S> "I don't know. <S> The whole thing is poorly written. <S> " <S> "Are you unable to do something because of a poorly written manual?" <A> Normally people ask a question because they want an answer. <S> A reply would be <S> "You asked me the same question a second ago <S> and I told you I don't have the answer now. <S> Why are you asking me again?" <S> The technique is to force her to make the effort. <S> She's not a child who can keep on asking " <S> But why?". <S> If she tried to "showcase her knowledge", that would be a rather bad way to do it. <S> If she asked me twice I would assume she is a bit slow on the uptake. <S> Being motivated by money is fine. <S> As long as you make sure that pay is related to what people do for the company, and not related to how much they ask for money. <S> Sales teams can be organised badly in a way that people make money by backstabbing their colleagues, or by making deals that are actually bad for the company. <S> So you need to make sure that being motivated by money translates into being motivated to do things that are good for the company. <S> Concerns about having to do more work if she works faster than others: Again, it is up to you to recognise who does more for the company and reward it. <S> And of course, she has to work faster than others for this to become a concern.
| Some people don't get it when you tell them that you don't have the answer and ask again. So in the situation with the document, maybe she is trying to locate information and you should ask her what she is trying to do.
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Can an employer reject a job application based on not having a passport? I was contacted by a company after providing them my CV. After that, a few weeks down the line they asked me what my status is in the UK and stated they need this information for a security clearance. They asked me for the following: All of my nationalities : I declared ones I am national of other than 1 Whether I had been in UK for the last 10 years : YES Whether I hold a UK passport : NO However, they rejected my application saying they can't obtain a security clearance for me as I don't have a UK passport. My question is, can an employer reject an application just because a candidate doesn't have a UK passport? I am a bit surprised because my current company does a DBS check every 6 months and they don't have any issue with checking security clearance for me. Update I am not UK national yet and only have 1 nationality even though I even forgot I am not being living here for so long ! Thank you everyone for helpful insights. <Q> Of course they can ! <S> If the job requires UK nationality (or more specifically UK passport) then that is exactly what they want <S> and that is exactly what they are doing. <S> (Most government projects in most countries require that) <A> Answer: <S> Yes, they can! <S> I believe you are confusing a background check with obtaining security clearance. <S> A background check is simply verifying you have no criminal record. <S> Security clearance is usually required for government contracts and has much stricter requirements. <A> Therefore, without the security clearance, you do not have the credentials required to perform the job, so you cannot take the job if you don't have the required credentials. <S> I don't know how it works in the UK, but perhaps you can contact some government authority there and ask if there is a way that you can assist the company to perform the security clearance? <S> I certainly would not lose a potential job offer over the cost to get a passport! <A> All of my nationalities : I declared ones I am national of other than 1 <S> I have a feeling <S> this is why they rejected you, <S> not because you don't have a passport. <S> If you're a UK Citizen, you should be able to get a passport. <S> But omitting being a foreign national on a job requiring security clearance isn't going to fly. <A> No actually you can get DV clearance with out a passport - I have direct personal experience. <S> I went for an avowed job at HMGCC (think sort of like the NSA) <S> which was a DV clearance <S> (TS in USA speak) <S> Job. <S> BTW as this is an avowed job <S> I am not breaking the Official secrets act. <S> My lack of passport wasn't a problem. <A> I would suggest that this question comes from the wrong frame of mind. <S> It will be much healthier for you to assume that your employer can and will do whatever they want - the law and good taste notwithstanding. <S> You will never force your employer to do anything they don't want to do and if you are thinking of a lawsuit or compliant to government body to do so, you're one step away from messing your career up. <S> If you don't like the way you are being treated in a job, find a way to leave gracefully. <S> It holds as much for a job applicant as a current employee.
| Perhaps all you need to do is apply for and receive a passport; I don't know about the UK, but in Canada where I live, if you are a citizen it's very easy and affordable to get a passport. So my answer to your question is "yes they can do whatever they want IF you want to be successful there." The employer is not rejecting your application because you do not have a passport, they are rejecting you because the job you are applying to requires a security clearance and they cannot perform a security clearance.
