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What to say in interview about bad manager who is also a reference A little backstory: I am currently employed under a manager, who doesn't prefer to delegate tasks or share information on projects, such as what exactly to do, until when it needs to be done,... I don't think he is doing this on purpose, as I have talked to him, and the problem was fixed for a bit, but after a while it returns to the old ways. He seems to always be absent on meetings, and rather than telling me for something to be done, he says "Hey, could you please do X thing if possible?". I don't mind him asking like that, but for me it feels like he is not too assertive in his role, and fails to give all the specifics to the project (I know this is usually not the case, but he doesn't provide the basics for it, and then does them behind my back, only informing me after he has done them). Anyway, I am currently searching for a new job, the real reason being the manager. How should I hande the interview when they ask me the reason for quitting? Should I say anything about my manager, who is also my reference? They will check my references for sure, since there aren't that many. I don't want to lie in the interview, but also want the reference, since my performance reviews have always been very positive, and a positive reference can go a long way. So to summarize; how should I talk about my reason for quitting, when I want to be truthful and transparent in the interview, while also not shedding a bad light on my current manager/employer. <Q> What to say in interview about bad manager who is also a reference <S> Don't say anything bad and don't list them as a reference. <S> how should I talk about my reason for quitting, when I want to be truthful and transparent in the interview, while also not shedding a bad light on my current manager/employer. <S> Simply describe it in a way that sounds neutral and that you are seeking employment elsewhere. <S> Something to the effect of, "I want to go to a place where I can focus my skills on X and this seems like a good place." <S> vs <S> "My manager doesn't let me do anything at all. <S> He's bad, I don't like him." <S> Going to a new place is already telling your previous employer <S> you don't want them. <S> They might not care and your new place might not care about your previous employer either. <S> However, depending on industry and location, they may all know each other to some degree. <S> And it may be that your manager may someday seek employment where you are right now. <S> However, I never been to a interview where I had to say why I am leaving. <S> Instead they ask me about what I worked on, what sort of challenges I faced, and what I did to resolve it. <S> Challenges meaning roadblocks at the technical level not interpersonal skills or soft skills. <A> TL;DR <S> , you say, you have a manager, which whom, you have differences in professional capacity. <S> You don't need to lie. <S> You don't need to get into the specifics, either. <S> Choose a middle ground, that balances both the sides. <S> You could clearly state something along the line, that, the project management approach which was taken up, was not aligned with your expectations, and then, you can explain about your expectations. <S> Also, mention that you had discussions on this topic but no visible outcome was attained. <S> That will clear up things that you're not ranting , you actually know the problem and attempted to solve it. <S> You don't absolutely need to criticize your existing manager to prove your point, just state your expected approaches and mention <S> "we had differences". <S> Mention a couple of cases, where having the difference had a negative effect on your work / deliverable. <S> This should get the message / picture across to your prospective employer. <A> It is never a good idea to bad mouth a previous employer, it doesn't sit well with most prospective employers. <S> Rather put the focus on what you stand to gain and what you can add by joining the company.
| You never say you have a bad manager
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How to respond when someone thanks me for my work in the workspace? I usually feel confused when someone thanks me for my work at the workplace. In my view, work is what I am supposed to do, and it is my duty. It's difficult for me to respond in a way that makes sense to me. I usually just say "You're welcome" as a response. How should I respond to people thanking me for my work, professionally? <Q> Most of the time in work I get confused when someone thanks for my work <S> Remember, a thank you is not always objective, <S> many a times it is a way of showing appreciation for the overall effort, not only for the outcome alone. <S> It's a good gesture. <S> Alternatively, you can also say something along the lines <S> "Hey, thank you too for helping me out in achieving this" or, <S> "Glad it helped, that means I'm doing good work" or, <S> "Mention not <S> , that's just the job" or simply, "My Pleasure" based on the applicability. <S> Any or all of the above are ways to accept and appreciate the appreciation you received. <S> It's just good gesture. <S> Don't be nervous / confused, be happy. <A> I noticed that sometimes (always?) <S> something like <S> "You're welcome!" <S> is good, but is not the best approach. <S> You received something (thanks), so you want to give something in return. <S> My shortest answer would be in the tune of: "Thank you for noticing!" <S> But I would also add something like: <S> "It makes me feel better that my efforts are useful!" <S> You can go one step forward by being proactive and add: <S> "Please do not hesitate to tell me in the future how I can improve even more!" <S> Most important: do not forget to smile sincerely to that person. <S> Do not force the smile or the words, just be natural . <S> If emotions hit you, there is no problem to just be silent for 1-2-3 seconds, before you provide the answer. <S> The trick with the waiting always works for me. <A> Whatever else you do: SMILE! <S> You have been complimented on your work. <S> This should make you happy! <S> That's Personal Relations 101. <A> You say your job is just what you are supposed to do and what you get paid for anyway. <S> That my be true, but you may not have realised that some people are much better at this than others. <S> If I need something from a colleague, there are some where I ask them and explain exactly what I need and <S> an hour later it is there. <S> And there are others where you get an angry <S> “what do you want”, who spend three times longer looking for reasons why they can’t help you than it would take them to do it, and who are generally dreadful to work with. <S> If people thank you, that shows you are in the first category. <S> Good for you. <S> Just make sure that your manager knows that people appreciate your work. <S> It’s a sad fact that if you do just do things without people having to work hard to make you do it, that is often appreciated less. <S> So you are doing a good job, tell others.
| You can respond with "Welcome" and a smile, no problems. There's nothing to be confused, you should be happy, not for the "thank you" words, rather for the fact that you work with colleagues / superiors who appreciate your effort / work.
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Can an employee on off sick be banned on the premises? Can an employee on off sick enter the employer's premises to access a document which can only be accessed from work (like a trusted document e.g.: Occupational health report) or to get some documents from the personal locker and return quickly? <Q> If you are on sick leave and you go to the office, the company may have problems with the law enforcement authorities. <S> It can be interpreted that they forced you to come to work while you were sick. <S> Also, it depends on why you are on sick leave. <S> Is your sickness contagious? <S> If yes, it is a risk for the other employees. <S> Can your health further deteriorate because of the effort to go to office? <S> The company surely does not want this. <S> So yes, there are several reasons why an employee should not visit the office while on sick leave. <S> Discuss the situation with your superior (probably on the phone) and find a solution which is mutually satisfactory. <A> It's possible that your company will be able to send you the required documentation or have it delivered to your doctor/whoever. <S> Whether you could/should of course depends on the reason for your sickness, but do ask your manager first. <A> As someone who has gone to the workplace while sick, I can tell you that the company asked me to leave, because I was violating the company's insurance policy. <S> I believe, that if something were to happen while I was there, then the company could have had difficulties with the insurance company, even though I was just collecting something from my desk. <S> If in doubt, check with your legal department. <A> If you are on leave, they may, for reasons of liability, want to keep you off the premises, depending on how obnoxious the agencies are in enforcing labor laws to the letter. <S> The way around this is to send a representative on your behalf. <S> There is no justification for them barring an authorized representative. <S> A call should precede the visit and should come something like this <S> Hi, this is Maria Paul. <S> I need something from my locker, I'd like to send my brother in to retrieve it for me. <S> Is later today good? <A> seems a little extreme to ban someone from the premises while they are sick. <S> and they were off for a reason. <S> its possible that coming in for any reason while sick is against your companies CoC <S> but i cant really see a decent reason why (unless they were contagous but that really shouldn't be an issue if the person is there for 5 minutes to get something from a locker or desk)
| personally i would have no problem if a sick worker came into work for a legitimate reason (like the examples you listed) but it was made clear that they were not there to work Get agreement from your manager before you do this. Obviously, they may want to schedule a time, but they have no right to bar you from getting your things.
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How to tell company that you will be leaving after one day of joining a remote unpaid internship I started working as a remote(work-from-home) intern at a very young startup. The internship is for 3 months and I just learned I will have to attend a 3-hour meeting every night. For every meeting missed, a day will be added on to my internship completion date. This will not work out for me.How do I tell them that I won't be continuing with the internship? <Q> What is in your contract? <S> If there is no written contract, no problem. <S> You just say thank you but no, thank you, that's not the deal we had , and walk away. <S> Stress the part about meetings and <S> completion date changes certainly not being what you agreed to. <S> You have no obligation to respect deal you didn't make. <S> If the contract you signed does not say a thing about these meetings, you should say something like: <S> I'm sorry to hear about the night meetings. <S> My contract does not include such obligation and does not give you right to change completion date, and I do not agree to such changes. <S> We may proceed with my internship as contracted, or you may decide to break our contract. <S> If you want to withdraw from the contract, we may negotiate that. <S> Be sure that you will have it clear and in writing that it is their breach of contract / withdrawal, not anything that can be considered your fault. <S> If you needed this internship as part of your education, include someone from your school in the negotiations. <S> If this rule was in your contract, you need a labor law lawyer. <S> It depends on jurisdiction <S> but it probably was illegal. <S> If it is part of your formal education, your school will probably provide you with lawyer help, and even if not - should be notified about the issue. <A> It's odd to have a completion date for a non-contractual arrangement (there being no compensation, it's hard to view this as a trade ). <S> Obviously, you need to return anything which was lent to you (e.g. laptop). <A> It's an internship, legally speaking I would imagine they have literally no power to hold you to your contract. <S> You are working voluntarily for them. <S> If you were a paid employee and you walked away at this point you would lose your paycheque but since you're not being paid you will lose nothing. <S> Send them an email saying: On reflection I cannot commit to attending a three hour meeting every day and for that reason I no longer wish to pursue this internship. <S> Thank you for this opportunity. <A> Focus on clear communication. <S> Before quitting, find out what the meetings are about. <S> The meetings may be training for interns. <S> Three hours of training could be wonderful. <S> If they are not training, try to find out the purpose of the meetings and why they think it is important they extend the internship if you don't attend. <S> Find out what they want to get out of the arrangement and explain what you want from it. <S> If they see the internship as free labor, you can politely explain that is not what you are interested in or what you promised and move on. <S> Don't burn any bridges; they are a young company and may have no idea how to handle interns yet. <S> There might be great people working there who you will come across again in the future. <S> Don't feel any pressure to go back. <S> The deal has to be beneficial for both sides. <A> "You're asking for too much for me to work without pay. <S> Sorry but <S> the opportunity cost for this is simply too great. <S> I won't be working with you." <S> And then you leave a bad review for the company on glass door. <S> Leaving a bad review is standard for a company adding 3 hours to your work day - almost doubling it if you work 4hrs a day and bumping an 8 hour day to 11 hrs - and causing you to question your employment there. <S> It's not revenge, it's truth. <S> That should be all it takes.
| You can amicably inform them that the position they have kindly offered you is no longer appealing to you, and you will not require access to their systems in future.
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Going to a job Interview When you accept another offer Is it unethical to go to a job interview if you accepted another offer just so that you can travel and get free food/hotel? <Q> Is it unethical to go to a job interview if you accepted another offer just so that you can travel and get free food/hotel? <S> If you only reasons are to get free food and hotel then <S> you never had the intentions of taking their offer, if given. <A> Yes. <S> You are falsely presenting yourself as at least a potential new hire, and you're consuming company resources (their time and energy, plus plane tickets, hotel, and restaurant bills). <S> That's at least at the "sleazy marketing tactics" level of unethical, and arguably worse. <A> Yes, it is unethical, unethical, and worthy of ridicule and scorn. <S> While not technically fraud, it is certainly it amounts to theft by deception, even though you likely would never be charged for it. <S> Furthermore, to do demonstrate a distinct lack of character and trustworthiness which would follow for a very long time it word ever got out. <S> It always does. <S> What is it that would make you think that doing such a thing could be anything but unethical? <S> You are not only stealing the cost of food, shelter, and travel but also stealing the time of all the hours that people would be spending preparing for the interview. <S> This is very much unethical and borderline criminal.
| yes it would be unethical. Not only it is unethical, but it's also unprofessional, as you are wasting these people's time by going to an interview
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Unassigned at work for weeks because of poor management I work in a software startup where one of the co-founders, who works remotely, is my boss. Usually he is the one who assigns tasks to all the developers, and we contact him when we finish our assigned work. In the past 3-4 weeks he has not assigned any work for me, which has happened before but never for this length of time. As a result, I have a lot of free time and I am losing motivation at work. I try to fix bugs, or help QA, but it's not enough, and not very interesting/motivating to do everyday. Now I am facing two problems. Yesterday my HR approached me because I leave early (because I have nothing to do). Second I suffer from mental illnesses and being unoccupied is not very healthy for me (weekends in general are very difficult for me too). I have written my boss a few times already about this, but nothing has changed. I am thinking of writing a formal E-Mail about this CC'ing both founders, but I feel I might offend my boss. Note. I am 100% sure I am not being made redundant because it has happened in the past too (for few days at a time), and I also received a raise recently. How do I approach my boss to give me more work? <Q> It sounds like you have done a lot of what can be done to try to get your boss to proactively assign you more work. <S> You can feel free to keep mentioning it to him, but here are two other things to do in the meantime: Look at other projects that people in the company are doing, and offer to help on ones that are most interesting to you. <S> If this startup is normal at all, then there are overworked people who would love extra help, and lots of opportunities for you to contribute. <S> Use what you know about the companies goals / codebase / projects to look for something else to work on. <S> Some of the most valuable things I've done in my career have been things I've proposed to people. <A> Managers hate people going to them with problems, go to your boss with a problem and a solution, even better, give him a solution to a problem he does not know he has. ' <S> I know you're busy, but I have run out of work, can you give me more. <S> Until you get back to me, I will use the time productively working on improving XYZ" Find a pain point in the business that also 'spins you wheels' to fix - something that always seems to crop up, but is always in the 'Valuable but we have got more important things to worry about". <S> Look around, who many things do you or others wish "somebody" would fix... <S> This is you opportunity to be "somebody". <A> You can consider this period as an opportunity to step-up and prepare task-list for yourself, sending it to your supervisor for "priority evaluation" If nothing else, it would give you another chance to reach out for assignment without looking idle. <S> And in case of delayed response, starting on the task #1 in the list compiled :) <A> Honestly, this seems to be a fairly common experience for early career jobs. <S> I've been in the same position, and I found it disheartening. <S> The trick is - just learn some stuff . <S> You probably paid lots of money for your university degree - and now you're being paid to learn! <S> Now I found myself feeling guilty for working on stuff that 'wasn't strictly work related'. <S> But reframe it - understanding technology is part of the job and is going to make you a more valuable employee. <A> You contact the other developers who have jobs and ask them what needs doing, since your boss doesn't assign anything to you. <S> If you came to me, I'd have 100s of things that need doing. <S> Many of low priority, which is why I'm not doing them, but better you do useful low priority things than sitting around doing nothing. <S> Or things at medium priority, that can be assigned to someone without experience without risk.
| If you can find something you think will be valuable and interesting, propose it to your boss.
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Could one person hold more than one W-2 jobs from two different employers? I've constantly heard people having multiple jobs at the same time, Given flexible working hours and workplace from both employers, is it OK for one person to have two full-time W-2 jobs at the same time? I've done quite some research online and most people say as long as you are capable of handling both jobs, you are fine, is that right? Any legal implications here? Also, how about tax and social security taxes implications? [EDIT] This is in the U.S. and I'm specifically wondering about two full-time W-2 jobs, not one full-time, one part-time/gig/side hustle. Thanks! <Q> Could one person hold more than one W-2 jobs from two different employers? <S> Yes, of course. <S> In the US you need one W2 for each job that you work as an employee (unless you make less than $600). <S> Could be multiple at the same time, part time, full time, sequential, etc. <S> Each employer will withhold all applicable taxes as prescribed by local law and this can be adjusted (if needed) by submitting properly sized W4s for each job. <S> This isn't trivial math <S> and you may end up over or underpaying <S> but at the end of the year that all gets reconciled through filing your tax returns. <A> Could you? <S> yes!Should <S> you want to? <S> Absolutely not! <S> I work 2 full-time jobs and a part-time job due to personal financial circumstances and count the days until I can stop doing so... <S> The toll on your health, family and friends is definitely not something you can just disregard. <S> If this is USA related and the question is legal, then you should ask this on the legal exchange instead. <S> In the UK, you can technically get around the working time directives by signing the opt-out sheets for the 48h a week working limit, but there are other things that are taken into account but again... <S> that would be a legal issue which you would need to ask there instead... <A> Legally, there is nothing wrong with it. <S> Quite a few people hold two, or multiple, W-2 jobs at the same time. <S> About taxes, it will vary state-wise <S> so you should seek an accountant. <A> In the USA you're placed in a tax bracket that determines how much you owe the IRS/State. <S> It's about total income, how much withholdings you put in, then determine if there is anything you have to pay or if the IRS/State has to give you any money back. <S> There are deductions that can be made such as if you're single, etc that puts you in a higher or lower tax bracket. <S> It's not a "penalty" as some people see it but a consideration of your holdings to make sure you don't have to pay anything <S> come tax season. <S> Simple software like TurboTax does it all for you. <S> You simply input the numbers and out comes how much the IRS/State owes you or how much you owe them. <S> If you want to know your tax implications, then head to a CPA before you get a second job. <S> Factors like if you own a home, single income, children, etc all determine where you are placed in the tax bracket. <S> It's taxed by each bracket you make for example first 20k is taxed at X, then from there it's taxed at Y, etc. <S> By getting a second job you might be placed in a higher tax bracket such that you have to pay more taxes or give a higher withholding. <S> None of us can tell you how or if you should <S> so you should ask a CPA. <A> Having two full time jobs does cause some complications. <S> 1) <S> Some employers don't want you to have a part-time 2nd job. <S> They would not want you working a 2nd full time job. <S> That would be 80 hours a week. <S> 2) Social security. <S> Both will withhold social security. <S> They won't stop until you reach the maximum with them. <S> That means the combination could exceed the maximum. <S> The excess will be refunded in April the following year. <S> Don't even ask them to stop partway through the year, they can't until you hit the maximum with them. <S> 3) 401K. <S> The limits are for the combination of accounts that you have with all your employers. <S> So if they have matching make sure that you get the matching for both before you hit the annual limit. <S> 4) Insurance. <S> Pick one employer, don't get insurance from both. <S> Pay attention to the costs, limits, and deductibles. <S> Don't exceed the limits for an HSA or Flexible spending account. <S> 5) Income taxes. <S> Pay attention to the W-4 forms for having two jobs. <S> It is easy to have too little withheld. <A> I will start by making an assumption that what the OP is asking here is 'can I hold down <S> two full time salaried positions at the same time'. <S> So this gets real tricky. <S> When you are a salaried employee, especially an exempt salaried employee, it is assumed by your employer that you are giving ALL your time, attention, and talents to them. <S> Lets say it's even a bit more complicated <S> and you are in a creative field. <S> Now you create this amazing logo for company A and <S> company B finds out you made this logo for company A, they may have a legal right to that logo now. <S> This gets into a lot of strange employment law, but really centers around how in the US anyway <S> a salaried employee is essentially working FULL TIME, as in 24hours a day, for the company. <S> Some companies will go so far as to put this in your employment contract even and it can be pretty onerous in some cases I have seen about limiting what you can and cannot do. <S> Now if your situation is a bit more mundane and you are cog in the wheel of machinery working 8 to 5 and then working 6 to 2 in another machine you might be OK. <S> You could in theory, even with significant contractual limits say work a 'day' job as a creative (engineer designer etc.) <S> and then work as a barista, bar tender, ticket taker, <S> whatever, on the nights and weekends. <S> It really is very specific to your situation.
| If you get a second job, you might be placed in a higher tax bracket.
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Can I put the link to my personal website in my work email signature? I have a website that basically functions as a resume/project record where I list my various master degree research projects, personal projects, and work history. Since I use my work email to communicate with many clients and maybe potential future employers, I would like to put a link to this website in my email signature for work. Would this be considered professional? Note: It isn't some sort of glorified MySpace page, it is a tasteful professional website to keep a log of my project history as an engineer. <Q> No, you don't get to do your self-promotion via a work-email, unless the link points to an official source provided / hosted by the organization you work for. <S> Since I use my work email to communicate with many clients and maybe potential future employers <S> [...] Stop doing that immediately if the purpose is to seek / influence/ communicate from the viewpoint of "potential future employers". <S> Existing client or not, for getting in touch with potential employers, use your personal email address. <S> Client communication is just fine as long as it is limited to working communication / collaboration. <A> Definitely not, using work resources for personal promotion is not a good idea. <S> But there's nothing wrong with including a link to your personal site on your LinkedIn profile. <A> Many companies have policies or guidelines regarding email signature blocks. <S> So start there. <S> I would expect that even one without guidelines would not like employees to include a link to a site not related to their company or your project. <S> Since I use my work email to communicate with many clients and maybe potential future employers, I would like to put a link to this website in my email signature for work. <S> Don't try and talk to future employers with a email address of your current employer. <S> They don't like that. <S> You also don't want to lose your only way of communicating with future employers on your last day of work. <A> There is one exception to firm <S> no provided by Sourav Ghosh . <S> If, and only if you work not as employee, but as an one-person company on B2B (business to business) agreement with your "employer" you may be allowed, or even required by law*, to disclose it. <S> And link to your business website may be acceptable way to do it. <S> Always consult your contact in your "employer" company before doing it. <S> They may have specific rules or guidelines about it. <S> * <S> I am not a lawyer. <S> If you don't know how it is for you, in your jurisdiction, you need a lawyer. <A> This is a decent idea if you own your own company and the email address. <S> If you're not a business owner and you work for someone else, this is not the best idea. <A> No. <S> As an employer, the last thing I want to see is someone's personal website. <S> This indicates 'side projects,' which we all know are important and practical, but suggests (right or wrong) that the person is working on it during office hours. <S> I'm not a stickler, and hope everyone has a healthy work-life balance including keeping personal tabs during office hours, but don't put it on your office signature going out to my internal and external contacts. <S> Stop immediately <S> is my advice to you as a member of an organization that is growing and supported by you. <A> Including anything more then your title(s) <S> (PhD, etc) and perhaps certifications (CPA, etc) in your sig line is more then enough. <S> Nobody wants to see a hyperlink to your resume / projects ... and the folks that would (eg: internal team of researchers that collab on projects) would likely have alternate ways to go check that stuff out anyways. <S> It just seems lazy and unprofessional to have that included in the sig line on EVERY email sent from an account. <S> It's need-to-know information, and not every email will require that. <S> If I got an email from a person that had a link to a personal page that showed their CV or all the stuff they're working on in college.. and my correspondence with them required none of that.. <S> I'd think the person was narcissitic or lazy. <S> Either they think they're so awesome they need to let everyone know how awesome they are. <S> Or, they're lazy and are using their email to pass along their resume to job hunts, and are just doing it for every email becasue <S> they're too lazy to take the 2 seconds to copy paste the link in ONLY on the emails to headhunters when needed. <S> I wouldn't need to see that stuff. <S> I just view this from a professional environment. <S> When I email people at work <S> I don't have a link showing my resume and all the stuff I'm working on at my current job. <S> All my sig line includes is my name and maybe my job title and dept (depending on who I'm contacting). <S> In some situations I will purposefully not include job titles and dept just to see how forthcoming a person is with information, or to let the person know I'm making an informal inquiry (depends on what I'm doing at the company and what goal I'm trying to achieve). <S> You could also consider this detrimental to you if you fire off an email to someone you DON'T want to know that information. <S> And, including that kind of extracurricular info in every sig line of every email makes all recipients feel "unspecial". <S> Like, "Here's info about me, whether it's relevant to our correspondence or not... <S> I don't care about tailoring the message to you, it's all about me, me, me."
| As per law in most of the cases, you're supposed to use company provided resources (yes, your email is one of them) for official work purposes, and searching for another job is not "official" work (i.e., you don't get paid for that).
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When switching job, should I make the "last condition" to the former employer, and if so, how? I have not been satisfied with my current job so I found another one. The new contract is not signed yet, but it is in my hands. I need to tell the current employer I am leaving. If the current employer would make certain changes about my current position (essentially more freedom on making software design decisions), it would be possible for me to stay with my current company. It is a small startup with less than ten active developers, not some corporation with rules set in stone for hundreds the same. I am under impression the company needs me, replacements are possible but would not be easy for them but I also know that raising "ultimatums" tends to provoke bad reactions. I obviously tried to discuss my problems few times before going after the job search. Would it make sense to say clearly "I would stay if you give me this and this, otherwise I go?" There is not much I would lose but I still want to preserve the good relations and get better recommendation. If such declaration makes sense, how it is better to arrange it? <Q> Would it make sense to say clearly "I would stay if you give me this and this, otherwise I go?" <S> If it is something they are willing to give you, they will give it to you without any "otherwise". <S> If it is something they are not willing to give you, they may feel blackmailed. <S> This is opposite to your goal "to preserve the good relations" . <S> Most if not all managers I knew would respect you more if you would just say something like <S> It was good working with you, now I'm going for other opportunities than if you would end your employment with blackmail. <S> Plus, if they would agree to your terms, there is really big risk they will start looking for your replacement, so what's the point, for you? <A> The best way to deal with this is to just forget about the need to fire a parting shot. <S> If you like the new offer just go for it and move on. <S> There are a lot of reasons for leaving one position to take a new one. <S> You should strongly identify the reason that fits your personal situation and make that be what you communicate when your turn in your notice to leave. <S> The leaving should be about you and not about some bone <S> you think you have to pick with the group or organization that you are leaving. <S> Parting shots have a definite tendency to sour the relationship you have with your current employer. <S> So the best policy is to tamp down your desire to fire that shot, put a smile on your face and wave goodbye. <A> I don't think you should. <S> Even if they give you what you want, is it worth working there where you had to push so hard to get it?Also, think that they'll know that you are "not loyal" <S> so there's a chance they look for someone else and make a plan to take rid of you. <S> And it is less possible for you to get a possitive recomendation. <S> As a general rule, if they don't give you what you want before you start searching somewhere else, then you should never, ever, accept a counter-offer when you already have a good offer somewhere else that made you think of accept it and leave. <A> If you're unhappy now, you won't be any happier with a counteroffer unless it's exactly what you want. <A> Ask for it, there is no way to sugarcoat it. <S> Example: if it is about the remuneration, request for a meeting and ask: Hey PQR, I recently got an offer which proposes a remuneration of $X. I was willing to check with you whether you would be able to reconsider my payout so that I do not feel I'm missing out. <S> Nothing personal, but in case it is not possible, I am willing to accept the offer. <S> They will get the point and you'll see the results.
| Just tell them that you're leaving and if they provide a counter, use that to see if you can negotiate what you want. I believe no .
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I unexpectedly got a very negative annual performance review - What can I do to spot this earlier in the future? I recently had an annual performance review in my Full Stack Developer, the first review I have gotten in about 11 months after being at the company for around a year and a half. On the self evaluation, I listed that I thought I had done well in the year and over the past 11 months since I had not received any negative feedback and I was completing my tickets, contributing to the platform/team. The performance review went very poorly, and I received the lowest possible score. When discussing the areas of improvement, looking back I was able to see the points they brought up and they are valid. I thought I had been doing well over the past and making good progress as at the last performance review I was reprimanded for tartiness and had a few informal talks about how well I was improving. How do I recover from something like this? I feel pretty demoralized and have been second guessing a lot of my recent work wondering if what I am doing is up to par with what is expected, and nervous about my future at the company. I have asked for informal quarterly performance reviews for this year and they have accepted. I am mostly curious about steps I can take to make sure I can spot this earlier in the future, and other things I can do to try and get back to a good position in the company, as I fear that this performance review will have a lasting effect throughout how ever long I stay here (Constantly being seen as a lower performer, not given opportunities to advance, etc. This is my first full time job after University, and I am quite nervous I am going to further mess it up. <Q> Then ask your manager for specific areas to improve, and get cracking. <S> Germans have a saying: Early is on time, on time is late, and late is unforgivable. <S> Make that your motto and you won't have any problems with future tardiness. <S> What concerns me is the gap in how you did and how you think you did. <S> This means that there is very bad communication between you and your manager. <S> Solicit frequent feedback, and make sure you are on course. <S> That said, back to my original point. <S> You got the lowest possible scores. <S> That's usually in preparation for building a file for termination. <S> If your boss does not start giving you feedback when solicited, or just gives you vague answers, or seems disinterested, it means you are on the chopping block <S> and you should get out ASAP. <A> I see this as a failure on the part of your manager as much as yourself. <S> Your manager should have been discussing this with your long before you got to end of year reviews. <S> That said, the other advice about being on the defensive is good, but doesn't address your concern 'steps I can take to make sure I can spot this earlier in the future'. <S> You need to be scheduling 1 on 1 sesssions with your manager and/or team lead on a regular basis. <S> I would recommend every two weeks at a minimum until you/ <S> they feel you have addressed the concerns. <S> But still keep them going even after you feel you are in a better place, but you might be able to make them less often. <S> When you come these be ready to discuss how things are going. <S> Ask your manager how you are doing in the key areas they identified as needing improvement and get a candid assessment as to where you are each time. <S> (read Creative INC as to why you don't use honest) <S> One area <S> this helps is that your manager now has an active engagement with you and you can also head off problems before they have come to this point. <S> It also gives you an opportunity to clarify some things if you are being misrepresented to him/her by others on the team. <A> A catastrophic performance review after 11 months of no complaints from anywhere is quite a red flag about the company rather than you yourself, especially since you are a junior dev. <S> The reason for that can be anything ranging from financial issues (they hope you resign) to pure incompetence (inexperienced manager in a field they have no experience with - think <S> factory shift manager switching to software), but <S> the result for you is the same. <S> I would start looking for a new place ASAP, but don't resign yet. <S> Learn what you can, but don't get depressed. <A> Your mention of a formal "Improvement plan" in addition to a review so far below your expectations is a red flag that they are preparing to fire you. <S> This depends on jurisdiction, but outside the US <S> it's common to have laws that prevent firing employees without cause. <S> The standard way of establishing cause is to put the employee on an improvement plan (ie. <S> give them one last chance) and fire them when they don't meet the targets. <S> Brush up your resume, save some cash, and prepare for the worst. <S> To answer the more immediate question, you need to shorten the feedback loop between yourself, your manager and co-workers. <S> Then try to focus on improving that one thing over the next week. <S> Focusing on one concrete step at a time will quickly transform your work, and hopefully you are never surprised by a bad review again <S> This doesn't need to be a formal meeting, though you might benefit from a more formal approach to signal that you're serious. <S> If your manager is too busy or uninterested, then I would suggest a more informal approach just to try and pry some feedback from them. <S> As a bonus, your manager's reaction will give you a better idea of if this is a genuine performance issue or if they are just trying to fire you. <S> Long term developing the habit of seeking early feedback will help you in any job Good luck!
| I would start by making a habit of trying to grab your manager once a week to ask for feedback and one specific thing they think you can improve on. Update your resume and start putting it out as a defensive move.
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Length of Time of Interview Process Does the speed/length of time a company gives a job offer have any correlation with how much they "want/like you"? Company A gave me an offer much higher than what I wanted and gave me an increase on top of that salary! I told Company B about this and they were willing to match this salary. They scheduled an onsite interview. Note that Company B was very slow in the whole process (I tried calling them again and again and they never replied). They only replied when I told them about my offer at Company A. Suppose that I get both offers (both are equal in terms of salary, etc.). Should I accept Company A's offer because they gave it to me faster which indicates that they like me more? <Q> It usually depends on the way the hiring process of a given company is set up. <S> The more approvals in the process, the more you need for everyone to put their rubber stamp on it. <S> So smaller companies might have just a couple of people making the decision (or even just one!) <S> while larger companies might require a dozen rubber stamps just to tell you the results. <S> On Company B only responding when you mention the offer from A, it is possibly a case of someone dragging their feet on putting the stamp before you mentioned the competing offer, which allowed the team hiring you to push it forward. <S> Now whether if you want to interpret that as a negative is up to you. <A> I'd go for Company A. <S> If Company B have a lot of bureaucracy for hiring process, they will be slow in other areas as well. <S> For example, increments, performance appraisals. <S> You do not want to go to Company B only to have to resign, to get a salary increment. <S> When people do not bother to reply and do not seek you out, the message is clear and simple. <S> So yes, there is a correlation between speed/time of processing vs how much they want you. <A> Job searching can be like dating. <S> You search for a long time, but no one seems attracted to you. <S> Then one pretty girl starts flirting with you and all the other girls start to notice you more. <S> As such, those girls are insanely jealous of each other, so all they naturally start to flirt with you. <S> In the job search market, the recruiters from established companies often have internal goals "not to lose candidates to their competitors". <S> So yes, as soon as they saw that Company A had interest, they moved your resume to the top of the stack. <S> I would at least go on the interview to Company B, even if your mind is already made up for Company A. <S> You might find that your interview with Company B goes extremely well simply because you're more relaxed as a result of having a job secured. <S> As for a decision making process - you might find that the recruiting process doesn't completely reflect the culture of the team or work. <S> If you feel a good connection with the manager, you'll be in a good position.
| I would strongly suggest all things being equal, choose the company based on the people you'd be more comfortable working with - especially your direct manager.
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My boss does not "believe" me how good I am I'm a Software Engineer and I think I'm very good at it, at least much better than my colleagues so recently I have asked my boss for a raise (I named a concrete number). He told me that he thinks that too but he cannot prove it. I also told him that I was virtually mentoring one of our new colleagues and taught him a lot. Also in this case he said he cannot know how much I helped my colleague so he needs to think about whether he can approve the raise. I wasn't prepared for that (because I thought my work is visible enough) and I couldn't reason with him. But I don't give up so easily (I really think I should get a raise) so I already told him that I'm going to have another appointment with him where we discuss how we can approach this issue and avoid such lack of clarity in future. Next time, however, I'd like to be better prepared and bring my own suggestions - also as a signal that I care. So my question is: How can I undoubtedly show that I'm worth the money? What criteria should I suggest that would allow him to notice and value my work more? (I like the company where I work so looking for a new job would be the last resort solution - I'd rather first try to convince my boss that he should pay me more - also because it's a great exercise at diplomacy) <Q> You may be working this backwards, and may have put your "boss" in an uncomfortable position. <S> Is he supposed to be mentoring your co-worker instead of you? <S> How's your boss doing in the company? <S> Is your boss successful, riding high, expanding his sphere of cash, influence, and ability? <S> Because if he isn't, then you're not proving to be of value to him. <S> You have goals, your boss has goals -- his boss has goals. <S> What you need is an ally, and that ally must be your boss. <S> Your boss is the one who can answer the question about what it would take to convince him of your value. <S> It is whatever it would take to make <S> his boss agree that approving your raise is a great idea. <S> SO how do you help your boss get his needs met? <S> I don't mean in the specific, softwaresy sense. <S> I mean in the organization, because the organization is the one paying the salary, not the software. <S> Fortunately, you have merely been asked to back up your claims, but you're not familiar with the coin of the realm. <S> Talk to your boss about aligning your goals, and about what sort of artifacts <S> he would find useful in supporting his decision to approve a raise for you. <S> Meanwhile, you can do some homework on your own. <S> Do you have a job description / position description? <S> Just like you would work on a resume, work on showing in concrete terms how you are exceeding the requirements of that document, in a way that is valuable to your boss. <S> And in a way which doesn't start to make him look redundant. <S> Expanding on the resume idea -- search for instances of tangible gain, and use the STAR / SAR format to tell mini-stories with concrete endings. <A> I can tell you, I'm a "l33t h4x0r", do you believe it? <S> Germans respond more to provable facts and actions than big words. <S> Now, I think he just doesn't want to or can't pay more and win time. <S> He also might come back with a lower offer for a raise, obviously he wouldn't approve a raise on the spot! <S> He probably realizes, you're cosy with your job (or need it) and won't quit over this. <S> He might appreciate you but just not enough to make it worth your while <S> or he knows you to be an inept negotiator. <S> So, in general , if you want your boss to know what you bring to the company, make sure he sees you doing that.(make notes of those occasions) <S> He wants to weasel himself out of it again... <S> proof... <S> and poof goes his argument... <S> Be ready for other arguments, so make sure to have a near impeccable record with regards to your work and behaviour. <S> Any time your colleague for instance asks for help, thanks for your help or tells you how good you are, make a note. <S> It's good to have others witness it too, <S> ideally your boss but <S> that might seldom be the case, depending on how often he visits the production floor. <S> Once talking with your boss pick some highlights you helped the coworker with and how appreciative he/she was. <S> If he still tells you again he doesn't know how much you helped, let him know <S> ,it's ok to ask your colleague(s), you're sure they'll remember (be certain it's something that doesn't embarres them and is something only seniors to them would know) <S> If there is a problem or tricky task <S> and you know you can deal with it, volunteer to take it on. <S> During your tasks if you find a more elegant or better solution(i.e. <S> faster, more efficient, time and money saving) show your boss what you did and why that way. <S> Oh, btw., if you're younger and / or not employed as a senior, automatically people will expect you to be less capable, inexperienced. <A> He is probably more skilled in dealing with people asking for a raise. <S> He knows that you are good, you don't need to prove it to him. <S> However a manager can not give always a raise to everyone, that is why the usually say no until they a real danger of letting you go. <S> This is also good because you can test your current "value" in the market. <S> Also dont let your colleagues know that you have/ask for a raise because they will also try to get a raise too, which will let your boss less chances to deal with
| One way to get a raise is to find an offer from a different company, if you find a company that pays you more, they will not want to let you go (it takes a lot of time and money to train a new person when you have someone you trust already).
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Ghosted by 3 recruiters in a row So I've been ghosted by 3 recruiters in a row, that is to say, HR recruiters have messaged me on LinkedIn about interesting job opportunities than just not responded to me. One had a phone interview go well, said he would schedule another interview, then didn't reach out to me. How would I go about figuring out what's going wrong? Bad luck? Something else? How am I supposed to react to being ghosted? <Q> Processing job applications is a high-volume job depending on your industry. <S> Three interviews is a drop in the bucket. <S> But you absolutely must pay attention to your technique, see what works and what doesn't, and refine as appropriate. <A> That's kind of the point. <S> If they stop reading your emails, you can't yell at them. <S> One thing you can do is to blackball these recruiters yourself. <S> Take note of the companies these recruiters work for, and the next time a recruiter from the same company contacts you, simply say, "Sorry, I've worked with your company in the past and been ghosted, I'm not going to waste my time talking to you a second time. <S> Thank you, goodbye". <S> I have done this in the past, and the recruitment company has come back to me practically begging me on their hands and knees to work with them. <S> Or sometimes they'll just go away forever. <S> In the former case, it's really up to you as to whether or not to give them a second chance. <S> Personally, I would give them a second chance, but make it known to them that they are my bottom priority in terms of my job hunt, something like "I'm willing to work with you, but be aware that due to my past experience, I don't entirely trust your professionalism. <S> As a result, I will consider recruitment work from my other recruiters more seriously than your work". <S> Basically, I am very passive-aggressive with these types of people; in my opinion, ghosting is basically the cardinal sin of recruitment, so I have little patience for these companies or the people who work for them. <S> In the latter case, you've just saved yourself a whole bunch of headache. <S> If they're not even ready to contest with you that they ghosted you and try to plead their case and fix their reputation, then screw them. <S> Count yourself lucky <S> they don't want to waste your time talking to them. <A> I wish finding a good job was as easy as 3 applications being done. <S> Agencies deal with a high volume of candidates, unless you strike a chord with your recruiter is is likely they wouldn't recognize you on the street if you had a sign over your head. <S> Do the following: After an interview, phone or otherwise, send an email to the interviewer (if possible if not recruiter) thanking them for the opportunity of the interview, mentioning something about the interview that you liked (maybe something about the company which you have gone home to research), ask them for any feedback they may have and finish with "looking forward to working with you". <S> It reminds the person of the interview. <S> If it was a face-to-face interview, ask for a bussiness card if they have one so you can send the email. <S> If you received messages on Linkedin (that's how I got my current job), follow up on the messages a couple of days later. <S> Ask "Hi [person], is there some time today we can catch up on the phone regarding the position you messaged me about?". <S> Simple, no response=drop it and move on. <S> As mentioned above, try different things during interview, some techniques are better than others on the career that you are applying for. <S> And have fun! <S> If you walk into a building that gives you the feeling you couldn't be there 9-5 everyday, then try something wacky in the interview. <S> You are not wasting their time, both of you are looking for a perfect fit candidate. <A> Most likely those emails aren't from an actual person. <S> It's a mass email to get people to apply who meet some criteria they set in the app. <S> You shouldn't be waiting for people to come to you. <S> Go to these companies and apply! <A> How am I supposed to react to being ghosted? <S> It should not, but here in my country (Brazil) being ghosted happens quite often. <S> It is an bad / irresponsible HR behavior not providing any kind of feedback regarding a job apply. <S> In general terms, as for my experiences here in Brazil, most company's HR staff are simply incompetent. <S> Believe me, in 90% of cases the problem is not you . <S> Stay cool and keep aplying. <S> I believe one of the symptoms of a bad company (the kind you should not consider working to) is the poor HR interactions with people being recruited. <A> I wouldn't bother with the ones who just messaged you and left you hanging, because they're as likely to be phishing as making genuine inquiries, but if someone took the time for an interview it's worth following up after a week or so. <S> They may have some feedback as to why your application didn't go any further, other jobs to put you forward for, or just some words of encouragement. <S> Sometimes it's good to know that you're doing nothing wrong, and just need to keep at it.
| There isn't a lot you can do about being ghosted by a recruiter. I wouldn't worry about it.
