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How can I review my manager, who is fine? I have to write a review of my manager for the past half. My manager is perfectly fine. They're pretty hands-off, which is what I want: they stay out of the way and just allow me to ship things. I don't really want them to change in the next half, and I don't need them to try to improve, everything is fine as-is. But, I need to write several hundred words here. How can I approach this? <Q> Get this straight - A review is not a criticism. <S> It also captures the success stories - more importantly, which actions lead to success for certain person / scenarios. <S> Remember, all feedback are constructive: <S> Negative feedback provides us with the action points to work upon to improve Positive feedback recognizes the efforts that went in and sets examples of expected actions to be followed / adopted. <S> Since all you have is good experience, in your review, mention: <S> How your manager's behavior helped you to stay motivated and deliver the expected outcome. <S> List any cases where your manager offered help without you asking. <S> List any cases where their leadership skills made the difference. <S> And seriously, if you have a good manager, a few hundred words to appreciate them is just too few, IMHO. :) <A> Part of your job as a reviewer is to identify opportunities for your manager to improve, even if minor behaviors. <S> Everyone could always do something different - what about your colleague have you found annoying or inefficient in the past months? <S> In your review letter/essay, I suggest you do the following: Identify 3-5 specific behaviors that you want to discuss , balanced between strengths and potential weaknesses (e.g., 2 strenghts + 2 weaknesses). <S> These behaviors might sound like: <S> "My manager allows me to experiment with alternative solutions when I'm working on a task - <S> he/ <S> she doesn't assert that I complete my work a specific way." <S> "My manager frequently changes priorities for the team throughout the week - he/ <S> she is understanding that this switching occasionally causes confusion, but I would prefer if our priorities were durable for a reasonable period of time." <S> Address each behavior in turn, including specific evidence. <S> E.g., if you boss is "hands off," remark on how your manager was encouraging of some entrepreneurial ideas you implemented in a recent project. <S> Close with a general affirmation that you value your manager as a colleague and are excited to continue working with him/her. <A> Congrats on getting a good one! <S> Most managers need improvement. <S> Just do a recap of what s/he has done in the first half, making sure it is in an obviously positive light. <A> Good managers would welcome, rather than retaliate against, constructive criticism, and you would fear no reprise if you found some quirks they have they can work on. <S> If they've caused no problems to you, and in fact have helped you out in certain situations, by all means, say this on the review form! <S> For example, " My manager, Curly Howard, has a tendency to be flustered when a vendor doesn't understand what he needs. <S> In our one-on-ones, I offered to help him on some of the difficult vendors, and three weeks later, we successfully negotiated a multi-year contract. " <S> Or, " My manager, Larry Fine, will sometimes have inconsistent time management, but will also offer to pitch in when we're an an impasse. <S> I think he can use a time management course to help him out, which will free him up further for other projects. <S> " <S> Again, a manager is always looking to improve, so giving them a fair assessment helps out a lot.
| The key here is to highlight their strengths, but also show where they can improve, i.e. "My manager can improve in X." List any cases where their managerial skills came to rescue. Great reviews are balanced (address both strengths and potential growth areas), specific (address specific behaviors, not general attitudes), and include evidence (anecdotes of the behaviors discussed).
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Recruiter or the company's application webpage? I was recently contacted by a recruiter who asked for a phone conversation to see if I'm interested in working for a company as a xyz. Afterward, I looked at the company's website and found a relevant position being advertised there. I already scheduled a phone conversation with the recruiter, but I was wondering if it's a better idea to apply for the position through the company's website? Or is there any general benefit in proceeding with a recruiter? <Q> There are pros and cons to going direct. <S> While you can cut out the middle man and can negotiate for yourself, the company might not know you; you're another random person asking for a job <S> If you bypass the recruiter, you might not get to the interview stage. <S> If you go through the recruiter, then you don't lose anything except the ability to represent yourself. <S> You won't have to pay the guy's commission should you get hired. <A> I'm by no means an expert as I've never personally used a recruiter, but based on colleagues and friends experiences they've shared with me about recruiters is summarised perfectly in this answer from this question . <S> Recruiters often have a good perspective of the industry so they can help fix up your CV, prioritize skills or otherwise make yourself more hire-able. <S> They can also be better salary negotiators that you, since most people do it poorly. <S> Often they will have good relationships with the company in question and will be able to personally vouch for your skills based on them working with the company hiring managers before and getting feedback. <S> Additionally if you find this recruiter to be good at their job in respect to getting you a good position, with great negotiation skills and good ties in the market. <S> You'll have someone to talk to when you need any career advice after you decide to move on from your new position with who's hiring they can keep you posted with relevant jobs. <S> However, remember that you are not the recruiters' customer. <S> You are a product the recruiter is selling to their customer, the hiring organization. <S> Recruiters are often only interested in you for roles they have or to network with other candidates they can place. <A> Why not pursue both? <S> So long as you're transparent when talking to recruiters about having multiple applications in the system, there's nothing to lose by submitting an online application and one through the recruiter. <S> A duplicate application can easily be removed later in the process. <S> A direct application ensures the company sees your profile and it's not filtered out by the recruiter. <S> An application with the recruiter can help you move through the process more quickly. <S> Additionally a recruiter can help you find roles at other companies. <A> The company may well have hired the recruiter because they were getting no response. <S> Does the company web page say how long the role has been online? <S> The opposite might be true. <S> The company may have decided to advertise on its own to either save the recruiter’s finder fee and any ongoing commissions — which are usually quite high — or because they have have been unable to supply the employer with good candidates. <S> I’ve seen this happen at least once. <S> You might take a look at the recruiters website and see if your field is one of their specialties to help you work it out. <S> In any case, I’d be calling the hiring company hr unit and ask to speak to the contact person on the ad, and ask them what their preference is. <S> They may have even forgotten the ad is online. <S> I’ve seen that happen too. <S> Ps <S> I was a self employed contractor for over 15 years and have been the client of probably 15-20 recruitment companies over the years. <A> You have two issues to consider. <S> One: <S> The best way to get an interview. <S> Ask the recruiter for advice and help. <S> If you make direct contact with a hiring manager, ask that person for help too. <S> "I really want to work here; please help me make that happen" is a good way to pursue it. <S> Two <S> : Conflicts between recruiter and hiring company <S> This really isn't your problem, but still be sensitive to it. <S> As a hiring manager I've had a few hassles about whether recruiters should get paid when I got a resume from more than one source. <S> Here's the thing: Commission recruiters get paid when a candidate they present gets hired. <S> So, if they present your resume first they'll be entitled to get paid even though you sent your own resume later. <S> You can be transparent about this by putting a note on your resume saying "Jack Sprat of the firm <S> Abc told me on (date) he would present me for this job.) <S> If you have a friend present your resume to get a referral bonus, but a recruiter presents you first, your friend probably will not get the bonus. <S> Let your friend know about this.
| The company might have a professional relationship with the recruiter, who is actively seeking people who are suitable for the role - essentially the company is using the recruiter to pre-select a candidate list.
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Should I approach my manager about an incompetent tech lead? I work as an engineer in a team structured as follows project manager (my manager)└─── lead data scientist (my technical lead) └─── me (and other engineers) Unfortunately, I'm not convinced the technical lead's technical skills are up to the standard required for his job: his knowledge of statistics is low, and I've had to explain 1st-year-undergraduate-level material to him; his coding practices are poor: he doesn't know how to use git (branches are mystery to him) and doesn't write unit tests (which would be OK if his code was perfect, I guess, but it's not); he has poor machine learning practices: doesn't seem to be able to implement cross-validation correctly (even with Python's easy sklearn API), is unfamiliar with model explainability/interpretability, and does virtually no exploratory data analysis; some of his visualisations would be worthy of viz.wtf. They literally make no sense, for the simple reason that he hasn't spent 5 minutes exploring/understanding the data before trying to plot it. Working together is becoming increasingly hard and borderline unpleasant. He's very argumentative and doesn't respond well to his work being criticised / other ideas (which are sometimes necessary if we want the project to have any chance of being completed successfully). This situation doesn't seem very stable. In this situation, should I approach our manager and politely state my reservations about the technical lead, or is it best to just do my best and make the most of the difficult situation? <Q> This is a VERY VERY tricky situation and you have to be very strategic about how you do this. <S> Before you run to any PM with your complaints you need to back everything up with proof. <S> You need: dates Times Type of incident(problem committing a git branch/ <S> adding new git branch Summary of what was said by either party regarding any disagreements you said <S> Any communications (email) between you both. <S> Any witnesses to any exchanges (kind of tricky because they may not want to get involved) <S> No one cares about the your opinion... <S> they only care about facts. <S> So make sure you can back up everything you say. <S> Especially if your complaining to your manager's 'boss'. <S> Then, you have to plan of what you are going to say to the Project Manager as you cannot under any circumstances <S> say "I think the tech lead is incompetent <S> ' it's all about framing what you say and how you say it (for you all know the PM and the TL might be friends). <S> Schedule a 20 min meeting with the PM. <S> Step 1: <S> Email Write the PM saying you have an issue <S> and you would really appreciate his objective opinion <S> it won't take long as you know <S> he's super busy <S> but It's a matter of importance. <S> When are you free? <S> Step 2: <S> Maybe I'm a bit of worrier <S> but I noticed that (then start presenting your evidence to establish a patter that the Tech lead isn't good at his job) . <S> Then when your done say something along the lines of: This gives me no pleasure in saying this or by having these observations <S> but I would rather tell you for the GOOD of the project than keep my mouth shut. <S> What <S> do YOU as the PM think this issue should be handled? <S> Thus making this an issue for the PM to solve rather than something for you to fix. <S> Plus it takes it from being about you to something that ensures the project moves forward smoothly. <S> Then when the meeting is done, write an email thanking the PM for taking the time to speak to you, then if anything goes wrong you have proof that you spoke to the PM and left it for him to handle. <A> Do you think you would be better fit for Lead Data Scientist? <S> Because this is what your manager will glean from your approaching him about the current one`s shortcomings. <S> Even if you mention that you are NOT gunning for the promotion <A> First of all, remember one thing, you are not in charge of reviewing the work (pattern or habit) for the lead - so go ahead raising a flag only if their behavior is a problem and has a direct impact on your work outputs. <S> In case, due to their work habit, you (and others) are facing difficulties, I'd suggest the following steps: <S> Try noting down the occurrences where their behavior and involvement (or lack, thereof) creates problem / hindered to your work. <S> Try communicating the problems to your lead, in writing. <S> In case you don't get a response, or things do not change, involve your manager. <S> Remember, your manager will only be interested in knowing the matter and getting involved if they see that the behavior is actually affecting the work environment and outcome - so be sure not to express / impose your opinions about the lead or the behavior - rather make points on <S> How the behaviors are impacting the overall process and work-relationships negatively (Demotivating) <S> How the lack of leadership capability is affecting the process (more time-consuming, lesser quality outputs) <S> Why the lack of technical skills are problematic (More bugs, more rework etc.) <S> And have supporting incidents as proofs. <S> Only these things can make your manager believe your version and see the fact through. <A> Are there areas of good practice that you haven't mentioned or are flat out unaware of? <S> It is unusual for anyone to be great at every aspect of their job, especially one requiring such a complex (and recently developed) knowledge base. <S> Additionally, new hires are sometimes selected to cover known weaknesses. <S> It is plausible that your technical lead has failings in some of the areas where you are strongest while having other qualities that make them a good technical lead. <S> This might not be the case but you should consider the possibility.
| In the meeting In the meeting you can say something along the lines of: I am concerned about X (Tech lead).
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Misrepresented my work history I submitted my resume to a prospective employer where I combined two similar positions I held at a university. Both positions were full time lab scientist roles, but they were in two different labs that I worked for 1 year each with no gap in between. I did not lie about my duties or anything else on my resume, but I gave no indication that they were separate positions. The resume was the only document I submitted (there was no electronic submission process that asked for my job history). I realize this was an extremely silly mistake to make. I will be having an in person interview soon and I'm wondering what is the best way to rectify this. From a hiring manager's perspective, would this be a deal-breaker? <Q> This isn't a problem. <S> I cannot imagine anyone caring. <S> You had the same employer, same job title. <S> Just worked in a different "office" and under a different supervisor. <S> Unless you wanted to highlight having more jobs or the difference between the jobs, merging them makes perfect sense and declutters your resume. <S> It doesn't matter if it is a new contract or not. <S> It doesn't matter if you interviewed for the 2nd position. <S> Unless you are filling out a form with specific rules that talk about the definition of position, and the two year contracts are defined as separate: you aren't being dishonest, nor are you being deceptive. <S> I'd be annoyed if someone contacted me with any "clarification" to "update" the resume with that change, and confused if someone mentioned it without prompting during the interview <S> (why would they bother telling me this?). <S> It would be noise, and not at all useful to determine if you are a good candidate for a job. <A> Unless there was an explicit criteria that you matched by mistakenly combining the job details - I do not see this to be a problem. <S> Be ready to explain the same if asked in in-person interview. <S> Do not think too much about it, it's just what you mentioned, a silly mistake . <S> In future proof-read the CV before sending it out to avoid these sort of inconvenience. <A> I have hired people in the private sector. <S> This is not an issue. <S> In the interview you can mention you worked in two separate labs doing similar things. <S> Call it whatever you want, but don't call it a mistake. <S> In the interview you want to highlight you successes and why you are a good fit for this position. <S> Going into minutia about why you listed this as one instead of two experiences on your resume is going to bore and distract your interviewer. <S> If they start to check employment history, then you can mention it to HR that your current employment has occurred under two different divisions.
| The way you mentioned it, I read it as an honest mistake where you missed to clarify the job details, it should not be a deal breaker for you. You can do two (both) things: Update the resume with the correct details and send a copy to them mentioning the change.
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Being late frustrates my coworkers, but I have great results I work an IT office job as a programmer. I program on my own because I'm the only one who is proficient in a certain technology stack the company uses but I am part of a scrum team so we have regular meetings. I arrive at the office late at least once every week, sometimes missing the daily stand-up. It is even getting noticed by colleagues from other departments ("that guy is never on time"). I understand it is upsetting for people who work regular 9-5 to see someone slouch in at 10. Missing the daily stand-up also violates the (scrum) principle of respect. However, nobody sees the things I do. I work late, regularly until 8pm when the office building closes mandatory. I sometimes continue at home and I program in weekends and at night because it is so quiet and easy to focus. I love coding! I read articles, I visit and post on stack overflow. I experiment at home with new releases and new technologies. It is what drives and motivates me. I'm a very good sleeper, but obviously my biorhythm is shifted a few hours compared to most 9-5 co-workers. Getting up an hour or two early to be there on time kills me. Not just physically, but it's also slam dunk in peak traffic. It drains energy to the point where I can no longer be the best developer I can be. I actually tried this for a month after giving up and it took only a week to get back to my 'natural' rhythm). I also don't have kids which allows me this lifestyle, something many colleagues don't see. I'm torn. I want to be a good team member, but not at the cost of deteriorating my capabilities as a programmer. What can help me find a better balance between the two? I tried being open about this to my co-workers but the general reaction seems to be "I understand but not really - I don't agree with your lifestyle". It feels like someone who is addicted to smoking and all the non-smokers roll their eyes in disapproval, replying "Quit smoking, duh!". My manager doesn't make that much fuzz out of this, because I have great results. The real problem here is the frustration that boils up in the team (and apparently other colleagues). But to remove those frustrations, my results will go down - something my manager will definitely notice. <Q> What can help me find a better balance between the two? <S> As you do Scrum, there is a time and place to bring this up: The retrospective meeting . <S> In the next retrospective meeting, talk about it. <S> Talk about the fact that moving the daily stand-up to (let's say) <S> 11:00 would improve your productivity. <S> Find a solution with the team. <S> They may not understand your needs, but since it should be easy to accommodate them (9-5 workers are there at 11:00, too) <S> it should not be a problem. <A> If coming in late is okay for management, at least respect the meetings, i.e. be punctual for the scrum meeting or have them re-arranged to a later time. <S> And suggest to management to make flexible times an official policy if it is not, such that your coworkers don't feel you're being singled out in having these freedoms. <A> You should make an effort to be in the office as much as possible and don’t make a habit of being late. <S> In the long run, you might consider moving closer to work. <S> If being physically present is an expectation of your company, then you are letting your team down by not being in the office at the same time as the rest of the team. <S> You’re meant to be there for teaching, learning, helping, building relationships, celebrating, ad-hoc feedback, etc. <S> Regardless of whether or not working in the office is an expectation, you should make a strong effort to resolve animosity between you and your team members. <S> Talk with each of them, describe your situation, ask them for potential solutions and opinions, and be ready to try out some of their ideas. <S> Your relationships with your colleagues are very important - <S> even your solo work will suffer if you become distant from the rest of your team. <A> You could ask your manager or SCRUM master whether it would be possible to move the timeslot of the daily standup meeting to a time where you can easily attent because it aligns better with your lifestyle. <S> In my team we had similar problems with a colleague of mine, who also had trouble being in the office on time for the daily standup meeting; and moving the meeting by only one hour allowed that colleague to be on time, most of the time. <S> It solved these issue for my team.
| If your current living situation makes certain start times difficult, talk with your manager about the issue and ask for an earlier/later start time. Working on a team is about more than getting your tasks done - being present is important too.
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Should one tell their boss before looking for a new position, if one feel hard to replace and underpaid? I just had my salary negotiation yesterday and my chief said my performance this year was great, I fit well with the team, they didn't expect that, etc... Yet I will not get any raise this year. I will eventually get one, but not this year as I freshly joined the company and I am still young. Now, I feel that I kind of took a step back joining this company. A few years ago, I was a Team lead in another company with 20 buyers under me. I know that I would have earned some 50-60k if I had stayed there one more year, but because I had to change country for personal reasons, I left my position and company. Last year I settled for this position as this job is next to my home town and family and as it is in the branch I wanted to work in. Still I feel underpaid (42k）and feel I could easily find a better paying job somewhere else. All of my colleagues are older and obviously the age is more important than the skills. I can definitely understand that they want to increase salary with company experience, yet I feel like if I had joined the company 10 years later and done the exact same thing (with same performance) I would have been paid more. Should I tell my boss I feel underpaid and undervalued and that I was expecting a raise after my first year already when joining (even though I didn't expressly mention it). Or should I keep silent until I get another job offer to show them that they might lose me if they don't move? The chief said they only have a certain amount to dispense for the salary increase each year. I am hoping that I can make them think about me more for the next salary increase batch, if I tell them I am highly unhappy with my current salary I don't really want to leave but I don't want to wait for 5-10 years to get 50k as I newly have a family to carë for. Note: 1）My chief is not the CEO, this is a 15k employees company. I believe my boss got told that he couldn't give me a raise as I freshly joined. 2）I just replaced an old guy who was said to perform super well, I am not far from his performance, and it would be quite hard to replace me due to the skills needed. I believe they took a long time to find me 3) The only colleague who could replace me, If I had to leave, will retire in some 3 years. As I wrote, we are not easy to replace. <Q> Every year you wait for some vaguely promised raise to materialize "next year" is another year you work for less than you're actually worth. <S> Also, you cannot be any clearer in your message (that you feel undervalued) than by getting a better offer elsewhere and handing in your notice/resignation shortly after being denied a raise. <S> For me at least, merely telling my boss that I felt under-valued never resulted in more than yet another vague promise of future raises that would in the end never materialize. <A> What you need to keep in mind is that you made a decision to join the company with the current salary and current role. <S> No longer being in charge of 20 employees and missing out on 60k is a personal thing that you should have dealt with before accepting the offer. <S> It is not your new company's fault you accepted the conditions of employment. <S> If this is an annual review that takes place, it is not surprising they have a policy of no raises in the first year. <S> You should formally ask for a non-annual salary review which will be a separate process. <S> Annual salary review usually looks at performance. <S> Non-annual salary review will look at prevailing employment conditions too. <S> That's generally how these things work. <S> If you want to transition into a leadership role, and into more money, that is something you should certainly discuss with your chief. <S> Having said that, your chief isn't likely to care about whatever assumptions you had regarding salary increases. <A> Bit of a hard answer here: Don't feel <S> you're underpaid: <S> know <S> you're underpaid. <S> If someone came up to me and said, "I feel I'm underpaid <S> and I could probably get a better paying job elsewhere," I'm going to mentally think, ' Everyone thinks they're underpaid, and the fact you said "probably" means you don't actually know one way or another.' <S> Because while there are lots of people that are underpaid, but there are also lots of people that merely think/feel <S> they're underpaid. <S> Instead, you want to tell him why you're underpaid: <S> Because of extraordinary accomplishments X, Y, and Z that you'veachieved in the last year. <S> The industry average for your position is $A, and you're earning $B less than that. <S> There are multiple companies offering a similar job to yours for $C more than you make. <S> And/Or/Etc. <S> Your goal is to convey to him that You're underpaid - this isn't a minor point. <S> Just because you believe you're underpaid has no bearing. <S> It's whether the company thinks you're underpaid that determines whether they'll give you your raise. <S> It's likely that if the salary picture doesn't change, you're goingto move elsewhere for a larger salary. <S> It's not that you're threatening to do so <S> , it's just that you could get an extra $A if you switch - and that's not something people generally turn down. <S> From there, it's pretty straight-forward. <S> If they don't take concrete steps (not just words) in a relatively rapid pace, they simply don't feel you're underpaid and are inviting you to go elsewhere if you feel you can do better. <S> If they do feel you're underpaid, they'll take steps to keep you within the organization.
| In my experience, once your current boss has made it clear that you won't be getting a raise any time soon, despite his praise for your excellent performance, the only/best way for you to get your raise is to find a better paying job elsewhere.