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Strategies for telling my boss I will be returning to our old company? I am preparing to resign from my position at a private engineering firm I’ve been with for 5 years. My boss and I were both previously employed by the federal government at the EPA (he was my boss at the EPA as well). He left that job to start his own engineering company and recruited me to join his team. My position at the firm is to provide all EPA-related guidance and ensure we remain in compliance with governmental regulations. Since my company’s projects are monitored by the EPA, I still maintain a professional relationship with my old coworkers and must correspond with them on a regular basis. One month ago, a former colleague/friend at the EPA encouraged me to apply for a vacant position at the agency. She also said that the person who is currently in the position my boss used to hold would like me back at the agency. I applied for the position and accepted an offer of employment last week. I know my boss will find out, no matter what, that I'm returning to my old company, but I would rather him learn the news from me than someone else. I am also anticipating major shock and anger from him. He has created a very hostile workplace culture over the past few years and the last three people who resigned didn’t get to stay their two weeks. My boss immediately escorted them out of the building, even though their resignations (in writing and in person) were extremely professional and respectful. Because my boss is a very powerful/wealthy individual and does so much work with the EPA, I am worried when he finds out he will call someone important at agency HQ in Washington and try to sabotage my new job before it even starts. Once I’m back at the EPA in a few weeks, there will be nothing he can do to me; however, until my employment there officially starts, I am concerned of what he will say or do. My question is this: If I don't mention I'm returning to my old company in my resignation letter to my boss (and HR), what might the consequences be? What are some possible strategies for communicating this fact to my boss? <Q> When I send my resignation email to my boss (and HR), should I mention that I’m returning to my old job? <S> No. <S> There is never a need to detail your future plans when resigning from a job. <S> Barring that you should do it over the phone, not by email. <S> Follow up with a letter/email if requested to do so. <A> You should give your notice but be prepared for immediate termination since that seems like a trend. <S> Do not tell him you're returning to your old team, since you said he may sabotage your new position. <S> Instead, after your start date, you could reach out via email or LinkedIn (or phone if he isn't hostile about you leaving) and let him know. <S> This allows you to be the one to tell him, but does not put your new position at risk and you avoid any verbal backlash. <S> Look out for yourself. <A> My question is this: If I don't mention I'm returning to my old company in my resignation letter to my boss (and HR), what might the consequences be? <S> What are some possible strategies for communicating this fact to my boss? <S> There is no need at that point to tell the boss. <S> Getting marched out as soon as you tender resignation is normal in many companies and not necessarily malicious or hostile at all. <S> There are plenty of reasons it is done especially in high security environments. <S> If asked outright you should tell the truth, it goes both ways, his business is dependent on where you will be working and he has no idea where you may be in a couple of years. <S> So he'd be silly to make an enemy while there is every reason for him to have a friend there.
| And you should always resign in person whenever possible. If your boss has been creating a hostile work environment, you don't owe him any courtesies.
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How to deal with customers eating while talking on the phone I work in an office where I have to pick up calls and help customers use a program. Many times when people call in, they feel that is the perfect time to start their lunch/snack.I am using a headset so all the slmammermush goes directly into my ear. Is there a nice way to tell a customer to please stop chewing in my ear? <Q> Is there a nice way to tell a customer to please stop chewing in my ear? <S> No, not really. <S> You could, however, emphasize the problems you are having, and try to change their behavior indirectly. <A> Is there a nice way to tell a customer to please stop chewing in my ear? <S> No. <S> Your job is to deal with customers as they are, not to change their habits. <A> I would simply ask them in this siutation. <S> No need to be rude about it but a simple ' Would you mind not chewing as i am having trouble understanding <S> you Thank You'. <S> Most reasonable people would simply stop eating at that point unless they are really rude.
| You might say "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that" or "Could you please repeat that" as many times as it takes to get them to stop eating.