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Asked to disclose employment, but it's non-public Some time ago, I was asked in a job application to disclose whether I was at the time employed by a certain entity. Yes I was. It was critical that it not be known publicly that I was working on a particular project there. I'm really not sure how true this would have been, but let's say that the recruiter could make a pretty obvious guess as to what project I was on, based on my experience. I balked at that point of the application, but is that way overblown? Would it have been okay to give a dishonest "no" if they had asked a revealing clarifying question in an interview? Clearly, my bank can see where the money's coming from, and in the zero-probability situation that a teller asked about it, I'd obviously just have to deflect. <Q> This sounds like one of those that you should discuss with the Security office of the "certain entity", and let them tell you how to handle that question. <S> You do not need to worry about the Security office telling your supervisor that you are interviewing outside the company. <S> Security knows that people interview, and they know that it is nobody's business but yours. <S> They also know that, if they get a reputation for blabbing, people will not come to them with real concerns, and that is emphatically not in anyone's best interests. <A> You can say "I worked on a project for some company for 3 months. <S> The project was very security critical, so I am under NDA not allowing my to say anything about the project, or even who employed me". <S> It's the truth, and it's all you can say. <A> If it was a relatively short-term job (just that one project?), then it probably can't tie your hands completely or forever. <S> For example, you probably don't need to pretend to be broke just because you can't disclose the exact nature of your employment. <A> It's not a crime to say who you worked for a certain company. <S> If you have signed an NDA, then just say you worked for X and if asked what you were doing, say you can't discuss it. <S> Seek legal advice about it as well.
| Unless you've signed an NDA as part of your work then it's not a crime to say you're working on a project.
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Rejecting religious rituals at office I am an Indian female residing in India. I am a Hindu by birth and though religious, I do not let that reflect at my office. I am deployed at a client location for the last three months and everything is going on smoothly. One of their female employees was on leave for a few months and returned recently to the office. She is a Hindu too and expresses it very openly. One of such things is distributing kumkum to the entire office staff which is ~20 members. Five of us are women and she takes the liberty of applying it on our foreheads and none of the other women object to it. It is a religious thing, you see. But, I am not comfortable with such rituals at the office. I want to be clear about it but I do not want to get singled out for such reason. These things are very sentimental, religious and any 'no' would attract a lot of unwanted attraction, discussions among others. How do I politely reject her religious advances? P.S. For the uninitiated, kumkuma is a red colored powder that is applied on forehead as a dot or a line in Hindu culture, esp after certain religious rituals are done. A little googling would help more. <Q> When she approaches you, say 'no thank you' and carry on with what you were doing. <S> If she forcibly tries to put it on anyways, move your head out of the way and say ' <S> really, I'd rather not'. <S> Do not try to explain why you don't want it, just say no and try to move on. <S> If she's a sensible human being, she'll get the message. <S> If she doesn't get the message after that, then you don't have to be polite anymore, because she stopped being polite too. <A> Therefore, you tell her when you are alone with her that you don't like it. <S> And if she doesn't agree with you, then you need to tell her that you will refuse very publicly to let her apply that red dot. <S> If she doesn't get the message, then you do exactly that - you refuse to let her put a read dot on your face. <S> Should she succeed, you wipe it off while she is still there. <A> You need to decide if rejecting that advances is important enough to you to be worth the upset/difficulty that it may cause. <S> If it makes you uncomfortable then the best, lowest friction, approach would be to talk to the woman making the advances. <S> Do this nicely but be clear that you do not want to take part in the ritual. <S> If your colleague ignores you then you have the option to publicly reject any advances, as discussed in the other answers. <S> Depending on your culture this may be considered rude or provocative so you might want to think carefully before doing this. <S> Remember that taking any action (including private discussion) is likely to impact the way that other people see and respond to you. <A> I would like to support the answer by <S> Markquo <S> because for most people this would be the correct approach. <S> However I fear (I don't know) that that may not be an effective strategy for your culture. <S> So I suggest an alternative. <S> Speak to the other women <S> You say they all consent too, and that makes you believe they aren't upset by it, but in fact you must appear the same to them. <S> After all you have never public bridled at the act. <S> And you mention that none of the other women did this before . <S> Speak to them, even offer to be the first to decline, if they are only willing to support you and follow suit. <S> As a concerted group effort the potential backlash is lessened because united you position looks less fragile. <S> Having support also gives you the confidence to not waver too quickly if she does protest. <S> Be sure to remain the utmost professional through all this in case things escalate. <S> Then follow the previous advice but with support. <A> I don't think there's a way of being polite when all you want to say is 'No, thank you'. <S> It's your decision not wanting anything sticked to your forehead, whatever are the reasons.
| Maybe, after saying 'no', if she's feels offended/ rejected, talk to her in private to clarify it's not personal. There doesn't seem to be any religious requirement to do it, because there are five other women who could have done the same thing and didn't, so from a religious point of view you should be fine. It may be easier to decline if you know you have support.
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How do freelancers handle confidential projects in their CVs & in Interviews? (Software Development) I am quite new to freelancing, and I'm wondering how freelance software developers handle confidential projects in their CVs? I recently spoke to a developer who told me that he is working on a project that is confidential and that he cannot put on his resume. I didn't have the chance to ask more, so I am asking here: Why might a project be confidential? Why wouldn't I be able to put it on my CV? How would a freelancer deal with projects like these? Esp. when he's just starting out in his/her career, not putting it on the CV seems like quite a bad option? How would he/she talk about these projects to future employers/recruiters? <Q> Skunk projects are a huge annoyance for this reason. <S> Note <S> though, that everyone is in the same boat, so it's clearly understood what you mean . <S> There are two pretty formulaic, popular solutions: All you can do is say things like: Research group of a major telco, 2018 Working directly for the senior discovery scientists, I {made a web page, devolved convolutions, applied AI to rendering, whatever} during my 9 month contract as the most senior Fortran engineer in the global organization, leading a team of 3 elite combat programmers with the most advanced research team of this top-2 telco. <S> So, if you work for "AT&T" or "Ford", you use a wiggle phrase in those two examples " <S> An automotive major" "Top three telco" and so on. <S> but, simply leaving out the sentence fragment where you mention what it is: "working with the cutting edge of generative VR in Fortran and sparse arrays with heuristic AI for a first person shooter " <S> Really, that's the only formula you can do. <S> on the CV? <S> ... <S> talk to employers ... <S> So, you follow the two points: <S> Instead of saying "Citibank" or "Viper" you say "Top two global finance corporation" or "Global Telco Major". <S> In describing the work, simply describe it exactly as you normally would, but, "leave out the sentence fragment" literally stating what it is. <S> This is pretty standard for skunk, stealth projects. <S> Also, toss around the terms "skunk" and "stealth mode" as often as possible <S> so you seem like an insider :) <S> You also ask Why might a project be confidential? ... <S> It's simply completely commonplace that this happens today in the world of apps, startups, and research software. <S> " <S> Stealth mode!" is completely commonplace. <S> Over and over you'll do projects or contracts of this nature <S> - it's no big deal. <S> Like, if you look on angel.co or whatever there's literally a selector for "stealth mode", I think! <S> It's no big deal, and commonplace. <A> There are many reasons that a project could be confidential, from being a government job where you need a security clearance just to admit that the project exists, down to a basic business project where you don't want to signal to the competition that you are working in a certain field. <S> But regardless of what you are working on, the ability to place the project on your CV will be dependent on what paperwork you have signed with whoever you are doing the work for. <S> If you signed something that says you have to keep your trap shut, then you keep your trap shut. <S> But that just because you can't talk about a particular project, doesn't mean that you can't talk about the technologies you used as long as you use broad, non-specific terminology. <S> EG <S> If I worked on a project for Amazon that read peoples thoughts and then ordered stuff for them before they realized they wanted it, I could phrase that as: <S> Spent 5 years working with C++ to drive advanced bio-medical hardware interfaced to the internet with the aim of analyzing patient data. <S> During that time I increased measurement accuracy by 400% and decreased response time from 10 seconds to 50ms <A> Why might a project be confidential? <S> Why wouldn't I be able to put it on my CV? <S> It could be part of a government project that can not be discussed for security reasons. <S> How would a freelancer deal with projects like these? <S> Esp. <S> when he's just starting out in his/her career, not putting it on the CV seems like quite a bad option? <S> How would he/she talk about these projects to future employers/recruiters? <S> You deal with it by deciding whether or not you are willing to take on the work given those conditions. <S> It will be tough when you are starting out, but those are the decisions you'll have to make. <S> If you decide to take the work, then you abide by the contract. <S> This will demonstrate that you are a dependable freelancer and could actually generate good reputation for you within that circle. <A> How do freelancers handle confidential projects <S> If it's confidential you leave out all the details or omit it altogether. <S> With confidential freelance work you would normally charge a lot more, one of the reasons for this is because you're constrained by confidentiality. <S> So you trade off that way.
| Typically in these scenarios it is specifically written into the contract when, if ever, you can talk about this work. Regarding the specific project: really, just describe it exactly as you normally would: "working with the cutting edge of generative VR in Fortran and sparse arrays with heuristic AI" It could be related to some new commercial product that the company doesn't want discussed in public until the product isn't announced.
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Should I check with my boss before I schedule something in his office? I need to schedule a meeting with me, my boss, and a third person (at my boss's level). none of the conference rooms are available at the only time the meeting is good. Should I ask my boss before I schedule our meeting in his office? To be clear, my boss asked me to make this meeting. so it isn't out of nowhere. <Q> Should I ask my boss before I schedule our meeting in his office? <S> By all means do tell him. <S> Besides, you will also make him aware of the current space limitations, something which he could help solve (perhaps he can get a special request). <S> Imagine <S> if you come in some day to your office and find it's being used for a meeting... you would wonder why they didn't tell you in advance would you? <A> Never assume someone is okay with having a meeting scheduled in their office, even if they were the one that called for it. <S> There could be any number of reasons why this is inappropriate: <S> Space is inadequate <S> Meeting would discuss non-public information and this could travel through walls General comfort of all the participants (it may be tough to position your body in a small office so you can all be heard on a conference call) <S> What do you do instead? <S> Tell your boss what you told us. <S> "There are no other conference rooms available for this time, would it be alright if we had this in your office?" <S> If it works out, then that's fine - you've done your due diligence <S> and you've respected your superior's space and time. <S> If it doesn't work out - e.g. your boss doesn't want to use their space for the meeting - then the worst thing that could happen is that the meeting is rescheduled for a later time. <A> If you use Outlook/Exchange to setup meetings, I'd just setup the meeting in his office, make sure notifications are sent (including the location), then briefly tell him in a mail, via the meeting notification, a chat messenger or personally depending on how soon the meeting is and how reachable your boss, that you scheduled the meeting in his office for lack of other rooms. <S> Ask if this is okay or whether you should reschedule to another time or whether boss wants to kick out someone from the official meeting rooms. <S> This assumes you know your boss's office and know that it is suitable to hold three people <S> , your boss does use it occasionally to meet with people, and it has everything you need for a meeting, e.g. a whiteboard or whatever you might require. <S> If you have doubts about that, ask first. <S> Basically it's about probability. <S> The more likely you think the boss' office is an okay location for a meeting, the more you can first setup and ask questions later and <S> the less sure you are, the more likely you should ask first before you do anything.
| It's his office, so its courteous and professional to ask beforehand if their office is available or if it's ok with your boss to use it.
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How to tell my unproductive and unlucky cofounder that he's out? I am involved in a pre-seed project with another person. When I started this project I was looking for a person who I thought would take care of the administrative and executive tasks of the company while I handled the technology and finances. I found my cofounder, Adam, because I thought he was this kind of person. I didn't really know Adam when I agreed to start this project with him. As I've worked with him for 3 months I've realized that for the project to succeed, it will be without him as cofounder. When we started to build the product, it went how I thought it would. However, as time went on Adam started wanting to be a more of a developer, even though he had no developer experience. We built a product together that was horrible and hacked together because half of my time was spent mentoring him and fixing his code. It's obvious to me now that what he wants to do is different than what I wanted him for. I've built a new product from scratch, completely myself, and I've stopped pushing code because I'm frankly afraid of his drag on it and I work much more quickly without him. I know that he doesn't think long-term enough to take the company where I want to take it. Essentially, I was looking for a CEO and I see now that he is not fit to be CEO of this company. I own everything and I have to do everything myself. I own the domain, the email inboxes, the code for the landing page, the product, and all the labor that has gone into this new version. I do not know why I'm continuing to allow him to be take credit. However, I know that he feels ownership of the idea since we formed the idea together and this is the only leverage he has. Basically the way I see it I have 3 paths: 1) Act like everything is cheery and let him take 50% of a company that I built and own. I allow him to take CEO role and I am unhappy. 2) Reduce him to a minority position, around 20%. This is basically just a consolation prize, because he was around and provided "moral support" through the first iteration cycle of a failed product. I don't even know what his role will become, maybe "community manager." 3) Separate from him. Basically tell him that he is no longer involved in the project. The project is mine, I own the assets and built the product. We don't sign a non-compete and he can take my code once I publish it and fork the project if he wants. I don't care. Overall my largest dilemma is that I know he's bad at organizing work priorities, has personal weaknesses that makes him a bad leader, doesn't engage in the same form of long-term thinking that I do, lacks overall project vision that is ambitious enough, and requires a lot of nurturing from my end. I've changed my mind about wanting him involved. What can I do? Am I being sociopathic / anti-social by thinking all this? EDIT: No legal contracts, verbal commitments and emails up to this point has made clear we plan to split equity 50 - 50 in the case that an entity was formed. Locale is the EU. EDIT2: I added the "unlucky" descriptor because he went broke 1 month into the project because he had mismanaged his personal finances. I did not know this at the time. It was overall detrimental to the project since it put an unnecessary burden on us to raise funds before we had reached the right maturity to do so. Because of this, I've also been working full-time on this while he's taken a 30/hr week job at another startup. He was supposed to continue working but all he's done for the last week has been send some emails. <Q> No legal contracts, verbal commitments and emails up to this point has made clear we plan to split equity 50 - 50 in the case that an entity was formed. <S> That's why you should always have a contract before you start investing time and money into a business partnership. <S> A proper contract would explain exactly what to do if one of you wants out. <S> It would also have outlined what each of your obligations are, and what happens when one of you doesn't fulfill theirs. <S> But without a written contract this is a really messy situation. <S> You both might or might not have claim to any intelectual, physical and capital property of the company. <S> Finding out the details would be a job for lawyers and judges. <S> Verbal contracts can be binding contracts. <S> But the problem with verbal contracts is that they aren't worth the paper they are written on, because both sides might disagree about what they actually agreed on. <S> However, your email correspondence might prove what your original deal was and might be used to reconstruct what you agreed on. <S> Get a lawyer to look at these and tell you if anything in there could constitute a valid business agreement between you and him which he might have broken. <S> Leave everything behind and start a new business from scratch. <S> Let him keep the rights to the software if he wants to - if he is really as inept as you claim there isn't much he can do with it anyway. <S> And in case you misjudged him and he does turn it around and make it successful <S> , it's far more in his interest to resolve the messy copyright situation than in yours. <A> So you disagree over the direction your company should go. <S> Adam thinks mom&pop's homemade software, you think Momcorp inc. <S> So one of you needs to change course because as co-founders you have equal rights to the direction of the corporation. <S> So don't tell them to get out, persuade. <S> Its your choice what way to approach this but think of it more as a relationship than a company. <S> Lets take an example: You want to move to the other side of the country, your SO does not. <S> there are reasons to move, there are reasons to stay. <S> You can try convince each other but if neither sways then the only other option is breaking up the relationship. <S> Of course a breakup is messy: who gets the house, who gets the cat? <S> you'll have to figure those things out and this is where you'd get yourself a lawyer because the house of software is the propery of you both, even if your SO only hung up some paintings and moved the sofa. <A> The answer here is dead simple. <S> Politely tell Adam the project is off, and then have no further communication. <S> (We can only take your description at face value.) <S> You made a big mistake - learn from it! <S> Regarding the mistake at hand, terminate it today. <S> Life is short. <S> (If, incredibly, Adam asks "why" then state ten words, " <S> Your technical and business skills don't meet what I'm looking for.") <S> (If you are unable to state directly such things, set aside the idea of starting a product or company.}
| But if that's too stressful and too expensive, you might also consider another option: Just tell Adam "I quit!" and break contact. It would be absurd to have any association with someone who is wholly useless.
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Is it appropriate to give an unsolicited negative referral? I recently discovered that an acquaintance of mine (Bob) might be applying for a position in the same group that I'm in. While I am on good terms with Bob, he is not very personable and I do not want to be working with him. Here is the situation: Bob already works in the same (large) company as me, in a different group on another floor. We occasionally chat on the company messaging program. We talk outside of work every once in a while. I have been at the company for just over a year. Bob has been here about half a year longer. We are both inexperienced hires, and if he were to join my group, we would have the same title. I don't know for certain if he will be applying for a spot on my team or another team, but I have strong reason to believe it would be mine. He has not applied (given his resume) yet, but probably will soon. Being hired into my group would be a career shift for Bob. He studied a similar area, but wants to transition to the career path that I'm on. While I think if interviewed, he might do well enough on technical portions, I don't think his technical skills are on par with a similar candidate who studied in my field. For this inexperienced position I don't think that will have a major impact. I don't think he would do well on soft skill portions of the interview. I think that if hired, Bob would be tolerable to my other team members, but not liked by at least a couple of them (about 9-16 on the team, if you count a closely related team). I would probably be the person onboarding him. I really like my job and my team, and I think Bob being put on my team would change that. Is it appropriate to approach my boss (or someone else? HR?) and express my concerns? If so, how do I do it? And what if I find out for sure that he has applied for my team? Some specific examples of Bobs disagreeableness: Aggressively dismissing my advice to him because he thinks I am less competent in our mutual hobby. He generally does not respect people unless he views them as 'superior'. Talking over people, or not following social cues when a conversation has shifted. Charlie came up to me and said "So I got into an argument with Bob the other day..." I interjected "Let me give you a piece of advice-" and he immediately fired back "Don't get into an argument with Bob?" "Yep." In general, he is arrogant, condescending, and difficult to talk to. Many others pick up on this very quickly, it is definitely not just me. <Q> Is it appropriate to approach my boss (or someone else? <S> HR?) <S> and express my concerns? <S> In short, no. <S> Unless you are in a position to approve or make recommendations for new team members, I would stay out of it, especially since Bob has not officially applied. <S> The main reason you give for not recommending Bob is that he is "not personable," which is highly subjective. <S> Your other criticisms don't seem to have basis in fact -- you don't point to any specific circumstances in which Bob failed or performed poorly. <S> There's no harm in providing unsolicited positive feedback, but unsolicited negative feedback can come back to hurt you. <S> Let's say, for example, you were to approach your boss and say everything you say here. <S> And let's say your boss hires Bob anyway, and he's a great fit with the team. <S> That could make you look petty, wrong, or otherwise not credible. <S> Your boss may value your opinion less after that. <S> Then there's Bob -- if Bob finds out about your feedback <S> it's likely he'd be blindsided and react negatively to you. <S> Especially if your feedback cost Bob a new opportunity. <S> Bob may then tell his story to others, and suddenly you have a poor reputation among a number of people you wouldn't have before. <S> Certainly if your boss asks you about Bob, you can give feedback, but even in that case, make sure any negative comments are grounded in objective fact as much as possible. <S> You'll probably want to cast those as "reservations" or "concerns" rather than flat-out telling your boss not to hire Bob. <S> If Bob does end up on your team, make sure to keep careful record of your interactions -- after all, it's more appropriate for you to provide negative (albeit constructive) feedback when you're working with that person directly on a regular basis. <A> The answer is simple. <S> You never managed him, <S> you never worked with him in professional capacity ("We occasionally chat on the company messaging program. <S> We talk outside of work every once in a while" is not "work") and you are not in-charge of the hiring process. <S> Thus you never get to pass comments, let alone negative, before or during the allotment process. <S> You have no idea <S> how he behaves / interacts with his "team" <S> - it may significantly differ when working in a professional capacity and talking to someone outside the professional zone. <S> You have an idea of his behavior is a plus for you, keep an eye out for the allotment process and if Bob get selected for the position, do your part as you would have done for anyone else being appointed. <S> In case the behavior is as you "expected" (i.e., not very professional), make careful note of the interaction and you can bring it up to the team superior / management , as necessary. <A> It would be very brave to do so, and I mean brave in the exact same way <S> a British MP means it when referring to another MP. <S> Not only would giving such an action be inappropriate, it would reflect far worse on you than on "bob". <S> If I were approached by someone talking down about another employee, I'd lose all respect for the person approaching me. <S> I'd view that person as petty, unprofessional, manipulative, and untrustworthy. <S> In the business world, we have to get along with all types. <S> You do not get to pick and choose who you get to deal with, and wanting to avoid someone because you find them less than personable <S> demonstrates both a lack of professionalism and maturity. <S> If I were your manager, I'd simply tell you to deal with it, and I'd be very disappointed in you. <S> Learn to deal with Bob, he may surprise you, if not, you still have to get along. <A> However, in many companies the team is asked for an opinion on a new candidate to join them in the hope to keep team spirits high and have teams that like working with each other. <S> If your company has such a process that would be the right moment to mention concerns about Bob being a bad fit for your team culture. <S> You should however be careful in judging his professional behaviour based solely on your non-professional interactions. <S> Many people can perfectly switch to acting differently when they are in their professional role. <S> If your company doesn't have such a process you could - independently of this concrete issue - try to establish such a process, e.g. by suggesting it to your manager.
| You may be entirely correct about Bob, but it is simply too risky to complain about a peer based on what appears to be a gut feeling. Approaching your boss with this concern when you only speculate about him being interested in joining your team is a social no-go.
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I don't find enough people (for the salary I would give) I have an issue at work and I was hoping to get some help to propose a solution. Our company (an IT one) has issues in finding developers (I guess that's something common). But there are teams that are having hard times at work due to lack of developers. The manager is telling us that he has posted the job positions on several sites and the hr is looking for people, but they don't find anyone. As we proposed, give them a higher salary and people will come (the ambiance at work is on, the company is known as an ok one). But the manager told us that it will not be fair to give higher salary to the new guys and the older ones to receive the same salaries and when we told him to increase the salary and for the old ones, he said no. So what solution should I propose to the manager? Take into account that this is happening in Spain and the company has the headquarter in Amsterdam and there the salaries are much higher, even if we do the same thing (actually, the core team is in Madrid). <Q> You've proposed the correct solution to management, and management didn't agree. <S> Your next move is to find another job. <S> What happens from now is that overworked and underpaid employees go looking for other jobs. <S> The good ones find them fairly easily and leave, meaning that the remaining employees are even more overworked. <S> The less competent will have more difficulty in getting new jobs, so they'll stay around longer. <S> The company will be unable to hire anyone competent to fill in the vacancies. <S> The shop will get more stressful and significantly worse to work in, which will drive away more people. <S> This will continue until the company starts paying at least market rates for people. <S> If what you're doing is important to the company, the company will suffer. <S> It's possible that management will realize what's going on and raise the salaries, and you might possibly try waiting for that. <S> Unless there's a strong reason to stay with your current employer, though, that's mostly going to cost you money and stress. <S> As Ertai87 points out, the number one reason a company would scrimp on payroll in this way is financial difficulties, which suggests that the company might be in trouble, and if so it would be worthwhile to leave sooner rather than later. <S> I don't usually like answers that say to get another job, but in this case the signs are pretty clear that you should. <A> It sounds like your company is unable to pay its employees what they're worth . <S> You admit that your company is advertising jobs at below market rate, and they can't afford to raise the salaries of its employees up to market rate. <S> This screams of a company that is having financial difficulty. <S> To be honest, if my company wasn't willing to pay me market rate, the first thing I would do would be to start looking for a new company myself. <A> Perks <S> For example, is working remotely an option that you could pitch to your boss? <S> Offer them great flexibility in working hours, or getting time off without needing to give you much notice? <S> Would you be able to stock the lunch room with coffee that would be available to them for free? <S> Get lunch for them once a week? <S> Organize some company events such as BBQ's, or ice cream days during the summer? <S> How about putting a ping pong table, or console in the break room? <S> Young Talent <S> Target universities and colleges. <S> Offer paid internships for students without a lot of experience on their CV's. <S> Be open to interviewing programmers who may have learned to code on their own, and don't have degrees, but may be able to show you a strong portfolio of personal projects, etc.
| If you can't incentivize potential applicants with money, perhaps you can offer them a better work environment, or perks which will serve to attract them. The other approach I would take is to try and rope in young programmers without a lot of work experience.
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End of day report or morning report? When it comes to delivering a report on the day's work, is it better to deliver the report at the end of the working day (e.g. 5pm) or first thing next morning (9am)? What are the advantages/disadvantages of each? I would like to implement a morning report at work as I believe it would be more accurate (guarantee capture of all data e.g. people may work after-hours etc). However, I think people will be quite resistant to the change, so I need a bit more ammo. The only counter I can think of off the top of my head is that there would be more "oomph" behind the feedback right after an end-of-day report. I suppose another possible reason for an end-of-day report would be the more timely delivery of critical information, but in my case, the report isn't that important. Would like to hear people's thoughts. Thanks <Q> Why don't you make a rule that the previous day report must be submitted by 9:30am the next day ? <S> Those who want to write it after work on the day can do so, those who want to do it in the morning can also do so. <S> As long as it's in by 9:30am <S> it should be anyone's decision when they write it. <S> Simple :-) <A> I prefer end of day reports. <S> The information from the day is fresh in peoples minds. <S> I might suggest having a beginning of the day reporting system because people who prefer end of day can write their report and submit it in the morning, and people who do prefer morning report writing can continue to write their reports in the morning. <S> Having a morning report also ensures that people who work flexibly (in the evening) can still send the full days report in by the deadline. <A> Could you please make it clear that you are the boss and will receive the reports (I think)? <S> My “answer” is bunch of questions – but I am not sure that you have thought this though, other than that “it might be a good idea” (no offence intended) . <S> How much time will it take people to prepare these reports? <S> How long will it take you to read, digest and act upon them? <S> What is the purpose of them? <S> What will you gain, that you don't have now? <S> And how do you do it now? <S> A chat or not at all? <S> To quote @Joe <S> ’s comment: <S> “but in my case, the report isn't that important." <S> - then why bother with the report at all? <S> Unless you have a clear reason for why you want to do something – anything – in business, and what the costs and rewards are, it is inadvisable to do it. <S> You have lasted <however long <S> > <S> without daily reports. <S> Why do you need them now? <S> If you can explain that, and show a benefit, then you don’t need to ask us. <S> If you can’t, then you don’t need the reports. <A> However, I think people will be quite resistant to the change, so I need a bit more ammo. <S> I take this to mean that people do end of day reports. <S> I'm not sure it matters, and certainly don't have data. <S> Since you asked for opinions I prefer a first thing in the morning report because when I have to do it at the end of the day, I have to stop early to write it... <S> which breaks my flow. <S> The people that do the end of day reports now don't have to do anything different really. <S> They can still write the email, save it, and send in the morning. <A> There are a lot of considerations that could be made here including where the data is coming from and what it's ultimately being used for. <S> If the information for the report is being emailed/provided by the user directly then a morning report seems the most logical thing to do to allow for the most amount of time to receive the information from the sources providing it. <S> If the information is coming from some kind of central repository (e.g. you're interrogating a database to get this information back) then a morning report is definitely worth considering the following reasons: Creating a report that runs from 00:00:00 to 23:59:59 each day is easy to justify as logical and would hopefully cover any out of hours work that is being done. <S> Long term <S> if you potentially wanted to automate this report, you could set up a batch job to do it first thing in the morning (1am) <S> where's there's likely to be little demand on any computing resources used. <S> The only exception to this is if there's a need to see the data before the following morning . <S> Would there be a management need to view this data at the end of the day or an out of hours period? <S> Would it potentially impact a service or product if an issue isn't seen until the following morning? <S> If so then an end-of-day report is definitely the best option.
| It seems to me that a morning report, with the option of writing (and maybe submitting) it any time, is the best option in the situation you described. Final thing to consider - it might be worthwhile asking the recipients of the report to see when they think it'd be best to receive it, after all they are the ones that'll be acting on the information being provided.
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Executive assistant from sister company used my office on my day off - should I be concerned? We share office space with another company owned by my direct supervisor (yes, very confusing). I had a day off on Friday and in my absence my co-worker allowed the executive assistant of the other company to use my office for the day. When I mentioned that it is kind of strange to me as there are other places she can work from in the building my co-worker kind of said I am making a mountain out of a mole hill. I just think it is not professional. A- you could have asked me B- the company I work for pays rent to the company she works for so maybe we should not have our offices used C- for data security and compliance I would need to lock even the smallest scrap of paper up if an outside person will be in my office (My laptop and files are all locked securely) Should I just see what happens? Am I right to be concerned or is it all harmless? <Q> From the sound of it, you can ask your Higher ups, but since she is an Executive Assistant chances are not much is going to happen. <S> Firstly, if security is tough, your laptop and files should be locked anyway. <S> Cleaners and Maintenance crew will often have access to the entire building, so if she were to see some files and the such, they could blame you for not securing the documents in the first place, since the Cleaners and/or Maintenance people could access it as well. <S> Secondly, if you had an office, it may have simply been a nice and secluded place for the assistant to work. <S> I've known people who will go to different levels or book rooms across the building to get away from their team and do some work. <S> If you want to determine what to do, simply approach any higher ups and state that you were a bit concerned about her behavior. <S> Something along the lines of "Hello, I found out XXX was working in my office last week <S> and I was wondering if there were any issues with this". <S> You can also ask the executive assistant why she chose to use your office. <S> Just make sure you are not trying to prevent or blame her from using your office that way you will just appeared overly worried about company policy rather than being very aggressive about your office space. <A> This is pretty harmless and should be expected from time to time, especially when there's a shortage of desk space available. <S> If you have security related items in your office, then it's up to you to have those secured away (because there's nothing to stop anyone from entering your office and taking a look around). <S> There's no need to raise this or ask questions about it, just use this as a prompt to consider what you're leaving out in the open for the cleaners/walk-by <S> colleagues to read. <A> I just think it is not professional. <S> You are very right. <S> Should I just see what happens? <S> Knowing about a (probable) security breach and not reporting it is also considered as a security breach in most of the cases, so unless there was proper approvals taken (maybe beyond your knowledge), this is very unusual. <S> Make sure the appropriate authorities are aware of this event. <S> Usually companies do not have different data privacy and security roles based on the designation. <S> The access privilege will differ, but the individual access and privacy is still individual. <A> allowed the executive assistant of the other company to use my office for the day. <S> It's not your office . <S> Unless you pay the rent out of your own pocket, the office and anything in there belongs to the company and the company can decide to use however they see fit. <S> If the executive assistant being in there violated any security policy, you can complain about that, but the use of the office itself is fair game.
| You don't need to launch an official complaint right now, just inform the concerned people (Admin team, HR, your immediate superior) about this and ask for their opinion, make sure you do this in writing (even if you do it in a non-formal way). In a professional office space, it's unprofessional, unethical and a security policy violation in case any outsider wants to have access without proper authorization and security check clearance.
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Interviewing for consulting position involves interview with customer; is this unusual? I am going through the interview process with a consulting company X for a senior consultant position. We have had 2 phone and 1 in person interview and they have indicated that they are interested in hiring me but have not yet made an offer. This week, I have a 4th phone interview with a potential customer of company X which I am led to believer is the last step of the process. I am a little put off by the interview with the customer as I would expect that company X should be able to make their own determination of my skills/experience match for the role and base their decision off of that. Likewise, it seems like having another party involved with veto power doesn't work in my favor. It's also a bit strange that prior to this phone interview with the customer, they have converted my resume to their company's format (without consulting me) and sent it to their customer. Am I overreacting here or is this process unusual and potentially a little unethical? They are essentially leveraging my portfolio to sell a service agreement that they don't yet have personnel for and conditioning my hiring on it's success. I can see it from their perspective too, but it does rub me the wrong way. Otherwise it seems like a good company to work for with some really bright and talented people. <Q> Am I overreacting here or is this process unusual and potentially a little unethical? <S> IMO, this doesn't seem unusual to me. <S> If this is a consulting position, it makes sense that the company the consulting service is being provided to should have a say on which person(s) they would like for this specific project. <S> This makes sense because the consulting company is providing a service to this third-party company, one that is specific and customized for this project. <S> Thus, they are filtering which current and prospect employees are best fit for this project. <S> Anyways, it is still recommended that you keep your options open until you receive and accept an offer, and apply to other prospect jobs you have in mind. <A> I am a little put off by the interview with the customer as I would expect that company X should be able to make their own determination of my skills/experience match for the role and base their decision off of that. <S> Likewise, it seems like having another party involved with veto power doesn't work in my favor. <S> Some customers require veto power over people being added to their contract. <S> I have had to do this several times. <S> In some cases I was a new hire, in other cases a already worked for the company <S> but they wanted to add me to an existing contract. <S> There are several reasons why they require this step: the customer has been burned by unqualified people; the contracting company has burned customers by assigning unqualified people. <S> Some customers have gone a step further by requiring a resume check by a third party company. <S> It's also a bit strange that prior to this phone interview with the customer, they have converted my resume to their company's format (without consulting me) and sent it to their customer. <A> Recruiting, consulting, and staffing companies do this routinely <S> and I don't see this as abnormal or unusual. <S> You've interviewed with the company performing the search and now you're interviewing with the "end user client". <S> Both are necessary. <S> Your interviews with the company performing the search are meant to validate that you fit what the end user client is looking for and to weed out people who aren't fit. <S> Since you will ultimately be working for the end user client they naturally want to interview you as well. <S> Nothing irregular about that. <S> As for your resume, what do you care what they do with it? <S> You gave it to them. <S> Their copy of your resume belongs to them to do with as they please. <S> Reformat it, burn it, throw it away, etc. <S> I'm failing to see why this would upset you. <S> It's a piece of paper. <S> Nothing more.
| Once you do become an employee this is a normal event in most companies.
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Buy 1 year season ticket as self employed I am self employed person and I have several clients. One of the offices is quite far and I have to pay for trains to get there. I want to buy a 1-year season ticket as it will be much cheaper. But it is a lot of money and if they don't want me doing accounting for them any more I will lose money. What can be done? <Q> But it is a lot of money <S> and if they don't want me doing accounting for them any more I will lose money. <S> What can be done? <S> Well, given you are self-employer <S> this is in part a risk you have to decide if you want to take. <S> If your relationship with this client seems stable, then you could consider it. <S> Otherwise, if you feel it's just temporary then I would think it more thoroughly. <S> Another option that comes to mind is to include your commute costs in your fee for clients that are far away . <S> Perhaps with this client you already agreed on some terms, but given you are self-employed <S> you are in position of negotiating this with future clients that are far away. <S> Start buying week-long tickets. <S> If you see the job will continue, consider buying month-long tickets, etc.. <S> That way you will minimize your losses if any. <A> I agree with DarkCygnus <S> but I want to add an option: Sometimes there are transferable season tickets available. <S> So you could sell it, in worse case. <S> It depends on your location a lot, but seems worth thinking of it. <S> (For example the "Transferable adult annual season ticket" of transport association in Frankfurt Germany; <S> Link: https://www.rmv.de/c/en/fahrkarten/die-richtige-fahrkarte/alle-fahrkarten-im-ueberblick/jahreskarten/uebertragbare-jahreskarte-barzahlung-erwachsene/ ) <A> You would need to carry out a risk assessment. <S> More importantly look at your ROI, how long will it take for the season ticket to "pay for itself" compared to how you currently pay for the trips? <S> Is it 3/6/9 months in? <S> Can you justify that client for that long? <S> Have they been your client for long? <S> In future cases (or even this one) do this assessment prior to accepting any contracted work, try to negotiate a contract buy-out period, if the ROI for the ticket is 3 months, ask for a 3 month contract where the early termination fee is an initial amount equal to what the trip would cost you if bought daily which goes down every week by the equivalent amount. <S> If they want an explanation you can explain this is due to traveling costs, if they accept it great, if not then you have to decide on whether to take the risk or not. <A> What's the notice period on the contract? <S> If its a minimum 12 month with no notice, then the cost of the ticket is a recoverable loss if the client breaks the contract (by termination, for any reason). <S> Fixed for 6 months? <S> Same as answers above; build the cost into the fee. <S> Is it a rolling n month contract? <S> Either within the contract, as an addendum that is mutually agreed, or as part of the schedule, have a clause added that in the event of a termination for {reasons} or {not reasons}, the client will refund the unused value of the ticket. <S> (They may refuse to change the contract, as those are usually very legally specific, and expensive to alter). <S> You could do this instead by requesting a Letter of Intent (i.e. the client intends to retain your services for the duration). <S> If the client has confirmed they definitely want to retain you, and yet refuse to write such a letter that should tell you something. <S> In any case I would question the wisdom of buying a 12 month ticket. <S> What if you lose it? <S> Can it be easily / freely replaced? <S> I've almost always had weekly tickets myself, and was very glad <S> (that it was only weekly) when I lost one the day after purchase.
| Other option is to go buy shorter time-period tickets at first.
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Promotion with no confirmed pay I have been offered a promotion or rather an extension to my role. This is something the company knows I am keen to do as I have been trying to progress to this for nearly two years. Here’s the problem. I have worked at the company for over two years. I am a trusted hard working individual who overachieves on appraisals. For the new role that is being dangled like a carrot, the company expect me to do a 3 month trial period in which I will be taking on essentially a complete role as well as doing my current role, but they will not discuss the potential financial improvements until after the 3 month trial. I have been told by senior management that there is no money available in the pot. Why should I work two jobs for three months to then have no potential of a pay rise. Am I shooting myself in the foot for turning this job down? I’m 23 and I feel like the company is taking advantage of me. What are your thoughts? Who would take a job without knowing the wage? <Q> Tell them what you've done for them over the last 2 years, how well they've regarded you and remind them of all the praise you've received. <S> Shake your head and sigh a few times to emphasize just how disappointed you are. <S> Do not say "yes" to anything. <S> Do not immediately agree to their first offer, and whatever they do come back with ask for a bit more. <S> Regardless of the outcome, take the new job, get the experience and add it to your CV and start interviewing elsewhere. <S> When you get a job offer, take it to your current boss and thank them for everything but that you have received an offer elsewhere. <S> See if they come back with a counteroffer. <A> In my experience, it is not unprecedented that promotions come after <S> you assume new responsibilities, quite often either by finding out the need for them or inheriting them from someone else. <S> So it might be reasonable to have such a trial period where you have for a limited, ideally defined time additional responsibilities, and if you do succeed, you got your merit promotion. <S> However it needs to be understood with such arrangements, that if they do not award you the promotion after that reasonabe period, you will give up these additional responsibilities. <S> I would suggest to explain this position to your manager in writing so that you have a trail in case they do not give any sign of increasing your salary in a few months and your enthusiasm for performing an additional role expires. <S> On the other hand, what I am talking about is "additional responsibilities" and "promotion", meaning that you somehow expand on your existing duties with broadly related activities <S> (e.g. become a senior team member, or even team lead). <S> If they offer a completely different role to you (i.e. what HR people call often a "lateral move"), that sounds somewhat suspicious. <S> It is not unheard of either, however I have not encountered such cases outside mid- to top-level management, which I suspect is not your area. <A> The crux of the issue is that you have the best negotiating position with the most options before you start the probationary period. <S> Once you have begun to do the work without a mutually shared understanding of how things will look if you succeed, it will be much harder to move the new status quo. <S> Get a good understanding of current market rates for the position before negotiating. <S> If they will not commit to a raise after completion of the probationary period, they are not negotiating in good faith. <S> If they are not negotiating in good faith, then you can either refuse the responsibility increase, or accept it and start looking for an employer that understands how to keep good employees.
| Tell them that while you are interested in taking on the new role that you are very disappointed and unhappy that there is no increased compensation for the additional responsibilities you are being asked to take on.
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Do "Work From Home" jobs become overbearing? Many times job listings for computer-related career proudly display a "Work From Home!" perk. However, can this "perk" become abused by the employer? For example, is it common for computer programmers (or anyone in a computer-science field) to take home work over weekends and vacations because it was not finished over the work week? Do managers expect computer programmers to take home work that they have not finished at the office? Or is this usually employer specific and I should quickly leave such a job if I find it happening? It sounds like something that is unprofessional for managers to expect computer programmers to sacrifice so much time to work, however even though it's "unprofessional" doesn't mean it's not common in the real world. Could anyone share their experiences with this? I am graduating from high school this year and I have a talent for computer programming and I do enjoy it, however I am split between attending college for computer science or for an engineering field. A point that drove me away from computer science was because of fearing that I would have to take home work constantly and lose lots of my time. <Q> Those are two completely different issues. <S> I have never once been asked to work on a weekend or asked to work late. <S> But then again I have been picky about the companies I work for. <S> This is not always the case with all companies. <S> Generally I think it is safe to say it shows mutual respect and trust. <S> A company that lets you work from home is probably less likely to be hounding you to do extra unpaid hours. <S> Companies are as unique as individuals and even then a company culture is a very fluid thing and can change over time. <S> This is why it is important to research a company and its culture and use interviews to your advantage, it really is a two way street. <S> Again, in my experience, the companies where they were watching over my shoulder and raising eyebrows if I only worked my allocated hours without putting in "extra hours because I love my job" have all been smaller companies. <S> Companies like that never ever would let me work from home because I might be slacking off and not working. <A> To clear up one point "Work From Home" is not "Homework" . <S> Work From Home generally means you are full or near-full time at home or really any location you choose. <S> This very often means you will not be anywhere near an actual office or other corporate facility. <S> The expectations though remain largely unchanged from an office based job. <S> You are expected to carry a certain work load and manage your time accordingly. <S> There are several ways the usually manifests, here are two common ones: <S> Be available during certain times during the day for chat, calls, meeting, Scrums, etc. <S> This could be 9-11 and 2-4, the rest of the time is yours to manage. <S> Be responsive to communications, email, chats, meetings during normal business hours. <S> The day is otherwise yours to manage. <S> Note, you don't necessarily need to be at home to join a conference call. <S> This could be certain meetings, Tuesday and Thursday, and all sorts of combinations. <S> But, you should expect the same workload . <S> There should never be a scenario where you work in the office a full day, then have to take home another workload. <S> They pay for roughly 8hrs of your day. <S> If you finish that at the office, you're done. <S> Nothing to take home. <S> Now, if you take a 4 hr lunch break, but don't want to fall behind on you project, then you can/should work those 4 hrs at home, provided the company has the facilities to actually do that. <S> Unfortunately, some companies don't have the systems necessary for productive Work At Home. <A> I want to add something to the already good answers. <S> On rare occations, depending on your responsibilities, you might need to work overtime (could be at home or the office). <S> This is because unplanned or urgent stuff comes up, and if you are not just to warm the chair you should take care of things when most needed, this will show to your employer how much you are worth and help in your career inside your company. <S> Now in reality lots of companies would abuse of this, and pretend you do the extra mile even for planned work, and this is plain wrong. <S> So you should be proactive and helpful when most needed, but defend yourself when they are just asking you to do free work.
| Working from home is a great perk, I often use it for a variety of reasons (ie it might be pouring down rain, the trains might be having issues or I simply don't feeling like putting on pants on a given day). Some companies offer flexible office hours where your are expected at the office at specific times while the rest of the time is yours to manage.