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My girlfriend and her colleagues are in a toxic work environment. What can I do? What happened? : My girlfriend is a resident (medical doctor) in a large institution in Italy. She has some 7-8 other colleagues, and all of them are exploited by their superior to do all the hard work in their place. They run the ward by themselves (which by contract they are supposed to work under supervision all the time), they sign therapy (if something goes wrong it's their fault), they are psychologically forced to work way more than what is in their contract (12h/day on average). Being forced to run ward all the time, they don't have time to learn other important skills (like ultrasonography to name one, which is done by their superior alone while they run the ward). At the end of the year, they are forced to sign a document that certifies that they have done ultrasonography during the year (as per their contract). They do take a lot of other risks they are not supposed to take. What her colleagues did? Their colleagues don't seem to have reacted to this situation, even though they talk a lot about trying to change things. What we've done so far? My girlfriend and I decided to file an anonymous whistleblow explaining this situation to the institution, which resulted in a meeting with their boss, but eventually didn't lead to any change. What now? Now she doesn't want to create any more "problems", and is resigned to the fact that nothing can change, and don't want to file another whistleblow. She's psychologically destroyed, lost faith in her job that she loved, have lost empathy and everything. What can I do? I am thinking about another anonymous whistleblow that could force the boss to change things. Even though she doesn't like it, I'm ethically inclined to do something to change her situation. Clarification:She really wants to become a Neurologist, the only way she can do that is complete a 4 years training after graduation (she's almost half-way). So basically she just can't change job, she could instead ask to be accepted in another Neurology school in the country (but both Department directors should agree, and it's not that easy since by contract you could change only for family reasons or for "serious reasons" which is a wide concepts).Her contract is a 38 hours/week one; it's also written that sporadically the resident could work up to 48 hours/week. She works 70-75 hours/weekly on average. And these hours are mostly unproductive due to repetitive tasks and lack of proper training from the attendings which work elsewhere alone. Main reasons she's not left yet: Me, we started to live together 1 year ago. Her speciality colleagues, she knows that if she leaves, they would be left in an even worse conditions than they are now. Whistleblow:It reaches directly the boss of her boss. So maybe the first time it went like: "ok, just let me talk to my residents and see what can I do". But since no one ever complained again to the bigger boss (Institutional) maybe they just considered the case closed...Moreover there is the ethical dilemma of filing another whistleblowing not telling my GF (which doesn't believe too much in it). <Q> Do you work with your girlfriend in the same job or at the same company. <S> If not, don’t get involved. <S> You should not be pressuring her to act or do things she might not want to do. <S> You are creating more stress. <S> Buy some wine. <S> Clean the bathroom. <S> Make a nice meal. <S> Give her a massage <A> This seems a straight forward case to form some sort of local worker representation inside the institution, or join a regional or national union and put pressure on management . <S> Such misuse seems pretty common in the health care sector. <S> Since there was already a chance for higher management to properly clean up their institution <S> it seems it is one of the many cases in the health care sector where such mismanagement is rather structural than individual misbehaviour. <S> As you work in the same place, you can approach this together. <S> The more departments join, the better. <S> In the end, the main drive for change needs to come from the affected department however. <S> So at that stage it is something that mainly your girlfriend (and her colleagues) would need to do, but you - and everyone else can support them. <S> Alternatively you can consider talking to the press or government officials outside the institution, in particular if the institution is publicly funded, but both comes with legal risks. <S> Hence, the first step should be to get legal advice on who you can talk to and what you can reveal and decide then what the best way forward is. <S> For this, you could directly talk to a lawyer. <S> On the other hand this is the bread and butter of unions, so talking to a union representative <S> might well be the best start for this direction as well. <S> Establishing strong union membership together with her colleagues (and possibly other ranks such as nurses) would also make it much easier to put pressure on management later on. <A> I'm assuming that your girlfriend otherwise loves her job and the people she's working with (and for) and wishes to remain working there if at all possible. <S> Your girlfriend should reconnect with the same manager who dealt with the whistleblowing report and say that the desired outcome did not happen to satisfaction. <S> Out of your new meeting, you need to define goals and expectations for your girlfriend that she's happy with. <S> Also defines what happens if those goals are not met. <S> Also investigate if there's any impact on breaking the employment contract as a result of these issues (compensation, etc.) <A> The real question is: how will your girlfriend's life change after she completes her specialisation? <S> That should be the starting point of any consideration on her circumstances. <S> In any case: Italy has very strong unions. <S> Other countries don't have this luck. <S> Your friends should be talking to a union representative. <S> And... 70 hours per week are uncommon. <S> In environments such as research labs or hospitals, this is much more common; if your girlfriend is halfway through, maybe she can try spending part of the last two years doing some exchange program? <S> If not, as long as she is not subject to psychological or physical abuse, she might get on with in and power through the next 24 months. <S> It's very difficult to get into specialisation schools. <S> It might be worth going through this at the moment to be free later.
| And you could lay the groundwork by establishing first contact with a union representative. If you find an honest journalist, that cares about his/her sources they might also provide legal advice via their publisher. Your job is to listen, let her vent and make her feel better.
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How to professionally change jobs from A to B, when you are currently doing a project for B? I’m currently working for a large consulting firm ( A ) and my team is working on a project for a large oil firm ( B ). B doesn’t know who I am, as I have not been on the direct engagement team but knows my managers and directors. B has advertised a position which will put me on the on their side of the engagement if I get the job (I am experienced in this area). This is obviously a big client for my team and I don’t want to cause any issues. I just want to join B who offer more money and more opportunity. Should I approach the recruiter of B first? Then try and land the job without my team knowing? There is no non-compete clause in my job agreement. <Q> Actually what you should do first is to check your contract: It is possible you are not permitted to switch for a company your current employer has a business engagements with. <S> It's common for employers to "steal" the employees whom already working on their project externally, and there are rules in contracts to prohibit that. <S> If they are comfortable, proceed. <A> Go through your job offer letter. <S> Make sure there's no non-compete clause or clause against working with clients of your parent organisation. <S> Consult a lawyer if need be. <S> If there's nothing in your offer letter legally preventing you from working for B , you can pursue this opportunity. <S> As mentioned, since you do not have any non-compete clause in your agreement and there's nothing legally preventing you from pursuing this opportunity, feel free to do you. <S> Nothing wrong in thinking about your own professional growth. <A> when you started at A did you sign a non-compete? <S> if yes then you are stuck <S> but if not then just apply.if you never had contact with B <S> and they don't know who you are then <S> its unlikely B would be accused of poaching you or cause any problems between A and B.as for being professional if you get the job give a decent notice period and try to make your exit as smooth as possible.
| Secondly, approach the recruiter of B. Directly ask if they have a contract which prevents this between 2 companies. Pursue the opportunity and make a move if it's a work/pay progression
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Fraudulent activity by the Accountant at a previous employer, who was involved in redundancies Some years ago, I began work for a small company, where the accountant played quite an active role in management. She would visit once a month for a few days, to 'do the books', during which time the Company would pay for her meals, hotel and travel, on top of her normal accountancy fees. This accountant did not work directly for the Company, but ran her own accountancy business, which was contracted by 'my' Company. The Company had just been purchased by one of our main suppliers (a French company) who has their own accountant etc, but were very 'hands off' and just wanted us to continue as before. While at the Company, I also met my partner, a colleague, who worked in credit control - making sure invoices were paid etc. During my time at the Company, I became concerned about the accountant, as during her visits to the office, I would quite often see online gambling on her screen, which struck me as worrying for an accountant. I raised my concerns with the MD, but they were taken no further - his thoughts were that she could do what she liked with her money during lunch. Although I didn't really agree with that, I could understand, and didn't pursue it any further. A couple of years later, the recession in the UK was beginning to affect the Company, and money was starting to get tight. Meetings were held with all staff (7, including the accountant) present, to get ideas to save money. Ultimately, the accountant suggested to the MD (outside these meetings) that his secretary, and the credit controller (my partner) could both be made redundant - the secretary was, in my opinion, not particularly efficient anyway, and the accountant said she would take on the work of the credit controller. A few months later, this was put into practice, and both colleagues were made redundant. The financial situation didn't really improve, and credit control certainly suffered, but this was perhaps expected. ~1 year later, I also left the Company, in order to move house with my partner. Some time later, we learnt through someone still working for the Company that the accountant had been caught taking money - we were told that the French accountant had found 'irregularities', and it turned out that she was taking her monthly salary payment 16 times a year, random expenses claims (considering that all her costs were paid directly by the Company during visits), unusual payments to other companies... The Company (with a new MD, my previous line manager, now) 'ambushed' her during a monthly visit, and she admitted all, and said it was to pay for her gambling debts... The Company decided to deal with this internally - they agreed a plan where the accountant would gradually pay them back the money and would not retain her chartered status, and in return the Company would not report her to the Police. I suspect if they did report her to the Police, other companies may also find problems and demand payment, and the Company would not be repaid in full. I suspect that the accountant suggested redundancy for my partner, as she was the only other employee who had access to the accounts, and so her main 'threat'. This redundancy caused my partner some considerable financial and emotional stress - she had been working for the Company since leaving school. The accountant no longer holds a practising certificate, but her husband (also an accountant, and also certainly involved) does. Although initially, we decided to ignore it and put it in the past, should we report it? It wouldn't be difficult to work out that we'd learnt about it from a particular employee, which would likely cause them problems. But equally, another company employing the services of an accountant would probably want to know... Sorry for the wall of text, from which I've almost certainly excluded some necessary information... <Q> Look at the potential costs vs the potential gains when you make your decision. <S> You stand to gain: <S> The satisfaction of taking retribution against someone who hurt your partner. <S> The comfort of knowing you've done everything you could to expose this person's ethical bankruptcy. <S> However you shouldn't rule out the risks and potential costs - she will definitely fight anything you try to level at her (you'd do the same), and if you report it to the police then she'll have a lawyer doing that fighting for her. <S> This could properly disrupt your life, and potentially cost you a lot of money retaining a lawyer of your own. <S> Given that it sounds like this is in the past for you both <S> , I recommend you have a laugh with your partner about how the accountant was finally caught out <S> and you were right all along, and be happy that you're not still in the middle of it. <S> No point reopening old wounds. <A> Leave it alone. <S> It's worth pointing out that neither you nor your partner actually has anything to give to the police. <S> You've no evidence, save for a second-hand description from someone else that would not be involved in the report, and no clear demonstration that your partner was harmed by the accountant in any way <S> (there was clearly a business case for the redundancy, which the company found persuasive). <S> What you have instead is a personal grievance. <S> That's understandable, but not really a police issue. <S> There exist systems for victims of crimes to seek redress and for criminals to be punished, and also for certified professionals to lose their certifications. <S> Those seem to have worked as intended here-- <S> the accountant has lost their certification, and the company chose not to pursue legal action (certainly their privilege). <S> There is nothing for you to gain, and no greater good to serve, by passing a rumor on to anyone because you were personally offended by actions from a bad actor which may or may not have been a result of that actor's bad acts. <S> Indeed, the most likely outcomes are nothing at all, or serious trouble for your source in your former company (who could easily get into professional, if not legal, trouble for having told you all of this). <A> Much of what you've stated seems to be subjective, unless you can prove your points with factual evidence. <S> Example: <S> I suspect that the accountant suggested redundancy for my partner, as she was the only other employee who had access to the accounts, and <S> so her main 'threat'. <S> This redundancy caused my partner some considerable financial and emotional stress - she had been working for the Company since leaving school. <S> That's completely opinion based. <S> Her suggestion may have been completely sound from a business standpoint. <S> What's your "real" motivation? <S> This happened several years ago and was handled by the company. <S> Just because the accountant gambled doesn't make them a bad or unethical accountant. <S> Correlation isn't causation. <S> "I don't think it's good for an accountant to gamble" <S> - That's entirely subjective and opinion based. <S> I'm sure there are many accountants who gamble in some shape or form. <S> That doesn't make them bad or unethical accountants. <S> What do you hope to gain in this situation? <S> The company dealt with it. <S> Why do you feel the need to take action?
| It seems that your motivation is revenge for the firing of your partner, which you blame on some nefarious and vague motivations by the accountant, not the well being of some other company that might employ this accountant.
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Asking what my current salary is during interviews as a recent graduate I've been through several job interviews and in all of them they ask: what are you on right now? ( How much are you getting paid? ). My college friends (also recently graduated like me) tell me the same is asked. And the result is the company that interviews me, offers me 500-1000 more a year, which I find quite ridiculous as it is obvious the reason of asking it, is just to increment it a little bit (which in my case is not enough to change companies unless it is one that I really like its projects). The feel I am left with is that they are not actually valueing the person. If they find someone whose actual salary is, for example 20, they'll offer him 21, whereas if someone they interview tells them 10, they'll offer him 11 (and they'll be happy that they don't have to pay that much). I kind of understand it as it is a bussiness... It happened to me. Same job offer in a company, got offered 5k more a year due to a previous higher salary than a friend of mine, with same experience. So, as a junior recent grad, is it alright not to mention my current salary? <Q> Employment is a market. <S> They do value you as a contributor of great work, but also want to pay a low price - so long as the price is fair. <S> Give an expectation as your answer to questions about past income: <S> “I don’t have a current salary to quote, but I am expecting at least $________ in total compensation for this role.” <S> “I was earning $________ in my previous job. <S> This job and my capabilities are quite different now. <S> I’m expecting at least $________ for this role.” <S> “My previous salary was specific to that job and my experience at the time. <S> I’m expecting at least $________ in total compensation for this role.” <S> Good luck in your interviews! <A> Yes, it is OK not to mention your current salary directly. <S> Also, it's advisable that do not mention a direct figure for your expected salary either, instead engage in a communication / discussion where you can get to know how much the company is willing to offer you for that particular position / role. <S> Check this other answer <S> which details why the first one (applicant or organization) mentioning a number in a salary negotiation always loses. <S> That said, if an organization's pay-scale depends on what you were getting paid previously, and not based on your merit, capability and a well-defined pay scale on their own - that's a red flag. <A> It is not only all right <S> , it's a tool to analyze a potential employer's worth regarding how they value their employees. <S> Depending on the interviewing stage, there are different ways to tackle this. <S> When the question is asked before a technical interview <S> It will commonly be asked by HR, basically doing a radar sweep of the candidates to see where they stand. <S> To not disclose it, the possible answers could be: <S> I would like know more about my role and responsabilities in the company before saying a number. <S> or Aproximately on the average of city_name/sector_name 's wages. <S> or My prior job does not relate enough to compare, unfortunately. <S> or ( in case you moved / plan to move / different neighborhood / etc... ) <S> I used to live in x , whereas cost of life on y is different, so any comparision would be unfeasible. <S> When the question is asked after a technical interview <S> That means you've been trough HR, trough atleast some middle management / project management, and trough their technical interview. <S> You've been able to ask enough questions / been given enough information to answer yourself: <S> How much would i want to be happy doing this? <S> Take in count the cost of life, rent, average income of your sector, but also your tasks, responsibilities, team size, technical debt, extra hours policy, holidays, lunch, transportation... <S> And then you have how much that work is worth for you . <S> If at that point they make an offer, you can compare. <S> If they expect you to say the first number, you have a comfortable starting point. <S> Side note: Companies in Spain have no remorse in barganing the lowest possible wage, specially in tech, with some exceptions like a few bunch of startups, so from my personal experience, set up your wage to EU standards ( UK, Germany, France) on similarly sized tech hub cities <S> (Madrid/Barcelona vs Berlin/Dublin, as example), and go down (if you want to! <S> you can always stand your ground) from there.
| Your potential employer is trying to get a sense of what level of compensation you are willing to accept.
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How to ask inconvenient questions / talk about sensitive topics in front of all employees and your boss? Once a month we have a meeting, where nearly all employees, managers and the boss (CEO) participates. The main goal of this meeting is to keep all informed about relevant news regarding the company and to have a dialog between the CEO and the employees. In practice it is a monolog from the CEO, who always tells how good everything is. Last time a manager told us that we should talk about some topics we are not happy with. e.g.: pauses air conditioning future of the company etc. IMHO, this is a very bad idea. It seems this is a beginning of a string of layoffs as cost cutting measure. None of the employees have done this until now. There is a possibility to use a postbox, but a colleague told me that his question got filtered out. After the works council got involved this shouldn't happen again, but I don't know how trustworthy this statement is and I see no sensitive topics. If I talk with some colleagues I clearly see some topics of conversation. So is it a good idea to talk about workplace improvements at all? How can you start talking about sensitive topics without being disreputable? <Q> Maybe I am too cynical. <S> The main goal of this meeting is to keep all informed about relevant news regarding the company and to have a dialog between the CEO and the employees. <S> No, it isn't. <S> In practice it is a [monologue] from the CEO, who always tells how good everything is. <S> Yep, like I said. <S> Last time a manager told us that we should talk about some topics we are not happy with <S> Whose manager, yours? <S> Let the manager who made the suggestion do it. <S> So is it a good idea to talk about workplace improvements at all? <S> How can you start talking about sensitive topics without being disreputable? <S> The risk here is that you catch your CEO by surprise and cause her/him to feel embarrassed in front of everyone. <S> Which is not a good career move. <S> I see no sensitive topics. <S> If I talk with some colleagues I clearly see some topics of conversation. <S> If you don't have a problem, keep quiet. <S> If other people are really concerned about something, let them figure out how to get their opinions heard. <A> So is it a good idea to talk about workplace improvements at all? <S> If no one else, including your manager , is willing to bring up these topics then why should you put yourself at risk ? <S> It sounds good in theory, but I would not be the first person to ask the CEO a question that might make them look bad or feel uncomfortable. <S> How can you start talking about sensitive topics without being disreputable? <S> I would suggest an carefully worded email, or even better, a quick one on one conversation. <S> This is if you decide too, and based on your question's tone, I would not . <A> I propose two-step process: <S> Ask non-sensitive question: "CEO, <S> what is the best way to discuss sensitive topics?" <S> Using information from (1) bring up sensitive topics <S> The theory is that you ask about process first, because it seems there is no process right now. <S> There are some suggestions, but not expectations. <A> One thing to remember in these kind of meetings is, that the CEO is not talking to an employee if he or she is answering your question. <S> The answer isn't even adressed to the group of people it concerns. <S> The CEO is talking to the whole audience. <S> But more importantly you are talking to the audience as wellnot only to your CEO. <S> So if you critizise in these kind of setups, you don't bring information to your CEOs attention, you are telling him he or she messed up and that you are telling everybody here that he or she did. <S> (Problems out of the controlof the CEO are probably ok like: " <S> Godzilla destroyed factory 7. <S> When will we start rebuilding"). <S> And even if you ask your question don't expect a constructive answer. <S> People in these situations tend to play it defensively. <S> They probably won't want to commit to a path without thinking about it. <S> The best you can hope for is "We will look into it" for whatever that is worth, or the speaker already has a solution/plan and you are only a way to get to this point.
| If your going to bring up sensitive topics, then an open forum typically isn't the way to go. As others answered, it is not useful to bring up important things in a large meeting without giving CEO time to prepare.
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No proper protective gear; what steps can I take to amend that? I work at a known chain of pet stores and I frequently come into contact with sick animals (who may bite). Our store hasn't had proper PPE (personal protective equipment) in weeks: no gloves (bite gloves or disposable), no masks to not inhale debris especially from the birds, frequently no paper towels, so on and so forth. Management is known to cut corners. But given how frequently we workers have to take care of sick and unhealthy animals with easily spreadable zoonotic diseases (salmonella, ringworm, etc), pick up after people's dogs (if the owners decide not to do it), etc., I feel like the store not offering proper PPE is a violation somehow. especially in this type of environment. It's too easy to get sick or bit here and it seems as if management only cares about the bottom line and not the workers. Groomers for example have to deal with crazy dogs without any real protection because they may face consequences if they refuse. Dogs need vaccinations to get groomed and do training, but any dog can walk in the store without such vaccinations if the owner isn't there for grooming or training. There's no simple first aid kits either, and if you get bit by a small animal, nobody writes up an incident report unless it's bad. I don't want to call HR because they have a way of finding out who you are and you can face consequences or get written up... for valid complaints. It's a tough situation. Are there any suggestions on what I can do? (Besides quitting). <Q> OSHA dictates PPE must be provided where risks occur and that the employer must pay for it. <S> The employer is responsible for assessing the PPE requirements for performing work in the workplace and following through on providing it. <S> Failure to comply has major financial and reputational consequences. <S> Should your employer not take worker safety seriously <S> an anonymous tip line exists to report and whistleblower supports exist should retaliation occur. <S> Links provided below to support these points. <S> As advice, your employer has opted to take profits over worker safety. <S> I wouldn't bother complaining to them directly as you paint a target on yourself. <S> I would make an anonymous complaint to OSHA and let the process run its course. <S> Once audited it is typically more expensive to be out of compliance rather than pay for proper worker protections. <S> https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_id=9777&p_table=STANDARDS https://www.osha.gov/dte/outreach/intro_osha/7_employee_ppe.pdf <S> https://www.osha.gov/penalties/ <S> https://www.oshaeducationcenter.com/articles/reporting-labor-violations/ <S> https://www.osha.gov/whistleblower/WBComplaint.html <A> Are there any suggestions on what I can do? <S> For the "communal" PPE (First Aid, bandages, etc.) <S> you can coordinate with the rest of your coworkers and buy that equipment together . <S> As it is also of their interest, they will surely be willing to do it. <S> An alternative I can think of is to raise your concern to management or HR as a group . <S> You say that the situation is tough, and I also perceive that your coworkers and you may be a bit afraid to ask/complain... <S> but if you organize all or the majority of your coworkers, and ask/raise your concerns it will be more difficult for management to cut corners or dismiss your request (not to mention to attempt to write all of you up). <S> If there is some trade Union for your profession, that would also be a solid resource to contact. <S> As mentioned in comment, it is not clear what your location is. <S> If you are in the USA, OSHA would be the most adequate contact you could reach out. <S> If you are in Europe, most likely there exists an equivalent to OSHA <S> you can contact <S> Now, if you are in other countries that don't have these facilities (like it is my case) things are indeed more difficult and delicate. <S> Case in which you will have to tread lightly if raising this (and case where you should consider buying your PPE on your own in the meantime, as your safety is paramount here). <A> Buy your own ppe. <S> This will keep you safe and might spark discussion among others who feel the same to raise it with management.
| Buying your own PPE as suggested in the other answer is a way, if you can and are willing to cover it with your money.