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Strategies to organize meetings when everyone talks at the same time? Background I work in the IT area of a product company. By definition I am a developer, but since we are somewhat small, some of us take more than one role/responsibility. Almost everything here is chaotic. Dates are always moving, product requirements are not always clear, or by the time we start development we notice the solution is not well defined. The Problem We have meetings where everyone talks on top of each other. They start discussing, and then more people start talking at the same time. Things get off-topic, then it's time to leave the room. I believe this kind of situation is common. What are some possible strategies to manage this? I have the idea to bring some object (a stress ball, for example) and add a rule that only the one holding it can talk and/or give the object to someone else. <Q> Do not bring any object. <S> This will become the subject of ridicule within 30 seconds of use. <S> That method has been mocked in so many sitcoms and movies <S> it's practically become a trope. <S> It's a bad idea of last resort. <S> Simply: <S> Create an agenda. <S> make sure everyone gets a copy of the agenda in advance. <S> Stick to the agenda <S> Have someone lead the meeting <S> Go around the room one at a time <S> Have a "free discussion period" either at the beginning or the end. <S> Personally, I would not react well to a stick, ball or other item to hold while speaking and given the mischievous nature of IT people, I don't see this ending well, not at all. <A> Anyone have any tips or strategies to manage this? <S> I believe that the "token" approach you mention could work; by having some item that symbolizes the cue to speak, the interruptions and simultaneous chatting can be avoided. <S> However, this could prove ineffective as a long-term solution . <S> What you really need is a guideline or structure to the meetings : a moment of introduction , followed by the discussion of the topic(s) , and then end with conclusions and next topics or goals for next meeting. <S> Then, on the following meeting try to follow the same procedure. <S> This will give continuity to your meetings, and help bring some order and goals to your sessions. <S> By having in mind <S> what and how you want to discuss things with your team there will be no room for unrelated, unordered discussion. <S> Perhaps a combination of both the token approach (to help the transition) and the definition of the structure of meetings could help you shift this trend. <A> Just do the mainstream method, take charge of the meeting and make sure things stay on topic and people don't get talked over. <S> If someone is in charge then that is pretty much their job. <A> It sounds like you need a formal Agenda and you may need to reduce the size of you meetings. <S> Without an agenda (plan), a meeting will become an unproductive free-for-all. <S> If the meeting has too many people, nothing will get done as there will be too many discussions. <S> A well-written (and followed) agenda can help keep your meeting productive. <S> The Agenda should list: Date/time/location of meeting Meeting participants Agenda items <S> Each agenda item should include: <S> The duration of the item Type type of item (informational, discussion, decision, etc), Who owns the item (they lead that portion of the meeting and are responsible for it), its output, if any Example Agenda for July 20, 2017 @ <S> 9:00 am Location: conference room "c", dialin 800-555-4000 <S> Attendees: <S> Bill, Bob, Sally, Margot, Rick, Susan (Remote), Barry (Remote) <S> 9:05-9:10 - Info - Results of our bid to acquire Flood Control Dam #3 job (Bill) <S> 9:10-9:40 - Discussion - Improving our project dashboards (Margot <S> ) - OUTPUT: 3-5 suggestions <S> 9:40-9:50 - Decision - Do we pilot a new code repository, based upon the information from last week's workshop? <S> (Bill) OUTPUT: <S> yes or no 9:50-10:00 - Info - Wrap-up, quick review of tabled items, review of who is responsible for followup items <A> 8 people talking and one of them holding a stress ball is not any better. <S> You need a chair person with a strong enough personally to say who can talk and for how long. <S> Other answers about having an agenda are correct too but only if you have a strong chair.
| Outline what is being discussed then collect input, give everyone a chance to have their say and don't let them get out of hand.