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Can a company Reduce employee's pay due to changing the departments within the same company? I have been working for my company for 9 yrs and recently applied for a different position. Now they are possibly saying that I make too much money to go to this said dept. Is this something they can do to me if I have the hr wage I have due to experience and tenure? I may also add the starting pay for the dept I would be applying for starts out more money hourly than my current job when I started. ( also pay scale for starting pay for my dept has not changed in 9 yrs) <Q> You're not getting a pay cut in situ. <S> Having said that, it's an application, you can negotiate or decline to apply. <S> More than likely they want to discourage you a bit because it's cheaper for them to get someone new and <S> your experience may not be directly relevant to the position (or not relevant enough to make a difference). <A> Unless there is some law or rule, they can. <S> Even though the new position may be more attractive from some points of view, the company may consider that it does not return enough benefit to justify the higher salary. <S> Possible solutions (not exhaustive list): <S> Negotiate the terms of the new position: get more responsibilities, get involved in other (compatible) activities as well. <S> Find another position, which justifies a salary at a level that you can accept. <S> If the current job is better (overall) than the alternatives of changing, keep current job. <S> Last resort, you can find job at another company. <S> While some companies have an internal rule that an employee's salary cannot decrease (unless the employee is guilty for something), this is not established in all companies. <A> To my interpretation, your title and body of your question don't match. <S> Title: <S> Can a company Reduce employee's pay due to changing the departments within the same company? <S> makes it sound like you've already moved departments, and they're now trying to reduce your pay. <S> Body: <S> I [...] <S> recently applied for a different position. <S> Now they are possibly saying that I make too much money to go to this said dept. <S> makes it sound like you haven't moved yet. <S> In fact, it sounds like they're saying "we're not going to let you move departments, because you cost too much". <S> So which is it? <S> Assuming it's the second one, well what is there to do? <S> They don't want you to move departments because you're too expensive for the second department. <S> So the simple solution is not to move departments. <S> If you're desperate to move departments then you need to start negotiating somehow, and possibly end up taking a pay cut. <S> But it's not being forced on you, as far as I can tell, you'd be choosing to take a pay cut in order to move departments. <S> In which case it'd be legal in all countries that I know of (which is only UK and (vaguely) USA...) <A> Is this something they can do to me if I have the hr wage I have due to experience and tenure? <S> Yes that is exactly something that they can do. <S> You might be overqualified for the position. <S> If they are expecting people with 3 to 5 years experience to be selected for the position and you have almost 10 years experience, you may be hitting the top of the salary scale for the position. <S> Or in your situation you are exceeding the scale. <S> Their options are to select somebody that is below the bottom of the scale and give them a raise; or who fits into the scale and give them little to no pay increase; or select somebody above the pay range. <S> If they pick somebody that exceeds the top of the scale they either overpay the employee or cut their pay. <S> Sometimes when they are desperate they will overpay, but not when they have many qualified candidates in the first two groups. <S> Even if you accept the pay cut, it might be even more painful. <S> You may find that they will only give you a pay increase when the bump up the pay scale for the job description. <S> That might not happen every year. <S> It could be a while before you see any raise at all. <S> They also realize that an employee that accepts a large pay cut may also be desperate, which means they might be accepting the drop in pay because they may be leaving soon anyway. <S> Or the employee might think the better conditions are worth the pay cut but will leave in a year or two when they want more money.
| Yes, any different position is evaluated separately at the discretion of the company unless there is a policy expressly against it.
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How to deal with coworker who abuse me a lot? I have 5 years of PHP Development experience and in our team there is game developer who has 1.5 years experience. Since I have 5 years I knows some of programming topics or in other words I more fluent then him in programming. So when team lead giving a task to us then he always try to get my attention because of my relevant questions and may be quickly understanding about requirements, and this thing my coworker does not like. He always try to led down me, specially whenever he failed to implement any web service in the game he try to blame me, however it happened more than 10 times in front of team lead when he said this issue is because of API and always issue was in game. Now when he realized that he failed to led me down in front of team lead, he started to abuse me directly. He is not calling me with my name, he is using some bad name to call me. He is 4 years older than me, always try give me depression, now the situation is I don't want to sit in the same room or in office. Because now I can't focus on my task properly because of his unprofessional comments about me. I even can't see to him, I am so scared from him because his eyes are... I don't have words to explain. This is the reason my clock just stop and timing is not going to end, 8 hours are like 8 days or months. Can someone guide me how to deal with such kind of situation? Should I contact to higher management? <Q> While they might see these interactions, it's very possible they didn't see the depth of the issue. <S> Then, be sure to properly document every technical issue that is resolved between you and coworker. <S> Don't make any value judgements, just state verifiable facts. <S> For example: "The API is working as designed. <S> The client was sending the wrong TPS code." <S> Hopefully, your Manager will address the issues privately with the coworker, and not tell you about it. <S> This is usually how things go. <S> If the problem persists for more than one dev cycle after you first talk with the Manager, then it's appropriate to ask your Manager to directly intervene to address the issue. <S> In the mean time, just treat you coworker as professionally as possible. <S> I sincerely hope your Manager will give you words of support that will cheer you up. <A> Hello and welcome to StackExchange! <S> You should probably add a country tag as well to your question as it may be relevant. <S> Someone from your country knowing the usual work regulations can provide you a better answer in that case. <S> But I will give you a blanket answer that should be transferable across countries. <S> What you are describing is bullying, and such behavior should not be tolerated at work. <S> You should contact your manager and HR department. <S> You should not go to work having the feelings you have. <S> Express this to your superiors as you will soon start making mistakes and justifying his claims because of it. <S> You also spend 1/3 of your day in the workplace and 1/3 sleeping. <S> That is a BIG part of your day to be spent in a dark place. <A> Have you tried to talk to him about that? <S> Perhaps he really doesn't see how much harm he's causing. <S> Also, when he says something is your fault, is important that you can say why that is not true. <S> You don't have to say "no, it's YOUR fault" <S> but you need to defend your work. <S> You could ask questions, like, "why do you think it's an API problem?". <S> If he's wrong, he won't be able to answer that. <S> Finally, if nothing works, you should talk about it with your manager and HR. <S> If he's causing harm and is unprofessional, someone has to do something about it. <S> Working place can't be toxic. <S> If nothing works, you should start updating your resume.
| First, talk to your direct Manager privately about this, even if only to let them know that something is going on between you and your coworker.
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Congratulating my boss on his upcoming wedding I have been working at this office for quite sometime. I would get a chance to meet my boss the next month, for the first time. There are chances that it would be a one to one meeting with him. I have prepared myself as to what professional talk I can have with him. The main point is : I have heard from a very reliable source that he is getting married in the same month. I was wondering if I could congratulate him on that. He must be 33-34 years old. Will I be crossing my boundaries if I get this personal? <Q> Will I be crossing my boundaries if I get this personal? <S> I would say YES , if you have no specific reason to know he's getting married . <S> People get married all the time. <S> The potential issue is how or why you know this . <S> If boss has not made it explicitly public news, you're in a real borderline situation since he might not care and thank you for your consideration <S> -or- <S> he might wonder why you're digging around in his personal life. <S> There's really no way to know upfront, especially since you've never met him. <S> Of course, if he mentions it, for sure, congratulate away. <S> That would be the expected response. <S> You might be able to casually get him to mention it by asking some innocuous and unrelated question like "Are you vacationing anywhere fun this year?" <S> But don't press it. <A> If the boss brings it up, then certainly congratulate him. <S> If the discussion stays on work, then don't direct it elsewhere. <S> That way, the boss gets to decide if he wants to talk about his personal life. <S> Some people do like to be more open about their life outside work, and some do not. <S> By following the leading of the boss, you will also be able to keep him comfortable, no matter his preference. <A> I'd be very careful. <S> It's a tricky issue. <S> Perhaps say something like <S> Oh, by the way, I heard you may be getting married soon? <S> If so congratulations! <S> However be prepared to say nothing about the issue. <S> It is very wise to "plan everything you are going to say", as you have done. <S> But put this in the optional category in your planning. <S> Secondly, "I have heard from a very reliable source ..." <S> Reliable sources define unreliable sources. <S> :) <S> But it is totally OK if you ask someone else, to check beforehand . <S> So, you would ask something like <S> "Say Mrs Smith. <S> I'm about to meet Steve Jobs for the first time, is it true that he is getting married soon?" <S> That might be you asking your immediate boss; Steve's secretary; a colleague of Steve's that you know; or another relevant party. <S> (You do <S> not have to explain yourself ("...I wanted to avoid making a faux pas") as it is totally evident why you are asking and normal to prepare yourself in such a way.) <S> Good luck! <S> Note that if you "do" say this and it "works", that is a very positive thing. <S> It's great to show that you are confident enough with business small talk, to "pull off" an incidental social comment like this. <S> It is much to your advantage. <S> But you have to judge on the day whether to leave it.
| Congratulating someone on upcoming nuptials itself is not crossing a boundary.
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Is it ok to bring up interviewer's background and their work during interview? I was just wondering if it's ok to bring up interviewer's work and their GitHub contributions during interview? Since I was given who I am going to be talking I looked up their Linked In profile and saw they worked on multiple high profile cool projects and looked at their code in GitHub. Would it be ok to bring these up during the interview if opportunity arises or would I be percevied as "nosy"? <Q> First and foremost, during the interview it is of no consequence. <S> When they're interviewing you, that's their time to ask the questions and get the feedback from you. <S> When they give you time to ask questions, you might be able to bring this up as a sidecar conversation. <S> Unless the work is predominantly done on GitHub, it's more of a hobby than anything pertinent to the job you're applying for. <S> It may be useful to get a feel for the kind of person you'd be working with, but I wouldn't dwell or elaborate on it too much. <S> To the tone of nosiness - if I didn't want anyone to know that I contributed to GitHub, or if I worked at Initech, or if I know Ruby, Java, Python and Kotlin, I personally have the ability to safeguard that. <S> It's fair to look at any information that's made publicly available online, so long as you're not asking pointed and overly intrusive questions about that information. <A> It is irrelevant during the interview and should not be brought up. <A> I'd take the view that casually mentioning something on an interviewer's LinkedIn profile is just showing that you've done your homework. <S> People put information on there to be found, after all. <S> Just wait until an appropriate context comes up or, if one never does, when they ask if you have any questions. <S> Certainly don't bring up anything from outside the corporate segments of the internet though, as that will just make you look like a creepy stalker. <S> People are still going to look though. <A> If they’re Joe Bob Beetfarmer and they’ve made a few commits to PooTwiddler 2.0, which you’ve heard of but not used, I wouldn’t mention it at all. <S> But it is perfectly ok to acknowledge that you’re being interviewed by the main author of a software package <S> you’ve used extensively in the past. <S> It’s a great way to help build a personal rapport. <S> I’ve been on both sides of the desk on this one: I’ve had interviewees tell me how they’ve used my stuff or read a book of mine, and I’ve fanboyed over an interviewer who wrote software I used every day for years. <S> Tl;dr: <S> if you have a genuine connection to the interviewer’s work, by all means bring it up. <S> But don’t just tell them what’s on their GitHub for the sake of demonstrating that you can read.
| I wouldn't ask about it unless you have decent rapport with the interviewer and only after the interview is finished and it comes up as casual conversation. The appropriate behavior depends a great deal on who the interviewer is and your relationship to their work.
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Shall I mention to my future employer that I am leaving my current company because I am dating my coworker? I am working at a company that has less than 100 people for 6 months. I started dating one of my coworker in my team for a few months. I decided to leave my current position because she feels it is hard to maintain this relationship while we are working on the same team. If my future employer asks me why I am leaving, should I honestly tell them I am dating my coworker? <Q> I do not think it is a good idea. <S> If you say that, it might indicate you are not mature enough to separate your personal and professional life. <S> I decided to leave my current position because she feels it is hard to maintain this relationship while we are working on the same team. <S> See, it's not the "organization" who has a problem [1] - it's "you" (either or both of you). <S> Before considering leaving the organization, try to talk to your partner about <S> Why both of you working in the same organization / department is a problem / hardship? <S> How you (or her) moving to other organization is going to solve the "problem" you have currently? <S> Honestly, before finalizing on moving out, try to find out the problem and the root cause of it. <S> Finally, if you want to move out, you don't need to lie either - just don't mention it. <S> Find out a secondary reason for the shift and present that. <S> [1]: I'm considering that there has been no event / incident in your current workplace which made you feel that the relationship is unwelcome. <A> I personally think it's a very mature attitude : imagine you stay working together and the firm gets into a problem (like a re-organisation or even bankruptcy): in that case you and your partner might lose your income, putting both of you in very big trouble. <S> So, leaving your employer in order to avoid this looks like a very mature thing to do. <A> The best answer to this is "maybe." <S> It's a two-edged sword. <S> "My current company has been a great place to work, and I would have stayed on if it weren't for the personal situation, which looks like it will endure. <S> I try to keep a barrier between my personal and professional lives and thought it better to avoid any potential spillover from the relationship into work or from work into the relationship, which would ultimately feed back into work." <S> The wording of the last sentence is important because it leaves the impression that you're thinking first of your professional obligations. <S> Not discussing it and using any of the hackneyed answers <S> ("career growth," "better opportunities") leaves interviewers room to speculate about your actual reasons and plenty of potential to come up with something completely wrong. <S> It's not as if they haven't heard those reasons before, and sharp interviewers will know it's code for "I could live a long, happy life without the place. <S> " <S> You have a good story that shows you're trying to do the right thing. <S> The only reason to bury it would be to get a company to make you an offer; companies needing that kind of manipulation are not places I'd want to work. <S> There's also a compromise between the two, where you tell them there's a personal situation that has nothing to do with the company or the work you do for them. <S> The bottom line is that you have to get a good bead on your potential employers and figure out where along the spectrum your answer should fall.
| Discussing it puts the truth on the table, gives you room to say positive things about your current company and lets you sell prospective employers on how you deal with potential problems:
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Switching from a highly diverse work environment to a non-diverse workplace - is there anything I should be concerned about? I will soon switch from a highly diverse work environment to a non-diverse workplace. In my current workspace, my colleagues are from all around the world, e.g. US, Iran, China, India, Canada, Turkey, and Cameroon. I am going to switch to an new company and everyone I have been contacted from this company was from the same country, which I don't have problem with, but I am a little worried as I haven't worked in a non-diverse workplace before. In the past, I encountered people who preferred speaking in their native language (non-English in an English speaking country) among each other while conducting collaborative projects. Is there anything I should be concerned about? <Q> Generally speaking, no - you shouldn't have a concern unless there's an entrenched culture in place at the new workplace <S> that's too much for you to deal with. <S> I'm assuming that you've had discussions with the people/manager you'll be working with, so will have a fair idea of the friendliness/formality at play here. <A> Yes! <S> they use pitchforks on everyone else!! <S> Joking aside <S> ...unless the company is full of [please insert race] [please insert gender] [please insert religion] and only them and you are not, then no... <S> The company will be diverse, you will find people from different backgrounds, in different points in their career. <S> They may not come from different countries but...unless you work in the airport that doesn't really matter... <S> Just enjoy your new opportunity! <A> I worked as the only foreigner in a series of purely ethnically/nationally homogenous workplaces as an English teacher in Korea for years. <S> To go slightly against the grain on this, there are things to be aware of. <S> Conflict resolution is often culturally framed. <S> In your diverse workplace there would have been a variety of styles present (direct emotionless, direct emotional, indirect, etc) but acceptance of that variety. <S> If everyone beats around the bush, you may end up being the jerk by addressing problems directly. <S> The same thing is true regarding view of time and deadlines. <S> The central organization in my company is in Belgium but there are plants all over the world. <S> I recently spoke to a person in the central role about doing training in this variety of environments. <S> He said that if you show up 5 minutes late to a meeting in Germany you will get a talking to whereas if you show up 5 minutes late to a meeting in Italy you will be the first one there. <S> When he goes to a new place he always shows up early to everything until he figures out what the local culture is. <S> If the prevailing culture is extreme when it comes to coming to meetings or meeting deadlines being the odd one out can cause friction. <S> As a special case if you are going into a supervisorial/managerial role you should make yourself very familiar with any cultural quirks. <S> Assuming that some norm is universal may put you in an uncomfortable situation. <S> In my experience in Korea calling in sick is really frowned upon, the cultural norm is come in, look sick, get told to go lie down, and get some sleep at work. <S> If a North American manager came in and laid into someone for sleeping on the job or coming in sick they would be unfairly treating that employee. <A> Most of the people on Earth work in a non-nationality-diverse place and everything is OK. <S> The question is, do you want to work in a non-diverse environment? <S> Is it possible that diversity will come not from colleagues, but from customers (or others)? <S> Of course, each company had their own company-culture, which can be better or worse. <S> But culture and diversity are mostly independent. <A> Is there anything I should be concerned about? <S> Diversity wise? <S> No, almost certainly not. <S> I've worked in dozens of shops and never encountered a truly homogeneous environment. <S> And you'd be surprised where some of the more and less diverse work places have been. <S> Diversity itself can be just as diverse and you may experience different cultural norms, lines of thought and character aspects that just aren't as obvious as those you've described. <S> Getting to really know people is how you understand their culture and character. <S> I'd caution you to not judge the organization by the very limited contact you've had so far, especially if you've never met anyone. <S> The person on the other end of the phone might be gay, differently abled, adopted, a part time concert cellist, none of which would know from an HR conversation. <A> Ask yourself: what makes such diversity so special for me ? <S> Are the people at the new company from the same country as you ? <S> I understand working with people from different nationalities can be estimulating. <S> After all, you have the chance to learn many things , whatever is the subject matters. <S> Another exemple of question you should ask yourself: Is your concern related to an hypothetical boredom you may feel as you move to the new company ? <S> I have provided you more questions than answers , but that's all about making a self-analysis. <S> The answer to your concerns are already inside your mind. <S> All the best!
| In a culturally homogenous workplace your style may turn into an issue if it runs against the cultural norm. You're most probably going to find that individuals themselves are diverse - they come from different backgrounds, have different personalities, etc. If you find yourself being marginalized or excluded, you may need to rethink. You've already pointed out the language angle, so that's covered. Go into this with an open mind and see where the experience takes you.
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Complained about a director - now they are refusing to provide employment verification unless I withdraw the complaint I'm working in a software company in India where I have lodged a complaint to the owner regarding a director I have had difficulties with. Now I am applying for a position in a new company but the director (whom I complained about) is withholding providing verification of my employment unless I withdraw my complaint. What would be the best way to proceed? <Q> This is an unpleasant situation - it's certainly not fair or right that the director is holding your verification to ransom in this manner. <S> That said however - if there is no-one else in the company who can provide you with the verification (Company owner maybe?) <S> then ultimately you're going to have to choose whether this is a stand you are willing to risk missing out on the new opportunity over. <S> To be clear I'm not saying what the Director is doing is in any way okay or acceptable - but you have to be pragmatic and decide what is ultimately going to be best for you and for your life. <S> Good luck! <A> Bullies enjoy power and hate it when that power is worked around or removed. <S> Best way for that to happen for you to get alternative proof of employment and any proof you can of the situation you are in. <S> Get copies of any e-mails relating to the complaint. <S> Anything that goes back and forth to show that it is an on-going complaint. <S> Take photos (observe company and data security) of you clearly at work and possibly the position/ <S> work you to confirm role. <S> Any other documentation to show your working there <S> , contact, wage/pay slips etc. <S> Take this to your new employer and show that your old director is stone-walling you in an attempt to bully you in to dropping the compliant and that this is why you cannot get the letter required. <S> See if they are able to drop this requirement given the issues that you are facing. <S> If this works then finally:5. <S> Raise a second complaint against this director for his actions and pursue that as well. <A> For some reason I'd make the point to this director and raise another complaint against him about withholding the letter of employment and his attempt of blackmail... <S> I'd bet the owner would love to hear about this too; and bullies will only stop when someone doesn't back down. <S> I'd also go around him and ask the HR team for a printed letter of employment - and stand next to them while they do it so that there's no chance of it getting intercepted. <S> I'd expect them to be willing to do this as I'd wager that it's illegal to not provide one (though I'm certainly not an expert in Indian law!). <S> I can't believe that they'd have been told they're not allowed to give you the letter; and even if they have been, if you're friendly with them then I'm sure it'll go fine.
| Send an email to the director directly asking why he won't provide/is withholding such a letter or in some other manner to get it documented.
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Is it ethical to spend work time learning new skills? Background: This is my first job, recent graduate.Small firm, ~20 employees, I was hired originally to manage pay per click advertising.I grew out of the role quickly and took on many other roles in the company.I was appropriately given raises to reflect my new duties (didn't ask for the raises). I've automated a lot of my workload and my employers know about this and were very happy. Issue: And while I've created and suggested many new projects that would be beneficial for us, due to the nature of leadership, only a few were approved and I've finished everything that I could at this point in time.I feel like I've reached a cap, and have begun job searches (a few final round interviews coming up) And since I've largely automated the majority of my workload, I have about 3-5 hours of "free time" during my workday.Since I don't take lunch breaks it adds an extra hour to my day where I'm not actively doing anything.Because I like to keep myself engaged/challenged/not idle, I tend to try to learn more skills (programming, best practices, data science, database etc). Question: Is it ethical for me to use company time to learn new skills that may not be directly relevant to my job? <Q> However this requires that the learning have some potential value to the company. <S> It doesn't have to be directly relevant to your current tasks, but it shouldn't be far afield. <S> Learning new languages that could provide additional automation opportunities is valuable even if you don't have a specific task to automate yet. <S> Speak with your manager, so that they are aware of what you are doing. <S> You don't want them walking up to your desk and being surprised at what you are working on. <A> Is it ethical for me to use company time to learn new skillsthat may not be directly relevant to my job? <S> It absolutely is ethical as long as you're still doing the things that are asked of you. <S> In addition to doing what has been asked of you, you seem to have a history of taking initiative on new tasks. <S> So, it's not like someone can say "well, if you're done with your project, ask your boss for more work". <S> You've clearly already done that. <S> At a deeper level, everyone has to be responsible for their own development. <S> This is especially true in some environments where the default answer is "no" or "ask higher management". <S> If one waits until they get a "green light" to proceed with self-directed skill development they could wait a LONG TIME. <S> This is how folks end up with utterly obsolete skills after years of loyalty to their employer which will eventually part with them in favor of hiring somebody else with the very skills that they never got "permission" to develop. <S> As for relevancy to your job, I think you're in the best position to judge that. <S> Many managers and especially executive level management have NO IDEA <S> what their people actually do and what skills they're exercising. <S> They're interested in the outcomes of the work and not usually the nitty-gritty details. <S> Sadly, the way orgs work these days, the first impulse is always to hire for new skills rather than develop in-house. <S> If they cared about skill-development they would be evaluating their employees frequently and selecting folks to train-up for new skills-- <S> that's very rare. <S> But even if the stuff you're studying is not relevant to your current job, it may be relevant to your future career path whether it remains at you current employer or not. <S> Again, you are in the best position to judge relevancy. <A> Since I don't take lunch breaks it adds an extra hour to my day You can use those to study whatever you want, without the ethics question - and you should do so. <S> If you choose not to study your own stuff, my advice would be to walk around, read a book or listen to a podcast. <S> A break helps most people enjoy their work more and become more efficient, find out if you're one of them. <S> Is it ethical for me to use company time to learn new skills that may not be directly relevant to my job? <S> Probably that is ethical. <S> But it might not be the right question to ask - the question to ask is "Does your employer consider it ethical/useful/productive/worthy?" <S> I suspect they will given your track record , but obviously I can't say for sure. <A> It sounds like you don't have any co-workers doing similar things to you. <S> That means part of your job depends on your unique (in the company) expertise. <S> Being expert involves continuous learning. <S> So learning is part of your job. <S> Being expert means innovating. <S> It sounds like you are doing that, by proposing new ideas. <S> But please be patient if your ideas aren't accepted immediately, if at all. <S> It sometimes takes months or years for companies to catch up with their innovators. <S> If you created a proposal to zumbinate the framises automatically, that's great. <S> Let it sit with the company's managers. <S> When one of them comes to you and says, "hey I got an idea! <S> Let's automate our zubmination work!" <S> that's a sign of your success. <S> Being a team member involves letting your manager know when you are unsure of your priorities. <S> So ask about your priorities. <S> You're presenting lots of ideas. <S> It can be frustrating when they aren't accepted. <S> Don't let that frustration get the better of you: if 20% of your ideas get accepted, you're doing way above average. <S> That's life in the working world. <S> Seriously. <S> And, if you're getting bored, move on. <S> But don't move on just because you're frustrated. <A> As a point of reference, I am a software developer at a mid-sized, stable company, and my work description specifically say that I am obligated to learn and develop my skills. <S> It also says that I and my manager must have a personal education plan in place for me. <S> All developers have the same work description so I have not negotiated this myself. <S> My other main task is to "create things that are in the best interest of the company". <S> To be able to make such things in a sustainable fashion year after year we all need to further our knowledge. <S> Don't ask for permission. <S> If, for some reason, you cannot put into words why developing your skills is important to the company, then you may always ask for forgiveness. <S> It is not unethical to learn new things on the job, you never know what might turn out to be useful later.
| Growth and learning should always be considered valuable by your employer. Do not "ask for permission".
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Is it wrong to apply to a job posting if I'm not going to be around for the next month to interview? I saw a job posting I like and I would like to apply. However I will be away on vacation for the next month so I will not be able to answer phone calls or attend interviews during that time (different side of the world). So from that point of view it seems like a waste of everyone's time. On the other hand I don't want to miss out on the opportunity. Is this something I can work around using my cover letter or something? Or is the recommended course of action just to wait until I return and apply then? <Q> There are a few factors to this equation. <S> It will depend on how long the hiring process usually takes at this company and how quickly the company plans to fill the position (Unfortunately you will have no way of knowing either of these, unless they stipulated). <S> Often companies can take a more than a few weeks sifting through resumes. <S> Also, how badly do you want in on this opportunity? <S> If you really want in I'm sure you could make a plan to enable roaming on your phone while abroad for phone calls. <S> If it comes to it <S> and they really like your resume <S> , I'm sure they would be willing to phone you in designated time frames (for example between 08:30 & 10:30 local time) or do the initial interview via Skype if necessary. <S> Just state clearly what they need to be aware of in your cover letter. <S> You have nothing to lose by applying. <A> My daughter just started a job. <S> She was in the middle east (Amman, Jordan) studying when applying and interviewing for a job back here in the states. <S> The application was on-line. <S> The three interviews were done via Skype. <S> She had an offer contingent on passing a drug test which could only be done here. <S> So yes, it's possible. <S> Depends on the company. <S> You won't know until you ask. <S> Happy job hunting. <A> In my area it is common to provide a telephone number with the job offer for "upcoming questions". <S> Your case seems to fit here. <S> They can tell you more about the hiring process and your opportunities to join it, either during your vacation or after it. <S> After collecting this information, it will be more easy to make decision like JustSaying suggests. <S> To answer your question <S> Is it wrong to apply to a job posting if I'm not going to be around for the next month to interview? <S> No, it is not! <S> It is never wrong, maybe awkward sometimes.
| Just state clearly in your cover letter what your circumstances are and will be for the next month so you don't waste anybody's time.
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Should I mention my family history when answering "Why do you want to join us?"? I am applying for a few companies in the education industry. If the future employers ask me "Why do you want to join us?", I plan to say "I am interested in the education industry because many of family members, from the last last generation, teach at colleges and high schools. I want to continue that path to make a positive impact on people through education." Is it a good idea to mention my family history? Is there a better way to say this? How do I improve my phrase? I am in the USA. <Q> It always depends on they way you decide to present this information and the timing for your explanation. <S> From what I understood, the reason you want to use your family history as an argument is to to demonstrate the strong calling you feel to have chosen education industry. <S> Here are some scenarios. <S> Cover letter . <S> Make sure it sounds more like <S> "I really believe in education" rather than "My family has been in the industry <S> and it's comfortable to me". <S> You can do so by making <S> your motivations more important than the fact that your family has been teaching for generations. <S> Online form. <S> Most recruiters will only be spending seconds scanning your answers. <S> It's best if you go straight to the point. <S> "I consider that education can make a positive impact in people and I feel a strong vocation towards teaching". <S> Personal interview <S> In my experience performing interviews, this is the space to explain your motivations a little further. <S> This is where you can really show that enthusiasm because you can count on non-verbal cues to communicate. <A> I work in Educational Technology or EdTech. <S> It's really important for me to see that candidates are passionate about education, because it's very hard to be effective in EdTech without it. <S> Should I mention my family history when answer “why do you want to join us”? <S> While saying you come from a long line of educators is a good thing, it doesn't tell me a lot about you specifically. <S> I recommend you focus more on your experience and your motivations. <S> Examples being: Tell me how coming from a long line of educators influenced your perspective on education. <S> How do you understand the mindset of an educator and a student (focus more based on the speciality area of the company)? <S> Do you have first hand experience as a teacher, teaching assistant, tutor, etc? <S> How does that experience influence your perspective on education? <A> Yes. <S> Employers in virtually all industries prefer applicants that are passionate about the industry and if possible, working for said employer. <S> Having family members who are in the industry and wanting to follow in their footsteps is generally something that people find valuable. <S> You didn't ask for feedback on how you phrase it, but if you'd like you could elaborate on what you learned from your family <S> that's made you passionate about education.
| Again, make sure you state your personal motivations and only use the family history as an insightful fact. There are a few considerations depending on the format of the question and the context.
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Ditching my old skillset while changing jobs in the same field Background My formal training was generic (Systems, Dev, Project Management) - no particular expertise, just "good enough" to start and learn on the job. I started off as an ops guy in a small company for about two years: very small team, wide array of clients. I got to do some programming, be it small modifications for clients or writing a new tool for the team to use. Job ended, but I could afford to take the necessary time to re-orient my career. Fast forward almost a year, I got on hired on a 3-month "Java/Angular Fullstack" crash course (aimed at people radically switching fields) after which a company (let's call it A) was to extend offers to the trainees. Work First day with all the new hires in a room (company A), a list of our names and postings: DevOps . I went to see the higher-ups the second day, and the situation was eventually corrected. Got to work on a small in-house project, which was great. Right when the in-house project ended, another company (let's call it B) contacted my company and extended an offer, as company A had already shown them my profile. Wonderful! Except the position was part ops. The offer was extended to me directly, and my response was expected later the same day. My manager's (comp. A) stance on it was: "It's great, and otherwise you don't really know what fate awaits you once your profile is out there for all managers to see". Current Situation Fast forward a few months: So far I have worked (at company B) a grand total of 15 days actually doing something related to software. The rest has been deployment, testing and documentation of other components. Dev/Ops ratio is the inverse of what was advertised. I found out recently that a piece of software I was told I'd work on had actually been scheduled for decommissioning before I took the job. TL;DR Was Ops, wanted to be Dev. Did what I thought was necessary, had one nice little project. Got baited / forced into mostly Ops again. Am currently ever-so-slightly irritated. The question(s?), at last What steps can I take to salvage the current situation and (hopefully) get a healthier work distribution at company B? How (if at all) should I address this situation with my current manager (at company A)? Faced with similar "offers" in the future, how do I "play ball" while still preserving my own interests? Thank you for making it through this wall of text, I look forward to reading your advice! <Q> Aspect 1: <S> "you got robbed" <S> Let's take it as a given that you were to some extent "ripped off". <S> You were hoping for programming <S> but it turned out to be support. <S> What can you do about this? <S> Unfortunately you just have no come-back on this. <S> You can't, say, sue them for money. <S> You can't reverse time. <S> Unfortunately it's the old saying, all you can do is learn from it. <S> There's no use crying over spilt milk. <S> Aspect 2: "what to do from today forward" <S> Start looking aggressively on Monday. <S> When you're leaving somewhere, you can play hardball . <S> From tomorrow, just tell them politely "Sorry, I won't do that, my position is programmer." <S> What can they do - sack you? <S> You're leaving anyway. <S> Hence your 1/2/3, What steps can I take to salvage the current situation... <S> Realistically none. <S> Aggressively look for a new job. <S> Write-off the mistake. <S> Don't cry over spilt milk. <S> How (if at all) should I address this situation with my current (new) manager (from the company that leases me to the client)? <S> Since you're leaving anyway, play total hardball. <S> Just politely state (I mean, to the party that pays you - your actual employer) you only do programming. <S> If they fire you, take the money and leave. <S> Faced with similar "offers" in the future... <S> Next job, be much more clear <S> you're there to program only. <A> What steps can I take to salvage the current situation and (hopefully) get a healthier work distribution at company B? <S> Remind them frequently that you were hired as a developer. <S> Look on your own for little projects you can do that will use those skills - improve one of their tools, fix up something, anything that's not just ops. <S> And then don't just go ahead and do it, talk it up to their manager and see if they're OK with you taking time to do that. <S> But don't blame them because most likely they barely noticed the dev skills in the midst of the ops stuff they needed, and which they were sold on. <S> How (if at all) should I address this situation with my current manager (at company A)? <S> Realize that this manager is your main problem. <S> I agree with Fattie, most likely company A is what you will have to leave in the end. <S> Unless you can maneuver yourself under another manager who'd appreciate your dev skills, but good luck with that, they basically have no incentive. <S> Faced with similar "offers" in the future, how do I "play ball" while still preserving my own interests? <S> You only take a full-time dev position. <S> And don't be too discouraged, <S> while company A might have a lot more use for you in ops, other companies might be well pleased to get you as a dev. <S> Try not to let your skills get too rusty while you detangle yourself from this current mess though <A> I am in a similar situation. <S> I work for company X and I am borrowed to company Y. The project I work for has no deadline, so I will work there for almost "ever". <S> The daily work is not was I want to do. <S> My strategy is to talk to my manager of company X and explain what my aims are ( <S> which work I want to do), so he can act and get a more fitting job for me. <S> (I am happy in company X for most time, only the new project on company Y is <S> nothing for me.)I will bring some appropriate job offers to this meeting, so we both know about what we talk. <S> If he say, he can do nothing for one or another reason, or if he say but do not do, I will search for a new job myself. <S> The meeting is this week (regular yearly appraisal), wish me luck, I wish it to you.
| Face the fact that you will probably have to change jobs .
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Is it bad practice to connect with your interviewers from LinkedIn from a company you were rejected from? Is it bad practice to connect with your interviewers from LinkedIn from a company you were rejected from? <Q> If the interview went well and the reason for the company to turn you down is that they couldn't take on board this time, then sure add them. <S> If you performed badly during the interview , don't add them. <A> Recruiters on LinkedIn will often try to make "cold" connections, where they don't know the person, and are hoping that to use the connection to place them in a sales funnel (either as a candidate or employer). <S> However, most people that I know tend to make connections as follows: <S> Valued colleagues from current or previous jobs, close friends and family members are actively searched and added Employees at current company are added as and when recommendations come up, and quite often a quick review and bulk addition is done by people leaving a company on good terms Of course, this could be selection bias, and I am only connected to other people like me. <S> Searching a few articles about this, this sort of approach does seem to be the norm, although I could not find any solid statistics. <S> My general impression is that adding new connections on LinkedIn is done conservatively by majority of users. <S> After interviewing someone, I would not personally feel that I had made a long-term connection. <S> I cannot speak for you, or your interviewer, but I can say that I would be surprised to get a connection request from someone whose only connection to me is that I had recently interviewed them. <S> Unless the interviewer had already suggested that they would like to maintain contact, or there is clear evidence that this would be normal for them, then I would not personally bother. <S> The value of the connection is not likely to be high for you either way, and there is a possibility that your request is viewed like a recruiter's cold connection. <S> Having said that, LinkedIn does make rejecting connections simple and guilt-free, so you don't have much to lose either. <S> Don't worry if you have sent out lots of requests, and don't read much into it if you get lots of rejections <S> - it will just be that your definition of "we have a connection" has a lower bar than the recipient's. <A> No, I don't think so there is anything wrong with that. <S> I'd say it was a smart move, especially if you connected well with them during the interview. <S> You might not have been right for that specific role, but you might be right for a role they need to hire for in the future, perhaps at another company. <S> Remember that hiring decisions tend to be a group consensus thing. <S> If you aren't hired, it doesn't mean that everyone who interviewed you thought you weren't right for the role. <S> Sometimes it only takes one person to have reservations for the hiring company to keep looking.
| Some people will be willing to make connections after a meeting, especially if the meeting sets up a new working relationship. Use of LinkedIn, and similar services that connect professionals, varies a lot between individuals.