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How to ask for an endorsement? I am a junior developer in a medium sized team, and have been given a specific project for the term of my internship. I have kept my supervisor/superior well abreast of my progress. At every step of the way they have complimented my efficiency and quality of work. Things like "wow, you did this much faster than I expected", "you're the best", "looks great!", "great job!". As someone who will be going through a series of internships in the next few years, how can I capitalize on this? How can I phrase a request to my supervisor for them to; put an endorsement on my linkedin, or write a paragraph that I can put in a longform CV I make available to employers I apply to? And what sorts of things should I ask my supervisor to include? <Q> As someone who will be going through a series of internships in the next few years, how can I capitalize on this? <S> How can I phrase a request to my supervisor for them to; put an endorsement on my linkedin, or write a paragraph that I can put in a longform CV I make available to employers I apply to? <S> And what sorts of things should I ask my supervisor to include? <S> "Hey boss, I have enjoyed working with you and gaining valuable experience under your direction. <S> Since you had a unique perspective of my progress on XYZ project, would you be willing to write an a few words about my work on LinkedIn?" <S> Tailor as appropriate for you. <S> If they ask what to include, simply tell them to write "Whatever you genuinely feel represents my work", or something like that. <S> Meaning, just let them write whatever they want and focus on their honest feelings. <S> Whatever they write on LinkedIn you should feel free to include on your CV; they don't need to write 2 recommendations. <A> Recommendations belong in recommendation letters or personal conversations between recruiters and past colleagues - not on your resume. <S> If you feel comfortable, there's no reason to delay asking for a LinkedIn comment from your supervisor now. <S> These are usually brief, informal, and entirely composed by the commenter. <S> Additionally, the comment can be revised if you or the commenter have updates at the end of the internship. <S> At the end of your internship, you can ask your supervisor directly if he/ <S> she would be willing to be a reference for you in the future. <S> If he/she says yes, you should coordinate specific recommendation letters in the future - tailor your recommendations to the job you're applying to, not your past job. <S> Good luck in your internship and future job searches! <A> Wait till nearly the end of your internship and ask for a written recommendation. <S> This way they can highlight your total successes and quality of work. <S> Once they have given it to you, you can ask that if they have time to hit your linkedin page for a few endorsements. <S> It may be wise to keep a running log of projects and milestones you have completed so your superiors can use it as a reference for their recommendation.
| You can ask your colleague for a note on LinkedIn now, and ask him/her to be a long-term reference at the end of your internship.
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Multiple DUI convictions 12 years ago. Do I disclose if I know they will do a background check? I had multiple DUIs (Driving Under the Influence convictions) that happened 12 years ago all within the same time period. I am going to an interview where the job requires a background check. It is for an estate attorney's office. Even if I'm not asked, do I disclose this information during the interview, being that it will probably be the only chance I have to defend my past? Please help. I'm a nervous wreck. <Q> I had multiple DUIs that happened 12 years ago all within the same time period. <S> I am going to an interview where the job requires a background check. <S> It is for an estate attorney's office. <S> Even if I'm not asked, do I disclose this information during the interview, being that it will probably be the only chance I have to defend my past? <S> Since you already know there will be a background check, and since many background checks would discover multiple DUIs, I think it makes more sense to be up front about it than to let the hiring company be surprised. <S> This would be particularly so for a law office. <S> If you get to the offer stage and are ready to sign consent for the background check, just start with " <S> I want to mention something that might show up on the background check...". <S> Talk about what happened. <S> Explain why it won't happen again. <S> Finish with "I always believe it's best to be very honest." <S> When I'm hiring, I'd much rather the candidate be honest in the beginning than to try and "sneak one by me". <S> I'm sure we can all remember how we felt when someone grudgingly admitted an issue only after being confronted with the evidence. <S> This won't guarantee that you'll get the job, but in my experience you'll have a better chance (particularly in a law office) by being completely open and honest. <A> Even if I'm not asked, do I disclose this information during the interview, being that it will probably be the only chance I have to defend my past? <S> If they bring it up, answer honestly and defend it as you have planned by now. <A> In other cases, the background check authorization form you're presented with will include basic questions such as "have you ever been convicted of an X crime" and will typically allow you to write a description of what happened (which is your chance to defend yourself). <S> Often these official requests for information will be timeboxed (i.e. "in the last 10 years"). <S> Generally, when considering if you should mention something in an interview, a good approach is to focus on the best but prepare for the worst. <S> In other words, when you have opportunities, bring up good things - be able to tie your skills and experience to the position they're trying to fill. <S> But, have a rehearsed answer ready if they ask about bad things such that you're not caught off guard if they do ask about them. <S> There's no reason to implicate yourself by bringing up parts of your past that don't paint you in a positive light. <S> Also, it's worth doing some research on laws in your jurisdiction. <S> For instance, in the United States, in some states at least, it's illegal to have a policy of rejecting candidates based on criminal history. <S> Other states provide explicit boundaries (i.e. you can reject a candidate if the criminal history is directly related to the job). <A> IMHO,Biggest question here <S> , do you have a better explanation / defense for these convictions than will be gleaned from dry official paper? <S> If you want to defend it upfront and explain so it will not be an issue when received from background check, you can definitely do so. <S> But, if there is nothing more than - "it was 12 years ago <S> and i am different person now <S> " i would not volunteer this information unless asked specifically Good luck, would be nice to hear the result, please share when applicable <A> Even if I'm not asked, do I disclose this information during the interview, being that it will probably be the only chance I have to defend my past? <S> Please help. <S> I'm a nervous wreck. <S> It is not necessary to volunteer this information if they do not ask about it. <S> If they conduct a proper background check it will come to light regardless. <S> Obviously if they ask during the interview or any stage you should let them know <S> but there is nothing to defend. <S> You were convicted, it was 12 years ago, and you have presumably served your sentence. <S> If they are biased towards your conviction, there is no possible defense you can come up with you convince them otherwise. <S> But don't worry as most reasonable employers will understand and not be influenced by your conviction. <A> Answer every question put to you honestly. " <S> Have you ever committed a felony" is different from "have you committed a felony in the last 10 years? <S> " <S> There may be laws in your relevant jurisdictions about what you are required to disclose or legally protected from having to disclose. <S> Research them. <S> Regarding volunteering information, first find out if the background check has a time limitation on it. <S> Most background checks are limited to 10 years. <S> If it's not stated directly in the documents, then ask. <S> Once you know the background check's time parameters, volunteer whatever they are likely to find. <S> Overall, do what is honest and straightforward, without offering information needlessly. <S> Last: look into getting convictions struck from your record. <S> It is possible this can be done. <S> It may only apply to misdemeanors, and not felonies, but it's still worth looking into it.
| If you are not asked I don't see why you have to bring it up. If an employer cares about your criminal history, they will ask - formally, in writing usually, as part of an official, signed application.
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Can I resign with only compensation letter and no offer letter in hand I have received compensation letter with compensation details from an MNC. i have not received offer letter yet. I have not received any document regarding company rules and joining date. HR has called and informed my joining date orally and is asking me to resign. I asked them to send joining date in e-mail but no response.i only have one job offer in hand. Can I resign without offer letter and only compensation letter? Can they deny sending offer letter tomorrow? They are promising orally that offer letter would be sent in a month <Q> They are promising orally that offer letter would be sent in a month <S> I can promise you over the phone that you will get rich, famous and own your own set of Yachts. <S> (And there are business models build on doing just that for money). <S> But should you believe that and resign because of that? <S> Probably not. <S> I'm sure <S> they only accept written statements (or would they accept phonecall from you telling them you have a relieving letter? <S> No they won't <S> , they want to see the thing). <S> If they had no doubts and really wanted to hire you, you'd have a written job offer by now. <S> Once you resign you are in a weaker position to negotiate and basically have to take the deal they offer you then . <S> You need to negotiate that deal now while you are still in a position of power and have a job. <A> Can I resign without offer letter and only fitment letter? <S> I think the question you meant to ask is "Should I resign without offer letter and only fitment letter?" - To that, I would say no unless you're confident that you'll get the offer letter. <S> Can they deny sending offer letter tomorrow? <S> They can do whatever they want. <S> How confident are you that they will send you the offer letter? <A> They are promising orally that offer letter would be sent in a month <S> This is probably a red flag, although you need to get an opinion from someone who knows how things work in the part of the world where you are (India?). <S> But, it looks to me that if they really wanted to send you an offer letter, they would not need a month. <S> There's no plausible reason why it cannot be sent in a few days or at most a week. <S> Claiming that they need a month... there's something fishy going on. <S> Or else they're disorganized to the extreme, in which case you probably don't want to work for them anyway. <S> One possible reason (mind you <S> , I'm just guessing here) is that in the new company, the local manager wants more workers, but has not got the higher management to approve it yet; he already started the process (that is, he had the local HR talk to you), and is hoping to get the approval eventually and then have you work immediately after. <S> Where such schemes fail is if the higher management in the end does not approve the request for more workers... <S> and then the potential employee (you) finds himself without the old job, and without the new one also. <S> In places with working legal system, in such a situation, if you have received the job offer, you can then sue the company for cancelling it. <S> I don't know if that would work in India or not... <S> so it might be that having the job offer on paper does not give you as much protection there. <S> But in any case it's generally better to have it on paper. <S> And a refusal to give you an offer on paper is a significant red flag.
| So... it's up to you whether you trust them to follow up on their promises, but conventional wisdom says you do not resign from your old job, until you have the new job in writing. You can do whatever you want.
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Fired employee allowed to go to company picnic I worked for a company for over 3 years and was fired (not for cause). My daughter works there as well. It's time for the company picnic and she wants me to go with her (she is unmarried and high-functioning autistic so doesn't have anyone else to take). Can the company tell her that I can't go with her? (I have a lot of friends there that want me to go as well so we can visit.) <Q> Can the company tell her that I can't go with her? <S> If you are not currently working there and the picnic is for employees only, then they can certainly tell her you can't go with her. <S> (The fact that you were fired is immaterial here) <S> However, considering on your specific family situation, she can ask for this as a special favor and maybe they will agree. <S> I have a lot of friends there that want me to go as well <S> so we can visit <S> Not sure if that matters unless those friends are people who make decision for the company who can or cannot go. <A> Can the company tell her that I can't go with her? <S> Yes. <S> This is a company event. <S> They can decide who is allowed to attend and who is not. <S> Yes, the company can tell her that you cannot go with her. <S> But they probably won't. <A> Nothing good can come from this. <S> Sorry to hear about your daughters predicament <S> but it is simply a bad idea. <S> The best solution for you would be to find someone else who can go with your daughter. <S> You can catch up with your friends at another time. <A> Your daughter should ask if she is allowed to bring guests. <S> If yes, then you should attend as her invited guest. <S> I would avoid attending if not explicitly invited. <S> Although it would be nice to see friends, there are other ways of doing that (perhaps grab a coffee or drink together outside of work hours). <S> Showing up unexpectedly could go poorly as others have described. <A> Can the company tell her that I can't go with her? <S> Probably, although possibly not. <S> If the picnic is on company property or at some privately owned facility then they can exclude you if they want. <S> If it is at a public park or other sort of public facility, it is possible that they can't forbid your attendance; it would depend on laws and contracts, which are outside the scope of this site. <S> However, if the company doesn't want you there it would be best to stay away. <S> Note <S> however the "if they want" above. <S> What you haven't said is if they have told you (or your daughter) that they want to you stay away. <S> Have you asked? <S> Under the circumstances, it's possible that no one would mind, unless there are bitter feelings held against you by management and/or your former co-workers. <S> From what you've said, that doesn't seem to be the case here. <S> So, ask if it's okay for you to attend, or - maybe even better - have your daughter ask. <S> Partly this is based on a somewhat similar personal experience long ago, except I resigned, instead of being fired. <S> The call to request tickets for the company picnic went out about six weeks before the picnic. <S> Not knowing for certain if I would still be employed by them, I requested a ticket, even though I was job hunting. <S> In that six week I was offered a new job and accepted it. <S> My last day on the job was a Friday and the picnic was 2 days later, on Sunday. <S> I asked around some and no one thought I should avoid the picnic, so I attended. <S> My line manager gave me some good natured ribbing when I was at the picnic, but no one seriously objected and we had a good time. <A> So, you didn't state that this was a picnic where an employee can bring a +1 who isn't an employee. <S> Since the other answers proceeded from the assumption that non-employee guests weren't invited, I'm going to proceed from the other side. <S> Many times companies throw summer time parties -- picnics -- as a way for employees to get together and socialize in a relaxed setting. <S> Since you mentioned you weren't fired for cause, the propriety of going depends on your relationship with the company as a whole (management likes you) and any former co-workers (who you say like you). <S> The key is that it sounds as though your daughter could bring a spouse, or possibly even children. <S> I once worked for a Fortune 500 company which had "family days" and entire families would go. <S> If your daughter were married to someone who worked for a competitor, could she bring that person? <S> I think that's the best indication of whether or not you'd be welcome. <S> What I would suggest is that you keep your comments on the up-beat side, and don't say anything which might be misconstrued as trying to poach employees.
| Yes, the company can discourage you from attending, or even prevent you from attending if the picnic is located somewhere the company controls.
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When asked if I've been fired before, should I count times were probationary period hadn't ended? A while ago I was fired for just cause. They gave me no warning and did it to several other employees. I tried to dispute it with the labor board. I was told the company I had worked for provides a federal service I wasn't eligible to dispute because I had worked there for less than a year. I forget if they used the word "probationary period" but this seems to describe the situation. I managed to get the explanation the just cause was I "wasn't meeting expectations". To my understanding normally just cause requires a lot more than this but the laws are different for federally regulated companies. When applying for other jobs they ask if I've been fired (for just cause) before. If I was fired before a probationary period ended, does this count? Does my description meet the criteria for probationary period? The thing is many job applications have a form where I can only answer yes or no without details. <Q> I would say that getting fired is getting fired, regardless of whether you're in the probation period or not. <S> If the offense was too severe to merit working with you on the issues or otherwise deciding not to proceed with your probation period, then you'd have to tick that box. <S> Most decent companies would attempt to address the issue at hand with a view to resolving it. <S> If you or the company decide not to go ahead with the probation period, then that's not counted as "getting fired". <A> When applying for other jobs they ask if I've been fired (for just cause) before. <S> If I was fired before a probationary period ended, does this count? <S> Does my description meet the criteria for probationary period? <S> Yes your description meets the criteria. <S> Leaving out a potentially important detail from your application could hurt you once you reach the later stages of the application process. <S> It is better to be honest from the beginning than to surprise your potential employer later with details that they specifically asked for and you did not divulge. <A> One more advice for the future: Conditions of employment should be clearly written, on paper (or in an electronic form). <S> Specifically, related to this case, the length of the probation period should be clearly written and known ahead of time, before you even accept the offer. <S> It should be in the job offer they give you, or in places where employment contracts are the norm, in the contract, or whatever other paper is appropriate for the given country. <S> This applies to any other significant conditions as well. <S> You should never get into a situation where there is a doubt about such things, any unclear requirements, etc etc. <S> You should be able to prove, should it become necessary, that you were or weren't on the probation period.
| They are directly asking you if you were fired and you stated that you were fired so you should answer "yes".
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How can I maintain health insurance during unpaid leave? When taking a couple months of unpaid sabbatical in the UK, the employer will usually drop all benefits until the employee is back. Quite certain this policy would cut the national health insurance payments too. What are the options to maintain cover by health insurance during the sabbatical ? Not asking about the private health insurance, but the one that allows access to NHS services. Some context: say the sabbatical is for world travel. But there would be a couple weeks in total, in between travel, to be spent in the UK. Would a travel insurance policy cover health costs in the UK too ? <Q> When taking a couple months of unpaid sabbatical in the UK, the employer will usually drop all benefits until the employee is back. <S> Quite certain this policy would cut the national health insurance payments too. <S> What are the options to maintain cover by health insurance during the sabbatical ? <S> Not asking about the private health insurance, but the one that allows access to NHS services. <S> It seems you are misunderstanding how access to the NHS works. <S> Yes, your employer will pay money to the NHS on your behalf (payments to National Insurance ). <S> However, these payments, despite the name, are not like traditional insurance premiums - instead, they are more like a tax. <S> In particular, as Patricia Shanahan explained in a comment: Access to NHS care is based on residency in the UK, not on paying contributions. <S> So it does not matter that your employer will no longer pay National Insurance for you <S> , you are still eligible for NHS care. <S> Would a travel insurance policy cover health costs in the UK too ? <S> No, travel insurance typically only covers treatment during travel (that's why it's usually less expensive than regular health insurance). <S> Additionally, it often excludes health problems that existed before the travel, so if you fall ill, you cannot travel just to be covered. <S> Read the policy for details. <S> At any rate, you do not need cover from your travel insurance when you are in the UK, as you are covered by the NHS, as explained above. <A> The NHS is largely funded from taxes, including employment related taxes, but it is not an employment-related insurance system. <S> It is a service, primarily for UK residents. <S> There are complications such as fee-for-service for some services to visitors. <S> Some visa types require a contribution to the NHS . <S> The simplest case, and the one that seems to apply here, is that anyone who is Ordinarily Resident in the UK is covered. <S> The OP has been living in the UK, and plans to travel outside the UK during a two month period while keeping their main home in the UK. <S> The OP will need travel insurance for the time outside the UK. <A> You don’t want a travel insurance for coverage in your home country. <S> Uk coverage should be worked out with nhs. <S> In a travel insurance policy look at coverage that will get you back home. <S> If it’s serious that’s where you want to be. <S> Air ambulance is very expensive. <S> In my opinion his is not as important and usually with lots of caveats. <S> I’d stick to air ambulance and catastrophic medical only for travel.
| Your travel insurance may offer coverage to reimburse your unused hotel and airfare.
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How to politiy decline tasks from other teams who didn't recognized my work in past I was hired as a developer in a Team-A. I needed inputs from another team soI didn't have much work to do for long time. But during this time I voluntarily started contributing in another Team-B. Eventually over a period of a time, I was the one who developed almostall parts of the solutions. But this Team-B hired a new employee and made him owner of the solution I developed. I was disappointed but I stopped working for them at all. They tried to pull me many times but I refused it directly. Also my manager at that time was not supportive. Meanwhile my manger also changed. I got the job in another company but the new manager asked me to stay and gave me good topic to work. We also had an verbal agreement that I will not workfor Team-B at all. Everything become good but after a while, my new manager started pushing me to work for the Team-B again. I don't want to work for them as they never appreciated for my contributions. What should I do now.Thanks <Q> First of all, just because it's work for the other team, doesn't make instructions from your manager any less valid. <S> Which you may know, but I want to get out there. <S> You say you were never appreciated or compensated. <S> Don't get into arguments with members of the other team, or send emails declining to work. <S> You'll make the situation worse. <S> You need to have a conversation with your manager. <S> As soon as you can, you need to outline to your manager what you believed was agreed upon and how your expectations are that that would continue. <S> You also need to go into that conversation with a firm idea about what you will accept. <S> It would be good for you to show a little leeway. <S> It's worth considering what would make you happy to do this work. <S> What could be changed. <S> Your manager will likely keep pushing, because it's obviously important work for the organisation. <S> Your manager in a way, is in a similar situation to you. <S> He may not like the fact he is losing some manpower. <S> So figure out what changes would work for you. <S> If there is nothing, and your boss is insistent, then you need to either accept it, or start looking for work elsewhere. <A> I want to address a facet of your question: <S> But during this time I voluntarily started contributing in another Team-B. Eventually over a period of a year, I was the one who developed almost all parts of the solutions. <S> But this Team-B hired a new employee and made him owner of the solution I developed. <S> This is what Team B should be doing and should actually be commended for it. <S> Keep in mind, that solution is their group's responsibility and you don't work for that group! <S> It's nice that you helped contribute, but at the end of the day, you're not part of Team B. <S> Imagine something goes wrong with the solution you developed, and things aren't processing correctly... <S> but when they go up to you, you're in the middle of doing some very important Team-A stuff. <S> And your manager tells them, "Hey, Has is working on something for me - they can't help you out right now". <S> Team B is up a creek. <S> Which is why they're actually hiring a resource to be responsible for that solution. <S> To be honest, there are a lot of developers that would kill to be in your shoes right now. <S> You're getting to do the greenfield development, and then hand over the maintenance to someone else while you work on more new development. <A> You asked, What should I do now <S> To be perfectly blunt, I think you answered your own question a few sentences before that: my new manager started pushing me to work for the architect team again <S> When at work, you should do what your manager tells you to do. <S> Unless they're directing you to do something illegal or otherwise inappropriate, which doesn't seem like the case here. <S> Unless your manager explicitly gives you leeway to decide what to work on yourself (which is rare), you need to do the work you're assigned. <S> Of course, if that means you'll be sad, disappointed, under-appreciated, or otherwise left feeling unfulfilled with your job, you can always have a conversation with your manager and try to solve those problems. <S> But that should be separate from deciding how to spend your time. <S> And if you can't resolve the source of your disappointment, you basically need to decide to either suck it up and do the job (which can be a valuable lesson in and of itself - <S> all of us occasionally have to do work <S> we don't like) - or you need to find another job. <S> And if that's the route you take, you should make sure you put effort into identifying the root of your disappointment, so you can ask questions or research it at new employers, and avoid getting into the same problem again. <S> For instance, if you decide you're happier working in a certain type of team you should look for a job with that structure.
| If your manager is asking you to do work for the other team, that is the person that you need to have a conversation with. Well, appreciation is nice, but you shouldn't get extra compensation, unless you did this outside of your regular working hours. You should not get upset at this.