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Company may not let me tell my coworkers about my resignation I will soon be resigning from my position at a company I’ve been with for 5 years. In the past, I have seen some (not all) employees who resigned from the company immediately get escorted out the building or be asked by HR/management not to share the news of their separation with any other employees. One of my previous colleagues with whom I was friendly resigned a few months ago and I only heard about her departure after she was gone. I have since tried to text and call her to wish her luck at her new job and let her know I’m here if she needs me, but never heard from her again (we were friends). I’ve developed close relationships with many of my coworkers over the years and cannot imagine just leaving and not letting them know that A) I wasn’t fired. I’m leaving on my own will; and B) I am grateful for my time spent with them and hope to stay in touch. I’m trying to get ahead of this before I officially resign. My plan is to email my letter of resignation and 2 weeks’ notice to my boss and HR, and then a few hours later email my close colleagues to tell them I will be resigning. I worry that if I don’t tell my coworkers the news right away (and they hear from me) that HR/management will make me sign something that says I cannot let other employees know I am leaving for another job. Can they do this? Is this advisable? <Q> I worry that if I don’t tell my coworkers the news right away (and they hear from me) that HR/management will make me sign something that says I cannot let other employees know I am leaving for another job. <S> Can they do this? <S> The time for your employer to have you sign anything like that would have been when you started working for them. <S> Once you have resigned, there's no compelling reason for you to enter into an agreement with your former employer, and they certainly cannot force you to sign anything. <S> Unless you have some kind of preexisting contract that prevents you from telling your coworkers about your new employment, you have every right to share those details. <A> I have a number of associates and semi colleagues at large companies like Microsoft. <S> We may have been on a project together, or spoken at the same conference, that sort of thing. <S> Reasonably often, I'll suddenly get a linked in request from one of them. <S> This is someone I've known for years and emailed back and forth with, or have on Skype, or whatnot. <S> So I used to be puzzled when these requests came in. <S> Why are you connecting with me now? <S> But now I get it. <S> Because within a few days or weeks there will be an email, or a tweet, or whatever that they are leaving BigCorp and starting a new adventure. <S> The linked in connection means they can stay in touch even when they lose their BigCorp email address and giant mound of "emails I sent and received" that most of us use as an address book. <S> So, you can use this same approach. <S> If you have people's contact info only in a format you will lose when you quit (and especially if you might be walked out) take some time to record it in another format, such as a paper book, before you tell your bosses anything. <S> (If you signed a nondisclosure or non compete, make sure that information such as your coworker's email addresses is something you are allowed to take away when you leave. <S> Client contact info almost certainly will be forbidden.) <S> Add people on linked in. <S> Add them on facebook if that's appropriate <S> (you're really friends.) <S> Ask for their phone number and text them <S> so they have yours. <S> Don't explain yourself, don't say "I'll be quitting soon <S> so I'm adding you now", just add them. <S> Some will understand and say nothing, some won't understand but will accept anyway, and some might come back to the invitation and accept it after you're gone. <S> But by creating the connections in advance, you will have less need to tell people during your notice period, and are more likely to be able to talk to them after it. <A> Did you ever sign a contract or (verbally) promise anything preventing you to apprise third parties about a contract termination or to make HR the very first to be informed? <S> Read your contract(s) carefully. <S> If in doubt consult a lawyer. <S> I highly recommend to do that anyways. <S> Also try to find out if there are laws in your country regarding this matter in connection with your line of work and employer, especially if the contract(s) don't mention this. <S> Pay special attention to the law if you work in the government, military, intelligence, security, public service or finance fields. <S> If so, your contract probably will regulate it anyways, but better safe than sorry. <S> In case there is nothing prohibiting you to tell your coworkers you may simply do that before you hand in your resignation. <S> This way, if they would try to make you sign anything or order you not to share this it is already done according to your preference.(Be aware, this might anger your employer and may burn bridges) <S> You could also tell your coworkers that it is in confidence and they should not disclose this until you informed HR.Very shortly thereafter make your direct superior and HR aware of your decision. <S> Be prepared for getting swiftly escorted from the premises as it seems to be practice. <S> It does strike me as odd that your coworker stopped communicating with you right after she left the company. <S> It might not be related to that <S> but if indeed the company compels people to this behavior it might very well not be legal in your country, especially if there is nothing in your contract about this (mind you it might have been in hers). <S> In future contact attempts you might want to mention your research results and experience to her. <S> Oh and DON'T sign anything you're uncomfortable with once you handed in your resignation.
| Once you tell your bosses, you may be walked out, you may be asked not to tell anyone (so much for your plan to send a big email hours after telling the bosses), or you may be free to talk about it.