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Whether to include age 18 exams on CV when I also have a degree from a typically non-traditional route (Open University)? UK Background: I left school age 18 with good grades in the usual exams (A-levels, and GCSEs before that, for those familiar with the UK style system). Most of my peers opted to go to a standard University, however I started work full time and studied a degree, and eventually a Masters degree after that, with the Open University (distance learning). There were various reasons for that but primarily the chance to get on with career-type work while studying and avoid the debts. I still completed the degree in the usual 3 years. It's now around 10 years later and I have those 10 years of career relevant work history with increasingly 'senior' positions and more responsibility that goes with that. I work in a field where background checks, professional integrity, being trustworthy etc are very important (I know those are important in a lot of roles, but some more than others!) due to the high levels of system access and responsibility involved in the role. (Not sure if this is relevant!) I am now updating my CV again ready for 'other opportunities'. My question: The usual advice I hear is to leave out "school" (age 16-18) accomplishments from a CV once they have been 'superseded' by a degree and/or years of professional experience. However, because my degrees were done through a channel more often taken by people who - for whatever reason - didn't do the 'conventional' route e.g. had children quite young, didn't get the required exam grades to get into university, 'dropped out', etc etc... I don't fit that profile and did actually follow that 'conventional' route except with the choice of university. Should I include the "school" (A-levels) qualifications on a CV because of the points above? Is there any language I can use on a CV to spin the above (e.g. completing it in 3 years whilst also working full time) - I can talk about this appropriately in an interview, but struggling what/whether to put in writing on the CV to get to the interview stage. <Q> I would not expect to find A-levels or GCSE grades in the CV of somebody who has 10 years of experience, let alone if he has a master degree as well. <S> I don't think it would hurt either. <S> As somebody who evaluates CVs and interviews candidates, I'd skip over these details unless I were hiring an apprentice. <S> If you believe that having attended the Open University may lead people to misjudge you, you may add a few lines to your presentation letter, to justify your decision to attend a distance learning university while working, rather than choosing the more traditional route. <S> I think this would be much more effective than adding A-levels grades to your CV. <A> I would (and did) keep them, but summarize them. <S> The more time passes, the more you should summarize. <S> How about 8 GCSEs, including Maths & 2 foreign languages*3 A-Levels, including Physics <S> * Then go into more detail for your degrees. <S> *Adjust to suit your field <A> Even then I would probably only mention that I met the subject criteria in the general blurb where I would talk about how I met the other criteria - rather than listing all grades+subjects in a block. <S> I only say this as sometimes Maths / English at GCSE or A-level can sometimes go towards indicating literacy/numeracy/communication skill, especially if the Degree/Masters are in other subjects. <S> (Remember they may be expecting other candidates to apply that don't have the experience / masters) <A> Correct. <S> You now have a Masters degree and 10 yeas work experience. <S> An A-Level, whether it's in Astrophysics or Gender Studies, has no bearing on you or the position you're looking for. <S> For me, the CV is a list of "What you've done", and the cover letter (and parts of the interview) are there to explain "Why you did it". <A> I applied for a placement, as a University student for after the 2nd year, without my A-level grades. <S> I believe I've listed them but did not put the grades down. <S> If the company is interested in you but wants to know the grades, they will contact you for them regardless. <S> I've had two companies message me to get the grades after receiving my CV without them, one of them offered me an interview and then a placement. <S> In fact, a very key company in processor field gave me an online interview before rejecting without my A-level grades on my CV. <S> In my opinion, it's all about your cover letter. <S> While my A-levels were a good fit for my future and looked like clever choices, family issues and long travel time to school led me to be not-so-successful in them. <S> I will omit them in my future CVs as well as it looks to not be that important; I think you have more reasons than me to omit, like the 10 years of experience, so I suggest you go ahead. <A> I totally agree with the others - After 10 years? <S> Seriously? <S> Drop the school stuff - 100%. <S> No one cares about your 'O' levels. <S> But, if you are unconvinced, why not stand it on its head? <S> When was the last time you saw O levels on a CV for other than entrant positions? <S> In fact, on any CV form someone who had a higher qualification? <S> If you saw them on a senior applicant's CV, would you not find it strange? <S> Bizarre would be my personal view. <S> Finally, stop belittling yourself. <S> A degree from the O.U is just as "good" as one from any other UK university (leaving out any discussion of Oxbridge). <S> Personally, if I were interviewing you, I would not really consider your degree after 10 years. <S> How much of it can you still remember? <S> How much is still relevant? <S> I spent 3 years on a non-O.U comp. <S> sci. degree and found on my first day at work that, other than learning how to program, I had wasted three years. <S> Experience is what counts, with more recent experience being more heavily weighted. <S> Stop worrying, be proud of your degree, but stress your working experience.
| "The usual advice I hear is to leave out "school" (age 16-18) accomplishments from a CV once they have been 'superseded' by a degree and/or years of professional experience." With 10 years of relevant work experience and Masters, the only reason I would include any A levels or GCSE's if it was specifically mentioned in the role/job/person specification - eg if the criteria included 'Maths at A level standard' or 'English C+ at GCSE'
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How should I interpret a comment made by a member of management at my new job? I am almost a month into a job and the CTO says, "It's important to realize that we don't expect you to know everything perfectly. Based on our levels of conversation with you throughout the interview process, your code submission, and your work history, we thought you were a bit further along that what we're seeing so far. So we definitely have some work to do to get you to that point..." This was in regards to a CSS library I had never worked with before, never stated I had, and was clear I could care less for it. Confused and a bit offended so I am putting it out there to you all. How should I proceed as a professional? How should I respond? Also, keep in mind that the CTO is one of those folks that if you correct them, they will write you a huge wall of text on Slack, so how to avoid that too. For me, its like, I am getting the job done with this new tool I just learned on the fly, not as fast as they would like because I just learned it on the fly. So, lets stay on task, this stuff about "we thought you were a bit further along than what we are seeing so far", is not staying on task and I find it a bit offensive. As we are all at different skill level depending on the tech or am I wrong about this? OR Just keep my mouth shut and look for an exit when available? <Q> It seems to me you are taking something personal which you really shouldn't. <S> It's not your decision which software or technology is used at the company. <S> For whatever reason, it was decided not to work with Redux - IMO, there are legitimate reasons to make such a decision. <S> The CTO clearly said that, even not knowing the library in question, you were expected to be further along now. <S> There is no point in taking this personally either - it is a professional assessment of your work and his expectations of it. <S> The way to respond to this professionally is to take this input and improve. <S> Learn the new library and buckle down. <S> Ask for help when needed. <S> I do not think that after a month, you have to write off your career at this company, but it is of course not an optimal start. <S> Still, if you show improvement over the next couple of months, you can certainly turn this around. <S> As to your last point: Skill levels do differ based on the technology used, but some skills do (in my experience) transcend the specific framework and language, and the ability to understand and learn new frameworks is definitely vital in this field. <S> I would not recommend changing jobs, this seems like an opportunity to grow. <S> But, naturally, that is another option you have. <S> Good luck! <A> I think that bytepusher's is correct, but want to add one additional thing. <S> In his answer, he said: The way to respond to this professionally is to take this input and improve. <S> I would add just one thing here: <S> it sounds to me like you may not be clear on exactly what needs to improve. <S> One of the comments mentioned getting objective, fact based examples of where they are not completely happy with your progress. <S> Maybe it's not the specific technology you are using at their request, but it's something more meta. <S> There are many possible specifics, but understanding exactly where the criticism is coming from will help you respond better and in a properly focused manner. <S> You will have to determine who you should seek this more specific feedback from. <S> The CTO, though they offered the information, may not be the best to go to when seeking further clarification. <S> Or they might! <S> Either way, saying something along the lines of "I've been thinking about the feedback I received on my progress, and was hoping I could get more specific information on what areas I should improve," (and meaning it!) might give you a better understanding of what exactly is concerning them. <S> It is never easy to receive critical feedback, but it honestly is a good thing, if you use it correctly. <S> Good luck! <A> They expect to "get you to the point". <S> That indicates they are willing to "fight" for you, to some extent. <S> On the pther hand, get busy. <S> Ask for new stuff to do, ask about how you can help them (even if you are not ready). <S> We could say this is a "bilateral agreement": Although they have thought you could deliver more than they expected based on your interviews, they are offering "help". <S> On the other hand, you must correspond that help by doing your best. <S> You should count on that help. <S> If they fail, complain, talk, open your heart. <S> Remember their words: <S> So we definitely have some work to do to get you to that point..." <S> And sou you have.
| The fact that they are giving you this feedback means that they want to work with you to improve.
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Probably going to be sacked after requesting to work remotely I am a software engineer and I am finally taking the plunge to work remotely full time. I've been working for the company for just under 2 years and have never had any issues whilst working there. My performance reviews have always been fine and I have never blown anything up so to speak. I informed the company that I was planning to leave the country (UK) shortly after I joined and management were fine with it for many months. There are already lots of remote workers all over the world and more employees have transitioned to remote working during the period that I have been working there so I foresaw no issue until... A few months ago, the person who had approved my working from home was sacked (it came out of the blue) and apparently they did not have the authority to approve remote working requests (despite having done so for many employees previously) now the new manager does not seem happy with any more employees working from home and I've had to submit another remote working request to be approved again. I suspect this will not get approved as I've seen signs that they are trying to crack down on remote working so to speak - new jobs listed by the company have specifically included the line 'remote working will not be considered'. Up until this point, I was operating under the pretense that everything was fine and it is now less than a month till I leave and my flights are booked but my notice period is 2 months. So I am just wondering where I stand with this as I've never encountered this situation before. Can they sack me for this reason if they reject my remote working request? Should I start looking for a new job at my new destination now? <Q> Start looking for a new job in the new locale or a new remote job. <S> Start today. <S> When you go into the office next time, talk to your new boss and make sure they understand you are moving in a month. <S> If they seem to be unaware of the move, explain this has been approved for many months and the plans were already in motion. <S> No one here can say if they will or won’t fire you. <A> I've learned that this and future positions are not eligible for remote working; what should we do to rectify this?" <S> This puts the ball in the manager's court; they could give you substantial reasons why ("We saw a decline in production/quality appreciable enough to end remote work" <S> "We've seen that collaborating projects work much better in the office than remotely" <S> "We had several employees who abused the privilege and we had to sack (fire) them."). <S> If your current manager won't budge ("Sorry, this decision is final") <S> start seeking new jobs within your new location. <S> You can't be sacked (fired) for the request from your previous manager, but it can be rescinded (and by the looks of it, it likely already is). <A> A few months ago, the person who had approved my working from home was sacked (it came out of the blue) and apparently they did not have the authority to approve remote working requests (despite having done so for many employees previously) now the new manager does not seem happy with any more employees working from home <S> and I've had to submit another remote working request to be approved again. <S> The way you worded this <S> it sounds like prior approvals are okay. <S> After all you said there are a number of remote workers currently out there who may have been mistakenly approved for remote work. <S> Are they all fired? <S> I would also write an email and attach previous emails (official emails from the company would be best like a ticket system that says you're approved if possible). <S> Ask, "Boss, I was approved to work remotely. <S> I am leaving the country soon and will need to know if this is still good to go?" <S> If he says no, then simply start looking for a new job in the interim. <A> 1) Start looking for a new job in the new location (either one where you are present or remote). <S> If they decide they're not going to allow remote working anymore, then you will need a new job. <S> (What does your contract say about remote working?) <S> 2) Talk to your boss saying this had all been approved in the past and <S> is there some issue now. <S> You would like to remain working for the company (talk up how great the company is) but also need to go to this new location, and would be gutted if you now couldn't stay working for them after having made plans based on the green-light you had previously had. <S> 3) <S> If you are worried that your notice period is longer than the time you have left before your flight, don't be! <S> Lots of people negotiate shorter notice periods - they are only a set length as an example of what is expected. <S> I've worked a 3 week notice period when it should have been a month, but conversely I've worked a 6 month period when it only needed to be 3. <S> Notice periods are negotiable - it's not in a companies interest to keep someone there when they don't want to be there! <S> Usually you would wait until your confirmation/contract for the new job before handing in your formal notice anyway. <S> If you explain that you were expecting to be able to work remotely, and therefore now you are not, you need to leave, I'm sure they will understand and be accomodating.
| I would go to your current manager and say the following: "I was approved in the past month to move away from the country, understanding that I would be allowed to work remotely.
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Delayed start at new company A friend of mine used to work as an intern at a small company and accepted an offer as an intern in a big company. He quit the small company in December because (due to local law) interns are entitled to 1 month of paid vacation. The internship on the big company was supposed to start by February, according to a signed contract. On the Friday, before the starting Monday of the new internship, the big company called and said that "due to internal reasons", the starting date was being delayed by one month. A contract amendment should have been sent to adjust the date, but is not signed yet. This supposedly leaves my friend without any salary for this month, which is a big deal for him. I guess in a perfect world, the big company would take the initiative to simply pay the intern for the one month delayed. The intern did not work but reserved his time and was given no reasonable heads up (one month is the notice time for interns too). In the real world, one could take legal action against the company, but if one still wants to be hired after internship, this is a really bad idea. Also, the time taken by this process would not prevent the short-term damage of missing a monthly payment. What would be the reasonable steps to try and recover these losses in fairly short term while not jeopardizing the image in the big company? He is already looking for some free-lance work and considered talking to the old boss, but no big hopes there. EDIT: To clarify: Location in Brazil, where labour laws are strict and so are internship laws. The university is required to sign and approve an internship contract, hence it does contain a starting date and a reference termination date. Despite the legal discussion, because labour laws in Brazil are very strict, taking legal action against a company gives you a terrible reputation. If you've sued the last 3 companies you've worked for, there's a big chance you've become unemployable for life. And companies often give fairly good reasons to be sued, mostly due to laws being complex. Again, the question is about addressing the short term damage with the company while keeping in good terms with the company. Threatening legal action or throwing contracts on people's faces would give a very bad impression and my friend still wants to be hired by the end of the internship. <Q> Usually, a signed contract is not invalidated by verbal communication - so don't jump into conclusions. <S> There has to be a written communication mentioning about the delay and change in the contracts / bonds. <S> I believe you're guessing the part where the salary / stipend will not be paid out (which is the same I believe, too), however, since this is a very very last minute notice, I'd propose to check with the BigCorp once again to have the possibility of getting the reimbursement (technically, it's not a salary - as the contract is not signed yet). <S> I will also suggest - not to bank upon getting it. <S> There's no harm <S> is asking - so just ask. <S> Try to get some part-time or freelance work to cover for the month. <A> Even if your friend have a signed contract, the company can still fire you w/o any compensation due to intern contract. <S> Even in Brazil very strict law, interns can be fired w/o any due notice and with no compensation other than "proportional vacation time". <S> My advice would be to try to ask them, but be prepared to suck it up if the relation with the new company is really important. <S> And please, don't even think about legal action for such a small reason. <S> That will leave your friend marked for the rest of your life as "problematic employee". <A> Ask if it would be possible (being polite) for some sort of compensation, just to cover his ongoing living expenses for that period. <S> (rent & food maybe) <S> Don't get your hopes up though! <S> He could also ask if he could actually start on that date and use the first month to familiarise himself with the company <S> Does he know why it was delayed?
| It's a tough situation, and there's nothing much you can do about it (unless there is a specific law which covers you in this case). I would suggest he talk to the company and explain that the delay has caused him a financial hardship as he was expecting to start on the date of the signed contract.
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How soon after being hired is it "safe" to ask for remote work? I am a very recent grad and landed a job as an automation developer at a local company. I have worked at this company for about a month. The problem I live in a suburb more than an hour away from work which equates to 10-15 hours of transit weekly. Moreover, the company I work for consists of ~90% employees from Israel and oftentimes I feel out of place as they almost exclusively speak Hebrew among each other. Last, I have had a hard time focusing as we develop on an open floor concept office space which lends itself to many distractions. What's worse is that my boss sits right behind me... which means I am literally being watched for 7.5 hours directly by my boss... As much as I love programming and applied mathematics, I'm having a really hard time putting in my 100% which is unfair both to myself and my employer. I knew something was wrong when I went from thinking about programming all day to watching the clock every few minutes to see how much longer I had left before I could go home... Why I want to work remote? I have had an extremely productive graduate school career. This was due to both the fact that I worked for an amazing PI and the fact that I worked remote 2 days a week (which were by far my most productive days). I found that remote work allowed me to treat programming more as a "hobby" than "work" which led to great results as I was not flooded/surrounded by HR/bureaucracy, workplace cliques, etc. My question How soon is it "safe" to ask to work remotely 1-2 days a week? I have worked at this company for under a month and am still on a probation period. I am concerned about what my employer will think of me if I ask this early (we do have some people working remotely). It's clear to me, however, that I cannot continue like this. <Q> We don't know. <S> When it comes to telecommunting, the attitudes of companies vary between: "Why are you wasting expensive office space when you could just as well work from home?" <S> "Everyone should choose where they can work most productively" "Everyone can have up to X days per week telecommuting, but there is mandatory attendance" <S> "It's a reward for the most productive and trusted employees" "Only allowed in extraordinary circumstances" "Nobody telecommutes ever" <S> We don't know your companies views on telecommuting, so we don't know whether they would allow you to telecommute, now or in the future. <S> The best way to find out is to ask your boss: <S> What is our companies policy on telecommuting? <S> and she will explain to you under which conditions it is allowed and whether you qualify or not. <A> While it's usually OK to ask just about anything, sometimes who you ask, or don't ask, is just as important. <S> You can do some leg work without talking to the boss. <S> Since you say the company already supports domestic remote workers, you can ask one of them if you have a good relationship or someone who's been there a while with whom you have a good casual relationship. <S> Consider it just some basic research <S> so you know what to expect when you eventually do approach the boss about it. <S> Knowing the company procedures and expectations will help you better make your case. <A> First of all, I fervently endorse the second part of item 1 in @Fattie 's answer. <S> Now, from my experience as a mathematician who is also a skilled programmer : usually, the best spot to ask for such thing is... during the interview. <S> As in <S> Hey interviewer, I have a very long commute from home, is it possible to work remotely in this position once or twice a week? <S> If the answer is yes, then it is also the best time to know. <S> Now, this does not help you with your current job. <S> In that case I would openly discuss the situation with your boss/the corresponding person. <S> Include the long commute issue. <S> Just don't make it seem too concerning, make sure that you ask it in an informative and non-commiting tone and chances are that you'll get the information you need. <S> The vaguer the answer, the less likely that they will allow it. <A> How soon is it "safe" to ask to work remotely 1-2 days a week? <S> Will 1 - 2 days a week fix this ? <S> I don't think so. <S> Working with people from different nationalities might be an awesome experience. <S> Maybe learning some Hebrew ? <S> Can you imagine that ? <S> I live in a suburb more than an hour away from work <S> My friend, many people have way longer commutes than yours... <S> Is it a problem, really? <S> How soon is it "safe" to ask to work remotely <S> That ain't no 8th world wonder. <S> As a matter of fact, depending on your home environment, it might be worse than going to the office. <S> On the other hand (don't know where are you from) , in my country it's kinda a privilege to be conquered. <S> Answering your question: "recently" is too soon buddy. <S> But good luck anyway. <A> The best time to ask for this perk is: Before you get hired, not after. <S> Now you're going to surprise your employer where he thought he has an employee in the office 5 days/week <S> , the employee actually only wants to be there 3. <S> This is something you should lay on the table from the get <S> go, not wait.
| If the answer is no, this is definitely the best time to know, as it will help you take informed decisions about your professional path.
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Better to leave or be made redundant? I have been working at my company (in the UK) for over a year but less than 24 months and I understand this affects my current rights regarding being made redundant. Lately I've gotten the impression that the department I work in at my company may no longer be desired and the team may well be made redundant at some point in the near future. There's a level of unease involved for me there but these things happen. I was reading this question: Is there anything wrong with asking about job security? which indicates that directly asking the company about job security is not really a viable option (they would just lie). I find myself in a difficult situation. I don't mind where I work currently and I'm paid reasonably, so in an ideal world I would remain here. My notice period is 2 months so there is a reasonable amount of time to find a new job should I be made redundant. however I was made redundant from my previous job as well after being there for only a year (I was a solo developer on a project and they decided cobbling off the shelf solutions together would be cheaper per-annum than my salary). I worry that being made redundant twice in two years is going to look very bad on my CV- so I've brushed it up and started looking for another job to try and get out before being made redundant. Is that a good idea? Or is it better to wait for the axe if I don't mind the work in the meantime? The issue with that is that if I'm wrong, then I could be burning bridges because the company project I'm on would be significantly hindered without me and I'd be leaving a job I don't hate for one I potentially could. <Q> I worry that being made redundant twice in two years is going to look very bad on my CV <S> Not exactly. <S> First of all, usually you don't put the reason for shift in the CV, that just describes your experiences and capabilities. <S> Secondly, if asked, you can mention the exact same thing you put in the question, preference to off-the-shelf solutions for budgetary purpose. <S> The decision was taken by the organization, not by you. <S> You are not let go because of your performance, nothing to worry about that. <S> I don't mind where I work currently <S> and I'm paid reasonably, so in an ideal world I would remain here. <S> My notice period is 2 months <S> so there is a reasonable amount of time to find a new job <S> should I be made redundant. <S> Well, I say that's reason enough to continue as of now, from your point of view. <S> Since you know you're into a risk-zone, please brush up your resume and keep an watch for the market. <S> Being prepared may reduce the time spent unemployed and increase chances of finding a better next role, should your fears turn out to be real. <A> If you think you're going to be let go by your current employer, start looking for a new job now. <S> Don't hand in your resignation until you've found an offer. <S> You can't be certain you'll find something good within your notice period, and shouldn't risk being out of work entirely if you don't. <S> Being laid off because your job function is being reorganized/etc away isn't your fault and won't reflect badly on you, and by waiting for them pull the plug while you look you preserve any severance benefits you'd otherwise give up by just quitting. <A> Best not to jump to conclusions. <S> But leaving because you think there might be layoffs is not clever. <S> In general, you are legally better off if you get laid off. <S> You will not get anything if you leave by yourself. <S> I actually had a case where a company laid off a large part of their employees, and someone who put in his notice one week before the announcement got nothing where others got a five digit sum. <A> I've brushed it up and started looking for another job to try and get out before being made redundant. <S> Is that a good idea? <S> Or is it better to wait for the axe if I don't mind the work in the meantime. <S> It's always a good idea to keep a up-to-date resume handy regardless. <S> My first thought is you should stick with your current role, if you like it. <S> If your job is fragile then switching to a new place might make things worse if you get canned there as well. <S> Also there comes the question of getting severance pay if you are made redundant and laid off. <S> In your last job did you get a good severance pay before you were let go? <S> If so, I'd wait it out unless you are in a comfortable position financially to take the hit. <S> As always be mindful. <S> Browse the job board and see what is out there. <S> Just casually look around and you got plenty of time.
| Yes, it's a good idea to check out the market, and you might even find a job that is better than your current one.
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How can I stop my boss in Germany from bullying me without worsening my future job prospects? I am a foreigner who recently started a minimum wage job in Germany that I think I can't replace easily at all. My employer has been behaving strangely, for example by being very friendly and offering me more work hours on the grounds of liking how I work, then complaining the moment I asked to change my minijob contract to correspond to them. I asked him how it is legal to work part-time with a minijob contract, to which he said that the Finanzamt won't know if I don't tell them. I have since then been trying to keep my job while making my contract legal, but he keeps complaining that I change my mind too much. The last thing I changed my mind about was getting an advance payment for January, which he insisted happen without any paperwork. I belatedly realised that's probably illegal. Yesterday I received an email in which the boss accused me of falsely telling him that I have received my permanent contract, "hopefully not on purpose". It is true that I hadn't received my contract, I was completely mistaken. But he went on to say that in his opinion I keep messing up because my parents loved me too much and spoiled me, and men spoiled me too much as well, due to my looks. Although my boss has at times been a very caring employer, his latest insult hurt me deeply because of trauma related to the people supposed to have been too nice to me. As well as hating these "innocent" insults, I worry that he writes me emails in which he makes it seem like I change my mind without reason so that he can point to them in the future and say that the lack of reply means there really was no reason, as opposed to the reason being his off-the-record attempts to pay me under the table. But I don't want to have an enemy in his face on top of the other reasons it's hard to find employment. He told me that if employees cheat him when he gives them advance payments without paperwork, he can use his many business contacts in the city to prevent them from finding other work. What could I do to best defend myself? <Q> Your boss is abusive. <S> Don't fall for the "many business contacts" trick, that's just an abusive attempt at keeping you from leaving and/or keeping you afraid of reporting his sexual discrimination. <S> No employer will listen to him, there is not even any good social circumstances where he could possibly bring up the subject. <S> And he won't do it anyway since his business contacts (if they exist) might hire you anyway and then realize he was lying; he won't risk that happening. <S> I don't know the employment laws of Germany. <S> Are you in a union? <S> If so, ask them for help. <S> Is your boss the business owner or are there superiors above him? <S> I know that German companies are often hierarchical in nature and skipping the chain of command might not always be a good idea. <S> But since this is clearly an abusive situation there might be people who are interested in hearing your story. <S> In any case, start applying for other jobs. <A> If you take a step back and read what you have written with objective mind. <S> There are issues with your contract <S> You are doing more hours/work than you are allowed to <S> You receive payments in cash <S> And when you bring up any of these topics your boss will divert the discussion and turn it to be about you . <S> This is pretty obvious strategy to obfuscate and confuse you. <S> He is clearly working in a grey area. <S> Bending the rules, maybe even breaking some laws. <S> And he tries his best for you to not notice this clearly, or inform the authorities. <S> You might be breaking regulations/laws as well. <S> You are not doing anything bad on purpose, you have just been lead into the situation by your superior. <S> Contact your union, authorities or ask help from your parents or somebody else you trust. <S> Refuse to be paid in cash or without paperwork. <S> Start writing down all shady things you notice and actions you have taken. <S> This protects you as it will show that you have actively been trying to fix the situation. <A> I am a foreigner <S> Illegal activities, when found out most likely will end your visa and you'll be deported (assuming you need a visa) or fined the very least. <S> Finanzamt won't know if I don't tell them <S> This is the illegal activity I'm talking about. <S> You're guilty of tax evasion if you don't declare all your income. <S> As others said it also falls under "Schwarzarbeit". <S> You were correct in wanting to change your minijob into a part or full time contract <S> Obviously your boss wants to avoid the much higher social and insurance expenses on top of the higher salary as well as the paper work. <S> I suggest to pressure back. <S> If you need a visa tell your boss you don't want to or can't risk losing it if getting caught. <S> In fact even if you don't need a visa you can say similarly you don't want to get into trouble. <S> Don't give in and don't let him distract or throw you off your mission with personal attacks. <S> There are lots of raids against Schwarzarbeit and if you work in a low paying industry with lots of foreigners employed, chances are higher that your company might be in the spotlight as well. <S> If he keeps on with the minijob <S> you could as a last resort threaten to whistleblow on him <S> (what he does is illegal as well) but either way he reacts (give in or fire you) you'll probably lose the job eventually, which is your only way anyways if you don't want to risk getting in trouble with the authorities... one other, lets call it the passive aggressive way <S> could be to greatfully deny the offer for additional work. <S> ... <S> While you're employed as minijobber... <A> In addition to some other excellent answers, I think it is worth pointing out that the job market in Germany is actually quite employee-friendly at the moment. <S> Your boss says he can harm you, but actually it sounds as if he has more to lose than you from an open conflict. <S> E.g. if you contact your Finanzamt or your Krankenkasse. <S> As far as I know, social insurance and tax payments are the responsibility of the employer. <S> I would guess that on your end, it is only tax evasion if you do not report it in your Steuererklärung.
| So unless you are living in a very small town without car or are doing a job that really requires no specific skills at all (e.g. dishwasher), it should be possible to find something else. So the best way to protect yourself is to stop this. Refuse to play his games. Keep asking for an appropriate contract reflecting your actual work.
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Repercussions of informing manager about health issues only after the end of probation period I'm a newly hired engineer who's still on a probation period. I'm on the autism spectrum (my employer doesn't know) and, in my case, the autism also comes with tiredness issues (my employer doesn't know that either). I'm currently in the process of being recognized as "handicapped worker" (which I won't have before several months) which will allow me to ask to work remotely and/or to only work part-time. I'm considering telling my employer about all this (autism + tiredness + working remotely) before having the "handicapped worker" recognition. Now, I'm wondering: What would be the drawback of telling them about that after the end of my probation period? I don't want to be seen as untrustworthy (because I told them after the end of my probation) but I also don't want them to end my probation period because they are afraid of my tiredness issues (if I told them before the end of my probation). Notes and clarifications I don't have much problem interacting with others and, in any case, there is nothing obvious about me being on the spectrum (from an exterior and ignorant point of view) <Q> France doesn't have the best track record with dealing with Autism (as I'm sure you know better than I) <S> although I think they are getting better and getting the disabled worker status (I presume from CDAPH?) <S> gives you significantly improved protection. <S> Obviously this means you need to address the issue of any impacts that you are currently experiencing since the symptoms don't wait <S> and you indicate that you are considering telling them at least something before the confirmation of the disabled worker status, if you do choose to do so there is nothing wrong with saying something like: <S> I'm currently experiencing some health issues that lead to me being more tired than I'd like. <S> I'm currently investigating this with my doctors and I'll try not to let it affect my work too much. <S> This establishes: that it is a medical issue <S> (i.e. you aren't just not getting enough sleep) that you are taking steps to look into this yourself <S> that you are conscious that it (may) affect your work and that you are trying to mitigate this effect. <S> Regards your concerns about whether you would be seen as "untrustworthy" - I don't <S> this is something to be too concerned about, at the moment you aren't telling them because you don't have the status yet. <S> Once your disabled worker status is in - then you can discuss any (further) necessary accommodations in that context. <A> Let’s take the medical factor out for a second. <S> During probation you will be performing at some level. <S> If that level is satisfactory, they will keep you on. <S> If not, they may let you go. <S> Now, considering a medical condition, If the workload to attain “satisfactory” is sustainable, meaning you can keep doing that level after probation then there’s little reason to ever bring it up. <S> You’re not being deceptive, It’s just not relevant. <S> However, if that level isn’t sustainable for you, then yes, you need to have a discussion. <S> I have had such discussions with my employees and my first question always is: “what accommodations would help you?” <S> So I suggest going into the discussion toward the end of probation with ideas about what you need (work from home days, break times, whatever). <S> “I really like this job, but I have (some condition) and it’s tough for me. <S> I believe I can meet the requirements of the role if I can (do some accommodation).” <S> The company may or may not be able to meet your request, but if they don’t even try then you should ask yourself if that’s really an environment you want to work in. <S> And depending on your jurisdiction, there may be legal obligations to provide reasonable accommodations, but they won’t know to do so unless you ask. <S> Is there a risk that they blacklist you, and invent some other “reason” to get rid of you <S> so they don’t have to deal with you? <S> Unfortunately, yes, that’s always a risk. <S> You’ll have to assess for yourself if you think this place/manager might do that, what your legal options are, and what the impact to your health might be if you stay without the necessary accommodations. <A> I would explain that now, including the comment on willing to do it before ending the probation period. <S> Mainly by two reasons: <S> Professional-wise, as you already observed, you don't want to look unstrustworthy. <S> All in all, you don't want to work in a place that cannot cope with you having ASD. <S> EDIT: <S> Also, if the tiredness issue is related to sensorial hypersensitivity you might want to give them enough time to find a suitable spot for you, so you can feel more comfortable when in the workplace. <A> Unless your job requires such disclosures due to safety regulations, it's up to you to tell them when and if you choose. <S> What would be the drawback of telling them about that after the end of my probation period? <S> Now, as for the workplace interpersonal aspects of this... <S> People, especially managers, don't like surprises , even if the circumstances are perfectly reasonable. <S> If medical issues are not impacting your performance during the probation period, you're setting yourself up for a significant mismatch in expectations vs. capability <S> once your probation is over. <S> Meaning, your boss will be expecting someone who can contribute at level 8, to later find out you will contribute only at level 6. <S> They suddenly find out they have a capacity gap that they now need to worry about. <S> One way around this is to request remote work or flex time, both very common, with your boss outside of any medical entitlement. <S> If they agree, with conditions, there's really no problem.
| Additionally specifics of medical concerns are a very private thing for many people (and this rings true in my experience with French companies as well), and I wouldn't consider an employee any less trustworthy because they decided against mentioning details (regardless of probation vs not probation). The risk is that you will be viewed in the future as someone who brings up issues only when it suits your convenience. Job-wise, if your condition is a problem for your workplace, then it is the time to know.
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How to renegotiate permanent job into a contract I have been working with a company for less then a year as a permanent employee, I'm on a good salary and have passed my probation period. They have lots of projects going on and they already hired a few contractors to do some of the jobs and are possibly going to hire more to get jobs done quicker. Now given my circumstances, I am experienced in what I do, and my plan is to get a contract job in few months time. There are lots of contract jobs but it would be easier for me to stay with this company. I never seen this happening before, so how should I go about renegotiating a permanent job into a contract with my manager? In case the company refuses, I will still go ahead with contracting at another place. <Q> What I've seen people do, successfully, is retain their permanent employee status with a company but reduce their working days. <S> Such that they are free to take on contracting work on other days. <S> This gives the employer the benefits of retaining an experienced, permanent employee whilst still allowing you to take on other work at the same time. <S> This gives you the benefit of a secure fall-back if consulting work is not available. <S> (And pension, healthcare, sick-days, holiday pay, etc.) <S> This way all you're asking to do is to change your employment terms from 5 days per week, rather than a complete change in the relationship, which is something a manager is more likely to be willing and able to accommodate. <A> I never seen this happening before, <S> so how should I go with renegotiate permanent job into a contract with my manager ? <S> Your manager is unlikely to have the power to do this for you. <S> You can certainly tell the manager that you won't be renewing your contract after a year <S> , the danger is he/ <S> she will start looking for your replacement rather than happily back you to get paid more to do the same job. <S> I certainly would just because it sets a precedent with other staff. <S> In your case this isn't a show stopper <S> so it doesn't make a great deal of difference. <S> However it would still be best to do it at the time of contract renewal rather than earlier because you then have more leverage. <S> I have seen it done successfully short term where the company couldn't find a replacement quickly or was in the middle of a project, but I've never seen them keep the contractor long term. <A> If you are fully decided to go ahead with contracting you don't have much to worry. <S> Try to tell the manager why would you like to keep working for them and what they "win" with the change. <S> Your leverage there is that they know you, and you know them. <S> If you leave, they have to replace you, and perhaps it's more expensive to do that in time and money that accepting the change you want. <S> Anyway, don't forget that you are in a good position due to your determination.
| Ask for a meeting and explain your manager what you want to do and the path you have chosen for your career.
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Is it unethical to encourage a co-worker to leave our mutual current workplace? Background I've been increasingly unhappy with my workplace (you can look at my question's history for context if you wish) so I've been looking for jobs for the past 2 months with great success.I'm essentially already one foot out the door (still working hard obviously).For the entirety of my tenure at the firm, my co-worker (who has been there for twice as long as me) has also been unhappy; but unlike me he was not initially willing to look for employment elsewhere even though his issues are similar to mine. Issue I've been gently nudging him and encouraging the idea that if he isn't happy here he should talk to the manager/bosses first and see if he can't come to a resolution.But since he's tried that they have been resistant and against any of the changes he and I proposed etc So I've been actively encouraging him to seek alternative options. He is bright and I hate to see him being wasted here at a small start-up that really isn't going to grow much more (without drastic changes).But at the same time since I've started working there, he and I have become the top employees (in a small firm of less than 20, where half are essentially manual labor); and we do most of the other tasks (like data analysis, ordering, inventory management, other typical white collar tasks).If we both leave at the same time or near each other the firm will suffer greatly, there is no maybe or doubt. Question Now that he's actively looking (I helped him update his CV and gave him a few references in my network), was it ethical of me to actively encourage him to look for employment elsewhere, knowing that if we both leave we are essentially screwing over our current employer? Note: To explain more, he probably would have stayed there for the rest of his life if I hadn't been the one to encourage him to start looking. <Q> No, it's not unethical. <S> If you're both unhappy with your current situation, by all means move on. <S> At the end of the day the company only cares about getting the most amount of work they can get out of you for the least expense possible. <S> If the company cannot survive without either or both of you, then that is the fault of your bosses. <A> I'm not sure if I would call it unethical to encourage someone to leave the place where you currently work, but employers might find it a bit questionable. <S> As part of the deal with employment, you are supposed to be loyal to the company and the employer. <S> If your next employer finds out that you were doing that, they might hesitate to hire you. <S> My advise would be to stay as professional as you can until you actually quit, and try to leave on good terms. <S> These things tend to come back and bite you otherwise. <S> What if you need references in the future or if future employers ask your previous one about you. <S> At the point when you are no longer employed, then you can of course encourage him all you want. <A> It's up to him to decide for himself if his talents and abilities are being wasted. <S> You are not his parent, it really is not your place to be advising him in this way. <S> Obviously you are free to tell him whatever you like about your own plans, but I don't think you should do anything to encourage him to leave. <S> While you are both still being paid by this company, it is both unprofessional and unethical. <S> I've been in your friends position, and have had colleagues try to encourage me to quit as well, or head-hunt me as soon as they have left. <S> I tend to think less of them because of it. <S> One particular person who I can think of, assumed the company was completely incapable of functioning without him and would literally just fall in a heap once he left. <S> In actuality he was effectively replaced the same day he resigned. <S> The customers didn't even notice any change. <S> If you are unhappy, by all means leave, but to knowingly/intentionally? <S> do harm to (screw over) your current employer, is really not a good thing to do. <S> "To explain more, he probably would have stayed there for the rest of his life if I hadn't been the one to encourage him to start looking." <S> This seems quite disrespectful and condescending to your co-worker. <S> You apparently value his talent, but consider him too inept to be able to make his own life choices. <S> You will most likely find the company will survive just fine without you. <S> As someone once said, if you put your hand into a bucket of water, and then remove it, does it leave a hole? <A> It's both unethical and unprofessional to do this. <S> You have an obligation to do your best for the people who pay you, not undermine them in secret.
| Employees who consider themselves indispensable to a company, often are really more of a liability. You are obviously free to move on to other opportunities, as is your colleague, but it is unethical for you to be encouraging him. You don't owe them anything other than what you signed in the contract as terms of your employment.
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How can I ask my manager more development tasks rather than maintenance and bug fixing? Background I'm currently at a cross section in my career in a corporate.I'm almost a year working as a software engineer; in that period of time I've passed a team straining about the team's back-end and front-end technologies, fixing bugs (while getting help from the only teammate who fix bugs), some refactoring metrics, and a POC of our main project which planned for us this year.Right now, other teammates are working on tasks of the projects while I didn't get so far any task that is related to the project.All what I got is bugs, and the fact - "you're supposed to replace him and take all of the responsibilities of maintenance from him", even though I did in the past months a deep research and built a POC. My question How can I ask from my manager to involve me in the project, while they clearly said to me that I'm the "new guy", and somebody must to do all of this dirty work? <Q> They need someone to fix bugs. <S> It seems that, to them, it is most economically beneficial to put experienced people on new project, and you on bug fixing. <S> You have to think of arguments that will show why putting least experienced person on new project is not increasing project cost (time, money, technical debt and other kinds of cost) and actually earns them something. <S> If only argument you will present will be "I'm not happy with bug fixing", you risk they will mitigate business risk by replacing you with someone who is happy to fix bugs. <S> As for specific benefits, one benefit of having you involved in new project is that you will know it enough to bugfix it later. <S> Also, sending some bugs from older systems to other employees will mean they know enough about these old system to bugfix them if you will ever get sick, killed in bus accident etc. <S> Will it be enough? <S> I doubt <S> so, probably management already considered this. <S> But at least it is a start. <A> I think you are looking at this the wrong way. <S> I started in a company where after some time all I was doing was "bug fixing",not as much in code as it was in business processes, all I did was fix things when people made mistakes, this helped me when I was the one developing the business processes, helped me even more when I started bug fixing the applications we used, which then when I started developing, I already knew the applications well so the coding aspect was a lot easier (SQL) when I knew where the data was anyway. <S> Take advantage that you are bug fixing so much and learn with it, find patterns and learn with them. <A> Software development can be remarkably meritocratic. <S> In short, pay your dues. <S> Demonstrate you can fix bugs fast and well. <S> Engage in the development process around you. <S> Learn about internal processes and understand the platform's business model and solve the problem's in front of you with skill and speed. <S> You won't need to ask to work on a project, they'll just assign you a project. <S> The fundamental truth, is in software you end up doing projects because of either one of two conditions: <S> Either you are good or they are desperate. <S> If you want to build something, either be good or work for someone desperate.
| The only chance to change that assignment is to present management with business benefits of doing so. Everyone is needed and at the moment, you are needed in bug fixing. You will get your chance when needed, always seem eager to help, if you are told the project hits a block ask if you can take a look and possibly help.
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Open space vs offices. Which one is better for a new team according to studies? I want to create a new workspace for a small software development team (4-15 developers). Is there any research into whether open workspaces or small offices make for a better working environment? <Q> The problem is that different people work better in different environments. <S> What you should do is have plenty of private spaces and a few usable public spaces for groups. <S> Your spaces will not effectively work at 15 people; try to design spaces for 6 or fewer. <S> I’ve <S> worked in cubicles, a private office, a shared office, and a open area. <S> I disliked the open area because of a lack of privacy. <S> And basically all the open space pioneers backed away from the idea quite long ago. <S> EDIT; Here are some interesting reads: Harvard Study Chicago Tribune Forbes <A> Contrary to the original (claimed) intentions behind the open-plan office philosophy, namely the improvement of collaboration and communication research has shown that they actually cause a significant decrease in both face to face interactions and productivity. <S> They also appear to lead to a negative impact on employee health, one study showing a staggering 62% increase in the number of sick days taken by employees in an open plan environment vs having closed offices. <S> (Square feet per person saved via open offices * # of employees <S> * Cost/square foot of office space) <S> So as the number of employees goes up - so does the value of potential cost reductions. <S> If the lost productivity of the open-plan model results in lost revenue of less than the additional cost of having closed plan offices then it can still make sense. <A> 4-15 developers.. <S> that's a lot of variance, it's difficult to get something liked by everyone. <S> To add to what has already covered by UnhandledExcepSean's answer , I'd say, even for the same person, not everyday work requires same working condition. <S> Example: <S> In a design review meeting, I'd like a open workplace where I sit face to face and discuss. <S> Same me, would like to have a semi-private workplace when I'm trying to read, understand and debug someone else's code. <S> What I'd say, organize the available place into three categories Open working space : For collaborative works Head-down cubicles : <S> Semi-private space for small period of high-focus individual work. <S> AV Room (Audio-Video Privacy Room): For Conference calls. <S> Even if you can't get the third one, it's okay. <S> Have spaces for both 1 and 2, and let people choose what they prefer. <A> This is just my experience about what I found worked best. <S> In one company we were in an old big house. <S> Each room was large enough for 6 people, so each team had a room to themselves. <S> The volume and "fun" were controlled for how busy each team were. <S> The team members could just ask a question to the room and the correct person could now answer. <S> Without disturbing other teams to who this question was irrelevant. <S> I now work in one room with the entire company, not a single sound barrier. <S> Everyone is sat with headphones on, so nobody can add their own information which is relevant <S> but you didn't know existed to ask about. <S> But i guess they are cheaper for the company. <A> Anecdotally: I've worked at companies that have had shared offices (usually 2 people per office) and that have had an open office arrangement. <S> Ironically, I've found myself collaborating less in open office arrangements. <S> To deal with the extra noise created by open office layouts, many people end up wearing headphones all the time. <S> However, by wearing headphones, they provide a (possibly unintended) cue that they don't want to be disturbed. <S> I avoided talking to them. <S> I want to avoid disturbing bystanders, so I usually avoided talking to people in general. <S> In contrast, with private offices: There is a clear visual cue whether the occupants are okay with visitors or if the occupants don't want to be disturbed: whether the door is open or closed. <S> I worried less about disturbing others since if discussion in the office gets too loud, we (or the people disturbed) could close doors.
| The only real benefit to open-plan is that it allows for reduced expenditure on office space, now in some locations where space is at a premium this trade off may actually make more financial sense: An approximation for the cost savings in using open-plan can be done:
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How to tell my freelance designer to deliver on time I have a really talented designer working for me remotely. No complains with his work but he always delivers them late. I couldn't handle it anymore so I stopped sending him work. Just a while ago I received his message asking if his services are required. I want to send him work but also want to let him know that I will only do so on the condition that he delivers them on time. How do I do this in a gentle way? <Q> Jack, we have always been happy with the product you deliver and would love to work with you more. <S> Our biggest problem is that things are never delivered on time. <S> We can only agree to work with you if you can assure that you will be able to meet the deadline. <S> You also need to make sure that any deadline you are setting is reasonable to him and not just dictated by you. <S> The problem in the past may have been that you set deadlines that he is simply unable to meet. <S> (I don't know if this was actually the case for you, but it's still good practice in general.) <S> If we ask for a deadline that you think is unreasonable, then please let us know! <S> We would much rather know a realistic estimate upfront <S> than have you just agree to what we ask and then be late. <S> You can even add an ultimatum if you want, assuming you can follow through with it. <S> If we get a late delivery from you again, we will not be requiring your services anymore. <S> If you give the ultimatum, he's late, and then you hire him again, then he'll know that he can be late with no consequence. <S> I also assume that you aren't paying him in full until you get the final delivery, otherwise there's no incentive for him to be on time at all. <S> Lastly, you can do a little preemptive damage control on your end by giving him a deadline that's earlier than when you actually need it. <S> If he's usually about a week late, then tell him you need it a week early. <S> If he successfully delivers to you on time, you can slowly move the bar back to normal, if you want. <S> Or just leave the bar early for when he inevitably relapses (and he will. <S> It's just a question of how much you can put up with it.) <A> I assume that the OP is in more or less good terms with the designer and therefore there should be a mutual understanding that work needs to be done. <S> In this light make him aware of the problem by sending him a mail detailing what needs to be done in order for him to get another gig. <S> In addition, if possible make a contract in the form of: Deadline : <S> X $ Deadline + 5 working days: 75% of X Deadline + 10 working days: 50% of x Deadline + 15 working days: no payment and no further gigs. <A> "One condition, do it on time or you get paid half". <S> If he has a track record for being late with work. <S> A "gentle" reminder isn't going to change the fact that he won't be rushing. <S> Simple as that. <A> One model that seems to work is not to decrease the pay for late BUT to offer a "bonus" for delivery by date <S> X... <S> If it arrives on time then pay the bonus... <S> A garage did similar, if you paid within 10 days you got a 10% discount - that quickly reduced the number of late payers... <A> As I see it, the person probably has some issue with organizing oneself and this would be the reason to deliver late. <S> I don;t think you need to search for a gentle way to explain that. <S> Just be open and say that if you have a deadline, you must deliver in time. <S> As you like the designer's work, tell one that you appreciate his/her work and lot, but you can work together only if any deadlines set are met.
| First thing is to be honest with him about the situation.