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What can you do when you are asked to do a potentially dangerous or odd tasks, unrelated to your main job duties? What do you do when you are asked to do a task that is outside of your area of expertise? Specific example - originally hired as a ported at a car dealership. You are asked to remove floor tile from an office. This is a bit dangerous - you can get cut, you do not have training as a handyman. You are not given the right tools (gloves, dust mask, etc). Can you refuse this task? Can you ask for the tools? Can you get fired if you refuse? If this type of stuff happens consistently, should you just look for another job? <Q> Can you refuse this task? <S> Yes you can . <S> You can also most likely be terminated too . <S> Take a look at your employment contract, employee handbook, etc. <S> Most companies have this little clause " and other duties as necessary " that is designed to be a catch all for other miscellaneous crap the company may need you to do. <S> You might want to check with your local government employment agency too. <S> Can you ask for the tools? <S> Absolutely. <S> If you are serious about keeping the job, and your employer is serious about the task they asked you to complete, they should not object to supplying the tools you need. <S> If they do, this is a serious red flag . <S> Can you get fired if you refuse? <S> (Search up right to work states for more details) <S> If this type of stuff happens consistently, should you just look for another job? <S> I certainly would look for other work ASAP . <S> It is a jerk move to hire you for what you applied for originally only to be asked to do some serious manual labor. <A> You are not given the right tools (gloves, dust mask, etc). <S> You probably need to look at OSHA Regulations . <S> The issue isn't that it's unrelated to your job description, it's that it's a safety hazard. <S> There's contact information on their site you can use to ask questions and find out what your rights are. <S> You are asked to remove floor tile from an office. <S> You might also look into whether you're required to be licensed and bonded to perform this sort of work. <S> I don't know whether this rises to the level of needing it (the floor tile and anything else being requested) or if the fact that you work directly for the person requesting it means it's moot. <S> Unfortunately, I don't know enough about this to suggest where to look. <S> Hopefully someone else can speak to this. <S> If this type of stuff happens consistently, should you just look for another job? <S> It sounds like you haven't actually tried to push back on this yet. <S> If you get the sense that this is a matter of your boss being ignorant of the law but otherwise a reasonable person, you could try talking to them first after doing the research above. <S> If you think that they don't care (and the fact that they haven't given you any PPE implies this) you should skip straight to job hunting, especially if it turns out none of the tasks <S> you're being given require any certification/license/etc to perform. <A> According to OSHA, you have a right to refuse unsafe work . <S> However, as @MisterPositive suggested, you can (and should according to the regulation) <S> absolutely ask your employer for the right tools.
| This is part of your duty to: Ask your employer to correct the hazard, or to assign other work. In the USA, unless you are in a union or somehow protected by a contract, you can be fired for refusing to do a task in most states.
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Taking a test for a position that is on hold? I recently started the process to join a great company. I passed the first steps (curriculum, chatting with HR), and now I'm supposed to take a technical test. However, the recruiter messaged me today saying the position will be put on hold for now, and said I can take the test right now, and resume the process as soon as the position is reopened, or I can wait to take the test once the position is available again. With that said, is there a standard way to proceed? <Q> If you are prepared for the test then take it now. <S> If you end up doing well, you will already be one step ahead of other potential candidates once the position is re-opened. <A> ... is there a standard way to proceed? <S> Not really, at least as far as I know. <S> Both sfo2's answer and onnoweb's answer have good points: On one hand, if you're ready for the test now, you should do well and then don't have to keep studying just to stay current (or don't have to cram later) and you may have a leg up on other candidates later; on the other hand, the position may never open up, and if it does the requirements may change. <S> More information is what is needed here. <S> Some things you might want to ask before making a decision: Why was the position put on hold? <S> How long will it be on hold? <S> (As alluded to above) <S> Will the requirements change? <S> You might not get firm (or even honest) answers, but if the job was placed on hold because the supervisor just resigned, it tells you something different than if the budget got cut. <S> Another factor: are you ready for the test now? <S> If not, a delay to study up might help. <S> You just have to be sure to keep studying until you can take the test. <S> Finally: Is this a test that will cost you somehow? <S> Not just the possibility that you might have to pay for it, but would you have to take a vacation day (or leave without pay) from your current job, or maybe have to travel to the testing site? <S> For me, taking the test in the evening while at home and wearing my pajamas is a lot more enticing that taking a day off, maybe getting dressed up, and driving out of my way to take a test for a job <S> I might get considered for ... someday. <A> I would wait. <S> That position may never re-open <S> and if or when it does its description or requirements may have changed, the hiring manager may be different. <S> It's likely that your test results will not have been saved. <S> Many companies have policies about how long they keep such information around. <S> Will they even look at it? <A> Better to screw up in a situation that will likely not result in anything anyway <S> ; it's a good practice, with nothing to lose, and it will allow you more self-confidence in the future when it really counts.
| Take the test but consider it as merely a practice (as in, an exercise) for other tests in other interviews (for other companies).
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Is it rude to tell recruiters I would only change jobs for a better salary? I am happy with my current job. However, recruiters message me from time to time with career opportunities. Is it rude to tell the recruiter that given my satisfaction with the current job, I would only take up their offer if there was a significant financial incentive to do so? <Q> No, it's not rude. <S> If that's what the situation is with you, be polite but clear. <S> Thanks for reaching out <S> At this stage I would only be looking at offers at a total compensation of over $X (before tax). <S> Are you able to detail the compensation range for this role? <S> Many regards, <S> BI <S> You are saving both of you some time. <A> Why would it be rude? <S> Is it rude to tell the salesman what color car you want? <S> Is it rude to tell the chef how you want your steak cooked? <S> Is it rude to tell the dry cleaner that you want your shirts starched? <S> It's not rude to tell people what you want. <A> Frame challenge: <S> I wouldn't respond to unsolicited recruiters at all . <S> It just gives them hope that your contact info will some day bear fruit. <S> When you're open to new job opportunities, you locate a recruiter that is relatively respected in your industry (or has contacts with a company that interests you) and you reach out to them. <S> At that point, as the other answers have stated, you can state whatever criteria you want <S> and it's up to them to either tell you that your criteria are unreasonable or to find a job that'll match those criteria. <A> It's not rude at all to express certain requirements that are an important factor for you to consider leaving your current position which you are happy with. <S> It's definitly in your interest to provide such information when contacted by a recruiter. <S> Being in a similar position (I'm quite content about my current role and my paycheck), I was also contacted last month by a recruiter (let's call her Mary) via E-mail and replied with (loosly translated via Noodle or what its called) : <S> Dear Mary! <S> First of all, I want to thank you very much for contacting me about this job offer! <S> For your information regarding any future job postings, I want to inform youabout the following: <S> I'm currently working as a senior lead-developer and project-manager,with which I am extremely satisfied. <S> Should this change for any reason, of course, I'm happy aboutnew offers - but these should be at least € <S> xxx.xxx gross per year for similar responsibilities. <S> Best Regards,
| Be courteous and professional, and tell them what you want.
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How should I ask for higher pay based on performance? Context: This summer I got a summer job as a junior developer with the promise to continue as a part time while I finish my masters at the university. I was hired with another student from the same university, but he attends another field of study, more related to the job than mine (General software development vs. ML/AI/Robotics). In essence he should have an edge up on me in this job and I expected to having to do catchup throughout the summer. However, it soon became apperent that the opposite was true and the last couple of weeks I have been explaining and teaching him basic things he should know already. Despite this I have been outperforming him in terms of completed tasks and doing alot more work in alot less time. At the end of the summer, we are supposed to have a interview, reviewing our work this summer. Me and my student colleague have the same wage, but I have alot more experience (5 yrs part time vs 2 yrs part time), I perform better, invest more time and am generally much more interested and forward leaning than him. Because of this, I would like to have a raise at the end of the summer, but its far from essential. TLDR; I believe I'm outperforming my colleague, who should be outperforming me. Question: How should approach the situation with my manager? Its very discouraging having the same wage as my colleague while clearly performing better, but I don't want to badmouth my colleague or seem demanding. I love the work and its a well paid job, its probably the best job I can get while finishing my masters degree. EDIT: I'll try and make my point better: I'm not feeling underpaid in general, the pay is actually above what is recommended for third years students. The issue is perhaps that my colleague is overpaid or perhaps that the paylevel at this firm is higher than what I expected. Some have pointed out that the performance of my colleague should not be decide my own wage, but I disagree. My own performance and work is taking a hit, because I'm spending a considereable time teaching and helping my colleague. Furthermore, whenever our work is review, its constantly his work that is flawed and then having me fix the bugs and issues. Isn't it then relevant for my wage? Can't I highlight for my manager that I'm constantly having to work twice as much as my colleague, despite getting the same wages? Perhaps my question was poorly worded. How can I professionally highlight a performance discrepancy between me and my colleague, to aid in my performance review? <Q> Short answer: <S> What your colleague earns is completely irrelevant, pitch a pay rise on evidence that you are worth the more money. <S> You shouldn't mention what your colleague earns, it's irrelevant in terms of what you are worth. <S> To say "I should earn more than this person" gives no reason to increase your wage. <S> Quantify your request against local industry wage scales and how that applies against your experience and capability. <A> Speak with your manager. <S> If you have an annual interview for performance and career, it's the time to mention why you deserve a raise. <S> Don't compare yourself to others, stick to your own performance during your time at this job. <S> Support your claim with data : what have you done which is over-performing ? <S> What task have you accomplished ? <S> What did you learn that improved your efficiency here ? <S> Be prepared <S> and I wish you good luck in this interview. <S> Don't stress yourself if it's not essential, but be professional, don't badmouth the capacities of your colleagues and be at your best ! <A> How should approach the situation with my manager? <S> You can ask your manager about how does your manager evaluate you. <S> Your appraisal of performance might be biased , while your manager appraisal of performance might be subjective . <S> Based on what your manager said if your manager willing to disclose it out of the annual contract review, you could get the hang of how well you perform. <S> Its very discouraging having the same wage as my colleague while clearly performing better, <S> but I don't want to badmouth my colleague or seem demanding. <S> No need to compare anything with your colleague. <S> You can ask if it's possible to have a raise soon if you're performing well. <S> But you won't have much hope to have a raise while performing sub-standard. <S> Asking for a raise for a good performance after years of work won't be seemed as demanding as it was what the company should value. <S> I love the work and its a well paid job, its probably the best job I can get while finishing my masters degree. <S> Well, if you don't get what you expect you could always search for alternatives. <S> (Such as looking for another workplace) <A> No matter what is going to be discussed, don't blame your colleague. <S> The reason he's earning the same pay isn't just based off his actual performance. <S> Maybe he brought better arguments to the salary negotiation, maybe it's because his field of study is more related to the job. <S> It could be due to a lot of reasons you possibly couldn't be aware of. <S> He also certainly has other qualities which make him valuable, like maybe soft skills in human relations. <S> That's why I think you should just concentrate on yourself and not compare yourself to others. <S> What you are currently experiencing is your own ego, not your colleagues payment. <S> If you weren't aware of his salary you wouldn't be worrying at all, would you? <S> Make sure not to compare yourself with him publicly, especially not in the summer meeting. <S> This will make you look like an envious, badmouthing person, lowering your expectations for anything which is yet to come. <S> Apart from this; If you feel your performance heavenly increased since you started at the company and first negotiated your salary, ask for a discussion with your manager after your summer meeting and point it out. <S> You will have great chance to point out your development, projects were you did particularly great or in what other ways you turned out to be even more profitable to the company than initially thought. <S> Good luck! <A> Depending on your relationship with your manager, you could simply ask for a raise. <S> Suggesting or implying you want a raise can be good and all, but if you want more, you should ask. <S> Your not going to get paid more because your colleague performed worse than you. <S> You will get paid more based on the merits of what you have done so focus on those. <S> Of course, as this is a summer job, you might not get a pay raise at all. <S> Performing well might simply secure you a job during the semester or future opportunities at the same company. <S> Also, remember that a promise with your manager does not guarantee you a job and budget requirements may prevent your boss from hiring anyone else or giving you a pay rise. <S> It may not be your bosses decision to make in the first place.
| If you think you are worth a pay rise, then provide evidence around what the pay scales are for someone with your level of experience, and how you bring value to the company. I would not bother mentioning your other colleague.
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Should I clean uncompleted projects from my GitHub? I'm a self taught software developer. Back when I was teaching my self how to program and how to use git, I ended up making a huge number of repos - some are incomplete, some are just notes. Over the years I've ended up making 88 repos, and I would guess 20% actually do anything. I'm now happily employed and wondering if I should clean these out, or leave them so my 'contribution history' shows the time I've spent learning? <Q> It depends on what the purpose of your GitHub account is, but since you posted here, I'm assuming your intention is use the GitHub account as a showcase for your skills. <S> In that case, you would do well to whittle it down to the projects you are actually proud of and want to show off. <S> No potential employer is going to sift through 88 different repos to find the good stuff. <S> You'll be lucky if they take the time to look through the top 2 or 3. <S> So you will want to make sure whatever projects they look at are ones that show off what you can do. <S> Employers aren't interested in how much time you spent learning or how you got there. <S> They are interested in what you can actually do and how that will add value to their company. <S> The effort that went into your learning will be self-evident in the final product anyway. <S> Keep it to the projects and contributions that best reflect your skills. <A> I'm now happily employed and wondering if I should clean these out, or leave them so my 'contribution history' shows the time I've spent learning? <S> I don't see any reason why you should delete them. <S> They contain code and code snippets that you've made and that someday may prove useful to reference or reuse. <S> Also, given you are already hired, I don't see how this could end you fired, or reflect badly on you. <S> In fact, this would tell me "wow, this guy really likes to code, try new things, and learn on their own" . <S> FYI, and without intending to promote any product, Atlassian Bitbucket offers unlimited private repositories. <S> Surely alternatives exist if this one is not of your liking. <S> That way, you can leave on Github the ones that are completed or you feel comfortable showing to the world. <A> I think you should remove your older repositories (could be done by making them private), simply to help people find the interesting projects easier. <S> There is a high probability that someone is randomly looking at projects and misjudging you just by chance. <S> So just clone all old repositories, zip everything and store it somewhere.
| You could consider moving or copying your Github repositories there, so they are private and there is no chance of anyone randomly stumbling upon them.
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Former company claiming I have their property I just left a company and they are sending a message claiming I have a iPad of theirs that I must return or they will invoice me for the cost and deduct it from my final pay. I do not have their iPad nor do I know what became of it . Can they do this? The company doesn't have anyone sign indicating they have anything, like a company computer or cell phone. Can they charge me for something they have no actual proof I have? <Q> Go see a lawyer. <S> It sounds like the company is trying pin something on you and the most effective defense is a registered letter by a lawyer and that a) clearly states that you have followed all processes and procedures, b) and that they should cease and desist in making false accusations or you will take formal legal action. <S> I many cases <S> a formal letter is all it takes to make them back off. <S> If they don't you would need to discuss with your lawyer what the next steps would be. <A> Can they charge me for something they have no actual proof I have? <S> No... <S> but if you actually have it then you should return it, or well keep it if you want it <S> but you are going to have to buy it. <S> If you really don't have it, and they are claiming for it, politely reply indicating that you do not possess such item and ask them to double-check, and that if there is anything you can do to clarify the situation. <A> They can take you to court over the cost of the iPad obviously, but they can't just take it out of your salary. <S> That said, if you don't have that iPad, I'd tell the company that you don't have this iPad <S> (either you never had it at all, or you never took it home, or you took it home <S> and you returned it), and I would ask why they believe you have it. <S> That could also jog your memory, in case you had this iPad for two weeks and passed it on to someone else. <A> Depends on country. <S> I would imagine in any country though they have to prove that you have it or at least responsible for it. <S> Either you signed off on a custody form or if you acknowledge you received it somehow. <S> When I receive equipment from my employer, they made me sign a document saying I received one laptop and a keyboard. <S> At the end of my employment, I got a receipt saying I turned it in. <S> If you did no such thing, I would imagine it's on them to prove it. <S> However, you'd have to see a lawyer, unfortunately.
| In most countries, if there is a dispute then they cannot just deduct money from your salary.
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Work certificate: what are pragmatic ways not to allow a bad one to influence your job search? At my last job my performance was complimented a lot, both by my boss and colleagues. I completed all tasks given to me successfully and in time and had some objective successes above what could be expected. At the same time I was bullied by my boss since almost the beginning (I know the reasons, but don't want to describe them here and no, I didn't do anything wrong). Then I was let go during my probationary period. Now I've received my work certificate and the "secret language" (I'm in Germany) shows a very bad grade (something between 3 and 4). I'm wondering what the best ways to deal with that are. A lawyer would probably cost me a lot. I know I could contact the employer directly and ask for corrections, but my whole cooperation with this company can be summarised in one sentence: "My boss was a jerk and the company culture dysfunctional". So it probably won't work. It also cost me a bit of time to (start) forget(ing) all the awful behavior I experienced there, with my shrink using terms like "sadism" and "narcissism" to describe my boss, so I wouldn't like to prolong the experience too much. On the other hand, the current certificate is simply not fair and I wouldn't like it to reduce my chances to get interesting jobs in the future. <Q> If you feel the need to use the certificate, I suggest you do contact the company for improvements. <S> While they may be unwilling, few companies want to go to court over something like that. <S> If they refuse, you either search for a new job without mentioning this job - there are posts on workplace on how to achieve this - or you are going to have to sue them. <S> Personally, I have found the threat of a lawsuit to often be quite motivating for businesses, and though I don't know German employment law, such a lawsuit seems far from hopeless, especially if you have objective successes exceeding expectations. <S> Keep in mind that financially, it may well be possible that the employer will have to foot at least part of the bill if they lose, but you have to take that up with a lawyer to be sure. <A> In the past I had a work certificate with a bad grade (maybe 5) in one of the points. <S> They just complied and sent me a new certificate (with a 1 for that point). <S> That wasn't too expensive, I don't remember exactly, but probably in the 100-300€ range. <S> Just try that. <S> Your ex-employer has nothing to gain by giving you a bad certificate. <S> Also the letter from the lawyer will probably go to somebody higher up in the hierarchy of the company who doesn't hold a personal grudge against you and who doesn't mind giving you a better grade. <A> Companies tend to have deeper pockets than you do, and therefore can probably afford more/better legal representation than you. <S> Considering that this is Germany, don't you have some sort of agency or board that you could talk to? <S> Maybe an industrial tribunal? <S> If nothing else, the employment agency could probably tell you more about this sort of thing. <S> It won't hurt to give them a call, or send them a message.
| I went to a lawyer who wrote a friendly letter to my ex-employer with the request for a new work certificate.
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Is it okay to ask for a day off after working all weekend unexpectedly? I am a software engineer upgrading a piece of manufacturing software on site. This is only my third time going onsite. So to summarize, this has been a nightmare. I'm under-qualified for this particular onsite assignment and I warned the project lead about it. However, I agreed that I would give it my best try. A 2 day project is now going on its 6th day. A solution to fix the issue was finally found and I'll be driving back home tomorrow, which is Sunday. The drive is 11 hours long and I typically work Monday through Friday. Monday, my company is expecting me to show up for work like any other week, but I've completely missed my weekend. I haven't seen my family since last Sunday and I need to catch up with "life". Is it typically acceptable to ask for a day off to avoid working 12 days straight(2 driving, 10 working)? I'm salaried by the way. <Q> Is it typically acceptable to ask for a day off <S> Yes, it's typically acceptable to ask. <S> Be prepared for how you will choose to react if they are not typical and don't grant the day off. <A> Definitely ask for a day off. <S> Be ready for a few different potential responses: <S> Monday might not be the best day to take (or whichever day you request). <S> Be ready with some alternatives (e.g., making your next weekend a long weekend or adding an extra day to a holiday break). <S> No extra days off, but you can take a PTO day . <S> "I'll find a way to make it up to you." <S> Your manager/supervisor might not have a lot of options or have the bandwidth to handle a day off for you right now. <S> Let the topic go for a few weeks and bring it back up if you feel like you haven't been made whole. <S> Nothing to be done. <S> It's reasonable to expect work to go long some times. <S> There will also be (and have also been) days when you can sneak out a little early or take a little longer lunch than would be strictly allowed. <S> Hours can be a give and take that comes in fits and starts. <A> This answer may not be 100% relevant due to aspects of your working contract, but maybe you can take some aspects from it. <S> You should really take a close look at employment law where you are from and your contract. <S> If you've been asked to drive 11 hours to get on-site, that should really be considered to be on-the-job. <S> If you're working significantly beyond your regular hours, you should be getting paid overtime or have time in lieu. <S> If you're getting paid overtime, just use some of your annual leave to take time off. <S> If you have time in lieu, use that. <S> So, it is no problem to ask for time off. <S> Ideally you should organise this as soon as possible. <S> Looking forward, you probably need to have a discussion with your boss about having a better arrangement. <S> Let's look at the costs of the business if you drive to be on-site: <S> Fuel costs for the car Wages for the employee for the days the employee is travelling Insurance (or risk) for the employee travelling on the road <S> Extra nights' accommodation Depending on location and availability, it would probably be cheaper for the business to fly the employee to be on-site (including taxi to and from the airport). <S> In addition, the employee would be able to depart on the first day they are due to start work, and fly home on the last day. <S> This means the employee is less likely to take leave on the days before and days after, and also will have higher job satisfaction. <S> Doing a rough calculation for where I'm from, the fuel costs alone approach the cost of the plane ticket. <S> I fully understand the factors will be different depending on where you're from. <A> Typically if you've been working all weekend on a major project your boss will want you about on the Monday in case there are any issues to follow up on. <S> I'm the past I've encouraged employees to start late Monday morning and then take the following Friday off in similar situations, perhaps you could suggest that? <A> Not only is it probably okay to ask for a day off after working 6 days <S> , in many places it's illegal to ask an employee to work 7 days in a row. <S> Check your local laws (e.g. state, national) and <S> your employee handbook to see if this is true for your situation.
| You might not be able to get an extra day off, but you could certainly ask to take one of your paid-time-off days (vacation, sick day, etc.). Then, consider if this extra work is likely to be a regular part of the job, and if that fits into your lifestyle or not.