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Telling about the job to friends? I was told that, when talking about your work with friends, one should never say anything negative about job. Is that true? I think it might be really weird if one says everything is fine if they see some evidence that something is wrong at the work place. Could one get fired if he or she is honest and tell something that might effect the work place in negative way? <Q> Could one get fired if he or she is honest and tell something that might effect the work place in negative way? <S> If you occasionally tell your friends during a session of "what strange things happened at work this week" you are not likely to get in trouble. <S> But if you post it on social media, and management sees it. <S> Now you have a different problem. <S> Especially if it is easy to identify the company, or the work place, or the manager. <S> I have known people that forgot that among the many people that can see their posts are members of management. <S> They found themselves in a very awkward position the next day at work. <A> Friends can come and go or become enemies <S> and you just never know if an innocent enough sentence spoken in confidence can come back to bite you. <S> As well as the above, projecting a positive outlook on life actually makes your life more positive and issues less important. <S> Life is too short to be ranting about everything. <S> Being with friends is about having a good time and many people will avoid acquaintances who are constantly complaining or having dramas they have nothing to do with. <A> It all depends on the situation. <S> Anything with the word "never" in it is usually not quite right. <S> In your personal life, permanently moaning about your job is not good for you. <S> It is better for you personally if you try to see the positive sides of your job, go to work with the intent to enjoy it. <S> Even if you just pretend to like it, eventually things improve and you experience the job as nicer than before. <S> Of course that's not "never say anything negative" but "try to have a positive attitude". <S> Or say I'm one of your friends, and there is a job opening at my company that would be suitable for you. <S> If I think there are problems at your job I might tell you or recommend you. <S> If I think you have a negative attitude <S> and I don't want this to reflect badly on me, then I might not. <S> On the other hand, if something bad happens at your job, then asking friends about advice how to handle it is often a good idea. <S> Or posting your problems here (anonymously) may help. <S> So " never say anything negative" is clearly wrong. <S> What's dangerous is talk to people if things can get back to your company - or worse post on social media. <S> That has happened to people in the UK: <S> Posting <S> "I hate my job" on Facebook <S> can mean that your manager tells you that since you hate your job so much, they will let you find a job elsewhere (and in the UK, with a lot more protection for employees than the USA, this was legal). <S> And obviously don't post anything negative that could create liability for your company. <S> Look at it from the employer's point of view: Would you want to employ that person? <S> If you post on Facebook "I think my company ripped off customer XYZ", even if that is your honest opinion, it's something that you should have told your boss who could either fix it, or tell you why you are wrong, while posting it on Facebook might cause an expensive lawsuit, or lost customers. <S> If you were the employer, would you like that?
| General rule of thumb is to separate work and personal life as much as possible.
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Is it appropriate to mention on my resumé that I was replaced by two people? Pretty straightforward: I contracted for one year with a team and during that time I established a quality assurance framework that has been scaling up for several months. Now my contract is up and I'm changing jobs (I would have stayed but am moving to a new city and going back to school part time), and they're replacing me with two full-time people to take on the QA work. People tell me that demonstrates how essential I was to the team, but I have two questions: Is it appropriate to include that fact on my resumé? If so, is there a tactful way to say it that sounds matter-of-fact and not boastful? <Q> You are not being "replaced by two people" but rather your former company is impressed with the framework you helped establish and have showed their approval by investing in additional resources to help grow the process. <S> This does indeed show your work as valuable and therefore worthy of inclusion on your resume. <S> I would word this something like the following: <S> Led effort to establish quality assurance framework [name of software] within development lifecycle. <S> As of departure, company had invested two additional FTEs to grow this system. <A> It is an odd thing to put on CV, and I wouldn't do it. <S> Not because it's inapropriate (is it?), but because you cannot be sure of the reason for such change. <S> In other words: being essential to one company isn't really a value to another. <A> Do not put it on your resume. <S> As a hiring manager, adding to your resume that you were replaced by 2 people doesn't tell me that you were did the work of 2 people. <S> It tells me that you have don't have something else better to put on your resume instead of that statement. <S> In my years of doing resume reviews, I have NEVER seen anyone write this and the idea of it is very off-putting to where I would likely reject your resume. <S> Instead, tell me what you accomplished for the company and what impact you had in the time you were there.
| It feels completely normal that you need two people to replace someone who was establishing something because now they not only need to learn the thing you made, but also continue to provide the service you were providing. Absolutely put this on your resume but not in the way that you have worded it.