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What does "Copy" means in a job description? When looking for new opportunities, I noticed "Copy" accompanying job description, e.g. "Creative Director (Copy)", "Associate Art Director, Copy", etc. I assume it's some kind of description of the position seniority, but cannot find any explanation anywhere. <Q> If these job opportunities are in advertising, this is likely for copywriting . <S> Copywriting is the act of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. <A> This is specifically text to be published and not graphics or other artwork. <S> In the case of a Copy Editor <S> it is someone editing the "Copy" to make it suitable for publishing. <S> So, in the case of this position, you would be dealing with a creative director who would be dealing with text only. <S> He would have nothing to do with any sort of artwork, graphics, film, et cet. <S> Now, the text could be anything from adverts, scripts, novels, even the words published in a comic book. <S> More detail in this Wikipedia article <A> It's possible that the company advertising this job uses an ATS , which is software for automating large parts of the hiring process. <S> They might have copied this vacancy from a previous, existing vacancy, and their system might be configured in such a way that it adds this (Copy) text to copied vacancies. <S> If that's the case, the recruiter who set up the vacancy has simply forgotten to delete that. <S> It's a bit strange though to see that in several places. <S> Source: I work for a company that makes such a product.
| Copy refers to text, the "copy" that will be worked on.
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How do I explain to my team members I can't debug their code all the time? Background: I was hired along with 6 other people to help clean up internal webpages. A couple of months later, the manger and the people above him decided that when we're done with the internal cleanup, they will pay and train us to learn Python. In one meeting, the manager tried to introduce us to Python to give us an idea of what it's like. I have a background of working with Python (I'm self-taught, and build and maintain Python projects on my Github). Rather than announce that I already know Python, I stayed humble and kept my month shut, because I might learn something I didn't know. During the managers tutorial, he ran into some trouble with the IDE and code he was demonstrating. He told everyone to come back in a few minutes, while he worked on fixing the code. I offered to help him and in less than 5 minutes he was up and running. When the meeting resumed, he gave me a thanks in front of everyone, and moved forward. During the training, we're given exercises to complete with a review process afterward. Problem: I don't know if it was the "thanks" I received or if the manager told the team without letting me know, but they keep coming to me to help them debug their code. At first I didn't mind, I showed them what was wrong, how to fix it, and how to use the IDE to help them debug. The problem is, they don't care to do it themselves. The issues aren't all that difficult to understand (wrong variable names, calling functions that don't exist, or with the wrong number of arguments). I'm getting work from the manager, plus the training we have to go through (I asked, and the manager stated I have to go through the training, regardless of what I know), it's too much. How do I politely explain that I'm not the team's debugger/problem fixer? There is a review process afterward, and to learn from that? <Q> You should have a discussion with your manager about your role. <S> They may understand that debugging other employees' code is part of your job description. <S> Let the manager know the trade-offs you face while working in the company. <S> For example, you might say "when helping someone to debug their code, I don't have time to work on X, delaying outcome Z." <S> If debugging other's code doesn't affect your outcomes for the company directly, but you simply just don't enjoy debugging other people's code and don't think it is part of your job, that is also something to discuss. <S> Find your formal job description and have a discussion with your manager about it. <S> Discuss what needs to change in the job description and if raises/promotions may be warranted if the job description has been changed. <S> If the manager agrees its not your responsibility to debug code for others, then polite pointing to documentation, e.g. "what did the documentation say about this? <S> " is a good way to respond that forces others to do a lot of research before they ask you to help them debug. <A> Make sure in every instance it takes them longer to ask you than to do it themselves. <S> Don't just fix their code, inflict a long-winded lecture on them in the process, demonstrate how to use the tools, inflict long philosophical discussions on development etc. <S> Painstakingly find and show them the relevant documentation for every statement they get wrong, and then read it aloud to them, in a droning monotone. <S> Aim to waste at least half an hour of their time per (simple) question. <S> Not answering would just get you labeled as a nasty, unhelpful person. <S> But making it painful will have the opposite effect, while ensuring that they start thinking twice about whether it's worth the pain. <A> I don't know if it was the "thanks" I received or if the manager told the team without letting me know, but <S> they keep coming to me to help them debug their code. <S> It's important that your manager is aware of what's going on where your team members coming to you for help. <S> Propose to your manager a plan that both satisfies the business need and your career ambitions. <S> For instance, Tech leads and senior engineers will need to mentor more junior team members. <S> The fact that your team member respect you enough to ask your question is already a step in the right direction. <S> But if you'd prefer to focus more on the project your manager has given you stated that and make sure your manager communicate that the team members should reduce their dependence on you. <S> To me, I would do a combination of both. <S> I would help my team members help themselves (i.e. teach them the tools to debug on their own and create a team slack channel, email list or similar where people can answer each's questions) and make sure I make a splash with your new project. <A> This is an excellent opportunity to become a team lead or get promoted. <S> You show them that you can help train and lead a team and the rewards will almost certainly follow. <S> However , since this is not in line with your tentative career track, you can tell them that you are busy with a high priority task from the boss and ask them if they can post their question on StackOverflow. <S> While simple questions are generally down voted and closed, they do tend to get answered fairly quickly. <S> They will quickly stop coming to you since you don't help them (because you are busy) and they learn to use the wonderful resource that is the Internet. <A> As the subject matter expert in a domain that none of your coworkers know anything about, it might be hard for them to look up solutions online if they don't even know what they're looking for, and it might be hard for them to understand things on the internet if they have a base of literal zero. <S> Therefore, they need to be ELI5'd a lot of this type of stuff, which is why they come to you. <S> If you think the problem is reasonable, you should help them with it. <S> That said, it sounds like they're coming to you with a lot of very basic programming stuff that holds across all languages (e.g. variable names/function names which don't exist). <S> In those cases, I would institute the "three strikes you're out" rule: Help them twice, and then the third time they ask you something silly like this, report it to your manager. <S> They should be expected to check these sorts of very simple, very obvious things before coming to you for help, although conversely if the problem is nontrivial you should allow them to leverage your expertise. <S> Be generous with what you consider "trivial", because they know basically nothing in the subject area. <A> If you don't want to spend time on that - just tell them to do it yourself. <S> A polite "sorry, I'm busy" <S> when you're busy or "sorry, I want to rest" when you're resting will do. <S> Be straightforward - why shouldn't you? <S> If you stop yielding to those request they will eventually stop asking you. <S> You also may want to ask coworkers if anybody told them to come to you for help. <S> If management did, talk to the person who did that and explain that you need to concentrate on your own work and don't look forward to leading position. <S> That's if you don't look forward to it, of course. <S> Otherwise you can discuss the opposite: how you can lead and teach the rest of a team and what benefits you get for doing so.
| You could tell your manager that you would like to carve out some of your time to bring your team members up to speed and productive on their own projects.
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Can my employer ask LinkedIn to delete posts of mine? Let's assume my LinkedIn account shows the name of my current employer (as most accounts do). Can the employer ask LinkedIn to delete posts of mine which they don't want to see associated with the company? Can they do this even if the posts are by no means offending or inappropriate? Does this right differ by country? <Q> They can certainly ask. <S> Whether or not LinkedIn will comply, only LinkedIn can say for sure. <S> Or waiting to see. <S> But, since your employer objects to these posts, do you really want to upset them? <S> Remove the posts yourself, apologizing is not necessary, but would not hurt. <S> Then ask you employer for a clear, written policy on what you may post when their name is visible and will appear to be associated with it. <A> Absent legal weight behind the request or breaking of Terms Of Service, it is unlikely that LinkedIn will simply delete the content of other people at someone else's request. <S> Deleting something simply because another company doesn't like it will ultimately have a chilling effect on the rest of the site userbase. <S> This can get people to leave in droves and promote the use of competitors. <S> As such, LinkedIn doesn't even do this for Microsoft, the current owners of LinkedIn. <S> The employer can potentially get it deleted under a legal objection, but LinkedIn is no YouTube in that not everything is 100% automated and <S> customer services do exist, so such a legal challenge is not automatically guaranteed and may need actual weight behind it beyond a claim. <A> They can try... <S> LinkedIn's editing policy will be governed by LinkedIn, so you'll need to ask them directly, or use the official support forum to ask this question.
| In practice, it'll be difficult and your employer would need to provide a very good reason for wanting your content to be edited.
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How to tell your boss that unforeseen work will delay a project? I'm a new team lead on a project integrating my companies' software with an outside vendor's. This project was planned out and estimated before I came on, so I'm pretty much just following the roadmap. However, we just got a delivery from the vendor requiring a completely new method of communication between our code and theirs. This was completely unplanned-for work that must be done immediately and will require a decent amount of effort, which will push out our other planned features. I've also found out that this vendor has been known for springing these "surprises" in the past. Basically, I need to tell my boss that we just got told about feature X, which will require Y hours of work to do, which will push out features A, B, C, without sounding too much like a complainer. What's the best way to do that? <Q> Just tell him the facts as you currently see them. <S> It's really that simple. <S> You may need to organize a meeting to discuss the implications of this change and how it relates to the roadmap. <S> Come to this meeting with estimates, as well as you can do them for now (and what items you can't estimate for, due to lack of information). <S> And then let him decide how this will play out - whether or not you have to change your development path, and by how much. <S> If this vendor has changed the goalposts before, this won't be entirely unexpected and there might well be a backup plan for this eventuality. <S> I've worked at companies where there's been an agreement that vendors don't trash the API interface whenever they feel like it - <S> the promise of non-payment for a service can be pretty persuasive. <A> What's the best way to do that? <S> Immediately get into a discussion and tell your boss: ( borrowing words from yourself ) " <S> Hey Boss, we just got told about feature X, which will require Y hours of work to do, which will push out features A, B, C. <S> I've also found out that this vendor "PQR" has been known for springing these "surprises" in the past. <S> Even if we can get some concrete assurances from "PQR" that this is the last of them, we should consider reviewing the remaining road-map to ensure we can handle a few more surprises without missing our deadlines." <S> What's the way out (plan B)? <S> You'll figure it out after the discussion with your manager and team. <A> Don't delay, act now <S> This is pretty standard for the industry. <S> Give a quick summary to boss ASAP. <S> X happened, causing Y, we're looking at how bad it is, and I'll let you know by Z how long this will take to correct. <S> If the boss isn't already aware of the vendor's tendency to pull things like this, let him know. <S> He may need to escalate within the organization. <S> The company should probably take steps to include compensation for such "surprises" in the future. <S> then continue, business as usual. <A> Honestly, I don't see where the problem is. <S> It's not like it's your fault, the fault of someone else in your team, or even the people who made the planning before you (unless maybe this kind of behaviour by this vendor is so usual that they should have included appropriate buffer in the planning for that!). <S> Depending on whatever other constraints there may be, your boss may then decide (alone, or with you), to scrap the whole thing (it's becoming too costly, let's focus on something else), scrap some features, reorder some features (I need feature X before time <S> Y for reason Z), add more resources... <S> Of course, if you are already aware of some of those contraints (feature X is required before time Y, or maximum budget whatever happens is Z...) <S> , you should probably take that into account in your communication, possibly taking the initiative to suggest whatever other changes you think are necessary (but leave the decision to them). <S> Your boss will appreciate you coming with solutions rather than problems. <S> Depending on whether this is a new standard feature or something that is made specifically for one customer (or a few customers), there may also be a need to communicate with the customer and/or charge them more. <A> Tell your boss that you just got told about feature X, which will require Y hours of work to do, which will push out features A, B, C. <S> Don't complain. <S> Simple.
| As others have said, just inform your boss, including the time required for the additional work, and the new delivery estimates.
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Getting paid an hourly rate to take a programming assessment as a part of an interview I'm a programmer and I am currently interviewing for a new position. One of the companies that I interviewed with gave me two assessments which required me to work through some code problems at home. The first required around 5 hours to complete and the second required around 15 hours. For the second assessment, the company said that I would be paid an hourly rate. I completed both assessments. A few days later, the company decided not to offer me the position. A week later, the company contacted me about the payment and asked me to sign and submit a contract and tax forms, and then they asked me to sign up for a payment app (either Zelle or Quickpay) on my phone. (note: I asked for a check instead and they agreed to send me a check.) I have a few questions regarding this situation: 1) Is it a normal practice for a company to pay applicants for part of an interview? 2) Why would a company want to pay me for something that I would probably do anyway? 2) Is there a benefit for the company to have me sign their contractor agreement? 3) Could there be adverse effect for me if I do sign up as a contractor for this short term "project"? 4) Should I be concerned about giving them my personal info, considering that I only met them once and I will not be working with them? This is the first time that a company has offered to pay me for an assessment. I want to avoid scams and I also want to know if my work could be used as a part of their application, and if I could be assuming responsibility for something. Edit: The company was located in Peachtree Corners, just north of Atlanta, Georgia. I visited the location for an on-site interview, however the address did not match the address on Google or on their web site. The company has fairly high reviews on Glassdoor and a good presence on LinkedIn. The number that I was called from did match the number on Glassdoor and on their website. At least one of the employees was recognizable from their LinkedIn profile. The web address used for their email addresses, company website, LinkedIn, Google and Glassdoor was the same. <Q> As coding tests are getting to be more... involved, some coders will just outright refuse. <S> So, the companies were faced with a dilemma. <S> They want to still screen people, and they don't want people to walk away at the prospect of facing a 5 hour or longer test. <S> The answer is to compensate people for their time. <S> This is not common, but it is not unheard of, and it takes various forms. <S> Some companies will even take you on for a week, have you do real tasks, and then decide at the end of the week if they will extend an offer. <S> This also helps to combat the "free consulting" rap many companies are starting to get, rightly or wrongly, for having people come in for long coding tests. <S> which has been a real concern for years now as this Slashdot article shows <A> Not usually. <S> Probably to encourage you to actually complete the interview process. <S> There's been a lot of push back by programmers being asked to spend an insane amount of hours on interview work. <S> I would consider 15 hours to be insane and can't see a situation in which I'd participate in that without some sort of compensation. <S> Hard <S> to say what the benefit is without actually reviewing the agreement <S> but it likely covers them in case you want to try and claim you were an employee. <S> It's also likely to ensure they own what you produced to prevent you from trying to sue them over the rights if they somehow end up using it. <S> Without seeing the agreement it's impossible to know. <S> From what you've described, yes, they could use your work. <S> However without knowing your specific local/country laws it's hard to say you could be responsible for anything. <S> If the USA then I can't see a situation in which you'd be held responsible for anything at all. <A> 1) Is it a normal practice for a company to pay applicants for part of an interview? <S> Not in my experience, but it should be. <S> When I'm creating programming exercises, I try to make them easy enough that someone of average competence could complete them within an hour. <S> This is respectful of the candidate's time. <S> 2) Why would a company want to pay me for something that I would probably do anyway? <S> Because it can be taxing on a candidate. <S> If you applied for 5 jobs (and you ARE applying at more than one employer, right?) <S> , that could easily be 15 hours + 75 hours of work--more than a full-time job--for no gain. <S> 2) Is there a benefit for the company to have me sign their contractor agreement? <S> My educated guess is it protects everyone from misunderstanding (i.e., you may/may not own the code you wrote <S> , you can't sue for benefits, etc). <S> I am also not a lawyer, so it is best to contact a real one to review any agreement before you sign it. <S> 3) Could there be adverse effect for me if I do sign up as a contractor for this short term "project"? <S> Depending upon the laws of your state, you may invalidate unemployment benefits and/or other benefits. <S> Best to check with a lawyer or the help line of your state/city benefits department if that applies. <S> 4) Should I be concerned about giving them my personal info, considering that I only met them once and I will not be working with them? <S> If they "hired" you and you gave them all your information, they (or an unscrupulous HR employee) could scam you anyway. <S> That being said, I'd suggest you look into setting up your own company. <S> I personally have an LLC with its own EIN ( employer id number ) that I use for occasional side gigs. <S> If I were in your position, I would give them my EIN and make sure they understood it was a business-to-business payment, not a 1099 or whatever. <S> My personal information is protected, and if anything goes wrong, they can't personally sue me (YMMV and make sure to consult with a lawyer)
| If they seem legit (and they sound pretty professional), then it is probably not a problem.
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How to help new team member with security best practices without escalation to management I currently work on the Information Security team at my employer and have been working at my company for about 4 years. Recently a new member joined the team, who per his resume has about 1.5 years of experience in cybersecurity. He has never worked in a SOC before. I was instructed by my manager to mentor/train this person, but will not be his direct manager going forwards. He is generally smart but has some sloppy work habits that don't really follow best practices. We work with highly sensitive customer credit card, financial, and health data so proper security is essential. Our industry (insurance and healthcare) is tightly regulated. Some of his actions are "loose" and somewhat "sloppy" such as lapses in communication before making a change to production security components (e.g: firewall, DLP software, IPS, and SIEM etc.), using domain admin credential for system administration tasks that don't require that high level of access, and not logging actions properly in audit logs. While he appears to know what he is doing, I am afraid that such actions may mean he may one day make a critical error in PROD that he may not be able to recover from and I may or may not be able to. We do have a robust security policy and are a large company. However, I don't want to escalate to my manager yet, as he is new and I want to give him a chance first. When I talked to him about my observations, he stated he is just more used to doing things this way, and it's more efficient. Question How can I, without relying on my manager or formal company policy, assist this new team member with changing his behavior? If informal methods don't work, should I escalate this and how without throwing the new person entirely under the bus? <Q> [...]used to doing things this way, and its more efficient. <S> If he answers similarly again or even while you point it out, tell him "it may not be the most effective way" or "you know it's a hassle to do this way" or "yeah, it is cumbersome" <S> BUT <S> "it is the protocol", "is required by law or the policy" or "has to be done here without exception". <S> Make sure he understands that you all had to change habit to adapt policies and that they're enforced by management for a reason. <S> If applicable give an example of what could go wrong and / or what his punishment or consequences would be for him, the team and the comany. <S> If you see after a couple of instances that he won't change, create a paper trail by sending "helpful" email reminders. <S> "as per our discussion today" or "when I mentioned we need to do X instead of Y" or "hey, do you remember when you did X <S> and I said Z could happen" ...and then follow up by citing or explaining / quoting <S> a similar case you read on the internet <S> a section of the policy hand book an applicable law regarding his infraction a security article in a journal <S> Follow up by reiterating what you said to him earlier. <S> This way, you're not admonishing him (taking on a superior position to your peer that you don't have), simply guiding him and showing effort to be helpful to him. <S> You'll probably get through with less resistance AND in case he ever screws up or you end up having to eventually escalate his negligence to management or security or a superior witnesses him doing something and asks you if you told him it was not allowed, you can present proof of your mentoring and your instructing him on the company policy. <S> Also, remember, you have no leadership position so you can't really enforce his change in behaviour, <S> only show him how it is expected to be done at your company. <S> If he ever causes an incident, it is not your responsibility <S> what another adult does who is not your subordinate (even then there are limits). <A> I assume you do not know about his intentions (why he is being sloppy). <S> In this case, I would go progressively: Tell (again) about the fact that there are security policies because of the respective reasons. <S> Tell him nicely that you noticed some situation when he did not follow exactly some details of the policies. <S> Ideally, the policies are written and you can show it to him (maybe send a link to the policies by email after the discussion). <S> After some time (days, weeks - whatever you find reasonable), have a follow-up - especially if there is no improvement (or too slow of an improvement). <S> In this discussion, tell him that you will have to involve management if he continues to be distracted from following the policies. <S> Offer your colleague the following "deal": he should request from his manager trainings and / or coaching. <S> In this way, you give him a chance to save face (again). <S> Together with your boss, decide the next steps. <S> Note: each step above may actually have several discussions and follow-ups. <S> I do not imply in any way to reach CEO level in 4 discussions :) <A> We do have a robust security policy and are a large company <S> No good policy is good enough unless it is "implemented" ( enforced? ). <S> From your description, it appears that the security and integrity is one of the key factors for your work - so you need to ensure that the policies are upheld. <S> Policies are there for a reason, so as not to allow sloppy mistakes ruin a day. <S> However confident someone might be on their instincts, if there is a laid out policy, we should follow it - it's a no-brainer. <S> Given that you are in charge for the mentoring - you need to "enforce" it. <S> If you cannot get the message across via friendly communication, make it official. <S> Involve him into a meeting / discussion and point out these observations and mention, these are gross violation of the security policies and when any audit happens, it will create a big problem for him as well as for the team. <S> Allow some time to him for getting rid of the policy-breaking habit. <S> Even after some time the behavior does not change, escalate it to your manager. <S> There's no way to sugarcoat it. <S> You tried your best and failed to improve him - not your liability anymore.
| Every time he violates a policy point it out to him in a friendly but serious manner. If this does not work also, involve management - your boss first.
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Conflict of interest between Agile Dev Team and Marketing Team Agile dev team says the cost is already fixed due to a fixed number of developers, so either scope or deadline shall remain flexible. Marketing team whats to launch a promotion campaign with a specific release date aimed at current customers before the release with details as to what the new to-be-released extra features entail and how adding them is beneficial for the current customers. So marketing wants to make promises to customers, but the agile team only wants to promise either scope or deadline. This conflict is an endless forth-and-back and comes up every time that a new version has new major features in them. Obviously, we also don't want to have a finished version sitting there for three or so weeks just so that marketing can do their promotional campaign before release. How can management approach this issue so both parties can be satisfied and development and promotion can work in parallel? <Q> Well, that's a topic as old as the division of tasks between those who sell and those who build. <S> those who sell need to make their customers dreams in order to achieve sales. <S> those who make are limited in capacity, usually below the seller's needs. <S> There is not "good" solution to this question, the role of the management is mainly to play the diplomat's game, helping the sales team to understand the capacity constraints, and helping the building team to focus on producing elements with added value for the sales team. <S> But be warned : it will always be a game of juggling with contradictory interests. <S> That's (one of the reasons) why management is hard . <A> The answer resides in the ability to have a compromise and business and the team working together. <S> Get a list of requirements, of user stories, groom it and get the team to estimate it and business to assess business value (this probably is the most important).With this, you should be able to prioritize these stories to come with a prioritized product backlog. <S> The value-to-effort ratio should help to prioritize. <S> From there, using your past velocity to predict the future, you should be able to get a rough idea of what you could get done by <S> when (having an optimistic and pessimistic planning is probably a good idea), and based on what the MVP must contain you can then have at least a timeframe for delivery. <S> Then it's all about what you communicate and how. <S> Any early communication can be quite vague about the content but also the date of delivery : "later this year", "in the summer" leave you with several months margin; "some long-awaited features", "an easier way to communicate with us" is just the 1-line pitch of what you'll be delivering. <S> Note that you could also challenge marketing on the utility of an early communication <S> ; For example when you go to an apple keynote you don't know what will be discussed there <S> but they also usually don't speak about stuff they'll be delivering in 9 months... <A> It’s the job of management to make sure that the dev and marketing teams have a good understanding of each other. <S> Once this happens, there can be a more sustainable approach to delivery. <S> Marketing need to ensure they are communicating the correct things to customers, based on the highest priority work coming through the dev team. <S> If this work is only being requested directly by the Marketing team themselves then there is a poor time estimate being put on the work and it is not being requested early enough. <S> Also, the specifications should be written collaboratively with representation from both teams, using plain language. <S> It sounds like there is not enough strategic release planning, which actually can be quite broad and high level stories, with value put against them to help prioritisation. <S> Management should deal with this. <S> If the communication between dev and marketing is good, and specs are written collaboratively, there will be a sound understanding of the release plan by all. <S> Development in iterations means that the high level release plan can be made with a common understanding of the features being released for each development cycle. <S> When the correct MVP features are delivered, according to the release plan, then marketing can deliver their communication to customers at the correct moment. <S> It’s the dev teams job to make the release plan sensible and sustainable based on the work being requested, the complexity of the tasks, and the people power available. <S> It’s the marketing teams job to synchronize their customer comms, based on the agreed release plan. <S> It’s the management job to get that comms working and get a strategic release plan sorted out so that you’re not all developing by the seat of your pants. <A> Did you consider that the agile way of working doesn't fit within your company? <S> The agile way of working is not the holy grail that works for every environment. <S> Especially in your company, with release dates with promised scope, you are not flexible at all. <S> Marketing has to work with something, and if they don't know what you produce or when, there is nothing they can work to. <S> I know it is an unpopular opinion,, amd you may not like it, but consider to replace your agile way of working, and replace it with a more waterfall approach. <S> Explain in the company (as there may be other stakeholders) that this comes at the cost of not being able to change requirements for a release.
| The release cycle is not something you can change.
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How does minimum salary strategy work? I am a non-EU citizen, and am going to relocate from Estonia, to Germany. When I have HR interviews, they ask me about my salary expectations. My strategy is to maximize my chance to get the job, and I know, I can shine in the probation period, and then ask for an increase in salary after 1 year, or six months. Therefore, I always answer them such as: I know, in order to receive work permit in Germany, my salary should be above a minimum value, and as long as this minimum is met, then I am happy with it. I am wondering, if such strategy increases my chance to get the job or not? <Q> I would advise against this as a strategy for three reasons: <S> It tells the employer that you are only applying to get into the EU (or Germany in particular), which is a huge red flag. <S> You are massively undervaluing yourself, and as a result it will cause doubts as to whether you can meet the expectations. <S> Cost of living is higher, this may not be sustainable in the long run. <S> For example, (not actual numbers) an experienced [insert framework here] <S> developer in Berlin might expect a salary between €35,000 and €55,000. <S> If you are an experience [insert framework here] <S> developer looking to move to Germany, I would suggest a proposed salary of around €40,000, based on this entirely hypothetical range. <A> Not necessarily. <S> You should ask for the market average that depends on your qualification and experience. <S> Candidates that are a lot below the market average can be treated as suspicious, or shady applicants, that have some negative thing to hide that decreases their market value, but that cause is not apparent in the CV <S> , so could pose significant risk for the employer. <A> Most answers seem to assume that minimal salary is a low salary . <S> You didn't make it clear in your post if that was the case. <S> If your minimal salary is actually in the market's value, then I don't think most answers apply. <S> Otherwise : <S> Asking for a low salary could also turn out to be a problem for your employer <S> Let's say you ask for 30k while the average is usually 50 <S> (those are fictional numbers). <S> As an hiring manager I'd be pretty damn sure you'll jump ship as soon as you'd get a better offer from somewhere else, and I'd probably rather hire someone asking for a reasonable salary that has more chance of staying in the long run than having you for peanuts for a year or two. <S> That's kind of the same problem for people that are overqualified. <S> You might be okay with having a low salary right now, but how about 5 years from now? <S> The company that hires you would probably love for you to stay there. <S> Salary negotiation is the most effective when done before being hired This article although from 2014 explains what I want to say much better than I can. <S> By waiting for the end of your probation to ask for a salary increase, you are probably setting yourself for disappointment. <S> One solution for this is to make it clear in the contract you'd sign that after probation you'd expect X$ salary increase. <S> Nothing is official unless it's written somewhere signed by both parties. <A> I would say don't speculate, that you get an increase in salary. <S> If you want to increase your chances to get the job, you should outline your expertise. <S> As others already mentioned you should orientate on your market value with your expertise in that location (differences from state to state!). <A> The minimum annual gross salary to get a work permit as non-EU citizen (blue card) in Germany currently is 53.600 € or 41.808 <S> € for most STEM jobs . <S> (Germany IT companies have been lobbying heavily to get this exemption for IT workers.) <S> Unless you're applying for a senior position or think that you're extremely good at what you do, I wouldn't expect German companies to pay much more than the minimum salary. <S> Telling up-front that you're OK with the minimum might be a red flag as mentioned in other answers, so I'd try to negotiate a slightly higher salary, maybe 60.000 € or 45-50.000 € for STEM jobs. <A> You make a bad impression asking for a low salary and more importantly quite often you actually don't need to. <S> In Germany there are quite often going rates for salary, even with hi-tech companies. <S> What happened to me personally a number of times was this: - What are your salary expectations / requirements / wishes? <S> - Something to the tune of X. - Ok, our company rate guideline says we can offer you Y. <S> Where X and Y would differ by up to 30% either way and <S> even this big difference didn't mean my application was rejected. <S> I can only guess that going right off the scale wouldn't come across very well. <S> Important tip: calculate how much to ask for What is advertised with the job and <S> how much you ask for is more than you'll effectively get. <S> For me, a foreigner, the German income tax system was quite opaque and unpredictable. <S> So I suggest you try reasoning up your required paycheck number (depends very much on where are you going to live, whether you need to support a family, if you maintain a car or two, how often you travel home on a train which can get quite expensive, etc.) <S> and then look at for example this income deduction calculator and get the idea about what number to ask for (since the salary offers are usually pre-deduction and there for sure will be considerable deductions). <S> The system gives advantage to the lowest income groups, but if you try out higher values (for example the average or median income), you'll quickly learn that at average levels and above the tax curve is quite steep and that getting a bit for you means asking for two to three bits from the employer, which puts your reasoning to quite a different perspective.
| I would suggest that you research the average salary range for the jobs you are looking at, and make your proposal at the lower end.
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Can I mention that I left my job to improve my language skills? I am a non-EU citizen, and I wish to relocate from Estonia to Germany.Four months ago, I left my previous job to focus on my German skills. It was difficult to work full time and effectively study German. I am wondering: if HRs notice to the gap, and I specify that I have been studying German, would it be seen as a negative point? How can I explain it? <Q> Studying is perfectly acceptable. <S> Put it in there. <S> Do not leave a gap. <S> You demonstrate planning in both doing that course and having saved enough income to be without a job for that time. <S> I cannot see anything negative about it. <S> Germans are married to their paperwork. <S> Any certificates you got, attach them. <A> It shows you are dedicated to your goal, which is working in Germany. <S> Write your CV to add this "gap" stating that you took classes to learn German as if it were another job. <S> It's a formation you took to prepare yourself to your next job, it's an asset! <A> Just tell them exactly what you told us. <S> As long as the gap is explainable (and reasonable), it is usually fine. <A> Instead of just mentioning it, I'd even advise you to propose continue the interview in German. <S> Like this you will also demonstrate your motivated and adaptive attitude.
| Assuming you are applying to German companies, they will see you studying German as a good thing. On the contrary!It's a really positive point!
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How can I participate in a meeting where everyone interrupts each other? Once a week we have group meetings for all the members of my department to give project updates and it's become standard for everyone to interrupt each other all the time. Like I'll start saying "I'm working on a function to..." and get cut off by three people with "Why?" "What's a function?" "Why aren't you doing XYZ?" Everyone does this to each other, not just me, so these meetings last about an hour and there's about 10 minutes of information exchanged. People usually just talk over each other and start yelling back and forth. I've always thought interrupting someone is one of the rudest things you could do, so I don't participate in this. I nearly always have questions for someone or want to give updates but I'm never able to get a full sentence out. What are some ways to deal with this that aren't "find a new job"? Should I just start interrupting and yelling? Should I try staying silent or not showing up? <Q> How can I participate in a meeting where everyone interrupts each other? <S> Should I just start interrupting and yelling? <S> Nope , raising your voice won't help at all. <S> Do this politely, but firmly. <S> ( do not raise your voice ) <S> Should I try staying silent or not showing up? <S> If you are a required attendee, not showing up will look bad on you , so this is not a viable option either. <S> My suggestion : <S> Have a conversation with whomever is chairing the meeting and bring up your concerns as to the value of the meeting due to its current chaotic nature. <S> If you are not comfortable doing this, then I suggest you bring this up to your manager , as they certainly will have an opinion in terms of valuable use of your time. <S> Currently these meeting are a big waste time. <A> This isn't your problem. <S> This problem belongs to the person chairing these meetings. <S> If they're unable to control and guide the meetings effectively, then the meetings are effectively useless. <S> Don't rise to the bait, gain whatever value you can from the meetings, and just email in your updates afterward instead. <S> If you get interrupted during your slot, just say that you'll email instead. <S> Or just email your update before the meeting and beat the bell. <S> If your manager/team lead/whoever asks why you're emailing instead of participating in the meeting, just point out you're not joining in a shouting match and that you don't feel that the meetings in their current format are conducive to effective communication between team members. <A> Two words: Talking Pillow <S> It became a bit of a meme, but the TV show Breaking Bad had a famous scene where during an intervention of the main character, the family passed around a pillow to indicate who was allowed to speak at a given moment. <S> It seems a little silly, but in stressful or argumentative moments, using a mechanism like this can help remind people to be respectful to each other and offer a degree of control around social interaction. <S> Based on the situation you are describing <S> it sounds like your team could benefit from a similar method. <S> That's all well and good <S> but it's not my meeting... <S> This is where I would challenge you to be assertive and address the entire team before the meeting starts to describe your observations and the dilemma it puts you in. <S> Use buzzwords like "mutual respect" and "time efficiency" to help push the idea that there exists a need to bring order to the chaos. <S> This should hopefully kick off a constructive conversation where the entire team can introduce ideas for improvement. <S> To address something mentioned in another answer, I wouldn't get hung up on who booked the meeting. <S> Personally, if my attendance is required for a meeting, I am now a stakeholder of that meeting and feel not only permitted but obligated to help drive that meeting towards its end goal. <S> If I see a problem which makes that meeting ineffective, I am either going to work to address the problem or I will stop attending altogether. <S> Just about everyone on this site works in a professional environment. <S> We are all extremely busy and (hopefully) we are all paid well for the work that we do. <S> Any meeting which is inefficient or a time-suck is not only inconvenient but is also a waste of the company's money. <S> IMO, not addressing an issue like this would show lack of accountability.. <S> I would argue that by bringing something like this up you are showing your professionalism. <A> When you are interrupted, don't address the actual question or comment. <S> Your response should be calm and you should say something along the lines of "I will address questions when my update is complete. <S> " People are smart; it should only take a few meetings before people realize you wan't address the interruptions. <S> Depending on the tone of the meeting and the people involved, you might want to use different phrasing ... <S> "Good question John, I will address it when I have gone through mylist." <S> "Dude, how about I deal with questions and comments at theend?" <S> "My little brain isn't good with interruptions ... <S> I will dobetter if we do questions after I am done with my topics. <S> Is thatOK?" <S> Note - this may not be OK with the manager or the team .. <S> it may very well be that the "verbal combat" is viewed as a positive not a negative, forcing you to demonstrate the value of your work and your ideas. <S> It's nonsense, but some folks think that way. <S> If that is the case, you either learn to deal with it or find someplace else to work.
| If and when you bring up a point or respond to a question during the meeting, and you are interrupted, simply say " Excuse me, I am not finished ".
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When do I let an employee know they are being let go? I have been "considering my options" concerning one person in my auto repair business. While he is a valuable team member in some respects he also has some interpersonal issues that I don't feel are helpful for running the shop the way I want it to be run. Unfortunately, I am not able to be there to see the issues first hand so it's always a he said/she said. This got me to thinking, when is the appropriate time to lay someone off when they are an integral part of the team? I need to replace them so bringing in people for interviews would be an obvious sign of being let go. I would like them to help with the transition but understand that that could be difficult for them. Having several weeks of disappointed customers while looking for a replacement would not be good for business. If I had decided to let them go, at some point in the future, say one month, would it be unethical or immoral to 'sneak around behind their back' trying to find someone to replace them? I've been struggling with my values of being open and honest with not wanting to have an employee (potentially) sabotage my business. Is it ok to do things behind the scenes and keep an employee 'in the dark'? Or should one let them know as soon as a decision is made? Edit: The question is not "Should I let this person go?" nor is it "What can I do to determine if I should let them go?" The question is, if I have decided to let someone go, WHEN should I tell them and are there any ethical or moral issues around not telling them as soon as the decision is made? <Q> You need to start off by talking to the "problem" employee and explain there have been complaints about their behavior and that it needs to stop/change their approach because it is causing problems in the work place. <S> If it continues... <S> It would not be unethical to get a replacement behind their back. <S> You need to put your family and self first and then your business and employees' families. <S> The way I see <S> it is <S> the employee did it to themselves; you gave them every opportunity to change <S> /improve <S> and they betrayed your trust in them. <S> Once you are at a point where you are committed to firing this employee, get a replacement* and let them go with no notice. <S> If you are worried about them, you are free to provide severance. <S> *You can always interview replacements away from the actual job site. <A> The first and foremost thing you should do is talk to them. <S> They will react to this in one of two ways: To accept that they need to change their ways (and make an effort to!); or <S> To reject any idea that they are being problematic and continue being a problem to the company. <S> If the latter is the case, or they don't make a valid effort, disregard them. <S> They need to accept you as having business as your best interest. <S> In this case, you don't even need to go behind their back; finding a replacement should be top of your list. <S> I can see you are trying to do the right thing, without offending anyone or putting them in a difficult situation, so remember to be sensitive of their views and needs while showing them that they have complete control over what happens. <S> They can choose whether you have to find a new employee or not. <S> They are the one who has been upsetting customers. <S> Having an employee sabotaging your business just can't happen; for business sake, and for your own sake! <S> It's no fun working with a difficult/sad-ass colleague... <S> Just remember it's in your hands, but in theirs too. <S> They can make things change, but you ultimately choose the outcome. <A> It sounds like you’ve already discussed the issues with him. <S> I'd just suggest you make sure you clearly laid out why he’s valuable and appreciated, what the issue is and the impacts of that issue. <S> And try to get his buy in. <S> No classes is fine if he can propose/demonstrate some other way of solving the issue. <S> If that goes nowhere, you are well within your rights to look for someone else. <S> Beyond that, don’t you owe it to the others who’ll be there after he’s gone to make the transition easier? <S> Your empathy toward him speaks well of you, but don’t overlook what his behavior is doing to everyone else. <S> Figure out what kind of severance you can afford, then take care of everyone who will still be part of the picture (your family, your business, your other staff and even your customers). <S> If you try too hard to shield him, the transition after the fact will be harder on everyone else.
| Especially if they are a 'valuable team member in some respects,' you should give them the chance to see reason, and to realise that while they are a part of business, this can only be true if they respect their colleagues, customers, job, and the business itself.
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Difficulies switching career from Java to Python; how can I land offers for this new role? I have few years of experience as a senior java team leader, but now I have finished my master's degree in AI and I would like to work in this field (with python). I have no commercial experience in python but I feel comfortable with it and most of the popular libraries. The problem is 100% of the offers that I am receiving are related to java. I have lowered my salary expectations with AI to 1/3 of what they offer me in java but still, no offers in AI. Another problem is that in the current company I am also an IT manager, but I have no problem becoming junior python/AI/data science dev again. I feel like it scares recruiters away (since month when I have added "manager" to LinkedIn, I am getting like 5x less offers). I feel like recruiters think "oh, he can get 3x cash in java than in python so I'll just offer him java because surely everyone lives only for money" . It's like my past experience is working against me instead of helping me, which is quite surprising to me. The only way I see is removing from cv my java and managing experience and play the role of a wannabe junior python without commercial experience, but this seems quite cheesy especially if they will ask directly. What can I do to get a job and change my specialization from senior java to junior python? <Q> The only way I see is removing from cv my java and managing experience and play the role of a wannabe junior python without commercial experience, but this seems quite cheesy especially if they will ask directly. <S> Given this phrase we can conclude that you are including your java and manager information on your CV while applying for Python jobs. <S> This is perhaps what is harming you here, as one should tailor your CV for the role one is applying , and include only the relevant and on-topic skills, perks, etc., you have for that role. <S> So, I suggest you tailor your CV and include the experience and knowledge relevant for a Python position . <S> Try to not include your Java or manager knowledge (or try to favor including Python facts first), as it is unrelated to the job you seek. <S> This is not "cheesy" at all. <S> Eventually, if they ask you about other experience you've had or if they ask you directly about Java then you can proceed to tell them about such, no need to deny it. <S> Also, it's unlikely they say "why didn't you include your Java experience on your CV" , because that is not what they are looking for in this Python offer, so don't worry about that. <A> I have lowered my salary expectations with AI to 1/3 of what they offer me in java but still, no offers in AI. <S> This is your true problem: you want a job in AI, but they don't want to offer you a job in AI. <S> Python or Java is just a tool, and it is irrelevant here. <S> Often in the coding interviews, you are free to choose whatever language you are comfortable with. <S> I have also never heard about a position such as software engineer in Java or swe in Python . <S> A swe needs to use/learn whatever language the project requires. <S> And even if Java is your main language, you will need Python anyway, e.g. for scripting. <S> Back to your problem, if you want to get a job in AI, then you need to improve your background and experience in AI: do some projects on github, join Kaggle competitions etc etc. <A> You don't switch from being senior to junior just because you learn a new language. <S> Being an experience developer has very little to do with what language you use. <S> Here are some things I would do: Look for a job that will accept you without Python experience. <S> This is probably the most difficult. <S> But if you are a good developer this shouldn't be impossible. <S> Apply for jobs that are looking for people with both Java and Python experience. <S> This is a good way to get professional experience while gradually learning a new language. <S> Write a bunch of Python programs, games or apps and put it on your Github. <S> Join a Python open source project and contribute a lot. <A> One issue that may be holding you back is switching both language and problem domain at the same time. <S> It may be better to begin by looking for AI jobs using Java, or Python jobs in your current area, and only make the other switch later.
| I would list total programming experience on the resume, without specifying the language, because an experienced programmer will get up to speed on Python faster than someone without programming experience.