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I have accepted an internship offer. Should I inform companies I have applied to that have not gotten back to me yet? Over the last weeks, I have applied for internships in various companies. A few days ago, Company A got back to me with an offer I like, which I accepted. I had 2 interviews scheduled with Company B and C for next week, which I both cancelled by informing them I have accepted another offer in the meantime. However, my question is: what do I do with companies D, E and F, which I have applied to, but which have not yet responded to my applications at all? These are not companies that have ghosted me, but it has simply been quite little time since I have applied and there are high chances I will hear from them in the next few days. Should I email them now saying I accepted another offer? Should I wait until they send me an email and, if they invite me for an interview, tell them I accepted another offer? Since they are companies I have interest in, I might want to work with them in the future and want to find the best way to keep doors open. Thank you in advance. <Q> Should I email them now saying I accepted another offer? <S> Since they are companies I have interest in, I might want to work with them in the future and want to find the best way to keep doors open. <S> Yes! <S> That is the most professional thing to do. <S> You'll leave a good impression that may help you somewhere down the road. <S> It takes just a few seconds and there is absolutely no downside at all. <S> Even if they go low, you go high. <A> No need. <S> They won't bother with a "no thanks", so you don't need to bother either. <S> If someone actually contacts you, you can simply reply with "sorry <S> , I already got a different job". <A> The other answers have it covered pretty well: no need unless you reach the interview stage. <S> I just want to add that if anything goes wrong with your accepted job and you need to get back on the job market quickly then the applications currently in a pre-interview stage could be a lifesaver. <S> It is unlikely that anything will go wrong with your selected job offer but sometimes things do go wrong and it never hurts to hedge your bets when the hedge is free. <S> I wouldn't go as far as continuing applications which have reached the interview stage (because that actually causes people inconvenience) <S> but no one loses if you let the other applications run their course. <A> No. <S> If they respond to wanting an interview, then let them know you have accepted another offer. <A> I had 2 interviews scheduled with Company B and C for next week, which I both cancelled by informing them I have accepted another offer in the meantime. <S> It was good of you to be courteous by informing in advance. <S> This potentially saved some work/time for the recruiter and interviewer. <S> what do I do with companies D, E and F, which I have applied to, but which have not yet responded to my applications at all? <S> Are you still looking to hear back from them, and expecting a potentially better opportunities compared to what Company A has to offer? <S> You have also mentioned this: These are not companies that have ghosted me, but it has simply been quite little time since I have applied and there are high chances I will hear from them in the next few days.
| Even if you haven't heard back (but have a high chance of hearing), it shouldn't hurt to wait till you can, and review from among the best options. In normal business relationships it would be a common courtesy and appreciated as such, but for some reason most recruiters operate quite differently and are lacking even the most basic courtesy around communication.
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Asking about overtime. A mistake? Here we're advised that asking about overtime during an interview is a mistake. Is it? "And will you guys pay me for my extra hours of work?" is probably not the best way to phrase the question but the overall meaning of the question seems meaningful to me. Is it a mistake? Why? I work as a Full-stack web developer out of Bulgaria. <Q> It's entirely acceptable and advantageous to ask about overtime. <S> A potential series of questions could be: <S> "How many hours should I expect to work each week? <S> How will those hours be spread across the week?" <S> "How often should I expect to be asked to work more than 40hrs/week? <S> How much notice will I receive when this happens?" <S> "How will I be compensated for overtime hours worked?" <S> In fact, in a recent discussion with a job seeker, the first two questions asked were about call (i.e., being called back into work after leaving for the day/weekend) and overtime. <S> Questions about overtime like those above are not unusual at all. <A> However, I wouldn't really be too concerned for the cases where it does cost you the job, because those are precisely the cases where the answer to your question is " <S> No". <S> And if you are asking that question, it's probably because that's important to you. <S> gmasher729 is right that "how much do you pay?" is probably a better way to ask that "do you pay at all?", because it creates the same (or less) "nuisance" but provides you more information. <S> Jay's formulations also look OK to me. <S> By the way, I wonder what kind of job the author of the post is currently holding... <A> "And will you guys pay me for my extra hours of work?" <S> That's the wrong way to ask, because it asks for a yes or no answer and therefore invites a no, and you're stuck. <S> Better ask: <S> "And I have to ask, how much do you guys pay for overtime, if there is overtime?" <A> You do want to ask about overtime, but I would not phrase it that way. <S> First ask how often overtime happens, and what causes it. <S> There's a big difference between "management frequently sets unreasonable deadlines and there will be overtime if we may miss the deadline" and "we give teams a lots of freedom how to implement their stuff, but you may be called after hours once in a blue moon if something breaks and operational support can't fix it on their own". <S> Then ask how people are compensated. <S> Compensation can happen by extra wages, but you can also be compensated by time.
| If overtime is something that is important to you (whether you want to avoid it or want the extra hours), definitely ask about it when talking to recruiters or managers. Polite and direct questions will always get a commensurate answer and will never be an issue for a reasonable recruiter or interviewer. It is true that posing that question can sometimes cost you the job (please note "can sometimes" is not the same as "will for sure")
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Re-negotiate salary once I earn my diploma I had a job interview a month ago. I signed my employment contract two weeks ago and I will officially start on September 9th. I passed my last exams last week and I will soon be graduating as an IT engineer. A classmate working in the same company where I will start in September is planning to renegotiate his salary after graduation. Do you think I can make the same request, or would it be better to wait until the end of the trial period? Personally, I think I'm taking a risk if I ask right now. <Q> This doesn't sound like a good idea. <S> A classmate working in the same company where I will start in September is planning to renegotiate his salary after graduation. <S> Never base your decisions on someone else's thought process. <S> Give it a thought keeping your own personal position in mind. <S> Do you think I can make the same request, or would it be better to wait until the end of the trial period? <S> It's better to wait till the end of your trial period/next appraisal cycle. <S> You have recently interviewed with the company. <S> Completion of diploma won't be a new knowledge for the company (most likely you are hired condition to the successful completion of your diploma). <S> So this is not a skill/certificate that you are acquiring out of company's knowledge which adds value to your role. <S> Even if you are thinking along the lines of re-negotiating, it will sound good only if you are brining in new skills to the table that aligns with role. <A> "Work" and "school" play by different rules. <S> At work, you get paid for what you do. <S> Getting another piece of paper isn't likely to make any difference to that (since you had already learned the material to pass your exam before you were interviewed). <S> It's possible <S> that in a bureaucratic company, getting some paper qualification automatically puts you into a different pay grade, in which case you don't need to "negotiate" anything. <S> But more likely, your employer's reaction to passing an exam that you were expected to pass anyway will be "big deal - so what?" <A> The proper time to negotiate a raise is either before you sign a contract or after you've been working for a significant amount of time. <S> (What qualifies as significant depends on a number of different factors including the role you're in and the nature of your contract but that's a separate topic.) <S> The point is, you've agreed to a set of terms and to people who don't know much about you beyond what they learned through the interview process, asking for an immediate change to your contract could easily be interpreted as you being the type of person who doesn't follow through on their commitments. <S> Give them a chance to form a positive impression by working hard and proving your ability to get results and generate revenue for the company. <S> Once you've proven yourself, you should absolutely ask for a raise. <A> Indeed there is a risk in asking for a raise, as it may come across as you being unhappy about the salary you get. <S> You will be seen to be less loyal to the company, which will count against you when they will have to decide whether to keep you or not at the end of the trial period. <S> This will be especially likely if you cannot explain why do you expect a raise. <S> If the company knows you're about to get a degree, they most likely already expect you to get it.
| Given the situation, it's best to prove your mettle by showing your work and negotiate a deserving pay with confidence in the next cycle. If you didn't say anything about the upcoming graduation during the interview, telling them about the new diploma you've got would do (though it would've been better if you told them about it during the interview and asked for more from the start).
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Should I be able to keep my company purchased standing desk when I leave my job? I may be leaving my company soon to start a new position, and one thing I've wondered about is whether or not I will be able to keep my standing desk. The reason for my question is that it was purchased by my department for me, with the justification of it being for my health. Currently anyone who desires a standing desk can request one. I know the best approach will just be to ask my supervisor and get an answer from them, but I am also just curious as to what the standard practice is for 'health assets' given to employees after change of employment. If it's relevant, I am a software engineer. <Q> No, you should not expect to keep company-purchased equipment. <S> This was paid for by the company, not by you personally, so it belongs to your employer, not to you. <S> It doesn't matter that it was for your health needs. <S> The desk can be easily re-used by another employee after you leave. <A> Do you also plan to take the computer, monitor, phone, etc with you? <S> The answer to your question is likely the same for them. <S> It's equipment purchased by the company for the purpose of you doing your job. <S> I have a 43" monitor on my desk and a pair of $200 noise cancelling headphones. <S> I'd sure love to take both with me on my last day in 2 days. <S> But I doubt very much they'll let me. <A> That said, if you believe such item would not benefit any further employee, it is OK to ask if the company is willing to sell it to you. <S> For example, headphones and microphones that are hard to disinfect, and even mobile phones with visible wear and tear are, in my experience, items that are often sold to employees if they are interested - <S> they are not usable or not appealing for future employees, so it might be better to sell them than to pay for storage. <S> Furniture designed for someone with specific disability may count - and I've seen one guy to walk away from his job with his chair. <S> And sometimes, just sometimes company can agree to give it for free, if you ask to buy. <S> I knew a person who got his mobile phone for free when he left from a company, and I know a company that sells mobile phones for symbolic fee after two years of usage. <S> Maybe your company will not sell, but as long as you are asking about buying it back, and are not angry or irritated if they say no, you are acting professionally. <A> This depends on who paid for the item in question. <S> If your employer bought it for you, they get to keep it. <S> If you paid it yourself, or if you received a grant from your health insurance, retirement insurance or some other agency (this is possible e.g. in Germany, to enable you to continue to work, referred to as "Zuschuss zu Hilfsmittel am Arbeitsplatz"), the item may be your property. <S> However, if the company paid a part of the cost, you will have to negotiate with them. <S> For the process in Germany, see e.g. the information page on Berufliche Rehabilitation (Professional rehabilitation) by the Deutsche Rentenversicherung. <A> One point, only beause other questions didn't cover it. <S> If the desk is in your house e.g. because you work at home, then the practicalities and cost of the company taking possession of it (assuming it's theirs) may mean that they concede ownership without any argument. <A> The company may simply 'not care' about it. <S> It's probably wiser to ask, casually, 'Oh, by the way, do you need the desk back?' <S> just in passing. <S> If you put it in writing someone will have to give an official, binding answer. <S> Under similar circumstances several years ago I retained items already at home, including:- A Mac Pro & dual monitors <S> A digital mixing desk & associated sound input/output devices <S> A digital piano <S> A portable keyboard [musical instrument] <S> A pair of recording studio monitor speakers Cabling & peripherals for all the above. <S> All at the time under 3 years old. <S> Total new value perhaps £20,000 at a rough guess. <S> They simply didn't need them any more & allowed me to keep them. <S> Whoever followed me would just be provided with brand new versions of all of the above. <A> If you do ask, try to put it into "business terms". <S> IE: companies buy equipment and put depreciation tracking on them. <S> If the desk has been in use for a long time, then it may have depreciated to the point of being "worthless" to the company, so anything you pay to them would just be money in their pocket. <S> However, depreciation is dependent on the equipment. <S> Computers may have < 5 years depreciation, because of how quickly computers become obsolete. <S> But, durable office goods, like a desk, may have a very long depreciation schedule, because it's just considered to last forever unless force majeure (act of god, crazy unforeseen destruction, etc) happens.
| As others already stated, these items are company property unless some unusual law is applicable, or you paid for it, either directly or as a deduction from salary.
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What to do after accepting a job offer? I have about 4 weeks prior to starting the job and I will be travelling. I recently emailed the hiring manager about my job offer acceptance. I have also obtained a confirmation email about the accepted job offer and everything looks good. Since I would have 4 weeks to starting the job, what are some good ways to stay in touch with the new employer ? Do I need to do any followup at in the 4 week duration ? Thanks ! <Q> You've got the job - the "sales phase" is over. <S> The employer probably doesn't need or want any follow up beyond potential on-boarding paperwork - which they'll give you directions for, as needed. <S> There really isn't anything <S> you need to do, other than stay attentive if they reach out and ask for anything. <S> When I switch jobs, I take the time to make sure I'm mentally prepared - do some research or reading if I need to switch technologies or anything. <S> I make sure I've got things ready in terms of personal materials for my desk (photos of the kids or whatever). <S> I go over my master resume and enter a draft section describing the new job, mostly as a placeholder to be updated if or when I need to. <A> Since I would have 4 weeks to starting the job, what are some good ways to stay in touch with the new employer ? <S> Do I need to do any followup at in the 4 week duration ? <S> There's usually no need for followup. <S> If travelling, it's probably a good idea to let your new employer know that you won't be around the next 4 weeks, and give them the best way to get in touch with you in case <S> they need to. <S> Otherwise, just enjoy the time off. <S> Get mentally recharged and ready to hit the ground running in your new job! <A> Depends on the job. <S> For instance, I'm moving from an IT job into a ministry job. <S> I accepted a call a couple months ago, and I'm FINALLY moving this weekend. <S> I have been in contact virtually every weekend since, and have traveled there since to set things up. <S> But my situation is perhaps different. <S> I will be assuming leadership of an organization, and will have a fairly high level of visibility. <S> That may be different from your's depending on the position. <S> If you're one of 10 guys on a team of people in an IT shop with no direct reports and not a lot of leadership decisions to make? <S> But if you are taking a position such as director/ceo, or higher level of leadership, you may want to stay in touch, get updates on how things are going, etc. <S> Even though you're not being paid, you'd be "on the job" and expected to have some sort of transitionary responsibility. <A> Sometimes I've had lunch with future co-workers. <S> I went on a bike ride once. <S> Don't be a pest. <S> Don't try to "start working". <S> Enjoy some time off if you have it. <A> Staying in touch is not as important as being available to answer questions or fill out any additional forms that they forgot to tell you about. <S> Hopefully you still have access to email. <S> And hopefully you have a trusted person that has access to your snail mail and personal papers. <S> HR might want a copy of your degree, your passport, or who knows what. <S> In any case, be sure to tell your new employer that you will be travelling.
| And I visit my LinkedIn profile and write drafts of any changes I'll need to make (but don't actually make them until my first day of employment). There probably isn't a lot of followup needed.
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Manager offered a salary range I am interning at a startup; my internship ends in a month. I was recently called in by my manager and offered a full time position as I have already graduated. In addition, he gave me a range of the salary offered, which was $65K-$80K. He also mentioned benefits such as dental and health insurance and stock options, but did not go into details. My question is do managers state the range of the salary they will offer as I can just say $80K for my desired salary? And what else should I ask my manager before I make my decision? <Q> This does not sound like an offer. <S> It sounds like you were invited to partake in candidate assessment for a regular role. <S> They are saying: "Now your internship is over, would you like to apply to transition across?". <S> Internships do not always flow into regular employment, and not every intern will be invited. <S> It's likely there will be an interview, maybe multiple. <S> They will take into consideration a wide range of factors, including your performance as an intern, when deciding on the salary they will offer. <S> In you are interested in continuing to work there, the next step is to ask your boss what the next steps are. <S> You should look at the job market and get a feel for what is appropriate for your qualifications and experience. <A> do managers state the range of the salary they will offer <S> Yes it did happen with me as in a big MNC. <S> Your actual salary is decided by HR. <S> Your manager may just have got approval to hire you and he must be aware that at this position, salary varies in this range. <S> Once you say yes (verbally), they may request HR to roll-out a formal offer letter with final salary calculated as per their norms. <S> And what else should I ask my manager before I make my decision? <S> If 65K is a deal breaker for you, you can request if HR can give a more specific number for your salary before you make a decision. <S> This should not be very difficult for your manager to find out since HR would anyway calculate that number later. <A> It's a little strange to offer a range, unless he's also offering a tradeoff between stock options / RSUs and money. <S> If he is offering you a tradeoff, please ask another question with more details if you want our help. <S> If it's not a tradeoff: Mentioning a range is probably your would-be boss's clumsy way of starting a salary negotiation . <S> At this point in your career, you and your would-be boss sit opposite each other at the dealmaking table. <S> It's a win-lose game until you accept an offer from them. <S> You may as well play to win ! <S> So negotiate. <S> You can say "I really want to work here. <S> $80K (the top of the range) sounds good. <S> What does it take for me to get a formal offer?" <S> Your boss, or somebody, may offer a lower amount either in the moment or later. <S> If they offer less than $65K (the low end of the range) they're not respectful negotiators. <S> That probably isn't intentional, but it means you should ask "how do we get to yes?" <S> rather than making a counteroffer. <S> When they make an offer, respond with a number somewhere between your $80K position and their position. <S> Or if their offer is high enough, say "OK, it's a deal". <S> If they insist on a low offer, you might try saying "OK, if you can promise me a salary review after six months." <S> That kind of promise should be in your offer letter. <S> As long as you're respectful, you won't p*ss anybody off sticking up for yourself in this negotiation. <S> Always start with "I really want to work with you. <S> " <S> There's an excellent book on negotiating by Roger Fisher: Getting to Yes: <S> negotiating an agreement without giving in . <S> If your boss proposed a salary range, I bet you he hasn't read it.
| An actual offer will contain an exact figure and a list of benefits.
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Is it okay to interview with other companies after accepting a signed job offer? I recently received an offer of employment from a potential employer. It was a straight forward (no confusion). I received my offer letter via email and I sent my response back via email accepting it. The potential employer even acknowledged it. Let's say this employer is X. Here comes the tricky part - I was interviewing with 2 other companies around that time. I told them both that I had an offer on the table (prior to accepting my offer with company X). Let's say these 2 companies are A and B. Company A: I had finished my interview rounds and was waiting for a final decision. They told me that it would take 1-2 weeks atleast to get back with a decision (even though I told them about X's offer - which makes sense). Company B: I had 1 last interview pending with some really high people in upper management. I told them about the offer. The recruiter told me that they cannot speed up the processing as a result of me getting the offer and asked me if I want to back out of the interview process. I told them I would back out (having thought it through very carefully!) The recruiter did come back and acknowledge that I received an offer from another firm and knew that I mostly might be taking it, but was encouraging me to still interview and meet the management about potential roles. Now I'm confused if I should even meet with them since I already have an offer that I mostly will be accepting. Is it worth to in a long term perspective? <Q> Completely explore all the available options before committing to one, and choose the one that best aligns with your career goals. <S> The recruiter did come back and acknowledge that I received an offer from another firm and knew that I mostly might be taking it, but was encouraging me to "STILL INTERVIEW" and meet the management about potential roles. <S> It's a good advise from the recruiter. <S> Follow it. <S> No harm in exploring a potential opportunity. <S> You have not started with company X as yet. <S> In your own best interest, it would be wise to explore all the available options and choose the one that best aligns with your career goals. <A> Yes. <S> Doesn't hurt to at least talk. <S> You owe nothing to either employer. <S> Years ago I had interviewed at a job, and was told by a manager there that they liked me, but couldn't hire me until the owner returned from out of town. <S> Since I did not have a firm offer in hand, I started work at another job. <S> After a week, I got the offer, and he actually offered me more because he knew I was working <S> and I had negotiating power. <S> Now, working in the US might be different, as I was not required to give notice. <S> I did offer 2 week notice to the one I had just started <S> but they let me go early since I had not been there long. <S> Now, if you do decide to move, apologize to them for the inconvenience, and express that due to the timing of it all, that's just how it played out. <A> There's a lot of subtlety in this subject, and some of it will vary with cultural or job-specific differences. <S> On the one hand, until you've made a firm commitment, you never know what could happen - a "likely" offer could never materialize, or a background check could cause an offer to be pulled out from under you, or another candidate may accept a position before you. <S> So until you've got a firm, in writing commitment, you should behave as if you are still actively pursuing all possible leads. <S> But on the other hand, once you've received an offer you're happy with and accepted it, and passed any prerequisites, continuing to interview <S> is really just wasting everyone's time at best, or putting your reputation on the line at worst. <S> Although some people are happy to reject an offer they've accepted and switch employers, or quit after just a few days at a new job, it's generally not good practice - and in some industries and cultures, can effectively get you blacklisted and damage your future career prospects. <S> So - once you've committed, stick with it. <S> Let's put that in context for your situation. <S> You said, Now I'm confused if I should even meet with them since I already have an offer that I mostly will be accepting. <S> Compare that to the rule explained above. <S> You haven't actually accepted the offer, so it makes sense to pursue other opportunities. <A> I received my offer letter via email <S> and I sent my response back via email accepting it. <S> The potential employer even acknowledged it. <S> The commonly accepted practice is that merely having an offer does not stop you from interviewing with others, but this is the dividing line: after you have accepted the offer and the potential employer acknowledged it <S> , that's that... <S> you don't keep interviewing elsewhere. <S> Now, this is not an actual legal requirement. <S> You can keep interviewing and go back on your word, or even leave the new job a few days after starting it - but it will damage your reputation a lot. <S> You won't get into prison for doing it, but in some cases the employer can even sue you for lost time and related expenses, although in most cases they won't bother doing it. <S> If you decide to do it anyway, make sure that the reward is worth it.
| That said, in general, the best rule of thumb is to actively pursue all options until you've made a firm contractual commitment to a new employer.