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Is it career-killing to change field at 30? Here is my story: By education I'm not a software engineer, however after graduation I got an offer to work as an iOS developer which I accepted right away. The reason behind it was that I was interested in software development in general and I knew I wanted to go to that direction, but had no idea back than what field/specialization should I choose, so I've chosen the first opportunity. That was 4 years ago, now as I have used other technologies as well - but still my main experience is iOS - it's clear to me that I'm not a mobile enthusiast and would like to change to another field. Currently there is an opportunity at a company where they have an 8 week course about the field I'm interested in and I'm thinking about joining them. Here are my questions: As I'm 30 I am not sure how would it look like on my resume that I have changed my discipline completely. I am not sure that a recruiter would see this change in the future as "this person widened his knowledge, that's great" or "at 30 he had no idea what to do with his life? Huge red flag" As I have a lot of experience with iOS I'm able to find a job more pretty easy as an iOS engineer, however not sure what are my chances after a few years if I would like to change workplaces with the new technology stack. I'm not sure if I would be a good candidate with let's say 2 years of experience at the age of 32 from a recruiters perspective given the age bias in IT. <Q> From 2nd part of your question <S> I figure you're switching to another IT field. <S> I would say that this totally counts as staying in the business, even if this isn't iOS anymore. <S> So from this perspective: <S> No. <S> Changing technologies won't kill your career, in my opinion - quite the opposite. <S> Often they're not the same thing. <A> Being in IT, you should always consider changing your specialization, regardless how much time you spent sharping the skill. <S> Technologies come and technologies go, and it's quite pity to observe adepts of dying (or dead) technology and how they seek for a chance to get a new position for that obsolete technology instead of putting their best efforts to learn a new skill. <S> For instance, xBase databases family, Symbian etc. <S> - they were quite a perk several years ago, and they're hardly more than a historical record nova days. <S> Summary: You can't stop learning if you're in IT field. <S> Period. <S> This is not a sin. <A> 30 is not that old. <S> You've got (on average) <S> 35 more years of working. <S> I did not start in IT until I was 34. <S> This was after 12 years in sales and sales management. <S> The money was extremely good in my previous life <S> but I hated (really hated) <S> the entire sales and sales management career. <S> Straight commission sucked. <S> So I made an (early) mid-life career change. <S> I went back to school and worked (4AM - noon) as an operator in a data center. <S> Started my development career as a COBOL programmer at 36. <S> I've now been in software development in one capacity or another for 25 years. <S> Your resume (iOS only) is not what gets you a new job. <S> For a career change your soft skills and aptitude for new skills are what should be emphasized. <S> Interpersonal skills, project management, business acumen - emphasize these. <S> The training program sounds like a great opportunity. <S> Go for it and good luck! <A> In practical terms it's not your age (within reason) but whether or not you can actually land a job, and you find that out by applying. <S> Whether or not you meet a company or individual who is age-biased is a matter of chance. <S> In which case you just apply elsewhere. <S> It's just another potential bias <S> you cannot do anything about so best not to let it worry you and just move forwards. <S> I'm a brown school dropkick, heavily tattooed (unhideable) and changed to white collar work in my mid 30's from an unskilled labouring and forestry background. <S> You just keep trying until you get your foot in the door and then prove your worth. <A> Realistically speaking, the only way a career gets 'killed' is by the industry and/or the employer and even then <S> , that is questionable. <S> It's all up to the individual as to how far you will let someone else wreck your career/life. <S> That being said, if you are not enthusiastic now with iOs, then I don't, quite frankly, know how you think you will be able to pull off continuing on that path for the next few decades. <S> Unless, of course, you write the code for an amazing app that lets you make bank so that you need not ever have to worry about paying the bills ever again. <S> Maybe that's you --I <S> don't know <S> but it could happen, right? <S> Bottom line: <S> you need to do what you keeps you interested and moves you forward. <S> iOs may be paying the bills at the moment, but I guarantee that if you dislike having to do it, you'll only burn out. <S> Get out now and pursue your passion. <S> The best job on the planet is the one that doesn't feel like one.
| Even if you would be interested in offer that isn't IT related - you need to decide what is more important: having a career or following your passion . Might as well do what you would like to do. And being 30 means that you still have a lot of time to explore, that's not an issue.
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