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I found out that I made a bug in production after deploying the app, what's the most professional way to handle this? I deployed a very important app (internal business application) last week; over the weekend, I realized that there is a bug in my code but I already deployed the app. The bug is very trivial and it's completely oversight on my part. The bug is simply missing a null check (don’t laugh at me). I already know how to fix this bug and it would only take me a few minutes to fix it, but there's a whole convoluted process for pushing changes to production at my job. Many people have to sign off on it and the changes need to be re-tested. Users have not reported the bug. I think I should own up to my mistake and admit that I cause the bug but I'm worried that people will get mad at me. What is the best way to go about this? <Q> Report it to your manager. <S> Your manager can decide how to proceed with pushing out the fix. <S> If the bug is somehow more urgent than you realize, your manager will be able to escalate appropriately. <S> Presumably QA and the code reviewers did not catch this bug either, so the blame doesn't lie entirely on you anyway. <S> They will of course be more upset to find that you discovered the bug and didn't tell anyone <A> It feels like your company's processes are part of the problem. <S> However, reading between the lines it sounds like there's a lot of manual testing and <S> no policy of master always being releasable. <S> Would you be in a position to push for practices to change? <A> I would see if I could trigger the bug in the deploted code. <S> Then try to write a reproducible instruction for doing so. <S> Once I quickly (less than an hour idealy) did that I would, regardless of success in reproducing, report it either in a bugtracker or to your manager. <A> Any non-trivial bit of software will have bugs in it. <S> Spotting the bug just after issuing a release is unfortunate, but that's just the way it is. <S> If your organization has a bug-tracking system, then log it. <S> If it's not affecting users, then it's a low priority bug. <S> It may just sit in the bug-tracker until it gets fixed in the next release. <S> Don't cover it up, but at the same time, there's no need to make a big song-and-dance about it.
| Ideally, if the bug is not causing any actual consequences for your end-users, you should be able to get a fix into the master branch, along with an automated test to verify the fix, and leave it for your managers to decide if it needs an immediate deployment or can be saved for a future release (the latter being more likely if it isn't actually manifesting, or the consequences are no more than an irritation). No one (or rather, no reasonable person) is going to get mad at you for making a mistake.
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An employee ignores direct order not to trade in competition against us in her off time We asked our employees who are married to each other to stop trading at a local club selling food as it is a conflict of interest even though it is on their off days. We also sell food and have a pub and they lurking our clients to go there and support them on their off days. We asked them not to operate in competition, and they understood it but now continue doing it. What are our rights? <Q> In my experience, people seldom leave a social event just to buy food, so it's unlikely that you would be losing any significant business unless that said social club is stationed right next door. <S> Also, typically a restraint of trade clause in South Africa is almost impossible to enforce as it seen as anti-competitive conduct and would only be enforceable if they are intentionally stealing your clients and they are making and selling the same food you are. <S> Given the protection employees enjoy in South Africa, firing an employee for selling items that do not use your recipes is almost guaranteed to come with backlash from the Department of Labor or the CCMA, regardless of any restraint of trade agreement you may have with said employees. <S> The repercussions would be amplified greatly if these employees belong to a union. <S> Best case scenario given the employment issues in South Africa would be to request them to make sure they sell their products (provided it's not the same recipe as the business') in an area away from the workplace. <A> If your employees violate their employment contract, you fire them. <S> If you fire people for contract violations, you first have a local lawyer read the contract to confirm that there is a violation, and that you have sufficient evidence to prove said violation. <A> Something I've noticed in my years of working in foodservice. <S> Some people frequent a business because it is convenient. <S> Some do it because they like the food (or drink specials, or prices. <S> Basically something that this place has that others don't) <S> Some people keep going back to see the people that workthere . <S> The best/most successful employees in the service industry aren't simply the ones who work the hardest. <S> They are the ones who are most charismatic . <S> If people are leaving your location to go visit your employees over at another location, keep in mind that it is the employee they are following. <S> Not the food. <S> What does this mean for you? <S> : <S> First and foremost if you fire them, the people who are following them will probably follow them wherever they go next. <S> And they will do it all of the days the employees are elsewhere. <S> That leaves you with two people who are very charismatic, that you probably don't want to fire, and are passively hurting your business. <S> Now you need to get them to actively help your business. <S> Incentivize them to use their skills to help you grow. <S> Offer them a promotion. <S> Marketing manager. <S> Director of client relations. <S> Something of Something. <S> Send them out into the world to generate new clients (some of the time. <S> They also need to stick around and help retain new and old clientele. <S> Reiterate that you need them to not be pulling people away from you on their days off. <S> Make it contractual. <S> Do not sneak it on them. <S> That will only force your hand to have to fire them, which we established probably isn't your best option. <A> If they are actively recruiting people during working hours at your establishment, you are well within your rights to terminate them for working on their business on your time. <A> The fact is you gave them a direct order - what to do or not to do on their day off, when they are not paid by you, so you have no authority and that direct order counts for nothing. <S> You can't stop them from selling food at this local club. <S> You can fire them, but then obviously they will work hard selling food at this local club on the weekend, and now on other days as well. <S> So what you need to figure out before you act: How much are you actually losing in trade on the weekend? <S> Are they competing because they sell food and you sell food <S> and it annoys you, or is this actually costing you money? <S> And then you have to figure out: How much does it cost you to fire them and find new employees, who might need to be trained first, and how much would it cost you if they increase their competing work?
| Unless you have a non-compete clause, you're out of luck as you cannot tell them what to do on their days off UNLESS
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Is it reasonable to tell employee to put up or shut up when they don't like the company goal? I have a social game company. Some of my employees think social games are harmful, and whenever I share the company's vision/plans, they question it/criticize it openly. For example, they would proclaim that we are just trying to exploit the users to make money etc. Now I fully respect that some people are against social games. I also don't have problem with people who are in it only for the money, skills they acquire etc. However, vocally criticizing the fundamental basis of the company seems a bit ridiculous to me. They have voluntarily joined the company, knowing what we do. It's also not like they have alternative visions - their point is "I don't believe in the company's vision/goal, it doesn't motivate me. I'm here because I like my colleagues, I get my salary and I learn good skills". Lately one of them even suggested that we need to change our vision statement, because it doesn't work for them - and we should change it to something like "Have the best machine learning in Spain", "Make sales department's job easier" and so on. I feel it's damaging to the company's atmosphere. Some of us really believe we are creating value for users. I find the comments disrespectful to those and it doesn't help create a culture that allows us to create better products. I had many conversations with them so far, and at this point I'm wondering if I should tell them to put up or shut up - i.e. if they care about company vision and disagree with it, they should go and work at companies with a different vision. Or, if they are unwilling to do so, at least keep their opinion to themselves. Is this reasonable? <Q> This is a bad and somewhat bizarre situation: some employee's personal value system are not compatible with the company's values & mission. <S> That's not going work and no one wins. <S> It's difficult to understand how you got there in the first place. <S> There is a few things you need to do, and they are not easy <S> Make sure the public chatter stops right here and now. <S> Any discussion about this should result in disciplinary action. <S> If people have specific problems or concerns, they need to take this up privately with their managers, but no more public discussion Fix your hiring practices: This should have never happened, so both the employee and the hiring manager have screwed up (badly). <S> Don't hire people who hate what your company does! <S> Long term you need to make sure that all employees are on board with the company goals and mission. <S> Some of the complainers may just voice off because it's cool and interesting. <S> Cutting down hard on the chatter may resolve this. <S> However, it's likely that you have a few people in there that are truly misaligned with what your company does. <S> These may have to go: it's better for the company <S> and it's better for them. <S> It doesn't need to be a hard "fire" but sometimes softer separation agreement may do the trick here. <A> Is this reasonable? <S> Yes, they can find another job if they dislike being paid to do your job. <S> Openly and persistently criticizing the boss is a warning signal that you may have a discipline issue to deal with. <S> I would immediately start looking closely at the quality of the offenders work, it's one thing to criticize, another much more serious one to do sloppy work because you dislike the company vision, but the two can go hand in hand if an employee thinks there are no repercussions to worry about. <A> They are hazardous to the health of your workspace. <S> I'm not an employer, so <S> I can't give advice that falls perfectly within the laws of the various states, but I am a supervisor in a small company, so take this with a grain of salt. <S> Anyone who can't seem to cope with the very basic mission of the company is a bad apple. <S> You can try counseling them privately. <S> If your company is too small to do that, you won't have much option there. <S> Have you considered expanding your company to two fronts and moving the naysayers away from the aspects they disagree with?
| It's bad for morale when some employees are bad mouthing the company they work for. If they seem comfortable or focused on being social in a group setting, you can retask them out of their comfort zone.
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Is 'bad luck' with former employees a red flag? I applied for an engineering position at a medium-sized* but international company. During the first interview, I got the impression that their tech stack does not quite match the public job description (nor my interests). So I expressed no further interest in the position. However, they sent me a really nice message that they liked my profile and that they would like to stay in touch. That made me change my mind, and I had a second interview/meeting with the department head, which clarified my doubts. We agreed that I would take a day off of my current job, so I could visit the company for a whole day, get to know some people, complete 1-2 basic tasks to get to know their workflow. Apparently, that day went well, because the following week, their hiring manager contacted me with an offer. He told me (during a phone call) that he would send me a contract and we could possibly sign it next week. However, a few hours later, the hiring manager sent me a message that the company CEO would like to arrange another meeting in person . The hiring manager wrote explicitly that this was unusual procedure for them, but that they "had bad luck with employees in the past" . However, upon request, he also told me that they had no doubts that I would be qualified for the position. I'm not sure what this CEO meeting is all about. Both the department manager and the hiring manager told me that they had far less qualified** people start working for them in the past and. If the CEO meeting is going to happen, what questions should I ask, to make sure everything is OK with the company? Background: The department manager told me that last year, one of their developers quit their job (he didn't mention why, but I think someone changing their job is nothing unusual), and that they had to cancel their contract with another developer during probation, because he refused to work with the tools and frameworks they provided (which doesn't apply to me). *There are more than 50 employees at multiple locations, at least half of them at the office where I'm applying. The CEO/founder is no longer involved in software development. He developed an early version of their product, though. The hiring manager seems to have further, higher level responsibilities besides hiring, although I'm not sure what exactly. There seems to be no separate HR department, which I find odd for a company of this size. **I was told that some of the current engineers had basically no experience with the tech being used, and gained the relevant experience during their first months in the company. (The tech is not top-notch, but not antique either. I guess it's a matter of personal preference.) The fact that they had positive experience with less qualified people makes their behavior even more puzzling to me. <Q> If the CEO meeting is going to happen, what questions should I ask, to make sure everything is OK with the company? <S> Start with something like: "So I have been told that meeting with you was an unusual procedure, but that you have had bad luck with employees in the past. <S> Can you tell me about that?" <S> Then you see where that leads and ask follow-up questions as appropriate. <A> It's a red flag in that it indicates two things: the CEO is jumpy about people leaving and a sign that people at the company aren't readily replaceable, which probably means they need an off-the-beaten-path skill set. <S> A developer quitting during probation over the tools and frameworks sounds like he was bait-and-switched, and you've already said that the tech stack doesn't sound like what was advertised to you either. <S> the CEO doesn't trust the judgement of his hiring managers and has to "just make sure". <S> This could be a sign that he interferes in other areas as well. <S> Neither of these is necessarily a deal-breaker, but if you do continue, proceed with caution. <A> I'm not sure what this CEO meeting is all about <S> You'll only find out after the meeting happens, from the given context, it's not too clear. <S> The hiring manager wrote explicitly that this was unusual procedure for them, but that hey "had bad luck with employees in the past". <S> However, upon request, he also told me that they had no doubts that I would be qualified for the position. <S> I believe this happens for either of two reasons: <S> The Hiring manager is trying to get an explicit approval from CEO for your joining (and terms and condition) because it might have happened that both the earlier engineers who left were hired by this very hiring manager and this time he is trying to convince the CEO that is is not because of him that the conflicts happened at a later time. <S> The CEO wants to ensure that you take the job, because they think you are a fit for the job, maybe they don't have much options and the CEO wants to add a "personal touch" to the interaction so as you are more inclined to accept the job offer. <S> If the CEO meeting is going to happen, what questions should I ask, to make sure everything is OK with the company? <S> First ask yourself - do you have answers to all the questions you need to know? <S> Are you satisfied with the "guided tour" and organization policies? <S> Are you finally OK with working in that environment (people, policies and tools)? <S> Are you satisfied with the compensation and remuneration proposed? <S> To sum is up: <S> ask anything, just anything you want to know. <A> Stranger things have happened without anything negative happening. <S> At a previous job of mine, there was a famous story about one guy. <S> During his first day at work <S> he asked for permission to go to the pharmacy, permission was granted, he left and he never returned. <S> After this kind of experience, a company may adjust some of their procedures. <S> Just look at the situation overall: <S> Is everything OK? <S> Are there other red flags? <S> Do you really want to work there? <S> Do you have other questions which you did not ask? <S> (about frameworks, tools, deadlines, staff...). <S> This would be a good opportunity to ask those question. <S> Do not be afraid to ask questions. <S> You may even ask for some details about the guy who quit during the previous year. <S> Even make a joke, imply that you may want to quit also, in similar conditions. <S> Note (from @ypercube): play the "joke" card carefully <S> , it may hurt you (e.g. if the interviewer is not in the mood for jokes). <S> I never had grumpy interviewers until now, but it does not mean that they do not exist. <S> If they are friendly and the corporate culture is good, everything will be fine. <S> If not, you may learn a lesson. <A> Because the last person left when they refused to use the tools / framework it would be worth finding out if the other people who left went for the same reason. <S> If you have no problem working with old / unusual tech then it may not be an issue for you. <S> I think I'd also be asking to see a copy of the contract before handing in my notice with my current employer in case <S> there's any show stoppers in there. <A> Another possible reason is the Hiring manager is on the bubble and the CEO is looking to sack them.
| You need to meet with the CEO to get their blessing so they know that you are going to be a good hire that is not going to be dead weight in the future. While it may be unusual, it is not necessarily a bad sign.
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Technical interview coding and bad code sharing web applications During tech interviews, some companies open up a web application like "codeshare.io" or coderpad.io and they ask an algorithm question etc. I normally use Intellij Idea whenever I code and I'm not used to coding without auto-compilation, syntax checking, debugging etc.. And I usually perform some debugging while trying to find a solution. Because it is a tool, and I want to use the machine to find my mistakes while thinking about an algorithm. Let's imagine: you have very limited time, you are trying to talk/explain while coding and at the same time you are dealing with restrictions of a very bad IDE. What do you think about this common interviewing practice? Should we exercise coding on notepad to be prepared for this stuff? <Q> If not, you definitely should practice by answering questions on SO, or the like, where you have below average tools. <S> But I don't think it matters that much, if the code will actually run. <S> It's more about seeing how you tackle problems and if you are able to work on your own. <A> It's you who is being interviewed on your coding knowledge (and proficiency), not the "IDE expertise/ familiarity" . <S> You don't get to choose the IDE for coding interviews, it may very well happen on a non-IDE text-editor (notepad, vim <S> , emacs etc., without any plugins). <S> Assuming that the code can be constructed (written) (and optionally compiled / executed - which is true in most of the cases) without the involvement of a specific IDE, do not rely on IDEs for doing your job specifically during the interview. <S> You should be able to write Code (basic logical structure, no-auto complete) <S> Human Readable code (Indentation) <S> Compile-able code <S> (Syntax and stuff) <S> Without the dependency on any single IDE. <S> During the coding interviews, no one writes a project , that you'd need the help of IDE to manage that. <S> For sample code snippets, test-editors are enough - you should be habituated using one. <S> Let's agree on one point: The choice is really not yours during the interview. <A> Being able to write code that compiles first time without an IDE is of absolutely no value. <S> I know my IDE. <S> I know exactly what it does. <S> Except for comments, I usually type only half the source code because the IDE guesses most things. <S> (For example, in a switch statement base on an enumeration it suggests all cases, then after the first it suggests the remaining five etc. <S> No need to remember how six enums are spelled. <S> Especially when they have created just an hour before by z colleague).
| As long as you don't need to write a huge application with multiple files, you should be able to write functional code snippets without an IDE.
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My current employer wants me to train another member of staff which is outside of contract I'm self-employed working remotely as a software developer, but have been working for the same software company almost exclusively for ~3 years. My boss has asked me to train another staff member on how to use Wordpress (I am also a web developer out of hours) and will be scheduling this to last over the course of a week. This is fine and all and not a problem to do, but i consider it inefficient, it will push my current tasks back a week (plus negate other out of hours work as I need my office) and is something that is outside of my contract with them. They will also be expecting the same hourly rate. My question is, isn't this something the workplace should usually outsource to trained tutors? And how can I decline without the risk of offending my boss and the employee? I have offered to train over screenshare but this isn't likely to be accepted. <Q> Before I start I should say I am a self-employed contractor working out of the UK and I am not a qualified tax lawyer so this advice is purely my understanding. <S> But this IS what I do. <S> You are a self-employed contractor. <S> If you are operating outside of IR35 you should have in your contract that you are expected to work on a deliverable and what project that is on. <S> Training staff in a formal sense is not your responsibility unless you have been taken on as a trainer. <S> There is a difference between working with someone and showing them things and delivering formal training. <S> This person is not your boss, they are a client, an opportunity has arisen here, if they wish you to conduct formal training then you have an opportunity to charge for those services. <S> In order to do this, your offering should be of a professional standard, you can easily undercut the larger training companies and do it at a location more convenient to the client. <S> Otherwise, you will have to have a conversation that this is outside of the scope you have been taken on to do as stated in your contract. <S> If you do not do this it is a demonstration of control by the client which can be seen to make you a disguised employee. <A> If you're getting paid software developer rates to train someone, I see that as a win! <S> If you don't want to do it, just say "no thanks". <S> To avoid offense, be modest and tell them you don't have the experience to train someone as well as the specialist training providers, maybe recommend one. <S> If you do decide to take it on, consider drawing up a separate contract and invoicing them separately for training services, feel free to offer training at an increased rate if you feel it would entice you to be interested! <S> To ensure you don't get sucked into hand-holding the user permanently, make it a specific training schedule for a specific period of time, and explicitly exclude follow-up sessions or ongoing support. <A> It’s at least a good thing that the boss thinks of you as someone to go to. <S> While yes, it’s probably customary to find someone who’s a trainer by trade, there could be a lot of overhead for what your boss sees as a one-time need that you are capable of fulfilling. <S> It could even be played off as, “ <S> I’m flattered you ask. <S> I’ve found I am not great at passing along what I do.” <S> If your concern is only for the project itself, let your boss deal with that. <S> Let them know the impacts of your time being diverted. <S> Overall, for such a short stint, it might not only be refreshing to branch out a bit, but good for you. <S> Getting a different perspective on the things you do will overall help you in the long run.
| If you simply don’t want to train, you could politely point out that training is not your role nor your forte.
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How an employee can terminate a signed contract the starting date of the employment is not until 2 and half months? Its going to be a week after signing a contract with a firm in Germany but the start date of the employment is not until 2+ months.The contract mentions nothing about how to terminate a contract prior to the start date. It does mention a statement saying "Neither party may give notice of ordinary termination before the start of the employment relationship" but it also states the employment relationship comes into effect if the employee signs the contract.So how can an employee terminate the current contract with the employer in this case. <Q> Officially? <S> Unofficially? <S> You just call the company and ask them what paperwork they need. <S> There is no way they can force you to show up <S> and there is no fine you'd have to pay for not showing ( <S> assuming no such thing is explicitly mentioned in your contract). <S> So stating you will definitely not show up for work in 2.5 months, it's in their best interest to get that contract dissolved without a hassle as soon as possible so they can look for a new hire. <S> They might not be happy to hear you won't start there, but Germany is not like other job markets you may read up on here. <S> If you don't want to work there, they will be happy to hear that from you now instead of 2 weeks into your contract when you are legally allowed to quit and have already cost them two weeks money and time. <S> So your best option is to contact them and ask them. <A> Without in depth knowledge of German contract law, I would say that usually in these cases you would just contact the company and just tell them that you no longer wish to take up the position. <S> You don't have to go into specifics as to <S> why, it's not their concern. <S> " <S> Hi there, Unfortunately my personal circumstances have changed, such that I am no longer able to take up the position offered in your company" <S> Obviously - take care that you aren't burning any bridges you might need later. <S> If you don't start the job, it's unlikely they'll offer you another position. <A> Do this as quick as possible. <S> Two 1/2 months before your start date shouldn’t be a problem. <S> 2 weeks before the start date, they would make you pay - because in Germany a contract is a contract (and because two week before starting causes them problems, so they think it only fair to cause you problems). <S> Avoid this in the future. <S> PS. <S> "Make you pay" doesn't necessarily mean money. <S> There are lots of ways. <S> But if you have a contract and just don't turn up, that will cost the company money, so they may very well sue you for damages. <S> They can also contact your next company, and then you have some explaining to do. <S> Companies in Germany take this personally.
| You get an employment lawyer and have them figure it out.
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Made a bad choice and now stuck in a rut? I have been with my current company for 7 years this year and on the same salary for the last five of those despite moving up in responsibility. I decided, last year, that it was going nowhere so started interviewing with external companies and was interviewing for a GREAT job that would have been a step up too. When interviewing, the hiring manager told me I was up against five other people so I freaked out as I was a level lower than the role and cancelled the final interview, thinking there was no way I would get it. They re-advertised the job the next day, which I thought was odd so I contacted them and explained and I basically realised that they did not have five other applicants, I was the only one. They understood my reasons anyway and then put the final two interviews in my diary. A day after this was all set up, I am then contacted by the regional director of my current company saying there are going to be some promotional opportunities coming up and he will be looking to me to take one of them. I freaked out! Of course I would rather stay with my current company, all I have wanted is for a promotion with them. So, I cancelled AGAIN with the other company a SECOND time and not very well - via an email too. I have burned bridges now. This was four months ago and I am still in the same job I was in before with NO promotion. They had me lined up for one but it fell through (we are client based and client said it was no longer needed). The other job is still being advertised but highly unlikely they would want me now. And I have NO new job at my current employer. I feel a fool!! Looking for jobs again but there just aren't that many around. Totally stuck and feel so stupid for believing there would be a promotion. What do I do? I can't stop thinking about it! <Q> All you can do at this point is to continue to search for new opportunities. <S> In the future, don't cancel any interviews unless you already have a written offer from a company that you have signed and accepted. <A> Life is not about not making mistakes. <S> Life is about learning from them. <S> Take from this, two lessons. <S> Never quit because you think you're not good enough. <S> Many a race has been won or lost within inches of the finish line Never give up a solid opportunity now for the promise of one later. <S> Yes, you blew this one, but it is not the only opportunity that will come along. <S> Keep applying, keep trying, and when you fight for an opportunity, fight like you're the third chimp on the ramp up to Noah's ark, and it's started to rain. <A> I'd explain the situation as honestly as you have here and then see what happens. <S> If you get another shot at this, absolutely make sure that you follow the process through until the end this time. <S> Worst case scenario is that you'll know for sure if you've blown it so can draw a line under it and move on. <A> Sounds like you have a habit of doing the recruiters job for them. <S> Remember, you're not there to convince them not to hire you, and you're not there for them to convince you not to apply. <S> You're there because they advertised a job, you applied, and they liked your resume. <S> That's where the reasoning should end. <S> To take this to an extreme, if your a janitor, you are free to apply to Nasa to be the next astronaut. <S> If they for some reason offer you an interview, don't do their job for them, go for the interview and try to land that job. <S> The interviewer/recruiter will decide if you are worthy. <S> You don't have to decide your worthiness for them. <S> So get out there and shoot for the moon. <S> You might even land among the stars.
| Well, you probably have burned your bridges so you have absolutely nothing to lose except a little bit of your time by re-applying for the job with a suitable covering letter/email/phone call. Also, as Patricia has pointed out, don't cancel on the basis of a promise of promotion or pay increase with your current employer that has not yet occurred.
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I developed code and "donated" it my workplace to speed things up. Now do they own that code? I work at a small startup as a full stack developer. We previously used PHP to develop all of our applications and I told my boss we should eventually move to C# which he agreed. Over the coming months, I developed a fairly sizable C# framework on my own time outside of work (I was working on my own side project), including a nice ReactJS front-end with lots of components. When a new project began at my work, we were in a huge time crunch. I had some fairly nice PHP frameworks I built at the company which would have made things go fairly quickly, but I thought it was time to make the hop to C#. To speed things up, I told my boss I would be willing to donate my C# / ReactJS code that I had been developing for a side project as long as its clear that I am not moving ownership of my code to the company. The company is free to use it however they want, but I cannot be blocked from continuing to use this code on my own side projects now or in the future. I didn't make him sign anything since he verbally agreed so I thought everything would be OK. I currently have no suspicions that they plan to change their mind and prevent me from using this code in my side projects, but I'm a little bit nervous that I didn't make them sign a written agreement. If they find out I'm using this framework in my side-projects and am making money off of it, can they file a lawsuit against me? I have proof that I wrote the code myself on my own time by looking at GIT commit logs. The code was slowly committed over time in my own personal repository. By looking at the timestamps of the commits, I could easily show that I had developed and commited these files long before they appeared in any of the repositories at my company. Is this enough proof if my company decided to go back on our verbal agreement and claim that they own my code? <Q> (which you say you did not) or if you did it using company resources (internet, company laptop, etc.). <S> Otherwise (I am not a lawyer though) <S> I don't think they have any claim on the code. <S> To be sure, and if you feel uneasy, you could consider contacting a lawyer so they can assist you legally. <S> Furthermore, if you published your code on your own repository and under some open-source/free/etc. <S> license (like MIT license ) <S> then the company would have even less reasons to claim ownership. <A> I'd suggest the following steps: <S> Decide on an open source license (BSD, GPL etc.) <S> and add it to the repository <S> Publish the project on GitHub or a similar open source hosting service <S> Make sure the copy used at the company has a proper copyright notice header in every source file, including your name, the license, and URL of the public repository If possible, do not use a plain copy at the company, rather include a fork of the public repository (including commit history) using Git submodules (or whatever technical solution works best) <S> Ideally, you would also prepare a written statement for you and your employer to sign, that basically says: "I have developed " outside of my contract with company . <S> I grant to use the source code according to the details specified by the licence . <S> We both agree that holds no other rights to the source code than specified by the licence." <S> Note: Before doing this, review some common open source license, maybe also talk to your employer to get an idea what license they would agree to. <S> Some licenses require the source code of derived works to be published when other licenses don't. <S> You'll find questions and answers on this topic on SE. <A> This is really dependent on the Copyright laws in your Location. <S> What i can tell you that here (Austria) <S> you still own full Copyright to your Code if everything happened as you described. <S> What you did with "donating" that Code to your Company is you gave them right of usage (Werknutzungsrecht/Werknutzungsbewilligung). <S> Now this is something you might want to be careful about which Kind of usage you gave them. <S> While the aformentioned "Werknutzungbewilligung" is more or less a "provided as is" with next to no legal responsibility for you, <S> the "Werknutzungsrecht" however can be used against you, especially if you gave them exclusive Rights. <S> While a verbal contract might be as binding as a written one, the specifics are really hard to proof here. <S> You also might check your regular working contract with the Company if it states anything to that Topic (Clause of automatic Transfer of rights while you are an employee of that Company or similar) <S> Tl;dr : really dependent on your specific Copyright law
| The company could claim ownership of such code if you either did it during work time
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About to graduate and looking for full-time IT job; how to mention my internships experience on my resume? I'm about to finish my computer science degree and I'm looking for a full time job in IT During my time in the university, I took 3 different internship jobs - 2 as a full stack web developer and 1 as home automation programmer. To which skill level should I apply? Should I put 3 years experience in my resume? <Q> To which skill level should i apply? <S> First decide what role and position you want (full stack, home automation, or something else you really like). <S> Then, I would suggest you focus on Junior positions , as you are just finishing your degree <S> and it's more likely/adequate to land such role given your experience. <S> You could go for Senior roles, but surely it will be harder to land an offer as a Senior right out of University. <S> Should i put 3 years experience in my resume? <S> That would depend on the role you seek to apply to. <S> If it's full stack, and you have, say 2 years on it, specify it that way. <S> If it's home automation, and you have 1 year experience on it, that is what you should include on your resume. <S> If it's something different, that you don't have experience on, then it would be unprofessional to mention you have experience on the matter. <S> Whatever you decide, focus on the experience that relates most to the job. <A> The normal thing to do would be to give a brief description of your experiences and their duration on your resume. <S> As for applying, go for anything you think you are capable of. <S> No one is going to blacklist you because they wanted 3 years of hard production experience and you only had internship experience. <S> Resume is largely just to get to the next stage of the interview process. <A> I've interviewed and hired literally dozens of persons over my career, either as full-time, contractors and interns. <S> In all cases, interns actual-experience was easy to prove with technical questions and puzzles. <S> I found that many of my recently hired interns happen to be brilliant and had just as much experience as a 3-years full time developer. <S> In those cases, when hiring the intern for full time job, I would always seek to hire them as Senior, since I believe you should be paid for what you know and do, regardless of the time it took you to master it. <S> On another hand, I was always strict with interns with the promise that they would land a job doubling their current salary either with my employer (I wished for it), or other employer (if my employer was fool enough to let them go), within a year of experience under my wing. <S> The whole point was that in one year they could match the knowledge of an experienced developer, by mentoring constantly and making them upgrade themselves every month. <S> So, honestly, it will depends a lot on whose on the other side of the table during the negociation. <S> Just make sure it's clear to them <S> your knowledge level and maturity (not just in paper: prove it). <S> Another power tip: some companies assign job grades to new hires merely based on their current salary and not on actual knowledge (example, if you make 60K per year and they offer you 90K per year, 50% raise, they will assign you the grade on which 90K fits in). <S> However, there are companies whom, if you were already an intern in that company, they hire you directly as "experienced" (not junior) per policy. <S> So, DO RESEARCH about the companies you apply to and find out how they do things, so you can be prepared.
| You can also include other relevant or interesting experience you have (as it would be your first "official" job with a degree), but it would be best to highlight those that relate more strongly to the role you seek.
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Are blog reviews or articles about the projects I've done useful to link to in a resume? Over the course of past several years I've released multiple applications (for Ubuntu Linux) written in Python, and some of them got very positive response and reviews on blogs related to user experience on Ubuntu and Linux in general. Since I'm currently applying for positions related to either Python or Linux, is it worthwhile to link to those articles in my resume? Would that work as public recommendation of sorts? If yes, how best to approach listing some of them? <Q> As others pointed out - your links may go unnoticed or can add too much to your resume. <S> This does not mean you should not include them. <S> The real question here is not "if" but "how". <S> Let's try to break the people that will read your resume into "personas" or something similar and try to imagine what will they be looking for in your resume. <S> Human Resources - in most companies their job is to find matches that are likely to succeed and are in a rush as they have a lot of CVs to filter. <S> They are pre-scanning and will most likely not look into too much technical details. <S> The message for them should probably be that you worked with Python, under Linux <S> and you had the other (soft) skills that it took to create, release, maybe support a product. <S> Be creative here - to release an application it takes a lot of soft skills - determination, passion, courage, etc. <S> Technical people - <S> In most companies - those people have to assure that you have the technical skills to get the actual job done without too much supervision, you won't break something and your code won't be bloated. <S> However, they will also most likely like you more if they know that you had the skills that it took to create, release, maybe support a product (looks same as HR). <S> And at this point they may be ready to dig a bit into what you did. <S> So a link could help them get started. <S> They won't spend too much time if they have too many CVs to scan, so be brief and to the point. <S> Both personas above will most likely skip a large list of links (especially in larger companies with more candidates). <S> And the large list of links may "hide" something important, so you have to keep it as short and simple as possible. <S> Extract the skills it took you to create those applications (really, any skill you can think of - hard and soft). <S> Add them in the appropriate sections in the resume. <A> I would not put the direct links in your resume. <S> Perhaps have them compiled on a personal or project homepage which you then link from your resume. <S> I would not spend a large amount of resume space on it <S> but I would include it. <S> Customer focused companies value such feedback because it shows your level of commitment to your work and that you are not simply there to check off some boxes and collect a paycheck. <S> It's also not a bad idea to have a small write up prepared for your applications as sometimes during the interview someone will be quickly going over your resume with you <S> and it's a great way to concisely show off your work. <S> (this would also be a good place to mention the feedback you have gotten) <A> Well, the best answer is both "yes" and "no". <S> I think I will explain this best by telling you how I designed my own "presentation" papers. <S> The CV <S> My CV has two parts in one document. <S> CV - Part 1 <S> This part of the CV contains the basic mandatory information: name and personal details, education, previous / current jobs and activities, overview of knowledge and technologies, hobbies... <S> There are plentiful resources on the web on how you can / should create a CV. <S> Even though it becomes more and more difficult, I try to keep it a one-pager, without tricks (smaller font, smaller space between lines...). <S> It must be nice and easy to read and understand. <S> This part will be read by everybody !! <S> CV - Part 2 <S> In the second part of the CV (several pages, as needed), I provide all the details about past and current education and job experience which did not fit in the first page and are still relevant. <S> I do not have any links to provide, as you do , but I am not afraid to present everything which is relevant. <S> Since it is still a part of the CV, I present the information as structured and as organized as possible. <S> My target is to keep it as short as possible, but I do not decide on an arbitrary "size". <S> This part will be read by whoever wants / needs to read it. <S> The cover letter <S> Usually I did not need to present this document to companies (maybe one exception). <S> I have it just in case it is needed. <S> It is designed just like any letter, using full sentences and beautiful words. <S> I chose to not repeat the details from the CV, but to provide some gluing-information to go along the CV. <S> Some special words and nice bla-bla thrown in as "spices". <S> In my case it fits on one page, but it can be as long as needed. <S> This part will be read by whoever wants / needs to read it. <S> Bottom line: yes , you should sell yourself as good as possible. <S> Think about your audience while writing. <A> I'd think it'd all rather depend on who gave the review and how easy it is to encapsulate that into a one liner. <S> If some notable blogger gave you an Editor's Choice award, for instance, it'd seem a clear yes. <S> On the other hand, if it's someone relatively obscure whose name wouldn't be familiar to those outside the community, or there's no suitably glowing headline you can pull out <S> , there's a much tougher case to make. <S> It's all valuable space you could be using to talk about your skills, after all. <S> Hyperlinks to full reviews would be right out. <S> Someone with fifty resumes to review is just going to skim over them.
| Come up with a single link in your resume where the above personas can find all the applications, explanations and references to the positive reviews that they generated and Add that link to your resume. Present all the information which can help you, and be careful how you present it.
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New employer buying out old contract - is it usual to pay personally and be reimbursed? During the interview session, the hiring manager has told me that she will buyout me in order to join the company ASAP. However, the HR Department has then advised me that it would be appreciated if I can pay the buyout amount myself first and provide them with the invoice (and proof of payment) and they will reimburse me. I really wish to know if this is common as I haven't experienced such a scenario before. <Q> I make it a personal policy to never pay for anything 'on my own'. <S> I would indicate that this is not something you are comfortable with and <S> that if they want to buy out the contract they need to just do it themselves, or wait for the contract to end and then convert you. <S> Something of both this caliber and outside the general rules, seems like a big red flag. <S> Next they will have you 'invoice' this as work performed, misc, or some other oddity that is really them trying to get this under the radar of their normal governance. <A> While it does not happen every day, it happens occasionally, so do not worry about this details. <S> BUT, be careful. <S> Many things can happen, even unintentionally. <S> The entire buyout thing MUST be documented in the contract you sign with the new company. <S> Even if you will sign (some of) <S> the papers yourself, you should not have to pay the amount from your savings. <S> The best course of action would be: sign the new contract with the new company, make sure that enough and non-ambiguous details are documented about the buyout; the company will deliver the money to an account you provide; you conduct the exit procedures from the old / current company; at the end you provide copies of the papers to the new company. <S> I expect that the new company will add some special clauses to your contract as a consequence of the buyout. <S> Read them carefully. <S> If the new company claims that they have no special clauses regarding the buyout, they should make such statement in the contract. <S> E.g.: <S> We agree to buyout... <S> We expect nothing in return for the buyout, except for (a copy of) the written proof of the buyout. <S> Otherwise, you may find yourself in a scheme of the Nigerian kind - especially that manager and HR are not on the same page. <A> They want you to buy yourself out of your existing contract using your own money, then claim it back on expenses. <S> Sounds like a scam to me. <S> What will you do when they claim that was not the intention <S> and you must have misunderstood something? <S> And it might leave you open to possible legal action from your old employer, with no comeback on your new employer. <S> Make me wonder what other corners they might try to cut. <A> Legally, only the contracted person can buy themselves out. <S> The new company cannot do that, as they have no contract with the current company. <S> So, in that respect, it is not so strange, and I would not treat it as a red flag. <S> Now, I know that being “caught in limbo” between having paid the money and getting it reimbursed <S> makes you nervous – I would be too. <S> But, if you travelled for the interview with the new company, the same thing happened with travel expenses. <S> So, same principle, just – presumably – a much larger account. <S> If they won’t, then first ask why (and <S> take it as a red flag, no matter what their answer). <S> You can also hint, according to how much you want/need the new job, that you may not be able to accept if they do not give you a written undertaking to reimburse. <S> Also, consider the size of the new company. <S> A large multinational might be “safer” than a 3 or 4 employee outfit (but there is no guarantee). <S> Tl;dr – it is natural to be nervous, but if you have visited the company premises for interview then you should be able to judge how much you trust them, and a written undertaking from them to reimburse you ought to be legally enforceable (IANAL). <A> my heartfelt thank you for all the advises which you all have given to me , I have received the buyout email from them , this is the content : <S> With regards to your buyout please be informed that Genpact will reimburse the buyout amount on your first payroll upon you joining the company. <S> Please take note, of the steps and conditions below: 1) You will need to report to xxxx office for first day of work on the offer letter as agreed in prioritizing the business needs.2) <S> In addition to your first month salary payout, the buyout amount will be banked into your bank account. <S> Subject to the acknowledgement of official receipt from your current company where you will need to produce the supporting document(s) with the certified true copy from the sender and submitted within 7 days of your start date. <S> (Kindly note that candidate who is on board after 5th of the month, the salary payout will be credited on the following next month.) <S> Hmm, i think it is then now safe to proceed ?
| You absolutely must (try to) get the new company to state in writing that they will reimburse.