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Awkward circumstances between me, my (soon to be) ex company and my (soon to be) new company (customer of my current company): possible actions? I’m serving my 2 months notice in my current company. I’ve worked here for about 3 years as team leader for 2 teams and (not officially) project manager for teams’ projects. All projects are for a single customer and in this office we do not have a manager above us. Our direct manager works in an office in a different city: she visits us 2 or 3 times a year, she and I usually coordinate our projects through calls. She is very capable, gives us a lot of freedom and our professional relationships are very good. The manager above her (call him M) works in a third office and is supposed to be the project manager of all the projects for this customer. M directly manages 4 teams and should also manage me and my teams. As opposed to our direct manager, M is rude, prone to micromanagement, extremely authoritarian, vindictive, imposes technology decisions without any proper technology knowledge, etc. Because of logistics (different offices) and practical reasons (customer in my city works only with us, customer in his city works only with M and his teams), M is not able to really manage us. This situation drives M very angry and M expressed his anger on many occasions. My next job will be with our current customer and I will be the vice-director of the business unit to which all projects existing between my current company and my next company refer to. So I will have a position above M and I will “manage” him, approve his decisions, check the quality of M and his teams’ work, bypass him and talk directly to the CEO if I think it will be the right thing, etc. When he found out I’m leaving for this position, he phoned me and openly insulted me and more or less threatened me AND my teams. I simply waited M to finish and asked him if he felt professional and I closed the call. I don’t care about M and his threats against me but I'm worried about what it could do to my teams. So my 2 questions: I’m 100% sure M will try to hinder my work in the new company: how can I prevent and/or correct this? Is there a way to prevent M to take revenge against my teams? <Q> 'M' is worried, and he should be as you are going to be in a position of authority over him! <S> Here are a few ideas:- Early on in the new job <S> I would share some of your experiences withM with your new boss and indicate that he might be an issue thatneeds resolved. <S> Make sure you keep a good record of all interaction going forwardand when you start the new role keep your Manager in the loop. <S> Arrange an early meeting with M and make it clear that you expect a professional and productive relationship, be willing to "wipe the slate clean" but also make it clear what you expect from him. <S> Good luck! <A> Didn't happen to get anything from him in an email, did you? <S> Complaining to the CEO without something more than your word against his will likely be turned around on you. <S> You'll just have to manage him. <S> Play politics, and watch yourself around him. <S> Don't give him a reason to find fault. <S> Everything you do, do it well, and do it clearly. <S> Spell out exactly what you need from, him, and put it in writing. <S> If/when he refuses to do it, then you can provide documentation to the CEO. <S> The guy, for some reason, doesn't like you. <S> He probably takes it as an offense to have to report to you. <S> Hard to say much more without knowing the specifics. <A> It’s a small world; too small to make enemies. <S> M probably has not yet learned that lesson. <S> In your new position you’ll be perceived as having the authority to change vendors if your current vendor delivers poor service or behaves in a hostile way. <S> Ignore this M guy until you have your new position. <S> There’s nothing you can do to change his personality. <S> And, honestly, he’ll mistreat people whether or not you stay or go. <S> Sad, but true. <S> You can then ask the vendor (your old company) to be respectful of you. <S> And, if this M guy harasses the teams doing work for your new company, that’s bad for his business. <S> You can make that clear. <S> And remember, being kind does not mean you have to be weak.
| Without something in writing threatening you, not much you can do.
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What to do if I have been accused of sexual misconduct? I recently joined a company. Our training sessions are going on. During pair programming round, to try to make things go faster(as we are falling behind) when I tried to grab my pair's laptop(as we were working on that machine) my hands did brushed against her top body. She then stormed off. After today's session, I tried to calm her by saying sorry (and that it was by mistake) but she was not in the mood to listen and started shouting at me in front of almost all batch and said that I've done it before (I am sure I did not). Usually, she is rude. But today she was very very rude. What should I do? Should I go talk to an hr person? I feel sorry for my mistake and angry for allowing her to talk to me like that (I could not say anything when she went like that, I was dumbstruck and scared. I still am). My new company is known for having a female-friendly environment can talking to an hr hurt my carrier? Edit: It was my forearm that touched and I tried to get her laptop because the screen sharing at the last moment stopped working. And I think that she knew that I was the one who was going to work on the code (because coming from different background, etc..). Why screen sharing?: Because the code was not pushed to the git hence I could not pull. I'm a male. I have a total of two years of work experience. Location is India. I want to know what is the worst that could happen out of this scenario? (other than public shaming which already did). And how do I defend myself in that scenario (if at all)? <Q> What should I do? <S> Should I go talk to an hr person? <S> I feel sorry for my mistake and angry for allowing her to talk to me like that <S> (I could not say anything when she went like that, I was dumbstruck. <S> I still am). <S> It's times like this you need to really remember that HR is not your friend. <S> If HR gets involved then this becomes a problem that the company needs to solve, and the easiest solution for the company is (probably) to dismiss the accused party. <S> Retain any evidence you might have <S> (it doesn't sound like you have much) - it might be a wise idea to write down a detailed account of your version of events, while it's still fresh in your memory, then sign and date it. <S> (This may not be "evidence" in the traditional sense, but it can still be more helpful than most people think.) <S> Don't show this written account to anyone unless it becomes necessary. <S> Just hang on to it, just in case. <S> If she takes it to HR, or to someone higher, you'll be prepared to defend yourself as best you can. <S> Remain calm, stick to the facts. <S> Hopefully it will all work out. <S> Even more hopefully, she'll calm down and move on, and nothing will come of it. <S> But if you go the HR "preemptively" you will only be making sure <S> the issue can't be ignored. <A> During pair programming round, to try to make things go <S> faster(as <S> we are falling behind) when I tried to grab my pair's laptop(as we were working on that machine) <S> my hands did brushed against her top body. <S> An apology is the best start and you need to hope that nothing more comes of it. <S> My reading of this situation, puts you at blame. <S> Your team was behind, and you decided you would make things move faster <S> and thus you unilaterally "grabbed" the laptop. <S> Which hints at you potentially invading her space. <S> If it's going slow, you do not impose yourself onto the task, you communicate that difficulty to the other person, a superior or whatever. <S> What you don't do is invade a person's space. <S> Just grabbing the laptop is very bad. <S> Your "stepping in" seems a little forceful. <S> I'm just trying to understand the circumstance. <S> Typically when pair programming two devs sit together and they work together on a task. <S> One is a "driver" and one is a "navigator". <S> This means one person is to hold the "wheel" (the keyboard) and they other is to help with direction. <S> If the driver is slow and the navigator reaches over to the wheel, that's not good. <S> So it either means: <S> You potentially pushed her aside. <S> Potentially, grabbed the keyboard from her, potentially grabbed the laptop from her while she was on the device(s). <S> This is, in any environment, unacceptable. <S> You should follow the advice above. <S> Keep your head down and hope she doesn't report you. <S> If I were a manager and observed an employee grabbing a laptop from another employee, I would consider that unacceptable and unprofessional. <S> In the work place, we use communication to solve our problems. <S> We do not manhandle our problems. <A> This actually is one of the few instances where HR is your friend. <S> You go to HR. <S> You tell HR what happened. <S> You tell HR that you are sorry, and that you are willing to write the woman you offended an apology. <S> You then ask for advice on how to smooth things over. <S> Why is this one of the few times when HR is your friend? <S> Because people who grope co-workers on purpose don't do this. <S> And since you realize this was a bad thing to do (grabbing the laptop), you won't be back to HR to apologize again next week.
| You tell HR that she's obviously upset, repeat that you're very sorry, and you want some help. You've already apologized and tried to explain yourself, so the best course now is to keep your head down and hope it blows over. Rule one at work, do not invade another person's space, regardless of the reason.
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What is the appropriate way to introduce documentation of an ongoing issue to upper management? I handle all of the internal IT at the company I work for. For several years, I have been trying to get some new servers purchased to replace some failing server. Several months ago, after repeated attempts to get my manager to take some sort of action on this matter, I sent an email to my manager summarizing everything. I warned my manager regarding the probable and imminent failure of one of our servers. I also noted that the remaining servers were all over five years old. I also asked him if he had a remediation strategy in mind, such as purchasing new equipment. My main goal with this email was to have something in writing documenting the issue. After I wrote the email, my manager did respond to me, however, it was a verbal response and he was sarcastic about it, basically to indicate that he disagreed with what I said. The failure that I warned about finally happened, and it caused most of the company to not be able to work. As the one who has to work to resolve this issues, this caused me to be put in the limelight and I am struggling to explain to people that I had no control over the age of the equipment. I feel that I need to provide upper management with the documentation showing that I tried to address this issue in the past, however, I'm not sure what the appropriate way is to go about doing this. In this type of situation should my goal be to protect myself, or should I try to establish that my manager has acted negligently? <Q> When they ask if you knew it was going to fail, say yes. <S> When they ask if you did anything to prevent it, say yes. <S> When they ask what you did to prevent it, show your papertrail/suggestions, show your followup emails, and show that you brought it up for a long time with no approval through proper channels. <S> Explain that there are still other vulnerable servers, you have a remediation plan, and you would like to get started on it ASAP. <S> The next questions from management will most likely be to your boss as to <S> why he <S> /she didn't address the issues. <S> You don't need to throw anyone under the bus, show negligence, or any other theatrics. <S> If you are not at fault, did your best to prevent a catastrophe, and have the proof, present all of that in a neutral, factual manner. <A> Do you have a copy of that email? <S> Be ready to produce it. <S> I wouldn't go running to upper management with it, but if asked, you need to be able to show that you warned your manager about it. <A> Unless you're being directly blamed or have the direct responsibility for the failure, it doesn't make sense to draw a target on your back making upper management aware of your boss' ignorance. <S> This can easily be misconstrued in a variety of ways that would make you a malcontent even if you were 100% correct. <S> In my experience, it's always been a good thing to document my actions, suggestions, and rationale but also to let the next guy in the chain of command make the decisions. <S> If he fails, it falls in his lap and not yours.
| If asked, admit openly that you knew hardware was a possible issue, and you warned management of it some time ago. Whenever you are in a situation where sh*t has hit the fan and people are asking questions, just be factual. When they ask what happened, say that the server failed.
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My work is being pawned off to my colleague. Is it reasonable to apologize to my colleague? I recently came back from a long trip at a client's location. This trip took longer than expected. There were many problems and I couldn't figure out if they were caused by my lack of knowledge in this area or software bugs. It turns out that the main issue was a software bug. However, after arriving back home, the customer called to inform us that another issue arose. While I was away for this project, I missed my wife's birthday. She was very understanding and I coordinated with family to delay it until I returned. Well I've been back for two days and we decided to have her celebration tonight. Now I just heard that my boss wants me to go back on site today, which is very far away. I told him of my plans tonight and that I also have to take my wife to the airport later this week. He agreed to send someone else. My problem is that I feel guilty pawning this project onto a colleague. I don't want bad blood between us. Should I approach him and apologize? <Q> My problem is that I feel guilty pawning this project onto a colleague. <S> I don't want bad blood between us. <S> Should I confront him an apologize? <S> I don't see any compelling reason for you to have to apologize (for what?) with this coworker. <S> You already delayed an important family event to attend the first time, and managed to postpone it to another date. <S> A new issue arose, but you already had plans. <S> Your boss is actually being supportive here by assigning someone else to take care of the bug. <A> Mangers move people around between tasks and projects all the time depending on priorities, skills, schedules and other things they need to consider. <S> It's part of the job. <S> You expressed your scheduling concerns to your manager and he resolved the issue in the best way he could. <S> This is not uncommon. <S> It would be no different than if you coworker was assigned to finish the project while you were on a long vacation or something. <S> To you coworker its another task that needs to be done. <A> As the other answers have stated, you don't have to. <S> If you want to, however, it shouldn't be a problem to do so. <S> I am, however, a bit confused by your use of the word "confront". <S> If it were me, I would definitely want to have a hand-off meeting with him, in which you go over all of the sorts of things you found before, and I'd start off the meeting offering "my condolences". <S> One could easily substitute "you have my sympathy" instead. <S> I'd be likely to assert that I hadn't intended to blight someone else with the assignment, but I was glad that I'd had the time with my wife. <S> I would very much want to avoid sounding like <S> I thought I'd made a mistake, because it seems really unlikely that you did. <S> It's also possible that this could work out better for the company overall, because not only does your coworker have a different skill set (I don't know what that is, but your coworker almost certainly has some strengths and weaknesses relative to you), but your coworker also has the ability to collaborate with someone at your company who's had exposure to this. <S> And sometimes, that is super-helpful in dealing with these sorts of issues. <S> It's <S> kind of like the old radio show Car Talk: sometimes, when one of them didn't know something, the other one did. <S> But other times, they both didn't know, and the magic of brainstorming started. <S> It's difficult to brainstorm with just one person. <S> But it's frequently not considered professional to brainstorm with the customer. <S> In my experience, this attitude seems pretty consistently there regardless of which side of the table I'm on, despite the fact I'm always a fan of brainstorming when there's no clear path forward.
| You don't need to apologize .
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Expressing gratitude for a raise I love my job but I've been looking at other opportunities because I know I'm underpaid. A few months ago, my manager had a very open conversation with me about how much the company values me & that they want to promote me & bring me up to market-value salary range, but they can't until December because of a strong company policy not to give raises outside of December. (This manager wasn't the same one I had when I initially started, and he seems to understand the competitive market for software developers a lot more than my old boss). I asked for a one-time bonus to help improve my current year compensation package but was turned down. This week (completely out of the blue) my manager told me he got me approved me for a decently significant raise, effective immediately beginning next month. This (supposedly) won't affect the raise they have planned for me in December. I expressed a thank you but I was pretty thrown off by it. Do I need to be concerned that my manager somehow knew I was looking to leave? The timing is way too on-the-mark with my job search, as I only seriously started looking a couple of weeks ago. If they really value me so much, WHY would a company risk having me leave because of this "Dec-only policy" (which is pretty real, as I've heard about multiple times), only to change their mind & break their own rules two months later? Now that my salary concerns have been mainly resolved, I'm (happily) stopping my job search. In theory I'd love to tell my manager that he literally just stopped me from leaving, but I imagine that's a taboo thing to ever say to your boss. Is there any other way I can give him a hint to that, or just to express gratitude beyond the small, surprised "thank you" that I gave when he told me? ( This question is related but his question was only for future situations. Mine is for how to express further gratitude beyond what I already said.) <Q> Do I need to be concerned that my manager somehow knew I was looking to leave? <S> No you need not. <S> At this point it's not relevant if they somehow found out about that, as you already got the raise. <S> It could have been, perhaps, that they felt you a bit demotivated and that inspired them to give you a raise. <S> If they really value me so much, WHY would a company risk having me leave because of this "Dec-only policy" (which is pretty real, as I've heard about multiple times), only to change their mind & break their own rules two months later? <S> The real reasons only they know, however, seems to me that your question answers itself: because they value you <S> , they changed their mind on the Dec-only policy, and decided not to follow it . <S> In theory I'd love to tell my manager that he literally just stopped me from leaving, but I imagine that's a taboo thing to ever say to your boss. <S> Is there any other way I can give him a hint to that, or just to express gratitude beyond the small, surprised "thank you" that I gave when he told me? <S> Don't say that to your boss, nor try to hint it. <S> You have nothing to gain from saying that at this point. <S> However, expressing gratitude can be done, and if you feel like giving it, go for it. <S> I would suggest you approach your boss at their office, and ask for a brief private time. <S> There you can say something on the lines of (no need to elaborate much, feel free to tailor to your style/context): <S> Hello, boss. <S> Last day I was a bit surprised by the news you gave me, and I feel I wasn't able to thank you for that. <S> So... thank you for the raise <S> , I appreciate it, and am looking forward to continue to contribute to this great company. <A> It sounds to me like your manager values your work, recognises you were underpaid (as he's already spoken to you about an upcoming pay rise), and realised that you are not happy with it (otherwise he wouldn't have spoken to you about a planned pay rise that's months away, and he'll certainly recognise the effect on your morale of the bonus being turned down). <S> If they really value me so much, WHY would a company risk having me leave because of this "Dec-only policy" (which is pretty real, as I've heard about multiple times), only to change their mind & break their own rules two months later? <S> I expect your manager has gone and fought behind the scenes to make this happen. <S> He was initially turned down, but since he values your work he kept pushing, and two months later he succeeded in getting your pay rise approved. <S> Remember that "the company" isn't some hive mind of managers. <S> It's a collection of people, all with their own goals, targets, and internal politics. <S> They won't all be of the same opinion all the time. <S> I'd love to tell my manager that he literally just stopped me from leaving, but I imagine that's a taboo thing to ever say to your boss. <S> Sure is. <S> Nothing good can come of it. <S> You can find some time for a one on one with him though, and tell him that you appreciate the work he did in getting your raise approved and that you expect it can't have been easy. <S> That's further than most people would go, and he'll probably be happy with it <S> - everyone likes being told they're appreciated for hard work. <A> Do I need to be concerned that my manager somehow knew I was looking to leave? <S> The timing is way too on-the-mark with my job search, as I only seriously started looking a couple of weeks ago. <S> Why would you be concerned about whether or not they know you've been looking around? <S> If you feel that their knowing puts you in a position of power then let them think whatever they want so long as it motivates them to address your salary issues <S> If they really value me so much, WHY would a company risk having me leave because of this "Dec-only policy" (which is pretty real, as I've heard about multiple times), only to change their mind & break their own rules two months later? <S> Companies are only going to pay you what they can get away with paying you, which is to say that they'll only pay you what you're willing to accept.
| It sounds like your new manager realizes that you were underpaid related to the value you bring, didn't want to risk losing that, and pushed to get you this "out of policy" raise.
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Should I alert my previous employer to errors I made during an internship? I finished my very first proper internship at an engineering company (HVAC industry) a couple of months ago. I worked in sales support for the sales engineers and filled out project equipment schedules. I realized late in the internship that I had made some consistent errors in some of the earlier project schedules I was involved in: Incorrectly listed heights of air-conditioning(A/C) units to be 100mm lower than actual Incorrectly keying in dimensions (length instead of depth) for A/C units During the initial stages of my internship, I had asked my mentor to check through my work and to correct me for any mistakes but he seemed to have missed out on my mistakes on the dimensions so it probably went unnoticed. Would it be the right choice to let them know about the mistakes that occurred so many months ago? I am worried that this would leave a horrible impression of me for letting them know this late. I didn't initially come forward about the errors because I wanted to make a good impression. In hindsight, I’m afraid I screwed up even more by dragging it out and not letting them know. I’m also afraid that the projects might run into real issues because of my mistakes. I also don't want my mistakes to affect my mentor <Q> The odds of anyone relying on something an intern produced for health, safety, or major cost concerns are virtually nothing. <S> The whole point of an internship is for you to get experience while someone more experience closely supervises you. <S> Most of the ways that an intern gets experience is by making mistakes. <S> The real goal of the internship should be that you make mistakes and learn from those mistakes-- <S> that's why interns aren't going to be given any tasks where mistakes will have major implications. <S> Sounds like that is exactly what happened here. <S> No one is going to think less of you if you send them an email saying that you just realized that you made a mistake on some of the schedules you prepared at the beginning of your internship. <S> On the scale of mistakes interns have made, that is so small as to be insignificant. <S> Most likely, they'll be impressed that you care enough to still be concerned. <S> At the same time, if you just want to forget about it and move on with your life, feel free to do so with a clean conscience. <S> Moving forward, assuming you're working at a vaguely functional organization, the professional approach is to expect that you'll make mistakes and to let people know as soon as you can when you've made a mistake. <S> I've sent out more than a few emails letting my team saying <S> I screwed something up. <S> Here's what I did <S> Here's what I've done to mitigate the issue <S> Here's what I'd expect the downstream issues to be that I'll need help from other people to fix Ideally <S> , here's a way that we could improve the process to make this particular mistake less likely <S> Not once has this caused anyone to think less of me (though I've taken some good natured jokes on some of them). <S> People expect mistakes to be made. <S> All anyone can hope for is that when mistakes get made they get addressed quickly. <A> If you're feeling this bad about one mistake <S> you're going to have a rough time in the industry. <S> Mistakes are a part of gaining experience. <S> Everyone makes them. <S> The important thing is you learn from them and don't repeat them. <S> Put it behind you. <S> You learned from it. <S> Next time you see someone making the same mistake you can step in and help since you now have experience in that area. <A> So, don't feel guilty that you made those mistakes. <S> That said, if you established a good personal relation with your mentor, it wouldn't hurt to give him a short call / email and tell him a a broader level that some of the values you used may be incorrect. <S> Keep this communication small and targeted as its very much possible your mentor / some other person already rectified them. <S> If asked for details then provide the details. <S> I still have some of the project files saved in a work thumbdrive too as backup. <S> I find this troubling - once your internship is over, you should ideally not be in personal possession of any of those work files - unless they are part of your pre-approved report etc for the internship. <S> Keep this in mind later on in your career as well - don't keep confidential work files from company A in your possession once you move on to company B. <S> I guess I’m just not cut out to be in the engineering industry. <S> You are being too hard on yourself. <S> As the saying goes, an error does not become a mistake unless one refuses to correct it . <S> As another one goes, better late than never . <S> You are on the right path, keep on learning, and don't keep the expectation that you will not make a mistake in life.
| Interns make mistakes all the time, and I see it primarily being your mentor's responsibility to seeing it through that you were not making any of those minor mistakes.