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Can I refuse to have my photo on my email signature? Recently, the company I'm currently working for has started to do a re-design on the brand. One of the things to change is the signature in emails. It looks really cool with a photo! But, I don't want to use my photo. I don't want my photo to be "spread around" and have my face associated with my name. I also have self-esteem issues, and takes me over a month just to send the photo to someone. Heck, I haven't updated my Facebook photo in years ! I know this is a personal issue that I should keep out of the company, and take care of it myself. Is there a way to tell him I don't want my face on my email signature? Can he force me to have it? Can I refuse? <Q> Is there a way to tell him I don't want my face on my email signature? <S> Yes, just tell them. <S> Can he force me to have it? <S> Usually, no. <S> However there may be certain company policies which needs an unified format for e-mail signature, though that is nothing which usually forces an employee for his/her photo. <S> If you are not comfortable (for whatever reasons) supplying the photo, asking the proper authority (your superior, HR) wont hurt. <S> As an alternative, you can choose to have a template photo in place (which helps to identify you <S> are a "he" or "she"). <S> I had the same idea proposed and accepted in a special interest group inside the organization I work for (internal group, noting external). <S> Note: This is done with honest intent, not to discriminate, purely for ease of addressing as a third person. <S> The scenario can be avoided altogether, but usually it's not much of a problem. <S> Also, disclaimer, IANAL. <S> Sample below: <S> He: <S> She: <A> IANAL but <S> I'm pretty sure <S> Employers are not allowed to take your photo without your permission and if you have no up to date <S> photos then looks like you can get away with it. <S> Just explain to him, "I don't want to have my photo shown in my email signature for personal reasons." <A> In general your employer can set guidelines and requirements for email signatures. <S> They can be done to ease communication. <S> When a person who has an email you sent but needs to call you, a well defined signature block gives them everything they need. <S> But photos without requirements can end up with non-professional photos being included in the email signatures. <S> I am surprised that the company wants photos. <S> I have worked with some organizations that automatically added your badge photo to the email address book. <S> But that presence in the address book didn't result in the photo being sent to external customers. <S> The presence of a photo in an email signature block just adds unnecessary size to each message. <S> They may also find that if they are sending emails to many corporate users the receiving email system may automatically convert the messages to non-html thus losing the impact of the photo. <S> It can also be frustrating if every email from a person with a complex signature block results in a paperclip icon that implies an attachment. <S> That makes it hard to find the emails that really do have attachments. <S> Now it is true that for some business it is typical to see a photo on a business card. <S> If your company is in a business like that <S> then it makes some sense to consider adding a photo to a signature block, but I would suggest that the full version with the picture not be the default version, thus keeping down the size of the average email chain. <S> But if they insist on going forward with this. <S> Ask a co-worker to snap a picture against a plain wall, and then send it in. <S> If you don't supply one, I doubt you would get fired but why push it over this issue. <S> Note that I don't have any photo associated with my stack exchange account. <S> why? <S> becasue it isn't required. <S> But I do have a badge photo at work, becasue it is required. <A> I've been places where profile photos have been highly encouraged but never required. <S> From a historical perspective, I would be very, very surprised of they <S> required using a photo. <S> Even then, I would fully expect them to be open to alternatives such as a fabulously gorgeous avatar like the one I use here on SE. <S> :) <S> I was one place where your security photo was automatically uploaded to Office 365. <S> People hated this because security photos are always terrible. <S> But, you were allowed to change your Office 365 photo yourself. <A> In all the years I've worked, at several different IT companies, I've received numerous requests from various HR/Corporate communications to "please now use the following signature" or "please add this ... to your signature". <S> I've ignored every one of them. <S> No one has ever followed up with a message saying "Nick, you must use the signature" or something like that, nor even followed up informally over coffee. <S> To this day, I still sign off with "Regards, Nick"; though I will add a little more (like my surname, job title, and company name) if I'm making a new contact with someone outside the company. <S> Also, like mhoran_psprep suggested, the signature can get mishandled by some mail systems. <S> One customer I dealt with recently had a complex signature that got broken down into several separate image attachments - the company logo, the regulatory body logo, the Facebook logo, the Twitter logo, and so on. <S> After it had been round several different persons, a mail would arrive in my inbox with about 20 attachments, many of them multiple copies of the same logo! <S> Pretty annoying when they also attached something important and relevant to the purpose of the mail. <S> So... <S> I think you should just try ignoring the request.
| an employer can't force you to have your photo on your signature. Signature block requirements can also enforce uniformity of messaging. If really forced into a corner on this, offer an anonymous, generic image like suggested in other replies, or take ages picking the 'right' photo and hope they forget all about it.
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Proposal for leaving the job Long story (not so) short. I've been working for a small/mid company (around 40 people) for last 4 years as a Python developer. Money was good, there are better paid jobs in my area but I'm not cash-hungry person - as long I can have decent life according to my standards and make some savings for future I'm happy and will prioritize nice work environment over the salary. And my current company was exactly it - very nice people, interesting stuff to do, I really had fun with stuff I'm doing. In January I had standard semi-annual talk with the supervisor about my job. He gave me some praises about stuff I did in last year, mentioned few things I could improve / learn, no true "negative" feedback was present. He then told me that at the moment there is not many possibilities to progress my career in my company and I will stay at mid level development till whoever knows when. He also mentioned that the management wants to restructure the company around June due to slightly loosing traction / market stagnation and will probably need to cut down our team a bit. I got a proposal from him / management. I could voluntary leave by June - I won't be assigned to any new projects, my job for next 4 months will be just support / maintenance of stuff I already did, I will receive full salary for those 4 months and on my leave, a severance package + 1 extra salary as a "loyalty bonus". The extra time I'll get from having less work I can spent however I like, looking for a new job, learning new stuff and so on. Yet for that extra salary I need to stay all the way till beginning of June so I can start looking for new job around end of April / May. Or I could stay, yet there is no guarantee I will be laid off in the future if my work is deemed not profitable enough by the management (with no extra salary, just the severance package, and I still need to work "full time") Now the company wants the response from me. I would like to ask, what you recommend me to choose. Should I risk and stay in a company I like, or jump the ship and take with me as much as I can? <Q> The writing is on the wall. <S> In Big Neon Letters: sorry, you have no future there. <S> Your company is very nice and transparent about this. <S> They treat you fairly and offer you a very generous deal. <S> Take it and focus on the next adventure in your career. <S> Edit: Just to elaborate, there are two things going on here <S> Your company isn't doing well: They may recover or there may be more layoffs and potential end of operations. <S> Even in the first round of "restructuring", your name showed up on top of the list of people to part with. <S> This may be related to your skills/role being less critical to the business or that your performance is on the lower end (recent review not withstanding). <S> Either way, it's bad. <S> You may be able to survive the first round of layoffs, but not the second, should there be one. <S> Hence: you have no future there. <A> The "definitive" answer: only time can tell. <S> However, if I were you, I'd take this "hint" as a sign that there is not going to be too much positive possibilities. <S> Start brushing up your resume and look for other opportunities. <S> You had a good career there, now time to move on and find another (maybe better, who knows?) <S> workplace. <A> Take the package. <S> to do a job search. <S> I admire companies with that kind of honesty. <A> If they are offering everyone the option then they're just looking for people to leave on their own and you might be safe if you stay. <S> If they aren't offering it to everyone you are most likely going to be laid off either way. <S> You can always tell interviewers when the earliest you can start is. <S> Unless they are really looking for someone to start right now it should be fine that you cant start working there until June.
| This company is looking out for your well-being, while admitting they may not last longer if you do stay. Even though you might not be greedy for money, you can always bank away the extra cash for incidents that might come up (illness, repairs) while in the meantime be paid (!) Personally, I would take the deal and immediately start looking for a job.
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Frequent travel to Boston/NYC/Bay Area and live in Vermont possible? Hope this question fits this forum. If not, please let me know. Thank you. I always hear stories about living in New Hampshire (NH) but work at Boston. People use the longer commute time in exchange of NH's cheaper living and taxes. However, I am wondering if something similar can be done in Vermont (VT). I co-own a pharm-consulting business, and majority of our work can be done remotely. However, networking is still essential, so I likely will need to travel to big cities like Boston, New York City, San Francisco frequently (2-3 times per month if not busy, 5-6 if busy). Do you think this is something feasible time-wise and finance-wise? In particular, I would love to learn from those who have similar experience, and those who are familiar with Vermont's weather/travel situations (e.g. in winter). The reason to choose VT is because my husband found a job he likes there, and that we both love countryside living experiences. Thank you! <Q> It would depend on where in Vermont you live. <S> With major highways, the further south you are, the better off you are. <S> The minimum travel time I could see from the southern part of the state is 2 hours to Boston and 5 to NYC; further north, I would tack on another 2-1/2 to 3 hours. <S> Flights: <S> If you're going to the Bay Area, if you want a direct flight, you could drive to Boston's Logan Airport or to New York's JFK or Laguardia; The regionals also offer flights, but you would have to make connections to other airports. <A> That's something only you can say because it depends mostly on how much money and time are you willing to pay to keep living in Vermont and traveling so much. <S> Start looking for prices and have a budget for best/worst case and see if you can afford, and if you can, if you want to afford it. <S> After thinking about the money, start thinking how much time you will be far from your home and how much of that time will be spent in travelling itself. <S> Does it worth it? <S> Nobody can say that, only you with your husband. <A> Do you think this is something feasible time-wise and finance-wise? <S> So it's certainly feasible. <S> The viability of the time commitment and financial viability depend solely on your specific location, your personal time requirements and the company's financial situation. <S> If you are willing to travel and stay away from home for days at a time, it's certainly feasible. <S> Note that if you work in Massachusetts, but live in Vermont, you will still pay Massachusetts income tax. <S> I believe Vermont will also charge some income taxes, but you'll get at least a partial credit for the MA income taxes you pay. <S> So, don't do this for any expected tax benefits.
| You might wish to make sure you are near a good Vermont airport with airlines having connections to the cities you'd plan to visit. Lots of people work in jobs where they travel frequently.
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Should I tell a potential employer why I am underpaid? I work in the IT industry and I am considered underpaid as per my job experience and current market rate. When I started looking for other opportunities, some recruiters/employers are quite shocked at how low I am getting (50% less than they expect for someone with my years of experience). (In the country I am working at, it is quite common to disclose your current salary to employers.) Anyway, there are a few reasons I am not getting the market rate: I stay within the same company for quite long and the salary raise each year isn't so high. One of the main reasons I tend to stay is because I am a foreigner in the country I am working at and my residency is dependent on the employer. Getting a new job doesn't stop at the job offer. Your permit must be reviewed separately by another governing agency. The companies I worked for in the past aren't large MNCs but are rather small local agencies/startups. In my current company, I shifted from a not-so-technical role to a technical role (I am in IT), which has a higher market value. Recently, a recruiter for a good company has shown interest in my CV but he had the same reaction about my current salary. Like he repeated my current salary to make sure that he was hearing it correctly. Of course, given the opportunity to interview, then I'll have the chance to prove myself. However, I worry that he may not even call again. Please note that this is a company that I really, really want to work for (think of this company as Google/Amazon-sized) and I don't want to blow my chances in any way. Should I write to him explaining why I am currently underpaid? Or is that unnecessary? I have a chance to send this recruiter a follow-up email after our call and I just want to make sure that I say the right things. Any advice? <Q> Recruiters care about you (so don't lie) <S> I was in this situation a few years ago. <S> I'm not an immigrant (or similar), but my salary was a good third lower than the market rate of my area: I was getting 42k <S> /yr. <S> When market rate was close to 65k <S> /yr. <S> I told recruiters (after I found out 1 ), "I was underpaid, sure, but it was a small startup company, I was right or of college, my expenses were low, and <S> I didn't mind: I liked working there. <S> But now that I'm looking, I'd certainly like to be paid my fair value (esp. <S> if I have to relocate). <S> " <S> Your situation is a little different, but as long as you lay it out there, you'll be fine. <S> A recruiter's job is to employ you and will fight for you. <S> As long as you tell the truth (though there are things you don't have to tell them... <S> like your past salary!) <S> they don't actually care so long as they are able to best represent <S> you to an employer. <S> It may take an interview (or ten) before you get an offer, but that's true of anyone. <S> Don't beat yourself up too much over one phone call. <S> There's no shame in having "red flags", as long as you own up to them. <S> And in the grand scheme of things, having been taken advantage of its pretty minor. <S> There were good reasons for it, but now two, three, five years later those reasons aren't so valid anymore. <S> Early before I knew my own value <S> I said, "I don't know what fair pay is for me <S> , I was only recently told I was underpaid. <S> You're a recruiter in this area, I'll defer to your judgement." <S> After a couple numbers from different agencies I knew what market value was as they all gave me the same number. <A> I would say it isn't necessary to explain about your salary position unless they ask and you're comfortable about explaining your situation . <S> As a rule of thumb, I don't reveal my current salary anyway as a) <S> it is none of their business and 2) it has nothing to do with the salary of the job I am going for - <S> that should be based on my experience and what they're willing to pay. <S> There are a whole ton of reasons why your salary might be lower that have very little bearing on your efficacy: lack of formal education, lack of experience, a glut of available developers, senior developers with fewer financial responsibilities, financial health of the company, political reasons etc etc. <S> What you don't want to happen is for your low salary to be used pejoratively as leverage to get your next job. <S> You want your new company to pay you what is fair (and attractive) <S> where you are the best candidate, not because you're the cheapest. <S> I can't vouch for where you are, but the usual agency position here <S> AFAIK is that they get a percentage of your salary after you'd finished a probationary period. <S> So all things being equal, it should be in the interest of the agent to secure an attractive salary for all parties involved. <A> If they ask, explain it to them as you have in your post. <S> Otherwise, there is no need to go out of your way to write to them to explain something that they might not really care about. <S> If you are blatantly being underpaid in relation to your skills and experience listed on your CV it could come as a shock to those recruiters but that does not necessarily mean that you will not be given an opportunity to be considered. <A> The fact that you didn't want to risk not getting the residency is sound (perhaps risk adverse, but maybe there are also very good personal reasons), could be bad and risk adverse, but you can balance this with the other changes you had. <S> There is no reason they won't call you back because of a currently low salary. <S> The opposite may be truer (too high a salary).
| You should disclose these reasons, because they seem very reasonable and show some valuable qualities, like attachment to your company and capable of change.
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Is it wise to demote in order to try to work at dream company? Let's rule the salary out of the question and assume that one believes that it's worth the hit. It may be the case of a Junior demoting to an Internship or a Senior demoting to a Junior/Normal role. As for the reason to give about the demotion during the recruitment process, let's say that it's because one is not confident that the experience gained before is not on the same level than the equivalent role at dream company because of its competitiveness, or because the previous experience is in a slightly different industry, or both. Are there higher or lower chances of been accepted? <Q> Let the company decide what your seniority should be, this title is pretty much different in every company so if they are smart enough they won't base their decision on the seniority you show on your CV, but they will evaluate your experience among other things. <S> If they realize you are a good candidate but you lack the expierience they could offer you a more junior position. <S> So if you see a job post looking for senior dev, and you consider yourself one you should apply without hesitate. <S> If I see a CV from a senior dev, applying for a junior position on the same field I would think "there is something weird about this dude" <A> When I switched domain, I got demoted, because the expectations for a Senior in one domain were different than a Senior in another domain. <S> I could have fought for having a more Senior title, but I learnt two things from that experience: <S> How to value more junior people's time and how they are treated People recognize my added value all the more that I was humble enough to start one step lower <S> I still got promoted as soon as it was possible from an HR point of view. <A> If it were a paid position to an internship, I'd question the sanity of the applicant. <S> If it were a downward step from senior to junior, I'd be suspicious as well. <S> I'd be wondering why you'd be making the move down instead of working at your level. <S> It wouldn't look good if it were for lack of confidence or skill. <S> You'd need to impress the hell out of me with why you felt that such a move made sense to you, and then explain why it would make sense to me. <S> So, overall, the chances would be lower, unless, as I said, you impressed the interviewer/company with a very good reason. <S> Some ideas to that end. <S> What part of your skillset translates, and what does not. <S> How you expect to get up to speed An explanation that will reassure the hiring manager that you're not just resume building. <A> It depends on the company you are moving from and the company you want to move to. <S> Each company holds different standards for each role, a senior in one company is not a senior in another (heck, even inside the same company it can drastically change). <S> Adding a special mention to "being demoted to intern": in several countries, you can only be an intern if you are enrolled in a degree at a university/school. <S> I have seen cases indeed where experienced people, in order to follow their loved one abroad for example, enrolled into a new master despite the 10+ experience so they can get an internship and try to make it easier to get hired.
| Detailed research and knowledge of the company you're applying to A good explanation as to how your skills and talents will benefit the company
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What's a reasonable period of time before quitting to look for a new job? I am working as a software developer at a consulting firm, where I have been at the client location for about two years. I would like to move on from my current position to start a new project. However, due to contractual obligations, I must remain in the position for another 6 months. Given that I am looking to begin a new position in approximately 6-7 months, how long before this point of time should I start interviewing? I know that telling recruiters that I need to give 1-2 months warning is not unheard of, but half a year seems a bit far-fetched. Please note that I am trying to ask the question of how long before some future date is it reasonable to begin interviewing. I am not concerned about a notice period to my current employer. <Q> What's a reasonable period of time before quitting to look for a new job? <S> Unless you're independently wealthy <S> this is a bad idea. <S> You're better off job searching before quitting. <S> You can start looking any time. <A> Its never too early to check the waters and kick the tires for new opportunities. <S> But, before switching to FTE at the same customer you are placed at,please review you non compete clause, if you have one, in your contract with consulting company. <S> Most of then have a cool-down period before doing any work for customer <S> you were introduced through the current employer. <A> I agreed to remain employed by them for a period of two years. <S> Did you legally agree to this? <S> Was it quid pro quo? <S> Because if not, I would look immediately and leave as soon as you have a better offer. <S> If the company didn't need you anymore, they'd make you redundant in a heartbeat. <S> There is no loyalty in either direction. <S> If you want out, get out. <S> It's months of your life stuck doing something you're not interested in. <S> It's business. <A> Never quit (or lose) your current job before finding another one. <S> That is the most important thing. <S> If you intend to quit, you should start job searching as soon as you know you are intending to quit. <S> If you feel you may be terminated, you should start searching as soon as you feel you may be terminated. <S> As a note, my last job search (I was basically searching for anything in any major city in North America) took 6 months as a software developer, so 6 months is not a particularly bad time frame. <S> However, you may want to let recruiters know who you are talking to that you won't be available for 6 months. <S> It's possible some recruiters have "ongoing" clients who are recruiting constantly; they can put you in contact now and you can start in 6 months when you're ready. <S> Or at least you can start making contacts now who you can use in 6 months from now when you're serious. <S> The point is, if you're planning on quitting, it's never too early to start looking. <S> It can, however, be too late, and you don't want that. <A> Assuming that the job market remains comparable to what it is today, 1-2 months is plenty of time. <S> In major US cities you can find a job within a week and they'll want you to start tomorrow. <A> This is dependent on your location, time of year, and how picky you plan to be. <S> Ask people in your network how long it took them to find their last job. <S> But june-august are slower due to vacations. <S> Also, you may want to give yoursef extra time to explore more options. <S> For a job at a consultant firm I would recommend to initiate contact earlier. <S> These companies are more flexible and often like to keep in touch with potential future employees. <A> I think this depends on <S> How confident you are in procuring a job <S> What companies you want towork for (if there's a lot of applicants then it might take longerfor the company to get back to you) <S> The speed of the job market inyour region <S> That being said, if this is your 2nd job out of college and you have 2 years of experience, I would advise you to start looking 4-6 weeks before your departure date. <S> You should also talk to local people in your area, if you have recruiters contacting you (fairly common where I live) it wouldn't hurt to ask them this question since they should know the job market fairly well. <S> This gives you the chance that if you excel in the interview, they may be willing to stick it out for you a bit longer. <S> This is highly situational however and you will have to use your judgement. <S> I would definitely tell a recruiter when your potential start date is.
| If you start looking six weeks prior to ending your contract you'll have plenty of time to review multiple opportunities. Also I would refrain from telling companies up front that you are waiting to start the position until x date (unless they ask you of course). Where I live it typically takes 1-2 months from first contact to first day at the new job.
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Too much for a beginner? So I started working at a job soon after I finished my college studies. Currently, I am assigned a task to rectify some calculations in some fields of an application, of which I was given bare minimum knowledge about and they (my manager and other subordinate) expect me to know it all and think I should be able to finish the task. The problem lies as I don't exactly know the hierarchy of the application and can't figure which class refers to what and how the exact functionality takes place. And I won't lie, I feel hesitant/scared to ask help too many times and I guess even my manager thinks I am incompetent now. Should I just let my manager know the case? Do I keep struggling like this and hope to slowly learn all the things related to my work? <Q> You weren't assigned this job because you know these things. <S> You were assigned it so that you can learn them. <S> You're a graduate. <S> You're not expected to know the ins and outs of this. <S> You're expected to find out what you need to know. <S> So you have to ask, look things up, do what you need to do on this end. <S> Asking questions won't make you look incompetent. <S> Not asking and then mucking up the tasks will. <A> I guess even my manager thinks I am incompetent now If your manager thinks this, then you should leave. <S> If you think your manager thinks this, you need to get it out of your head. <S> Just leaving college studies and likely having minimal computing/programming knowledge is normal, if your manager or you expect to be able to do all of this without help then you're wrong. <S> Should I just let my manager know the case? <S> Yes, tell them that you don't understand how the program works properly and you would like some guidance to help you understand. <S> Likelihood is he'll assign someone else to help you and go through the code with you. <S> Do I keep struggling like this and hope to slowly learn all things related to my work? <S> Absolutely no . <S> Do this and <S> you'll fail in your career before it even starts. <S> Take time in learning, take time to look at simple code and understand the logic and how it works. <S> Learn from your peers. <S> When a company hires someone with such little experience they will expect you to struggle and they will have talked about helping you already. <A> And I won't lie <S> , I feel hesitant/scared to ask help too many times and I guess even my manager thinks I am incompetent now. <S> Never be afraid to ask questions, particularly when you are new to a given code base. <S> Inexperience is not the same as incompetence, they knew you were wet behind the ears when they hired you <S> and they should expect you to ask more questions than a veteran would. <S> Do I keep struggling like this and hope to slowly learn all the things related to my work? <S> Learn what you can about the specific domain you are workin in from your colleagues. <S> If there is something in your technology stack that you are unfamilliar with, seek out courses and articles online. <S> You never stop learning in this field, some of my colleagues have been making software for 20-30 years and they are still spending several weeks every year on training. <S> If you manager and colleagues react negatively to you asking technical questions, you may need to consider looking for a more graduate friendly place to work. <S> However, bare in mind that it can be easy in your situation to project your own insecurity in your abilities onto your colleagues.
| No one can reasonably expect you to know everything about a code base you have never seen before, particularly if you are fresh out of college.
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Skype call Audio only from interviewer I'm recently had an interview on Skype where pre-interview the Female Interviewer texted me that she would prefer a Video Call on Skype rather than just audio. I agreed and proceeded with accepting the call as Video Call on Skype. But Interviewer had their side only Audio. The reason I mentioned the Interviewer's gender is cause I'm from Pakistan and some religious females here avoid showing their face in Public even in professional environment. But it's very rare. So, I thought she might had the same reasons to not do a Video Call but the whole interview I just kept looking at myself in the screen. Which really feels uncomfortable when you know that they are looking at you but you can't see them. Once more I had an interview with a Male interviewer from Germany although He didn't request the Audio or Video but I accepted the call as Video and He did the Audio Call cause I just wanted to stay on the safe side and not be rude by doing an Audio call where maybe interviewer was expecting a Video Call. In both instances I wanted to ask the interviewers to do a Video Call on both sides or just the Audio, cause to me this felt rude and uncomfortable. But I didn't ask because I didn't wanted to make an issue out of nothing. Should I in future ask interviewer to switch to video and how without being rude? <Q> Never guess. <S> You can simply verify by saying: <S> Uh sorry, looks like my Skype isn't working properly <S> , I can't see you. <S> And they will either turn their camera on or at least explain the reason. <S> If they insist on a one-sided video call without respectable reason, maybe you should look for some other place TBH. <S> Interviewing is never a one-sided game : while companies are interviewing you as a potential employee, you are also interviewing them as potential employer. <S> Companies that fail to recognize and respect the equal relationship inside an interview have a higher chance to not respect the fair relationship between employer and employee in future. <A> You can have a video or audio call, both are fine. <S> I don't personally get what information people think they will glean from staring at your pixellated face. <S> I suppose the idea is to see some nonverbal communication and ability to dress appropriately - but what could be a more foolish way of gauging it than one where you can't even tell if they're wearing pants? <S> However, barring compelling technical reasons it should be reciprocal. <S> If you are audio only, asking for video is impolite. <S> It makes it seem like you're being watched, not interacted with as a person of equal standing. <S> If the other party asked for video but doesn't have it themselves, I think a polite thing you can say is "Hey, your video isn't working, is there an issue with it?" <S> or "Oh, I wasn't sure if we were doing an audio or video conference <S> , let me turn mine off too." <S> The reason you suggest, the religious observance, is nonsensical. <S> Firstly this is a case where beliefs are clearly interfering with primary work task (video-interviewing people). <S> It's like hiring a teetotaler to be the chief taster at a distillery. <S> Second, if her objection was that she does not wish to show her face, the logical solution is to wear the same sort of hijab or covering garb as she would in an actual interview. <S> Of course, as a desperate job seeker, you are at the employer's mercy. <S> If they want you to wear a toga and do a handstand inside your fridge while interviewing, guess you'll just have to do it. <S> Any indignities in the interview process probably do not outweigh the need for a job. <S> But if you must suffer unfair treatment, at least understand that it is unfair, and that you shouldn't have to stand for it. <S> One day you will surely stop being desperate, that's the day to start refusing bogus interview demands. <A> Be polite, and expect refusal on their side if they are not comfortable with it "Hello, would you like to switch to video? <S> I would be more comfortable doing the interview that way. <S> It is fine if you cannot or do not want to." <S> Or any other viable reason. <S> If they refuse, be ready to talk without seeing them, you can practice this as well by performing mock presentations of your work for example. <S> Reciprocally, if you feel uncomfortable with video, you can ask if you can do it audio only, but it can already give some ideas to your interviewers, such as you being shy or not comfortable with how you appear in video.
| You can definitely ask for video (or for audio only).
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Tomorrow is my annual performance review with my manager : should I tell him I want to quit this career? I'm 28 and work in IT as a system administrator. Tomorrow, I'll see my manager to have my annual review. He will ask me how I see my career evolution. I clearly want to quit IT but I clearly have no idea what's my next career move... It's been more than a year that I'm trying to figure out what I want to do. Should I tell him I don't see myself continuing in this career or should I keep it to myself to save some time so I can find something next ? I could have stayed more but the salary is ridiculous compared to market and they won't hear that. That's not motivating me to stay. I'll probably even change company before changing field. I would benefit from a €5000 yearly raise. EDIT : I wouldn't mind getting replaced, that would allow me to be put on unemployment wage, it would give me time for training in anything else than IT and our national employment agency has lot of trainings available. I don't know which one to choose yet ( of course, it would have been too easy). <Q> You should never quit a job unless you have something lined up. <S> And you should never let your employer know that you're leaving, or searching for a new job. <S> There's too much risk and not enough benefit. <S> Otherwise you risk having no income, and being reliant on savings (if you have any) and potentially being laid off before you decide to quit. <S> In addition, if you don't find something immediately, while you're explaining to potential employers <S> why you quit, you're also going to have to explain the gap in unemployment. <S> tl;dr have something else lined up before you decide to quit. <A> Depending on the country, it could be very hard or very easy to fire you. <S> Unless your job is so taxing on you that you cannot have time or energy to think about what to do after, then you could consider telling them. <A> I wouldn't mind getting replaced then ask the boss how you can help the company in another position. <S> If he is in anyway sympathetic, and likes you as an employee, and - here's the catch - thinks that he can move you within the company, to the benefit of the company, then he will discuss possibilities with you. <S> Normally, I totally agree with "never quit (or invite firing) until you have a new job lined up”. <S> However, since you mention a low wage, this may be feasible, depending on location, which you failed to state. <S> For instance, in Germany I believe that you would get 80% of your last salary as unemployment benefit … … if you quit. <S> On no account resign , as you will not be eligible for unemployment benefit in most countries. <S> If you are looking for a total career change, that can be difficult, to say the least. <S> But if, for instance, you made a side-step into Dev Ops , which is latest buzzword to chase, that could be extremely lucrative. <S> You could easily command Eur 500 per day as a freelance contractor (and get some long term contracts). <S> See also DevOps toolchain . <S> Just search for it on JobServe, to see what I mean. <S> Btw, if/when you do resolve this, please come back and let us know how it turns out. <S> Good luck :-)
| So as a general rule of thumb, if it is not about changing role/moving in the company, I would not advise to say anything if you have nothing planned.
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Any harm in telling recruiter what other roles I am interviewing for? It's something that bothered me for a while but cannot really put my finger on it. They call you and discuss some roles, inevitably enquiring whether I am interviewing anywhere else. I say yes, and they then usually want to know where exactly. It's often not enough to say 'a bank' or some such generic thing. Is it risky to disclose the exact company/role/ref number? If they are from a different agency (to the one representing me for that other role), are there ways for (the unscrupulous part of) them to scupper my efforts? Perhaps it's best to politely insist I keep it confidential. Or is it mostly for them to see how urgently they have to push along with their own role? I am sure it's naive to think that! But what are the possible ways for them to influence a seemingly unrelated interview process? <Q> Is it risky to disclose the exact company/role/ref number? <S> If they are from a different agency (to the one representing me for that other role), are there ways for (the unscrupulous part of) them to scupper my efforts? <S> I'd never disclose any such information beyond the really generic - "it's a fintech firm around York" for instance <S> , should be more than enough (if you even want to give that much info.) <S> There's no advantage for you in them knowing the specifics, and they could potentially do one of a few bad things with that info: <S> They may introduce themselves to the company and say they know you, then try to claim commission if you're hired there; They may also be hired by that company for that role (you've just found them via another means), and therefore they could explicitly recommend to the company that they don't hire you for whatever reason in order to get their commission; Unscrupulous, but they may have contacts they can use informally or otherwise to try to make sure you don't get that job, or you're lowballed on an offer (so you end up rejecting it.) <S> If they know that you're generically interviewing elsewhere, that could potentially be an advantage in that they want to prioritise getting you good places to make sure they get their commission (and likewise they're therefore more likely to negotiate a higher offer.) <S> If they keep pushing, just say "I'm afraid if this information is needed to progress, then it's probably better we don't carry on beyond this point <S> - thank you for your time" or similar. <S> They'll almost certainly change their tune at that point, and if not, go find a recruiter who will. <A> Reputable recruiters ask this question for one reason: <S> So they don't bother engaging you on jobs that you've already applied for. <S> It would be a waste of time for both you and the recruiter. <S> Companies often have multiple recruiters working for them or use recruiters to supplement their own hiring efforts. <S> Recruiter A doesn't want to waste their time researching and presenting a job opportunity with company X if you've already applied for company X either through recruiter B or the company directly. <A> In my experience recruiters, assuming they have a role in their hand which they think they can land you in, are not playing games such as looking to cut in on other recruiters leads. <S> There are a few reasons that they ask for details about your other leads, but generally they are just being good salespeople and trying to read their mark. <S> By seeing what they are up against they are better equipped as to how they can sweeten or play up the deal for you, or for their client By getting you talking about other leads, you might let slip an obstacle you have been keeping quiet about with their offer which they can then try to remedy or downplay. <S> All in the name of obtaining more valuable information they can use to try to soften you or their client up to close the deal. <S> I would politely acknowledge that you are pursuing other leads but offer no details whatsoever beyond that. <S> You are looking out for you and grateful for their help in doing so as well. <S> When they have made you an actual offer and you are waiting because you expect others, they will be even more curious (and hungry!). <S> You should still not share details with them but you should be open and honest about how much time you expect to take to make a decision, and you should expect them and the client to continue to look as well. <A> Recruiters are always networking and looking for leads. <S> Candidates are primarily a resource - they are a potential fill for a customer need, or they are a source of leads for other good candidates or potential jobs to fill that the recruiter might not know about. <S> If they call a company and talk to a management professional, even if there are no openings needing a recruiter, they are going to pump that manager about others they might know, and what they've heard of in their network, and will even try to see if that person is interested in looking at positions - they would be mining for both leads on openings and more candidates on those calls. <S> I'm going to disagree with another answerer who stated that this was mainly so they don't put you in for a position you are already looking at - <S> No reputable recruiter should ever submit your information to any company without your knowledge of who that company is. <S> They may keep it close to the vest, at first, but when you give your permission to be submitted, they should tell you who it is, at that time. <S> So, really, this is mainly about trying to get more leads, first and foremost. <S> They are mainly looking to an "in" with another company, in general (even if they don't land an agreement for that position, they have made contact with a company that might have needs in their area of specialization, going forward). <S> Having said that, there's nothing wrong with them networking this way, but there's also no particular obligation on your part to give them names of other professionals you know, or about positions you are aware of. <S> (I used to recruit with, at that time, a franchise of the nation's largest recruiting company, and this was part of their training).
| They can / will be persistent, because it's definitely in their advantage to gauge the position you're interviewing for - so you just need to be insistent back and say something like "Just as I wouldn't disclose any opportunities you may provide me with, I'm going to be unable to give any more specific information on the role you're asking about."
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Is it appropriate to ask for a higher hourly wage as an intern? I have done an 8 month intern term (software dev). For the first four months, I was payed 23, and for the remaining four months, I was payed 23.5 Another company is going to hire me soon (the gap will have been 8 months since i ended my last workterm), and I would like the pay to be about 25. If they give me around 24, then I would like to say the following, and would like feedback on whether it is plausible or not. Thank you for this offer xxx. I would like to know if it is possible to increase my pay to 25. This slightly extra pay will help me to pay for my 2 buses that I must take on this 1.5hr commute. I also think that my experience in an actual company prior, and self-projects should be taken into consideration. A 50 cent increase from 23.5 does not seem the most optimal in my situation. Finally I have seen on glassdoor that you do support this wage for interns, so I am wondering if it is possible for me to have 25. Thanks again for the offer. <Q> It doesn't hurt to ask, but leave personal reasons out of your request for a higher salary. <S> Reiterate that you are excited about the position. <S> Mention your research and previous experience, and then ask for the higher rate. <S> Something like this <S> : Thank you for this offer xxx. <S> Based on the interview, I feel like we are a great fit for each other and I am excited to work on project xyz. <S> However, I was expecting a rate of 25, which matches the market rate for similar positions. <S> This is a fair rate to me based on my previous experience with CompanyA and my personal projects <S> x and y. <S> Could we update the rate to 25? <S> Thanks again for the offer. <A> I would think twice before mentioning Glassdoor. <S> It's not the company's official information channel, and they have no control over what has been posted there. <S> Also, "I want higher pay because somebody else has it too <S> " argument might not be well received. <S> Then, the commute expenses. <S> Commute, or living expenses in general, should have no part in your salary. <S> The cost of living determines the overall accepted range for salary in the region, but you can't really use that as an argument for a raise. <S> Your employer doesn't have a say where you happen to live, so the costs of your decision shouldn't be on them. <S> I'd suggest to focus only on your strengths and the value you bring to the company. <A> You can ask a higher wage for an internship. <S> It will mostly depends on whether the company has a standard wage for interns or not. <A> Regarding specifically your language question , here's some help Thank you for this offer xxx. <S> I would like to know if it is possible to increase my pay to 25. <S> This slightly extra pay will help me to pay for my 2 buses that I must take on this 1.5hr commute. <S> I also think that my experience in an actual company prior, and self-projects should be taken into consideration. <S> A 50 cent increase from 23.5 does not seem the most optimal in my situation. <S> Finally I have seen on glassdoor that you do support this wage for interns, so I am wondering if it is possible for me to have 25. <S> Thanks again for the offer. <S> The first part is excellent, but the second part is no good . <S> Thank you for this offer xxx. <S> I would like to know if it would be possible to increase that pay amount to 25. <S> This extra amount will help me to pay for the two buses I take on the 1.5 hr commute, and would be much appreciated. <S> I hope my real and substantial experience at a company and <S> my demonstrated skills help make this possible! <S> Please, let me know what you think about the 25 level. <S> Would it be possible? <S> Thanks again for the offer which is so exciting to be a part of your company! <S> Your negotiation/communication ideas here are: Never (ever) whine. <S> Never try to "logically trap" a superior or the opposite side of any supplication. <S> By all means be firm, but do not try to "logically win" Be totally firm, yet polite. <S> "Enthusiasm never hurt anyone." <S> Accept that a demand is a demand. <S> Don't try to put your demand over as anything other than a clean demand. <S> ie, totally avoid you "deserve" thinking. <S> Always finish with a question - the number one negotiating trick. <S> Good luck! <A> Any request for wages or increases should be focused on what you can offer the employee and not what you need the money for. <S> I would also leave out the market assessment: it sounds like you are second guessing them on something they should know. <S> And if they do not, they might resent being lectured to. <S> Your ask and their offer are very close already. <S> Weigh the value of that difference against the potential downsides, e.g. coming across as demanding, and perhaps being skipped over in the future when potentially more lucrative increases are being considered because "you already got yours". <S> If you are a good software developer, or you become one, you will eventually be making a whole lot more money than either their offer or your ask. <S> Focus on improving your skills and the rewards will follow.
| You can ask for a higher pay, but the reasons you list may not be the optimal way of getting it. Your previous experience and projects you have completed/worked on are good arguments.
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Survival without Linkedin profile in software industry Internet is full of advantages of having a linkedin profile. I, despite being a software engineer, don't feel comfortable (and feel anxious a lot - extremely panic feeling) broadcasting myself and my employment history. Overall, I am not active on Social Media and haven't made myself 'googlable'. However, I enjoy face to face conversation. Will it be possible for me to survive in software industry where having a fully loaded public profile has great importance? Are there anyone out there who feel the same? If yes, do you find it difficult to land on a job? Any soutions? Edit:To further clarify myself, I can totally understand the advantages of linkedin. It is just the extremely strong feeling of overpowering which I am not able to overcome over past years which makes me think will I be ever able to join?. It is like a paradox with kind of self conflicting conclusion. That is why I have requested to share your experience that may help in me understanding this long lasting problem of me. Edit 2:Take an example of dieting. Despite knowing advantages, some people never able to follow. It is like climbing a steep hill or jumping in a deep swimming pool when you don't know how to swim. Hopefully, this further clarifies the question. <Q> Here's a contrarian view: LinkedIn is totally overrated. <S> The only thing it is good for is attracting spam from recruiters who want you to work jobs you probably aren't interested in taking. <S> I get "Hi, I saw your profile <S> and I'm interested in reaching out" messages all the time <S> and they're never worth reading. <S> Occasionally someone tries a novel approach, like "Hey, I'm not trying to give you a job, but don't you hate all of those Senior Developers who are Old People with their Old People Ideas? <S> " This was a month after I got promoted to Senior Software Engineer and hadn't yet updated my LinkedIn. <S> Updating LinkedIn is a waste of time because all it does is encourage more of these sorts of messages. <S> As long as you have an up to date resume <S> and you're willing to put that up on appropriate job sites while you are looking, you should be fine in this current highly tight labor market for software development. <S> Or even in a non-tight labor market, as having a LinkedIn during a bad labor market didn't really help me either. <A> As a software developer, you might want to consider having your own GitHub, and there are other sites that allow you to show your programming prowess online, but are not social media ones. <S> It's a missing opportunity not to have one, but not a fatal mistake. <S> Then again, why not having a LinkedIn? <S> You can simply avoid adding personal friends and past coworkers, you can select what goes to the page or not. <S> It should certainly outweigh the burden of exposure if and when you are unemployed. <S> Note that you'll likely not be able to build a good page or have nice referrals overnight, so don't wait to be unemployed and in a hurry for a job to start a LinkedIn page, if you think this may be needed in the future. <A> I would highly recommend against not having a LinkedIn profile in particular. <S> Facebook or WhatsApp or Instagram or Twitter, fine. <S> But LinkedIn is really a must. <S> I would say I get 90%+ of my active job recruitment contacts through LinkedIn, and 10% from every other method combined. <S> I read my LI feed maybe once every 6 months and almost never update my personal profile. <S> All I did when I set up my LI <S> was copy-paste my resume details into LI and that's it. <S> I log in when I get a new message <S> so I can read/respond to it, or when I want to update my resume or employment status, and that's it. <S> Otherwise I don't engage with LI at all. <S> But it's still great to have, because it allows recruiters to find you , rather than the other way around (which is a lot more work, let me tell you!) <S> So go and sign up for LinkedIn, <S> take 10 mins and copy-paste your resume in there, and then let it ride and see what happens. <S> That's all you need to do! <A> despite being a software engineer, don't feel comfortable (and feel anxious a lot - extremely panic feeling) broadcasting myself and my employment history. <S> In general, not being on any social media will hurt your ability to network. <S> You don't have to have a perfect LinkedIn account just a simple page with a few sentences about your current job, and probably a picture.
| While you'll probably survive, it will certainly be a hindrance. For many jobs you will still need a CV, which will contain you past employments, but is not broadcast to the world. In my opinion, LinkedIn makes it easier to apply for jobs online, but also creates opportunities for an employer to find you. If you have social anxiety and don't want to "engage" in social media, you don't have to. LinkedIn really is necessary.