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Remove all personal data from workplace computers I have given my notice at a small software development firm. I still have a couple of weeks so I am transferring my knowledge to a colleague. A couple of days ago, I have realized that I am not allowed to wipe the hard drives of the two computers I have been using. I have also found out that some of my passwords were stored as plaintext on some local servers. What would be the best course of action for me in order to keep my privacy? <Q> Refrain from keeping personal data or using personal online accounts on a work computer <S> What would be the best course of action for me in order to keep my privacy? <S> Best course of action would be to remove all passwords and sensitive information from the computers/servers. <S> Use secure delete command in the OS or use a 3rd party tool to render the deleted data unrecoverable. <S> You don't need to wipe hard drives to do so. <S> You don't want to give any of your team members a misleading impression by stating that you need to wipe the hard drive. <S> They may be afraid to lose any sensitive data, settings, app licenses etc. <S> that may not be backed up or would require time taking configuration. <S> State that you need to remove some personal data and not wipe the hard drive . <S> Revoke any personal SSH keys deployed. <S> I have faced similar issues in past, and general advise I follow is to refrain from using any personal accounts or saving any personal data on work computers. <S> I request IT to setup a company account for anything that I need. <S> Additionally, you may never know how the office network is configured. <S> Your personal data from your computer/laptop/tables/smartphones may still be read/sniffed/logged if you access office network/ <S> Wi-Fi using them. <S> Always keep work and office data and equipments segregated and refrain from accessing work network/ <S> Wi-Fi from personal devices. <A> If your company doesn't have an IT team or a vendor, talk with the individual responsible for managing the computers. <S> Administrating equipment is usually not part of a developer's role, so you should ask those in the proper role to help you or defer to their judgement. <S> Change your personal passwords elsewhere, and any passwords that are the same as those stored. <S> While you don't have control over your data on company equipment, you can take steps to keep yourself secure elsewhere. <S> Change your GitHub/bank/etc. <S> passwords and enable 2FA. <S> You should be doing this regularly anyway. <S> In the future consider a password manager to store your personal information on a work computer in a way that is secure but also easily accessible to you. <S> Of course, check with your firm's IT team to ensure the extra install is allowed. <A> IMHO, change all your passwords that may have been stored there as soon as possible. <S> And for the next time, do not keep any personal information on the work computer as you can be denied access to it at any time <A> Only passwords? <S> Not PII like DOB, SSN (or whatever personal <S> i <S> d <S> you use in your country)? <S> If so, I would simply change the passwords on the sites I logged into. <S> Gmail, banks, etc usually have 2 factor authentications. <S> With gmail, I know you can revoke access to devices like your workstation and so forth. <S> You can easily change the passwords and turn on 2 factor authentication. <S> Then it wouldn't really matter if your password is visible on the work machines. <S> As it wouldn't work and if it did, they'd have to enter the 2nd code to fully log in.
| If you are not allowed access to computers or allowed to change anything, and the passwords correspond to your personal account, simply change them. You should let your IT team handle your work computers - consider asking a colleague there if they can do a fresh install to overwrite the existing data.
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How to convince my boss not to commit binary files and assets to git? I am rather new in my workplace (some months). I am having trouble convincing my boss not to make a big mistake for which the company and the software team is going to pay. As for today, we are (still!) working with TFS. Finally, a decision was made to start working with git. Ever since the company was founded, they had the following workflow: Write some c# code Run an over-night build Automatically check-in .dll s to TFS source control. When working with TFS, this is bad, but doesn't hurt as much as it will with git, because cloning will soon become very painful. I want to prevent this before it happens. How can I get my boss to discourage pushing generated files to source control? My bosses reasoning is: This is the current culture, when people go overseas they want to be able to quickly get-latest and have the running code ready Some compilers we use are licensed, and not all of the team have licenses, so it would make it difficult to collaborate. Making this process automatic is not intuitive to any of us, and doing what we have always done would allow us to go on with the work plan. I wonder if I should insist. If I should, how can I approach him? The final decision will not be mine, but at least I will know I did my best. <Q> A general rule is: Don't go to your boss with problems, go to him or her with solutions. <S> [1] Saying "this is a bad idea, if we do it <S> we'll be sorry in a year" isn't helpful. <S> What you need to do is to come up with an alternative plan that avoids the problem while also accomplishing the goals of the problematic one. <S> In your case I assume it would be some form of CI that stores build snapshots somewhere else that's easy to access; but what to use and how to configure it are really a question for a different SE site. <S> 1) <S> This isn't an absolute, there will occasionally be times you can't come up with a solution even after thinking about a problem for a while and brainstorming with your peers. <S> But you're more likely to accomplish your goals when you present solutions to issues <S> your boss may not have even been aware of, and don't want to acquire a reputation as a chicken little who has unproductive freakouts over every little thing. <A> Right now, you are arguing with your boss about abstracts . <S> About the future , which is hard to predict. <S> Convincing someone your prediction of the future is going to come true has been a challenge for millennia :) <S> It's easier to argue based on facts . <S> So if you think there is something in the future that will go wrong, simulate it. <S> I assume you are a programmer, so it should not be hard. <S> If you think 3 years down the road, after let's say 10.000 commits and pushes, cloning will be hard, then take an empty repository, simulate those three years with a script that just commits and pushes 10.000 little changes and then clone it. <S> Benchmark it. <S> Then use those numbers and approach your boss. <S> Be sure to stay factual and make sure you have an alternative. <S> " <S> Don't do this" is not an alternative. <S> Figure out a way to not do it, but still work with all the scenarios described. <S> I cannot tell you what it will be. <S> Maybe a company-wide nuget server? <S> A file-share? <S> An extra repository for binaries only? <S> Your choice. <S> Pick an alternative and show it's better based on facts . <S> If your boss, after seeing facts, still wants his solution, that is the point where your job is done. <S> That is a business decision that your boss is there to make. <S> It might seem like a bad one to you now, but if that is what your boss wants, that is what your boss should get. <A> How to convince my boss not to commit binary files and assets to git? <S> I feel you have already done your part. <S> Further convincing or pushing him with more arguments isn't going to automatically change the situation. <S> I wonder if I should insist. <S> If I should, what would be good technical arguments? <S> Refrain from insisting anymore at this point. <S> Maybe there really are limitations (such as limited licenses for compilers) which this workflow may hinder. <S> And the team/boss is not aware of a better workflow yet. <S> (I'm with you about not committing binaries in Git repository). <S> If a situation arrives in future, which will let the boss and the team in general see the value of your argument, change will happen for good. <S> Sometimes you may not be in a position to dictate changes, howsoever good they may be. <S> I am rather new in my workplace (some months). <S> Don't forget this. <S> There's a common theme in workplaces to not fix something that isn't broken yet. <S> Sometimes you couldn't help but wait for things to break or earn the trust where you can dictate changes.
| Nothing wrong with you or your boss, but wait till you have earned the trust by spending time and by demonstrating your work, expertise and understanding of git.
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Mentioning my age when skill level is of someone 5 years older I am currently 22 yrs old and a Software developer, i have worked in many countries and have an extremely complete CV (Over 6 companies, 4 languages). Usually they realize how young i am when i actually show up to work. but, i was wondering, since my skill level is more in line with someone that is 30, (in Canada most people are in university at my age) is it worth it to mention my age after my skill set? I see it as either a "This guy is a prodigy" or "He must be lying about his skills". Should i mention my age? <Q> Why would anyone care what your age was at work? <S> If you're under the impression that you will be judged unfairly if you tell them your age, then don't. <S> If someone else brings it up, tell them (it shouldn't be a secret) and then if they give you grief about it, ask why it matters. <S> Especially when working in IT, it is expected that younger generations will have a greater baseline knowledge than their elders did at the same age. <S> But this post seems more like self-gratification than an actual question <S> so maybe I'm wasting my time. <A> No. <S> In the US in particular, it's illegal to ask the question. <S> It's irrelevant to the job. <S> You can either do the work, or not. <S> The same could be asked of the 60 year old man who wonders <S> "Should I tell them my age?" <S> Because, after all, the stereotype is that older people can't keep up in the tech world <S> , right? <S> Prove you can do the work <S> and no one will care. <A> I wouldn't advertise your age uninvited. <S> Whether on a resume, a company profile, or elsewhere, adding your age is either going to be taken as cavalier or a reason to doubt your ability. <S> Let your experience and reputation speak for itself. <S> So long as you get the job done well and are respectful and collaborative with those around you, I don't think many folks will be concerned with your age.
| If your colleagues ask you about your age, you should disclose it as you feel it's appropriate - even then, I would resist revealing a specific age. The average employee should not be surprised by a skilled coworker, regardless of age. If you have the skills, they will speak for themselves. They should be more concerned with your skill level relevant to the job. If it's a concern, just don't talk about it.
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How should I expose a coworker (whom I have a good relationship) for attacking the LAN? I work in a small firm of consultants as a Junior. We work in a small office with no more than 15 people. We get along just fine but I don't think I should cover him up since it's getting in the way of my work and deadlines. He wasn't the one who revealed this to me but a other coworker who is in cahoots with him. I could've just go to my boss and expose him but had no way to prove it; until I sniffed the network and found his method (which I don't think he knows he's using - he's no more than a script kiddie. Not that I'm better but I can grasp what he's doing) of attack which is simply ARP poisoning from his Smartphone. What's ARP poisoning/spoofing? An attack where an user in a network (Called man in the middle) intercepts all the packages, effectively denying communication between two parties (Denial of service) or steal them to get some info, he's doing the first. This is achieved, in this case, with an application whose name I don't know but 'Wifi killer' is an example. I'm a bit of a coward but don't know if outright tell my boss or simply send him the proofs anonymously. What would people here recommend I do? Edit: Thanks to everyone for your feedback. I know see that simply by raising this concern and let someone more apt to take it from there is the best course of action, and I will try it. <Q> I think this a bit more serious than you understand. <S> Let me try to give you an analogy. <S> You're a cook in a large kitchen. <S> Every once in awhile <S> , you can't cook potatoes because the oven doesn't work - <S> and you just found out that the reason is because another chef is tinkering around the electric transformer for the city block during their breaks. <S> Your response shouldn't be, "Hey, don't mess around with that transformer because you're setting back my potato cooking." <S> Your coworker is dinking around with the LAN and doing script-kiddie stuff on it. <S> Why on earth are you only worried about your ability to do your job? <S> Why aren't you worried about him intercepting sensitive data? <S> Why aren't you worried about him hacking the databases? <S> Why aren't you worried about him performing malicious acts on the company data and apps? <S> Why aren't you worried about him ransomwaring? <S> To be honest, this goes way above "coworker" at this point. <S> If I found out about this at any of the companies I would work for, I would: <S> Actively and aggressively push management for Pen-Testing consultants to come in. <S> If the company resisted, I would then do a simple white hack example. <S> Show them that, hey, we know <S> we've got vulnerabilities and we need to find out how to fix it - and mention that nearly 75% of data breaches are internal. <S> If the company still resisted, I would show them evidence of an actual hack occurring. <S> That should be easy, considering your coworker is doing them. <S> You don't have to specify who , just that it's occurring. <S> Let me be blunt: This isn't a coworker situation; it's not an interpersonal situation. <S> It's a data security situation. <A> Just stay factual, do not put blame on anyone. <S> Report what happend: you cannot make your deadlines, because the WLAN breaks down too often. <S> Make sure you have recorded when this happens and why that's a problem for you. <S> Then let whoever's job it is take the problem from there. <S> Maybe your coworker will be found out. <S> Maybe they'll stop if they know somebody is looking into it. <S> Either way your direct problem is solved, the WLAN is working again. <A> If you don't feel comfortable exposing him directly, at a minimum I'd bring to the boss's attention the method that's being used. <S> If you can point it out without implementing him directly, do it. <S> At that point, it's certainly possible an investigation would be done that would then lead to him. <A> Security is a serious issue regardless of domain. <S> If you would report someone compromising the physical security of your firm (maybe damaging locks or copying keys) then you should feel similarly about cyber security. <S> A few things to keep in mind though: <S> Your report is unlikely to be anonymous. <S> It would be best if your colleague heard your concerns directly from you before learning that you reported him/her to the firm's management. <S> This isn't an appropriate topic for general chit-chat. <S> Share your concern with your colleague and manager, but not others. <S> Offer ideas on how to verify/respond, but let the IT team or your manager make the calls. <S> You've done your part by reporting the issue. <A> Unlike what others have said I think in this case you have to report what you have heard because there are one of two things likely going on and neither of them are good. <S> Either you are being targeted specifically or the IT team is not able to track down the issue and most of not all of your co-workers are being impacted and not able to work at full capacity. <S> The reason I say this is because if you are having connectivity issues it is highly likely that everyone else is also and that will mean that the team in charge of the network is not able to track down and fix the issue <S> (though I would have concerns if they are not able to) Something that hasn't been pointed out yet but should be is you might also be in trouble here for your network sniffing that helped you figure out what was going on. <S> Depending on the policies in place at your workplace it can be against policies to do actions like network sniffing and could be something that will result in immediate termination of employment. <A> I think the issue with being "factual" in this case is that your boss will likely call a meeting to gather everyone to figure it out. <S> Imagine presenting these findings right in front of the person you know who did it? <S> Since your objective is to be discrete, I think this method will backfire. <S> With that said, I would call your boss over for a private meeting and explain your findings, what proof you have (wireshark logs, router logs, whatever logs) and explain you believe it is X because he revealed to you he used his smart phone to do these attacks. <S> Also, keep in mind <S> your coworker may not be the actual "hacker. <S> " It may be that he's simply trying to look good in front of you by trying to be proficient. <S> So I would double check with him first to verify that he is indeed doing the attacks.
| Maybe don't broadly expose what you've found, but you should consider raising a concern to your manager and confronting your colleague. Your response should be, "Holy *#$%, what the *#%% are you doing screwing around with that transformer!" and uneasily wondering what other problems his escapades are causing. Let those in the appropriate roles decide what to do.
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Other employees not following company policy So, recently I volunteered for a shift a local movie theater and had to go through an orientation that lasted around 20 minutes and some of the things that were discussed included, If under 18, you can't serve alcohol Be polite Don't trash talk the movies So, I took this all to heart when showing up at my first shift, and once I was wrapping up, I heard some of the paid employees not exactly talking trash about a particular movie but rather about a genre, the conversation had been started not by a coworker but by a potential customer who had come in to buy a membership but eventually just left. I felt uncomfortable approaching them because they were being paid and I wasn't, so I felt like they held authority over me and I just let it slide. What should I do if another situation like this arises? <Q> There will be many more instances in your work life where peers or people you have no authority over are doing something that goes against company policy or your own ethics. <S> Here is some general advice: If what they are doing does not affect your job and is not causing imminent and serious danger, then let it go. <S> They have managers, and that is the manager's job to deal with. <S> If what they are doing is making it hard for you to do your job, adds to your workload, ask your manager for advice in how to handle the extra work. <S> If what they are doing is dangerous or illegal, then speak up, either to them or a nearby manager. <S> I think you're experiencing the first <S> - it's their manager's job to deal with. <A> Whenever someone says a rule, it's generally important to follow it if you can... <S> but it's even more important to figure out why the rule is in place. <S> In this case, the manager doesn't want you to say, "Geez, that new Flooby movie absolutely sucks" - and a potential movie-goer overhears it and decides that maybe they shouldn't come and watch Flooby next week. <S> The manager doesn't want your comments to hurt sales. <S> Once you understand the reason behind the rule, it starts to make sense: your coworkers didn't actually do anything wrong. <S> Because there's a huge difference between: "Geez, that new Flooby movie absolutely sucks" "Geez, I can't stand horror movies." <S> Why? <S> Because someone hearing the first might not see Flooby. <S> But someone hearing the second isn't going to be dissuaded from seeing a specific movie. <S> It's not like someone who's a fan of horror movies is going to have their genre taste irrevocably altered by an overheard comment. <S> Branching off from there, I'd suggest two general rules of thumb: <S> Be cautious when questioning someone with experience. <S> I'm not saying someone without experience is often wrong, or that someone with experience never is, <S> but... there might be reasons why they're doing what they're doing - that they have experience to judge a bit better. <S> In this case, they might have internalized what I suggested above: it's okay to poke fun at a genre, but doing it to a particular movie might hurt sales. <S> Whenever you see someone with more experience doing something that you're not, take some extra time to figure out why they might be doing it. <S> Sometimes there won't be, but sometimes like this case, there will . <S> Give people a chance to be good. <S> Let's say they were insulting a specific movie, that they were doing something they definitely shouldn't be doing. <S> Confronting them directly might not be the best approach. <S> Instead, I would simply ask, "Are we allowed to talk bad about the movies? <S> I thought we weren't supposed to criticize them at all when we were on the job?" <S> - aka, give them the chance to say, "Yeah, you're right" without polarizing them or putting them on any sort of defensive. <A> I'd do absolutely nothing. <S> Don't be THAT guy to try to tell them to stop it, or to tattle to the boss. <S> And don't join in, either. <S> This is not the same as if you'd specifically hear them badmouthing a particular film that was showing, or serving alcohol to anyone under age. <S> I'd let it slide.
| Do your own job well and let it go.
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Should I have shared a document with a former employee? My deputy manager who left 3 months ago is asking for a document that was shared with me and my team after they left, but they were part of the meetings that led to the preparation of that document. I have emailed it to them without consulting my manager. I was just thinking, was this okay to do? <Q> You need to talk to your manager about this immediately. <S> You absolutely should not have done this. <S> This person is no longer an employee at your organization is not entitled to any company information. <S> It doesn't matter that they may have helped create the documents and probably know the content anyway, sharing it with them essentially makes it a public release. <S> Now, it may be that your manager says it's fine and would have told you to send it on, but you should absolutely not do this without written approval. <A> No, don't share internal company information with non-members of the firm except in the course of normal business. <S> Previous employees do not have a legitimate interest in non-public company information (unless they are doing business with the firm). <S> It doesn't matter how sensitive the information seems or if it is marked confidential - unless you have permission to share the information, keep it private. <S> You should alert your manager or a trusted leader in the company. <S> Previous employees asking for information may signal a larger issue. <S> At the very least, make an individual in a management position aware of the data leak. <A> The other answers tend to lean towards owning up, but I have to wonder: what planet are they on? <S> On planet Earth, the obvious and only course of action is to say nothing. <S> If you are found out, you can always plead ignorance; and if you are not found out, well then owning up would have been stupid, wouldn't it? <S> PS <S> If you think this a question of ethics, ask yourself this: who stands to benefit if you own up? <S> Nobody. <S> Who stands to lose out if you own up? <S> You. <S> It's a no-brainer, if you ask me. <A> Any company I've worked in, your action would be reason to terminate your employment and take legal action against you for breach of confidentiality agreements, non-disclosure agreements, and document security regulations. <S> For example sending an updated installation manual to a customer for the product you're building for him is usually (but not always, there may be rules about who's allowed to communicate at all with customers) <S> ok, sending a design document for something to a random person outside the company, often even the customer for who you are designing that thing, hardly ever is. <A> Without going into your actions, its obvious you know you have messed up. <S> So, I would simply weigh up your options. <S> And you have 2 really: <S> Own up, with a risk of getting sacked. <S> Keep quiet with a risk of getting found out, and sacked <S> Personally I think there is more at risk with option 1. <S> I have in the past kept several spreadsheets <S> I worked on from previous workplaces, just so I can re-use functionality in the future. <S> Whatever you choose to do cease contact with your former manager. <A> It sounds like you don't know why they wanted it. <S> Some of the other answers assume their motivation was shady, which may be an appropriate assumption, or it may not be. <S> If they were really trying to do something shady, would they have asked you at all? <S> You should probably ask them why they wanted it, and ask them to keep the document confidential. <S> Best to have such conversation by phone or in person. <S> Their reaction will hopefully give you a better idea of what's at stake in the situation, if anything. <A> To answer the question as asked: you should not have forwarded any company document to a former employer, without approval. <S> Since you have done it, you now need to mitigate the effects: <S> report the error in an appropriate manner. <S> There are few circumstances in which an employee will be sacked if they admit to a mistake. <S> In fact, even if the consequences are severe, most employers/managers want staff to feel safe about reporting honest mistakes that affect them. <S> A prompt report allows them to mitigate effects - in your case, determine why a former employee requested the document. <S> So you may get a talking-to, or even face some disciplinary action for a data breach (depending on how sensitive the document is, how well employees in your company are briefed about security concerns before starting a project, etc), but that is unlikely to be escalated to dismissal unless you build up a history of making the same sort of mistake repeatedly <S> - you are expected to learn from mistakes, not keep repeating the same ones. <S> The consequences will certainly be more severe - and more likely to include dismissal - if you don't admit to the problem, and your employer discovers it by other means - for example, during a data or security audit or if a manager is given a copy of the document by a competitor.
| NEVER share information with people outside the company unless you are authorised to do so, and then only with people who are authorised to receive said information. Obviously you did the wrong thing, and the only question is whether you should own up to your mistake, or lie low and hope nothing bad happens.