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How do I convince the maintenance department to provide paper towels in the office? This is a bit of a silly problem, but there are no paper towels in the restrooms and kitchens at my new workplace (which is a quite large software company). There is only a hand dryer in the restroom and napkins in the kitchen. However, it is very inconvenient and impractical to use napkins to dry ones hands and kitchenware because wet napkins get torn apart and you have to pick little bits of wet napkin from your fingers, cups, etc... And you definetely can't dry your face with a hand dryer in the restroom (there are no napkins there), and I personally don't really like to use a hand dryer at all. With all these arguments gathered, I've created a request for maintenance department to provide paper towels in the office (the company has a helpdesk system for such things). Before doing this I actually knew that they've already turned down one employee with such request, but it didn't really make sense to me so I thought that somehow I would push this through. Not surprisingly they gave me the same "we're sorry for your inconvenience, but our office policy doesn't include paper towels", in which by "office policy" they refer to the list of supplies, furniture and such which is "standard" for our office. Obviously my question is how do I persuade them to revise this policy and provide those damn paper towels? :) What I've tried Suggested to conduct a survey among employees to make sure this is actually needed (and not just for me) Stated that in my opinion such a policy that doesn't take into account employees' wishes just doesn't make sense Noted that the list of "standard" office supplies doesn't include napkins either, so this aspect of the office environment is probably haven't been developed well Asked them to provide me with a process or a contact point for changing this policy What did I get in response A statement that says that the process of altering the policy doesn't involve "conducting surveys or signing documents" They CC'ed the whole thing to my PM which in turn CC'ed my TL As a result, my TL tried to convince me to give up and close the issue. I replied to TL that the issue makes sense to me so I won't just close it and that them (maintenance department) involving him and the PM is in my opinion unprofessional since it has nothing to do with project activities. They've tried to close this issue (twice already) with "Can't Reproduce" (!) reason. The whole "Can't Reproduce" thing might be a helpdesk workflow issue :) What I didn't try Communicating with the maintenance department in person Gathering supporters on my own. This seems like causing to much trouble which the company definetely won't appreciate. I am fully aware that this is a very minor issue, but on the other hand, this is what's bothering me that such a small matter is so hard to resolve. I'm also getting stressed over this fruitless "negotiation" process and feel like I am being a difficult and annoying person, but I also don't want to just give up (probably on principle) because the whole situation really doesn't seem right to me. <Q> You can't. <S> Give up. <S> You're treating it as a silly issue and a mere oversight in supplies. <S> It's not. <S> The maintenance department has chosen to use air dryers over paper towels. <S> Not providing paper towels is well justified by supply cost and environmental impacts, and the labor and landfill costs of the trash generated. <S> There may be external regulations, such as LEED, ISO 14001, and corporate policy which mandates this. <A> Put yourself in their shoes. <S> Why do you think the maintenance department would change the policy at your specific request, and no-one else's? <S> A relatively junior employee trying to create a campaign to demand paper towels will probably do little more than amuse the maintenance department at best, and annoy them (gathering you a reputation in the process) at worst. <S> Your team lead is correct - <S> it sounds like it's in everyone's best interests for you to drop it. <S> Answering the question directly, if you really want to get them to change the policy then you don't have much choice but to stop pestering them, and start pestering the CEO / head of operations instead. <S> However, to be clear here - pestering higher ups like the CEO or head of operations <S> is much, much more likely to get you a reputation as an annoying / troublesome employee than it is getting you the title of "almighty saviour of hand and dish drying. <S> " Only you can decide if it's still then worth it, but in my opinion it's a definite "no". <A> A possibility is that office politics is at work here. <S> If the maintenance manager is somewhat 'not going well' with your manager then each and every request from you will be turned down or slooooowed to death (e.g.: months for a power outlet added in a free receptacle) with random reasons. <S> That's highly unprofessional but can happen (personal experience). <A> You can't convince them. <S> Why fight over some paper towels? <S> They have rejected your suggestion. <S> Your company has better things to do and paper towels obviously are not a priority. <S> As an alternative, just go get a roll of paper towels and store them in a drawer. <S> Your company doesn't have to provide paper towels. <S> Do you want some? <S> Go get some from the store. <S> Your company is not keeping you from bringing your own. <A> If there are any official feedback channels in your company, use those to ask for paper towels, but do not assume any change will happen soon. <S> Ask once and then leave the topic be via that channel for at least half a year. <S> If you can convince others and more of these requests come in separately, that might convince people to change the policy. <S> You can play this also via HR and sell it to them as a quality of the work environment issue IF you have some support among your colleagues. <S> However, you should drop the <S> "this is wrong and they need to change because to me it is totally reasonable to do it another way" mindset. <S> To them, the way they are doing things is totally reasonable and you are just a single person with special wishes, they won't just alter their company-wide policy for, just because you asks for it - and especially not because you demand it. <S> Play it soft and slow, see if you can casually bring it up with colleagues and see if they agree. <S> If you find some people who agree, try to spread and together approach a valid feedback channel. <S> If there is no official one, ask your managers or HR contact person. <S> But never imply that things need to go your way, because you are right, but that you have a change suggestion you and a lot of colleagues would find lovely to have. <S> If you cannot convince your colleagues nor someone higher up through official feedback channels, drop it and if necessary bring your own paper towels for yourself.
| Unless you're in an industry that requires paper towels by regulation (e.g. food and healthcare), they have a clear justification behind the use air dryers and no obligation to provide otherwise. If you convince them, and they tell the maintenance department to change, they're much more likely to listen.
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I believe that my boss is preparing to fire me after setting me up to fail. What should I do? Several months ago, I agreed to a new job in my company and I was transferred to my company's IT department. I agreed to this new job and departmental transfer because it would introduce me to a high-demand career and there was a significant bump in pay. Before the transfer, I felt I was very successful and mostly fulfilled in my job. I truly felt like I was making difference in my company. I routinely provided deliverables for employees at the director-level and up. According to feedback from my supervisors and various coworkers, my work was above-average and highly-comprehensive . Many of my achievements in that role look terrific on my resume and will likely open up opportunities for me for years to come. After transferring to the IT department of my company, I was given responsibilities that have very little to do with my new job title and written job description. My manager doesn't understand fundamental concepts about my job title and seems unable to assign responsibilities that pertain to the job I expected to do. When I mention those concepts, he quickly changes the conversation. He is now saying those concepts are low priority in the IT department. I requested to work on responsibilities that directly relate to the job I signed up for on several occasions, but that did not work. I'm taking classes that directly pertain to my job title, but my boss said he will not provide assistance moving forward. On two occasions, I requested to go to one-day training sessions on cloud platform products that directly pertain to my profession and he said no each time. There are many days when I can't easily reach my boss and when I do, I have to be very careful about how I word some questions and comments--a problem I never had with the managers I had in this company before this one. A short time ago, I found out that my current manager has an intense hate my previous manager and the department I used to work in before the transfer, which makes me suspect that my departmental transfer was part of some type of a game. He doesn't care much for the work I did in the other department because I needed to use a data source that was slightly different from his preferred data source due to technological challenges the company was and is still facing. Interestingly, my boss was actually directly warned by the CEO of our company about a situation pivotal to his team's performance and, long story short, he's officially on a one-year notice to improve or else--a relatively unusual occurrence. I'm trying to interview for other jobs to get away from this unusual situation, but my manager is starting to keep a close watch on the vacation hours I'm using. It seems he's angling to find an excuse to fire me and he's going to use my repeated requests to use my vacation hours as a reason. How can I avoid being terminated by this manager before finding a new job? I would hate to have to explain this termination every single time I apply for jobs in the future when the premise of it seems underhanded based on what I observed. I'm not even sure how I would explain it. How do I handle this situation in general? <Q> How can I avoid being terminated by this manager before finding a new job? <S> Find your new job as quickly as you can. <S> Meanwhile, don't give your manager a reason to fire you. <S> You know your manager better than anyone here can. <S> If you feel he is closely watching vacation time, then minimize your requests for time off. <S> Interview before or after work hours as much as possible. <S> Group interviews into a single day as best <S> you can so that you don't need to ask for multiple days off. <S> Above all, do your work diligently and to the best of your abilities. <S> Keep your head down. <S> Don't make waves. <S> Don't ask for training. <A> my boss was actually directly warned by the CEO of our company about a situation pivotal to his team's performance... <S> he's officially on a one-year notice to improve or else <S> This seems like something you can use. <S> Do you have a direct line to the CEO (e.g. email address)? <S> You could let your CEO know about things like: <S> I'm taking classes that directly pertain to my job title, but my boss said he will not provide assistance moving forward. <S> On two occasions, I requested to go to one-day training sessions on cloud platform products that directly pertain to my profession <S> and he said no each time. <S> and There are many days when I can't easily reach my boss and when I do <S> , I have to be very careful about how I word some questions and suggestions--a problem I never had with the managers I had in this company before this one. <S> Those would probably be things any party considering your boss's performance would be interested in knowing about. <S> I'd let them know about those types of things. <S> I presume you didn't post the details here for personal reasons, but be aware to be as specific as possible when you relay the details to people at your company. <S> But these are more long-term kinds of things. <S> As for what you should do now to handle your boss, the answer is not a lot. <S> As someone who has been shanghai'd in the past in a similar way, if your boss wants to sack you, they will find a reason to sack you, and that's all there is to it. <S> Just do your best, make sure you meet your deadlines and your standards, keep your head down, and hope for the best. <A> Be the perfect employee until you find your new job. <S> Don't over do it but also don't give them reasons. <S> Plan your vacation days accordingly if you need to go to an interview. <S> It will probably be hard, but if you feel your termination is inminent (like if they stop giving you work) then quit before he does it.
| Concentrate on finding a new job and doing your current job.
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Is it concerning for a small US employer to not have have a maternity leave policy in the job offer? I was recently made a job offer by a US firm (for our purposes, a sub-50-person tech startup with significant VC support). I was surprised to see that there was nothing about maternity/paternity leave in the job offer, though the offer was accompanied by a description of benefits (health insurance, 401(k) match, vacation days, etc). Is the absence of maternity/paternity leave in the offer a red flag? Possible reasons are that I shouldn't expect to see such policies for any American firm below a certain head count; that male employees don't get this in their contracts; or that existing Unpaid leave options are supposed to cover maternity/paternity. I have the employee handbook, and there is no mention of parental leave of any form. Open to all advice on the situation. I am unfamiliar with US contracts. Let me know if further info would be useful. PS. To be clear, I'm male so I can, perhaps, accept the trade-off of no parental leave. But I have a hard limit of getting basic respect from employers (everything else from this company has been great) and I want to know if American techies think this violates that expectation. <Q> It's normal to not see the policy in the offer letter, just as it's normal to not see all the details of the health plan, life insurance or 401k. <S> This doesn't necessarily mean your offer doesn't include these benefits. <S> You could certainly ask them directly about the parental leave policy but this could lead to unnecessary speculation about whether you're expecting a new baby in the near future. <S> Instead, I would ask to see a copy of the current employee handbook. <S> This should give you all the information you need to make an informed decision. <S> Per your edit, since there's no policy specified in the handbook and this is something you care about, you should probably go ahead and ask. <S> Since it's a small startup, they may not have an official policy. <S> In any case, I think you're absolutely right to inquire as to their attitude about it. <S> Even if it never becomes an issue for you personally, it says a lot about the company culture. <S> You don’t want to end up working in a sweatshop. <A> in the USA, 50 is the magic number for many federal regulations. <S> Companies with less than 50 employees are exempt from: The FMLA <S> The Affordable care act <S> And there is often less deference given to fathers than mothers, as This article discusses. <A> Per your edit, since there's no policy specified in the handbook and this is something you care about, you should probably go ahead and ask. <S> Since it's a small startup, they may not have an official policy. <S> Maybe they don't have any employees with young children so it didn't occur to them to implement a policy. <S> In any case, I think you're absolutely right to inquire as to their attitude about it. <S> Even if it never becomes an issue for you personally, it says a lot about the company culture. <S> Quoting a different answer here. <S> Just follow this with, you just want to understand what the company is like towards their employees before you are able to accept the offer. <S> You are making a commitment of 1/3 of your life while you work with them <S> so you want to ensure that this is going to be a place you will be happy and proud to work for.
| Maybe they don't have any employees with young children so it didn't occur to them to implement a policy. It is perfectly normal to even state in your email that you would like to see what their policy is on things like parental leave, dependency leave, sick leave, flexible working (other statutory rights you might have in the US).
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Is it a normal policy to condition raise of salary to a certification? I have never worked under a US Payroll before, this is my first time. By the end of 2017 I got my first performance review, in the letter they specified that I can only receive my new salary once I had evidence to obtain a certification on my field of expertise. Because of various reasons (work load being the main one) I was unable to study and get such certification, therefore I stuck with my same salary all of 2018. By the end of my next review they basically sent me the same letter with same salary offered in 2017 again conditioned to a certification. I would appreciate if anyone can tell me if this is a common practice in the US. Thanks! <Q> Being able to place certified staff in direct or support roles for customers justifies higher fees. <A> While a certification may (or may not) be a common thing to ask for in search of a raise, it is common for a company to indicate what they would like to see before they start discussing raises. <S> In your case, they asked for a certification. <S> You were too busy to provide one. <S> You didn't get a raise. <S> The following year, you mentioned the raise you were seeking, and they mentioned the certification they were seeking. <S> I'd have the certification ready before the next conversation about raises. <S> It is hard to convince a person or company to give you what you want when they are still seeking what they want. <S> It doesn't matter if what they want is certification, better documentation, or a different style of dress; failing to deliver what they request justifies their failure to deliver your request in their mind. <A> By the end of 2017 I got my first performance review, in the letter they specified that I can only receive my new salary once I had evidence to obtain a certification on my field of expertise. <S> This is absolutely allowed. <S> My job required that I earned a specific certificate within 6 months of starting it. <S> Because of various reasons (work load being the main one) I was unable to study and get such certification, therefore I stuck with my same salary all of 2018. <S> By the end of my next review they basically sent me the same letter with same salary offered in 2017 again conditioned to a certification. <S> You might want to ask what programs your company offers to help their employees earn the certificate in question. <S> My employer allowed my to study for the exam, paid for the exam, and pays for the recurring costs to keep the certificate that I was required to earn. <S> Your employer could also make it required at any point if they wanted. <S> Typically, since it’s expensive to hire and train employees, they would give you time to earn the certificate (but that isn’t guaranteed). <S> I would appreciate if anyone can tell me if this is a common practice in the US. <S> This is common practice in many countries including the U.S.A
| Not at all unheard of, especially in consulting agencies. You shouldn’t expect to receive a different salary until you earn that certificate.
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What can I do if I'm asked my current salary in New York City or California? In New York City and California, it is illegal to ask a job candidate his or her current salary. What can I actually do if a recruiter asks me my salary? <Q> If someone asks you your salary and you KNOW that it is now illegal to ask, then look surprised and say <S> Oh! <S> I thought the law had changed and you couldn't ask that now. <S> Is that not the case? <S> Then wait for their answer. <S> That should be enough of a reminder for them to back off. <S> Of course, just because things are illegal doesn't mean that some employers won't do it anyway. <S> And you'll probably not be hired by them, because you're the type to push back. <S> That may be the best outcome for you anyway, but you should be aware that pushing back can push you out of the running. <A> As a job applicant, you should know through experience and industry research what to ask for, and also know the least you will accept in a negotiation. <S> When the time comes to negotiate salary, you should have a number or range in mind to offer when asked. <S> Ideally your previous salary never comes up in the discussion. <S> What can I actually do if a recruiter asks me my salary? <S> You say what you would say if you were anywhere: <S> "I'd rather not discuss my salary history" or "I'd rather talk about the budget for this position" or "I don't think my current salary really applies to this job" <S> Regardless of the law, you are under no obligation to reveal your salary history. <S> Rather than engage in legal discussions, simply focus on what you want your salary to be. <A> Figure out what's happening here. <S> The company is doing something illegal which is a big red flag. <S> Could be that they really don't care about laws, that they are incompetent or it's just an honest mistake. <S> The latter one is a real possibility since the laws are fairly new and recruiters have been asking this question for a long time. <S> Once you understand their reasoning, decide whether you still want to work there or not or not. <S> If no, you simply walk. <S> If yes, give them a range on the high side. <S> "I don't want to violate the confidentiality expectations of my current employer. <S> But given the role, the current salary landscape and my experience level <S> I'm looking for something in the XXX range". <S> There are two possible reason why they ask <S> They want to get a head start on negotiations <S> They want to determine early if there is a major misalignment. <S> If they have 100k in the budget and you are currently making $140k, it's dead on arrival and everyone saves time and effort by killing it early. <A> Be Direct Kindly answer: <S> "I understand it is no longer legal in New York City and the state of California to ask this question. <S> I can explain my salary expectations, though, if you like." <S> There is no harm in being straightforward and will: <S> If this causes distaste to them, you might weigh that against your desire to join the organization. <S> Aside advice: it's always good to know when the law came in effect and why, just in case they're generally interestest in it, so that you can gently explain it to them and they'll understand that it's not only why you can't answer the question, but that there's a good reason for the law. <A> In New York City, at least, the prohibition is on Employers, not recruiters. <S> If the recruiter works for the company, then that is the same as the company. <S> You can deflect that - my salary expectation is ... or confront it - " <S> Since it is no longer legal in New York to require salary information, I'd rather discuss my expectations which are ..." <S> However, if the recruiter is independent, they may be using the information for your advantage. <S> It is generally a bad idea (whatever the state of the law is) to disclose your salary, but for a recruiter, you can look at Nick Corcodilos' advice : Here are my two rules about salary disclosure: <S> If it’s an employer asking — the hiring manager, the HR manager, theHR recruiter, or the company’s online application form — do notdisclose your salary, ever. <S> If it’s a headhunter or third partyrecruiter, disclose your salary only if: (a) <S> The headhunter agrees notto disclose it to the employer without your express permission. <S> No exceptions. <S> (b) <S> The headhunter explains how she’s going to use the information for your benefit — and the reason had better be good. <S> If the headhunter can’t pass tests (a) and (b), don’t tell.
| Salary discussions should be put off as long as possible, so that you have a chance to show through the interview process your worth and value as a candidate. Perhaps inform them of the rule (if they do not know it) and, Let them know you are 'on top of things.'
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Why didn't they find that much knowledge in me? I am a software developer with 5+years of work experience. My background is that I am a not a engineering graduate. But I started my career as a developer trainee and then after 1 year itself, they promoted me as a software Developer. I worked there for 3 years and then I changed the company. I joined second company as a software Developer, and then after 2 years, I have been promoted to Senior role. From both the company, I got very positive feedback from my colleagues and even 1 time I was awarded as a Star employee for the month. I worked as full stack developer in both the company. So I have knowledge from back-end to front-end. I actively involved in all the technical discussions and didn't find hard for me to understand. Recently, I have moved to another country. I come here in a dependent visa. I started searching for a job. I interviewed for 5 companies and joined for a company which gives me the first offer letter, why because I was in need of a job. In this company there was no technical round interview. They asked to create an app using angular. I didn't worked with angular earlier. But still I was able to build the app from scratch. The feedback was like, they liked the way I code, means structuring and modularity. But angular was not up to the mark.They offered me a salary which was below industrial standards. But, as I was in need of a job, so I joined there. After joining there, I got a call from another company which earlier interviewed me. They tell me that they are ready to give me offer. But again the salary was far low compared to industrial stds. I asked them why, they said they didn't find that much knowledge in me . A 5 year experienced would have a great knowledge. So I need to prove myself to get industrial standards. Why did they say that they did not find much knowledge in me? My current company is a startup and here I was getting work more related to preparing docs and gathering requirements etc. Coding is very less. Everyone else in the development in here is more in coding and seems very busy working. And I am feeling like I am not at all critical to business. So I decided to join the other company. I present the same thing to my CEO. And then he immediately raise my salary and asked me to continue here. And guaranteed me that I will get coding tasks and when the team enlarge I will be the lead.. It didn't seems to be trusted and working. But as they hiked my salary and the way they asked me to stay make me think of continue here. After 1 week again I got a call from another company which I earlier attended technical interview and asked me to come for another round of interview. But I declined the request. My concern is, I am also not thinking that I am that much knowledgeable. My self esteem is becoming low. I am thinking like may be I was lacking coding knowledge that's why they are not giving me coding tasks. I always work in professional way. So I didn't want to waste there money or infrastructure on me. As I said earlier this is startup, I feel like I should also support the company to achieve the goals. I love the company culture. I like the teammates and other colleagues. But still I find myself odd. Please advice me what can I do to improve myself and my professional life. <Q> It most likely was an attempt of the interviewer to make you swallow the low pay! <S> Don't let these kinds of tricks impact your self esteem! <S> I do however suggest to take an objective look at your capabilities to find your strength and what you like. <S> Hone those as much as you can and <S> if you're in contact with prospective employers let them know these strengths and that you'd like to focus on these. <S> Make sure not to ignore other important or standard fields though and at least develop an understanding in them. <A> Employers value people with a degree more than they value without a degree, for the same job. <S> You should be able to find a cheap(er) alternative, maybe some distance courses. <S> If you decide for this path, any diploma is better than no diploma. <S> When they say that they did not find enough knowledge, it does not (necessarily) mean that you know nothing. <S> Example: <S> you are an expert in Java and php, but they work with python. <S> While you are able to work as a full-stack developer, and while you CAN learn python, for some time after start you will be just a beginner using the new language. <S> My own example: <S> I worked 18+ years in embedded real-time software development (almost all roles, from execution to management). <S> But if I will apply for a job as a web developer (details irrelevant), I will have to accept to be hired on a beginner position . <S> It may possible to become senior in as little as one year, but my knowledge right now is limited at best. <S> Do not take the experiences personally. <S> Treat them as opportunities to understand yourself better and to understand where you need to improve. <S> Do not be afraid to ask for any details about rejection. <S> Some companies / recruiters will be willing to answer and help you. <A> Personal projects, personal projects, personal projects. <S> I assume, being a professional developer, all of your paid work is under copyright - you are not allowed to distribute it. <S> If you work on public things, (such as websites), then you can point to those in your portfolio, but you can't discuss much at all about the implementation, just "I did that". <S> So, to fill the gap, fill your time with personal projects for fun. <S> Make sure your github looks cool. <S> Contribute to open source projects, or practice using new libraries or whatever, just make sure you have something for employers to look at. <S> "I've worked for 5 years" isn't impressive at all - those in the industry <S> know that time is nothing to do with talent. <S> @virolino suggested getting a degree, but I highly disagree. <S> I also work in software, and I am entirely without a degree. <S> All I have is a couple years' experience, and evidence of a lot of passion. <S> Getting a degree only costs you 4 years of your life, and more money than I care to find out about. <S> It might be true in other fields, but not at all in this one. <S> Finally, you mentioned you were desperate for a job, and had to take the first thing you could get. <S> That is a fantastic way to be very underpaid. <S> Getting a job involves a negotiation process, in which whomever has less to lose by walking away from the situation will come off better. <S> I believe you did things in the wrong order. <S> You should have remained in your home country, employed however you already were, whilst looking for jobs in your destination country. <S> You must learn from the past, and when the time comes to change jobs, start looking WAY before it's too late. <S> Again, you said you're in software. <S> You're highly in demand nowadays. <S> You just have to prove how good you are to an outsider.
| It is in your best interest to get a degree in a relevant field. It is just that you do not have the experience with the technologies they use.
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Why is the HR delaying in rolling out the offer letter inspite of me clearing the technical rounds? I'm an experienced professional ànd I applied on the company's website for a certain job opening. My profile got shortlisted and I gave 1 technical written test, 1 telephonic interview (technical) , 2 face to face technical interviews. Post the 2nd interview, the I was told that i'm selected and they'll be rolling out the offer soon. However it's been 2 weeks and I've still not heard anything from the HR. I called them 3-4 times but they kept on delaying giving some excuse. What should I do? <Q> What should I do? <S> In this case, I think you are best served by continuing your job search as if this one has been lost . <S> Why is the HR delaying? <S> Who knows what might have happened. <S> They may have an internal candidate that surfaced, the hiring manager may have changed their mind, or the position's budget may have been cut, etc. <S> I will say it is not necessarily a reflection on you . <S> So, continue looking for work as if this opportunity has passed. <S> If it still works out, great, it not you are still keeping the fire burning. <A> Depending on the size of the company this could be a whole range of possibilities. <S> Most likely it’s due to red tape and waiting for the correct people to approve and sign things. <S> If it starts stretching out ridiculously long you might be able to talk to someone else that isn’t HR. <S> Potentially your new manager if you can get their details and see what the issue is. <A> First off, Mister Positive is right. <S> You’re not yet committed nor are they. <S> Keep your options open. <S> We just don’t have the info to answer. <S> There are clues you might provide such as company size, industry or other details about them. <S> But ultimately, it comes down each company. <S> This might be a red flag around budgeting or a yellow flag aboutbureaucracy. <S> It may just be (IMHO poor) process. <S> I had an employerwho would not order equipment (computer, phone, etc.) <S> in time forfirst week use. <S> Related to process, it may be someone missed a stepor approval along the way and HR doesn’t want to share that errorwith you. <S> There may be background checks, though I’d think they’d divulge that. <S> It could even be researching legal concerns. <S> They might be considering that there are no anti-discrimination rules they’ve missed. <S> Some scenarios like visa sponsorship may not be fully known. <S> It sounds like something odd going on here, but I wouldn’t recommend walking away solely on supposition if you like the rest of the situation. <S> You might consider requesting a follow-up conversation when the offer does come. <S> Before accepting, you could then raise your concern. <S> If they retract it, you probably dodged a bullet. <S> If it’s just HR being odd—it may be a non-issue. <A> What you should do is continue applying and interviewing for other jobs. <S> That is the part of your situation you have control over - do not lose focus of that. <S> I have personally been, more than once, in almost identical scenarios where the offer never materialised. <S> Look out for number one and continue to look for alternatives.
| It may be that they’re waffling on actually hiring the position. They may be ensuring they have followed a standard process.
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Dealing with a dishonest employee as a consultant I’m a consultant and have a good contract with a company. I used to be an employee but am now working as consultant for them. I have noticed one of the employees is feeding management some bs. In some respects I want to tell management about it but in other respects I don’t want to rock the boat as I have a good gig. This employee is rather powerful and we work well together but I feel management is being taken advantage by him because of the little technical knowledge management has. Best scenario for the company would be to have independent technical auditor evaluate statements of this employee. <Q> Make a suggestion, without naming names, that management might consider retaining either a consultant or full time technical lead (CTO). <S> You don't have to name names or indicate you suspect a problem, but indicate they might be well served by having someone like this help them understand what some of their teams are doing and if they are making good technology decisions. <A> Let it go. <S> Unless you are tasked with auditting this employee, don't. <S> You say yourself you are on good terms with the company. <S> You say you are on good terms with the employee. <S> You say that the issue doesn't effect you directly. <S> This sounds like a great balance. <S> I personally wouldn't disturb it. <S> It's even possible that management is more aware than you suspect and that saying something will only hurt you. <S> I would only change course if things started to effect me, or I felt that the manager/company were being put into a precarious position. <A> Find a way to shine some light on it for their attention without making accusations or drawing any attention to you. <S> Let's say the coworker's unacceptable behaviour is "B". <S> Find another item, "A", which upon examination leads to B. Familiarise the right person or people with item A, and let them figure out B on their own.
| If your interest in solving this is not about taking credit for it, and it should not be, then find away to draw their attention to it which avoids drawing you in or invites anyone to question your motive.
|
Resign immediately after attending work sponsored conference & business trip? I have tickets (flight, hotel, conference) booked and confirmed for a conference I'll be attending in two weeks. But I'll have to hand in my notice immediately after the conference is over because I'll be starting a new job. Although, I will still be working with the company 4 weeks post conference (& notice) would it be better to mention this to the company beforehand? If I do mention it, then there will probably be 3-4 weeks before I actually hand in my notice. Do I offer to pay for flights + conference. Or maybe I just shouldn't say anything....? <Q> then there will probably be 3-4 weeks before I actually hand in my notice Being shown the door <S> earlier than you would like is not fun. <S> If this is the US, you say nothing. <A> would it be better to mention this to the company beforehand? <S> Absolutely not. <S> Assuming your employment is at-will, you are free to leave at any time. <S> Your employer is also free to terminate your employment. <S> Telling your employer <S> beforehand could mean no conference for you. <S> If you are feeling guilty about this, consider that the conference trip is -- in a way -- payment for work you've already performed. <S> Companies usually don't send undeserving employees to conferences. <S> Also consider that most of the time, employees attend conferences for the benefit of the company. <S> As a representative of the company, you are essentially providing advertising for them, either directly or indirectly. <S> Enjoy the conference, and give notice when you return. <S> Your employer made a business decision to send you to the conference, and did not make it conditional on your continued employment. <S> You are making a business decision to leave, and provide your standard notice. <A> You know how Senior Management keep secrets until the time is right... <S> You need to see yourself as your own senior manager and do the same <A> To me this is mostly about the morality of things and possibly about how you want to leave there ;-) <S> I can't answer that for you. <S> Apart from that: does your company have rules concerning these kind of trips? <S> In my shop they would see that as part of the training budget which you will need to repay if you leave within a certain time frame. <S> E.g. a higher percentage if you leave within a year and nothing after 3 years. <S> Maybe you should check your contract?
| Any time you give notice, you risk being terminated immediately.
|
Final interview tomorrow, the bank is now being accused of money laundering I've been interviewing with a bank now for a few weeks. Tomorrow is the final interview, basically either an offer or good bye. Anyway, two days ago, several sources claimed that the bank have been laundering money for a couple of years. This has led to an 25 % decrease in the company stock in recent days. The manager I'm interviewing with has to my knowledge nothing to do with this. The team that he is responsible for is not part of the group who is being accused, they are just a part of the company. My question is, should I bring this up? Should I act as if nothing has happend? <Q> Should I bring this up? <S> No. <S> Should I act as if nothing has happened? <S> Yes. <S> Only exception may be if you are interviewing for a PR related position. <S> Even in this case you need to be very careful when choosing words and avoid being judgemental. <S> But as long as you are still attending the interview, stay professional and leave unrelated distraction out of it. <S> You can consider seriously about if this is going to be a problem for you (to really work for this company) after you have an offer. <S> Before that, you treat it as any other interview you'd take, bad press about the company is not yet your concern. <A> You're evaluating whether you want to work there, and it appears the stock drop is making you question that. <S> You certainly don't want to take a job and immediately face the possibility of layoffs. <S> So yes, it is reasonable to bring it up. <S> But since it is still in the allegations stages, you don't KNOW it is true, and your discussion needs to make that clear. <S> The allegations that have been in the news lately - do you think those will have any effect on this department? <S> And then listen. <S> The hiring manager should be thinking of this too - are you getting the sense they are leveling with you or trying to deflect and change the subject? <S> If they acknowledge this does cause them concern, but that this shouldn't be an issue because of /reasons/, then that is a lot better then if they get offended that you even ask. <S> If they say "no, it won't be an issue" and then change the subject, then... maybe it won't be an issue, and maybe it will <S> but they don't want to tell you <S> - you have no way of knowing. <S> In other words, how they respond might give you some insight. <A> My question is, should I bring this up? <S> Only if different possible answers lead to different actions on your side. <S> That is, they there is an answer X which make you decide not to work for them, while an answer Y makes you want to continue the process. <S> But how likely is such a situation? <S> It would not only require the person having enough knowledge about the alledged money laundring, said person must also be allowed to share that knowledge with you. <S> That seems unlikely. <S> Beside, are there really different answers which would make you act differently? <S> So, you probably should not bring this up. <A> This is the place you will be working for. <S> Day in and day out you will be interacting with these people and you will be an employee of this company. <S> You working for this company will be on your resume. <S> Moreover it will be on your conscience. <S> So with any job, ask yourself: Do the company's goals and morals line up with yours? <S> Don't work for a company you hate, don't trust, or don't enjoy their products. <S> It won't be the job you are best fit for. <S> So if this is concerning to you, and the sources of information seem reputable, I would ask . <S> You either avoid a company who may have legal trouble in the future if its true (which can effect your employment/difficult of job), get a better understanding of the company's response during rocky times, or solidify your enjoyment of how the company does business. <S> This could jeopardize your employment there if asked in the wrong way. <S> Politely ask them about the situation and ask for their side of the story - do not accuse. <S> Heck! <S> You'll get a side of the story most news sources won't by doing so. <S> If they respond with a nasty response after you've asked nicely - congratulations! <S> I see this as avoiding a company who is unkind to those who question the status quo. <S> If they respond nicely with a reasonable answer, you can rest assured. <S> There are plenty of other banking jobs! <S> Don't trap yourself into the corner by thinking this may be the only one.
| You can cancel the interview if you really don't see yourself willing to work for this company because of the bad press.
|
My boss hits too hard I'm new to the company, Oct 2018, and I'm just now getting back into the technology field after being a classroom teacher for the last 10 years. I left education because of the lack of money, and I've landed a really good gig now - and I really enjoy it. As I've been progressing in my assignments and accomplishments, my boss has become more and more enthusiastic in his approvals. He has started "patting" my back, which is more like hitting me. I must get slapped upside the shoulder 4-7 times a day now...and they seem to be getting harder. I really like my boss, he's extremely talented and brilliant in his field. He's taught me so much and I'm continuing to learn every day. I don't want to hinder/hurt the boss/employee relationship that we currently have. I'm a big guy, and these "pats" don't necessarily hurt, it's more of an annoyance . We're a small company (around 50ish employees) and no real HR, more like a family atmosphere. I would like to know the best way to handle approaching my boss? Do I say something? Should I block him, and throat-punch him back? (kidding) How can I tactfully handle this situation without hurting the job relationship and my great opportunity at this company? Do I say anything at all? UPDATE - So today my boss swung by my desk, "How's it going?" To which I replied by showing him my work and code. "Good job!" he said with 2 hard 'pats.' I tried the "OW!" response. To which he looked at me, said "Oh, come on" and then did it again. Clearly that didn't work... EDIT - As to why this question is different than "My boss slapped me over a calculation error" - My boss isn’t hitting me, I’ve made no errors, and I’m not looking to complain about it. My question revolves around an overly excitable boss who pats my back too hard when he likes my work, and how to politely, tactfully, mention it to him, or to see if another resolution exists. <Q> How can I tactfully handle this situation without hurting the job relationship and my great opportunity at this company? <S> Do I say anything at all? <S> I was in a similar situation with my manager who's a smaller guy than me. <S> He liked to pat me and other people on the team hard on the back. <S> The pats were too hard and I don't like it when a coworker touches me. <S> Both of us being relatively new to our position, he being a new manager and I being new to the company, I took a more indirect approach. <S> When he hit me too hard, I say audibly "Ow! <S> " We'd continue the conversation, but the "Ow!" was noticeably awkward to where after a few times he completely stopped patting me on the back. <S> Our work relationship is still really great. <S> I'd recommend you give that "Ow!" <S> a shot. <S> The potential downside is that he might take it as a challenge to hit you harder, but, as a manager <S> , it's not professional to do so! <A> Based on your edit, it sounds like your boss fits a fairly classic "Dad Trope" persona of being encouraging but somewhat goofy and stuck in his ways. <S> By choosing this route you signal to them that you're willing to play ball with them and aren't pointing any fingers or intentionally trying to say that you're offended. <S> Boss: <S> slaps your back too hard <S> You: <S> Oof, are you getting stronger? <S> Haha, that one really hurt! <S> Could ya try to hold back for my sake in the future? <S> We can't all be as tough as you ya know <S> Boss... <S> Boss: <S> Oh you! <S> I'm sure it's not that bad! <S> You: <S> Well you know I love working here enough that you could beat me over the head <S> but I'd still rather you didn't! <S> (With a joking tone) Can continue with these sorts of hints as long as necessary. <S> If it goes a week without alleviating the issue, the next step in the game is to have the "serious talk". <S> Use the tone of voice you might use when concerned for somebody else. <S> Talk to him about this on a day he hasn't slapped your shoulder. <S> Stick to the facts. <S> If humor doesn't work, you go to the polar opposite end of the spectrum and use "please" and "I feel" statements to emphasize that it means a lot to you, and so does your professional relationship with him. <S> Feel free to emphasize that you respect him. <S> Combining these two approaches as necessary has worked for me in the past when dealing with my own father in professional situations, as well as supervisors in my old jobs. <S> Most of the time they'll pick up on it during the humor phase, but sometimes the serious phase is necessary. <S> Best of luck! <A> Now that you’ve tried to passively address this by saying “Ow” and didn’t get the results you wanted, I recommend you address this directly. <S> The next time you get an opportunity to speak with him in private you should approach him and say something along the lines of “Bob, I know the pats on the back are good natured <S> and I appreciate the sentiment, but they’re really uncomfortable for me. <S> Can you try and just not pat me on the back?” <S> Being open and honest and to the point is the best way to deal with this. <S> I had a coworker who would tap me on the shoulder to get my attention while I had headphones on and it irritated me to no end. <S> Once after he tapped me on the shoulder, I took my headphones off and said “Greg, can you please stop doing that? <S> It really bothers me.” <S> and he obviously felt bad and apologized <S> and I quickly explained it wasn’t a nig deal and not worth feeling bad about. <S> The behavior stopped that day. <A> Just communicate this in private with your boss. <S> Sounds like he is reasonable and trying to be a good boss, so should hopefully respect the fact that you said something and also that you did it in private. <S> May i suggest ending the conversation with a joke or something else you both can share a laugh about so that he knows the positive relationship he has been trying to foster is still there. <A> My situation was slightly different. <S> When I get stuck with some code, my boss has a habit of making rounds just to see how I am faring. <S> Sometimes he just observes my code to give some input. <S> When I am being productive I don't mind him staring at my computer screen for hours. <S> But when I am not I get nervous. <S> What did I do? <S> I simply told him that I get nervous when he is around on my unproductive days. <S> I will ask for help if needed. <S> Boss's reaction? <S> He smiled and walked off. <S> Side effects on our relationship? <S> It should suffice to say none . <S> I made two things clear: 1) <S> Will ask help when needed. <S> 2) <S> He does not has to worry about me and can concentrate on his own work. <S> I think communication is the key. <S> Either by words or actions. <S> Let people know they are causing you discomfort and how can it be resolved. <S> How would they know unless you communicate? <S> They are not mind-readers.
| For defusing situations that you feel are serious with this type of personality when you also want to be careful not to offend them, I highly recommend using humor as much as possible.
|
Putting in longer Resignation notice than legally required good or a bad idea? Where I am located, I am required to give my employer written notice of my resignation 2 weeks prior to my declared termination date. However, I have a great relationship with my boss and I have an extremely large amount of responsibilities (ie the "bus factor" is very strong with me), I'm not sure if 2 weeks would be enough time for him to hire someone else and have me pass off all of my work. We work on projects pretty independently, so it would be a huge disruption in the project deadlines to have to hire someone and get them up to speed on the project and take over. It would make me feel a bit guilty only giving 2 weeks notice even though that's the legal requirement. Is it "bad practice" to give notice longer than legally required? The obvious upside is that I can let my employer know that I care about the company and ensure I don't burn any bridges on the way out. The downsides is that this might be superfluous and perhaps my "bus factor" is less than I thought. Companies always find a way to bounce back after someone important leaves. The other (probably less likely) reason is maybe my boss doesn't take is very well and now my last x number of weeks are less enjoyable, or I even get terminated early. Can anyone shed some light on this? Should I just stick to the legal requirement and try and not feel guilty about it? <Q> I can think of dozens of reasons not to give an extended notice. <S> You've listed some of them above, he could become nasty and make your remaining time difficult, he could do a number of things. <S> As your boss he has failed to do the right thing and set a proper notice period (it goes both ways) probably for his own bottom line, and he has ignored the bus factor. <S> This will be a lesson learnt for him to not get stingy with notice periods and set a longer one for the next employee. <S> Move on, you're doing him a favor. <S> PS: If they're THAT desperate to sort things out after you leave they can always hire you as a consultant later on and you can charge by the hour. <A> I don't think there is an hard and fast rule for this. <S> It basically boils down on how well you know your company and the people working for it, and how covered you are for the next job. <S> Never let the company know you are leaving until you are ready to leave. <S> If you have this covered, then it's all an issue about trust. <S> You've worked with them for some time, you should know what kind of reactions you should expect. <S> If you aren't sure, again, stick with the legal period. <S> If you are sure, then this might make sense (and if it works it will give you goodwill from somebody in the industry, which is always beneficial), but you have to be sure. <A> Anecdotally, I found (with a very good relationship with all colleagues and supervisors) it to be a wonderful idea. <S> It allowed me to leave with a sense of good faith: I explained that Ihad no complaint about the organization that I was in, and wouldstrive to make my departure as positive for them as possible; It allowed them time to ask questions what they could do better; It was easier to take 'an afternoon off' or so totake care of my own personal transition - if you're moving, or needto meet with a new employer, handle HR paperwork, etc. <S> - because ifyou have only two weeks left and you need to take a day off, thathurts them. <S> If you have a month notice, and need to do the same, iteases the transition. <S> My notice required was 30 days, I gave 60, and needed every second of that extra time, but I was moving overseas.
| You're also giving him too much time to begin resenting you even if it doesn't turn nasty in the beginning. If you haven't signed anything yet, don't.
|
Is ok to divide my Resume into 2 sections, one showing work experiences and the other for a more detailed explanation on my skills? I'm currently trying to rewrite my professional resume realizing the mistakes I made on the previous one. Now I want to keep my resume clean and easy to read. I think I should also keep the technical jargon separated from stuff like my personal info and work/educational experiences. I have explained under each work experience the responsibilities in sense of impact and achievements, but I feel it might not be sufficient to thoroughly showcase my professional skills. I thought maybe I can go into more details in a separate section for the interested individuals. Is what I'm planning to do a good idea or it will just be overlooked completely? Update: I'm pretty sure I'm in a country which there is no standard. I have personally seen tons of resumes ranging from 1 to several pages. But I wasn't planning to go more than 2 or 3 pages at most. The resume template I have chosen has quite a few spacing in it to be aesthetically pleasing so I can't really put everything necessary in the first page. <Q> Yes, it is perfectly fine to split the CV in two parts. <S> I did that for many years, and I never had a problem. <S> Here is a description of the structure of my CV. <S> As a wrap-up, the structure is: CV / 1 page - overview - read by everybody; <S> CV / N additional pages - details - read by whoever is interested <S> Cover Letter / K pages - usually not requested (in my case) <A> Your resume is a way to get a hiring manager or recruiter interested in talking to you about a position you applied to. <S> It doesn't need to answer every possible question they'll have, but it should pique their interest. <S> My resume's structure is: Name <S> Contact information Education Skills Related Work Experience <S> The full resume is 2 pages, but I usually trim to 1 page depending on the role I'm apply for. <S> Under each work experience be sure to highlight your impact to the company (i.e. did you increase number of users, deliver critical feature, reduce company costs, etc) and the tech stack you used. <S> Franky, I would not read your detailed skills section, because it needs to be in some professional context. <A> I read a lot of CVs and the key is to match the job description to what they are looking for. <S> I would recommend hitting the key points on a summary page, cover letter or the opening paragraphs. <S> If it is technical role e.g. requires skill/formal education/degree in thing <S> x, then state that early on. <S> Big tip <S> : check to make sure you are providing what the advert looks for. <S> The number of times i've posted adverts that say 'please include a covering letter' and one isn't included (the job required a lot of attention to detail). <S> Good luck with the job search!! <A> One skill you may need is the ability to move all the required information from your two-part resume/CV into the computer based job applications. <S> In many cases they only have a single box per previous place of employment. <S> In that box you have to include all the relevant information regarding skills, duties and accomplishments. <S> If you are spending way too long rearranging all the information on the resume into the chronological based form that application is requesting you may be decide that applying to multiple places is too hard. <S> I always advise people to make sure their resume is still effective when it is cut and pasted into text boxes with no formatting.
| OK to split into two sections so long as you grab the readers attention with matching skills and encourage them to read through. Depends on the type of job.
|
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