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Company declines to share offer letter over email I have a job offer from two companies, say A and B. Both the companies decline to share the offer letter over email. They are asking me to be at their office to get offer letter. Is there any catch? Is there a method or technique to persuade them to share the offer letter over mail? <Q> Both the companies deny sharing offer letter over email. <S> They are asking me to be at their office to get offer letter. <S> It's a commonly followed practise among mid-sized IT companies in India. <S> It's apparent that neither of the companies want you to shop around using their offer letter for a better pay. <S> Generally speaking, if they have denied sharing the offer letter email, there is no way you'll able to convince them otherwise <S> (as should be apparent from the aforementioned thought process). <S> If you have a preference for one of the companies over the other, and have made up your mind to join them, seek a joining date and be available for completing the joining formalities. <S> Make sure to go through the job terms and conditions and the mentioned pay very carefully in your offer letter. <S> Sign the letter only after you are convinced with the applicable terms and conditions. <A> Both the companies deny sharing offer letter over email. <S> They are asking me to be at their office to get offer letter. <S> Is there any catch? <S> Is there any ways or techniques to ask them to share offer letter over mail? <S> They've refused to send the offer letter by email. <S> Is there a catch? <S> Yes, they want to present you the offer letter in person, as they've already told you. <S> Is there any ways or techniques to ask them to share offer letter over mail? <S> You've already asked them to do that. <S> They've already refused. <S> So, no, I don't see how any "ways or techniques" could convince them otherwise. <A> IMHO,Your only option is to get both letters in person, say to both you want to think about it and come home to think it over There may be subjective promises and "explanations" of particular offer details and options, but i wouldn`t rely on anything that is not in the letter itself
| In such cases, the candidate is typically handed the offer letter once they are present for completing the joining formalities.
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Conflict beween on-site interview for new job and urgent meeting at current workplace I have an on-site scheduled for tomorrow 10am-3pm. Originally, I told my manager that I would be out for half the day for reason X. However, I just got pulled into a high priority / mandatory meeting with stakeholders + VP on a project that I am working on (literally just got pulled into it ~16 hours before my on-site is scheduled to begin). This meeting overlaps with my interview. I could not request a full day off just because of my current work load. Suggestions please? I care about this company a lot (the one that I am interviewing at). <Q> It would be fine to request a different time or day for the interview, just do your best to be flexible with rescheduling. <S> Recruiters understand that last-minute things come up. <S> Whether it's taking a kid to a doctor's appointment or an important meeting, there are all sorts of valid reasons to reschedule an interview. <S> Call the recruiter as soon as you can (during business hours) and consider sending an email now (if it's after hours) to ask to reschedule. <S> Be honest about the reason. <S> Unless you're ready to quit, your current job should be your priority. <A> Either Reschedule your meeting or Reschedule your interview <S> It is not rocket science. <S> The best action you could take is to reschedule the interview and let them know exactly why. <S> This would most likely show integrity and dedication to your work. <S> A good employer would recognize this as a positive trait. <A> Try to reschedule your interview out of loyalty to your current boss, but only when this is possible. <S> If it's not convenient for the recruiter/new company at all, I would still go to the interview instead of your meeting. <S> You're exploring new jobs for a reason. <S> Good luck!
| Rescheduling the interview seems like the better option than being delinquent at work.
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No Tuition Assistance Program benefit on offer letter I got an offer letter today and what I want most is not on the offer letter - Tuition Assistance Benefit. I have accepted the offer before realising this (my bad). I am going to call the recruiter tomorrow to ask how that works but then I am wondering if it should have been on the offer letter or it is a discussion to have with HR after resumption. I didn't discuss it at the interview but they wrote it on their website and part of the job requirement is someone going through the professional studies (CPA). Also, I notice there is no paid sick days benefit. I am going to ask about this since I have a little girl but then wondering if it should be on the offer letter. Only the number of vacation days is on the offer letter. <Q> Depending on the size of the company, there could be separate policies for health reimbursements, leaves due to sickness and other reasons, Tuition Assistance Benefit, insurance benefits, relocation policies and so on. <S> So, in your case, you should reach out with an email / phone call to your HR/recruiter contact and enquire about the details for these policies. <S> If s/he is able to share the corresponding policy documents that would be good, but even otherwise, a written mail from them confirming these benefits should be enough for you to progress in good faith. <S> Also a caveat <S> : Many tuition assistance programs require that you seek a manager/HR approval before you join/begin the course, so do get clarity on whether the benefit covers your ongoing educational engagements or not. <A> Often such a benefit may only become available once the candidate passes their probation period. <S> It may also be subject to a certain period of continued employment during and after completion of studies done under such a benefit. <S> Your best course of action would be to inquire about such a benefit with your boss or HR department. <S> From there you should know where you stand and what your next step should be. <S> The reason PTO is listed, is probably because companies often give more PTO than is required by law, so it is put in writing for the benefit of the employee. <S> As for the sick days, this is usually a standard benefit in compliance with local labor laws, but it wouldn't hurt to make sure. <A> It doesn't seem unusual to me that tuition reimbursement isn't mentioned in an offer letter. <S> At this point in my career, I've probably seen around a dozen offer letters (turned at least a couple down). <S> Salary is always named. <S> Vacation - if it is outside the normal allotment - will be listed in the letter. <S> However, in my recollection, not a single offer letter listed details of all the benefits available. <S> This includes tuition reimbursement (when available). <S> At most, they referred to a standard set of benefits which would be in a separate document. <S> As mentioned by other answers, it never hurts to ask. <S> If that seems awkward, you might check the company's web site first, where tuition reimbursement might be listed as a standard benefit. <S> Depending on the company, they might even be willing to pay for tuition if it isn't a defined benefit: I once took a class at the local community college that was meant as a stepping stone to my next job. <S> It was in the broader field in which I worked, but not applicable to any work I was doing for that company. <S> Because that employer hadn't mentioned tuition assistance as a benefit, it seemed unrelated to work, and the course was (relatively) inexpensive <S> , I just paid for it myself. <S> However, on the nights that class met there was no staying late for me. <S> So my boss wondered why I wanted to leave so promptly those nights, since I often stayed at least a little late. <S> When I told him why, he asked why I hadn't mentioned it before, because he would have gotten the company to pay for it, as it was close enough to job-related in his judgment.
| Many a times, companies do not list all the benefits as part of the offer letter, but as separate policy documents which they share separately (sometimes along with the offer letter, sometimes after you sign the offer letter but before you join, sometimes at the time of your joining).
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Manager is asking me to eat breakfast from now on I have been working for a company for around 9 months now and in that time I have only had 3 months where I have not had an ill day. I feel that this is because I'm typically prone to becoming ill. I do my best to eat correctly and take vitamin tablets to ensure I get all the nutrients that I need to work throughout the week as well as plenty of sleep to try prevent getting ill. However, recently my manager has asked me to start eating breakfast every day because this is a meal I don't normally have, although I do have a third meal towards 9-10pm at night which I would consider a breakfast replacement. Where I have not had breakfast he is demanding that I eat my lunch that I have brought to work as my breakfast and find something else towards lunch time. Should I force myself to eat breakfast as per my managers request or should I continue as I am? <Q> Option 4: Go to an actual medical doctor, get all the examinations (blood tests and whatever else the doctor asks for) done, and see what an actually qualified person says. <S> You can also, in addition to a regular general practitioner, ask a dietician. <S> It is not your boss's place to tell you what or when to eat. <S> However, put yourself in his situation: if he can't tell you what to do, he has two choices: <S> Accept You as You Are : Not a choice since he is responsible for overall results to his boss, <S> so, if there are issues, he is expected to do something. <S> Fire <S> You : Not a good option if he likes you and if the problem can be fixed with a good breakfast :) <A> It would take some pretty hefty contortions to get to the point where it's OK for you boss to require you to eat breakfast - what meals you choose to eat when is pretty much none of his business! <S> That said, while clearly misguided at best, I don't think this is coming from a bad place and <S> I understand his frustrations - while it's not your fault that you get ill frequently <S> it can be very frustrating and disruptive to have an employee calling out sick this often. <S> There's evidence to support the notion that skipping breakfast is detrimental to cognitive performance and that it can have a negative effect on health <S> but it's not my place to tell you that should be eating breakfast any more than it is your manager's - and to be clear this, no matter how well intentioned, is a clear overstep. <S> If your manager continues to nag you on this <S> I think you have two choices: <S> Lie - Ok, so this might not be the most ethical/moral choice <S> but it's not his business to be demanding to know whether you have eaten breakfast or not and this will likely be relatively low hassle. <S> Push back - not so much on whether you should be eating breakfast or not, but on the fact that it's not his place to be dictating your diet. <S> This doesn't have to be confrontational or angrily done: <S> I know you're just trying to look out for me and my health <S> and I know it's frustrating for you when I'm ill this much <S> , it's frustrating for me too <S> but I am eating right, and I'm doing everything I can to try and stay healthy. <S> If you're talking with any medical professionals about this then you could also add in that you are doing so <S> but that's your private info <S> and it's your call. <A> I am fairly certain your boss is not actually trying to require breakfast, and definitely trying to tell you <S> I have noticed that you take an abnormal number of sick days . <S> Giving employees a warning for using too many sick days, especially if they are within the provided limit, is a bit of a touchy subject legally (not to mention comes across as being more than a little abrasive and thoughtless), so it sometimes gets broached as some form of 'you should try being healthier'. <A> Here's the issue: if you're a at-will worker, your manager can fire you for any reason. <S> Assuming you are in the USA. <S> Calling in sick all the time, without some sort of documentation for it, I can totally see that is within reason to terminate someone. <S> With that said, your boss is telling you to take better care of yourself <S> so you won't miss work as much. <S> Should you become ill and not eat breakfast, he can fire you.
| The doctor can tell you to eat breakfast, or not to eat, or what to eat, or something else altogether; at least you will have an opinion more qualified than that of either your boss or yourself.
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Worried about applying for a more technical job with no experience So I have a lot of experience in IT. I've used computers for all of my entire life, not just browsing the web and using Office, but really tinkering with Windows, Linux, servers, some hacking, web development, etc. I have a few CompTIA and Microsoft certs. As for jobs however I've only had experience working in a helpdesk support role, something which I excelled at but never had the opportunity to progress. I left my last role, and now I'm applying for new jobs, but trying to find something more hands-on. The kind of job I'm really looking for is working in a data centre. I applied for one job, which isn't listed as a junior or trainee role, but from the job listing and required experience, seems to be a fairly standard support role. I got a reply from this company (just waiting for a phone call) but I'm starting to doubt myself. Sure I have experience with managing Linux servers, but these are my own personal servers. I don't care too much if I screw up and have a bit of downtime while I restore backups. I also have time to learn how to do something or fix my mistakes if I'm not sure. Then there's the fact that while I understand them I don't know anything about monitoring UPSes, or removing and re-installing a server in a rack, and patching it into a switch. Is it reasonable to understand that this kind of training will be provided, or am I wasting my time and the employer's time? Should I hold out for a job which actually lists it as a junior/trainee role? <Q> It sounds to me as if you've already got a decent grounding for this - presumably the potential employer has seen your CV so they know about your experience (or lack thereof). <S> so I don't think you have anything to worry about. <S> Given the potential employer is a data centre <S> the odds of this being a role where the buck stops with you in the event of downtime are slight. <S> Should I hold out for a job which actually lists it as a junior/trainee role? <S> No - partly because as I mention above I think you've got more skills than you think but mostly because the use of such qualifiers are ultimately arbitrary. <S> One hiring manager will list a role as "junior" that another won't. <S> Good luck! <A> It's understandable you are nervous, you may be suffering a bit from " Imposter Syndrome ". <S> The key thing here is to ensure your CV / Application accurately describes your experience so for, don't embellish anything at the interview and remember it's ok to answer "I don't know". <S> If you do all that then it's on the Company as to whether or not you are a good fit. <S> I would also recommend that in the interview you ask about training, career development etc. <S> Finally if you have the basic aptitude and the right attitude then that will take you a long way, good luck and don't over think it! <A> Some of what you've described -- not knowing how to set up a rack or actually monitor the hardware -- can be a major issue if that's what you're expected to do. <S> On the other hand, you are unlikely to be building racks of servers, setting up UPSes and making sure all the power is balanced properly, unless it's a new data center. <S> What is going to get you in trouble <S> immediately is not knowing your way around all the things which are common in a proper data center. <S> Like, if you don't know that the power and cooling are under the floor, and you have to pull up tiles to get there, and different tiles may have to go different places, you're going to look foolish. <S> That said, everyone had their first experience pulling a power whip or whatever under the floor. <S> Be honest with the hiring manager and I'm sure it will go well. <S> It's just a different kind of machine in a different kind of space.
| Most of the things you listed as not knowing are very much the sort of thing that you'll learn either in formal training or "on-the-job" as it were - your path is pretty standard for someone moving from support to infrastructure
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How do you survive a business disaster right after a promotion? I'm entering a management position for the first time in my career and am wondering how to mitigate potential reputational damage. The company currently has a flat startup structure, but my promotion will change the organization to a more corporate chain of command. I have no concern about the technical advisory and business value I offer. After a year at this organization as a senior, I have earned the respect of the employees in every department. I'm being expected to save a multi-million dollar project that is far behind schedule. The deadline for this project is maybe a month or 2 before my promotion. The status of the project has been known for a few months but management is now raising urgency. I don't believe that I can save the project. I may be able to execute a solution that prevents our company from being penalized by a contractual obligation. Ignoring any shortcomings from the initial stakeholders; what is my best recourse as the new representative for a technology project that my team must eventually inherit? I read The Phoenix Project last year and it's uncanny how similar my career situation is with that of the main character's. <Q> I don't believe that I can save the project. <S> I may be able to execute a solution that prevents our company from being penalized by a contractual obligation. <S> If the situation is dire then it would be best to be clear about that the moment you take the project (if not before). <S> You say you believe you can't save the project completely. <S> However, you say you have an alternate solution that could save your company from being penalized (which is good). <S> I suggest you tell these things to your manager, along with your solution . <S> Explain to them that the situation is already hard, but that you have an alternative, and show them what it is. <S> I also suggest you have this baked-up (in writing, perhaps via an email after you speak to your manager) in case you eventually need evidence to support you. <A> It is useful to remember that, as a manager, part of your job is to maximize company profits or other goals. <S> For example, if the current plan will generate $10.000 losses, but you think you can bring it down to $5.000 losses, you just "made" $5K for the company. <S> There is no need to change your behavior significantly because the project is "failing". <S> As always, start by: investigating current state of the project (make documents that describe goals of the project, initial schedule and design, and current state, in writing) <S> estimate schedule, and potential benefits/losses to the company (in writing) <S> communicate these estimates to your manager (as much as possible in writing) <S> Most importantly, work with the team to come up with a plan to improve the situation. <S> If the deadlines are non-negotiable (ask your managers in writing) <S> then you'll have to cut "features" of the project. <S> There is no way around. <A> Focus on limiting damages, and getting the project back on the best footing possible. <S> You really want to walk away from this project by the end of it being able to demonstrate that you improved the course of the project after you stepped up to greater authority over it. <S> Consider how the world views pilots after emergencies: Pilots who land an aircraft after the engines go out mid-flight tend to be treated as heroes, and are not looked down upon for 'landing at the wrong airport'.
| I must say you should be careful here not to be used as a scapegoat ; proceed with caution, be upfront and clear that this is a really difficult situation, and document everything specially the current state of the project and your prognosis/proposed solution. "Set the project down" as safely as possible, and pull it as far back from being a flaming wreck nose diving straight into the ground.
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"What's something your friends don't know about you?" - How should I have answered this interview question? I had an in-person interview this week with a few "personality questions" that I thought were odd but still gave an answer for, but for this one I had to say "I can't think of anything I'm willing to share" and I feel like it hurt my chances. I asked for clarification on whether he meant personally or professionally and he said either is fine. Is there something obvious that they're trying to ask with this that I missed? Is this a normal question and I should prepare a proper answer for the future? <Q> This is one of those questions you need to be very careful answering in case you fall into traps: revealing insanely personal things the interviewer doesn't want to know, or things most people would dislike about you that you don't share with your friends, or things they are not allowed to consider in hiring like your religion, sexuality, and so on. <S> If you've considered it in advance, you should be able to make a story that is true and positive. <S> First and foremost this needs to be true. <S> Don't think about what you can invent. <S> Second, it needs to be a good thing, like being smart or a hard worker or very honest or patient or whatever. <S> Third, there needs to be a reason your friends don't know. <S> For example, perhaps most of your friends are not in your industry and don't know how crazy good you are at something that's very relevant to the job you're applying to. <S> Or they don't know that you dream of a particular technical achievement (writing a book, delivering the keynote at a particular conference, writing a paper that becomes part of the standard for your language, etc.) <S> Or your friends are in your industry and they just think you're talented and don't know that you put in an hour a night watching conference talks which is why you know things they don't. <S> This is a handy ability to have - tell us something about you - <S> so practicing it now won't be a waste of time. <S> The wrinkle that your friends don't know it makes it a little harder, but you should be able to, in the more relaxed time you know have, come up with something. <S> Practice saying it in a reasonable number of sentences: 3 or 4 is probably right. <A> It's okay to decline to answer an interview question, but it most likely gives the interviewer a negative impression. <S> You did the right thing be honest with the interviewer that you don't have an answer instead of giving an answer to a different question or making up an answer. <S> Unfortunately, this is pretty rare and it would take a very mature and practiced interviewer to prevent the exchange from adding a negative bias to his/her assessment. <S> However, I think the question lies in the category of "getting to know you" and can be answered pretty safely. <S> Part of these personal (not behavioral) questions is about being vulnerable and genuine with your interviewer (and eventually with your future colleagues). <S> Some potential answers might sound like: <S> "Well, my friends know just about everything about me, but they're always surprised when I..." <S> (For me: bring up my love of waterskiing) <S> "I don't know why, <S> but I'm always a little embarrassed to share... <S> " <S> (I used to ride a motorcycle) <S> "There are some photos of me _______ as a kid that I'm sure my friends would love to see, but I'm keeping them quiet for now." <S> (Making huge sandcastles) <S> "I used to _______ all the time, but I haven't for a while. <S> I'm sure my friends would be astonished to see me _______ now." <S> (Play handbells) <A> I'm not convinced that "how should I have put this?" is always the best use of reflection time: it often turns into something excessively specific and out of reach at the time. <S> I am spending a good few minutes just wording this answer. <S> You couldn't have done that in an interview. <S> Even so, there are ways of spinning your non answer that convey a more positive sentiment. <S> "Actually I consider confidentiality hugely important and wouldn't tell my friends a whole bunch of other people's personal or professional secrets. <S> You'll understand that I can't be more specific here."
| "Actually I am fairly open about most things, and what my friends don't know wouldn't be professional of me to share."
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giving up on working in a specific field of computer science I am a new CS (computer science) graduate in Europe. As a master's student, I have specialized in high-performance computing (HPC). Job offers in HPC were very few and far between, and I had to do my final-year thesis in computer graphics instead, even though it was not my cup of tea. After graduation, it was still very hard to find a job in HPC, so I accepted a job developing GUIs in Java instead. What is a good decision process to follow when deciding whether to give up on working in my preferred sub-field? What factors should I consider? <Q> You may be looking in the wrong place. <S> HPC in industry is a tool, not an objective in its own right. <S> You need to look for businesses that are doing engineering or similar work and want their calculations to go faster. <A> I suppose you could write open source projects in that field or write papers or blog about it or something, in your free time, to stay current, but, barring that, a time will probably come when you're just not up-to-speed enough to be a competitive candidate in that field. <S> How quickly your skills or marketability atrophy is influenced by a ton of factors so I can't really give an exact time interval <S> but yah at some point " <S> giving up" may be the pragmatic thing to do. <S> But if you do that try to be optimistic about the career path that you've landed in. <S> Don't let bitterness taint your future job prospects. <A> First rule : Don't leave a job without having another one lined up. <S> The most important thing to do is to not let your skills die out with time. <S> I would highly recommend joining online competitions on coding(will be difficult, but atleast your programming skills will be sharp), then what you want to do is to join one or few Open-Source projects which use HPC for their calculations. <S> Joining an Open-Source project will very good for your skills and your resume. <S> Maybe your next boss will notice you there. <S> Use that experience to land a job in a company where they need a HPC specialist. <S> As one of the previous answers said something along the lines of "You need to find a company which needs their calculations to be faster." <S> And here is the most important part : Network. <S> Network with people who are working in projects which rely heavily on HPCs. <S> Your network will help you out in time.
| The more time passes without you doing work in your preferred field the more your skills in that field are likely to atrophy. It may help to position yourself as a scientific programmer rather than an HPC specialist.
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Is it better to have a 10 year gap or a bad reference? I made a mistake and was let go from a job I held for 10 years. How should I handle this on my resume? Do I omit my last 10 years of employment or list them when I think they will give me a bad reference? <Q> It would be better to list the job. <S> You'll face questions in any interview about what you've been doing for the last ten years. <S> If you've left it off, your options will be to lie (which is bad - never lie in interviews), or tell the truth that you left the job off your resume (which is also bad - it will likely give the correct impression that you lied by omission on your resume to get into the interview room). <S> Additionally, if the new job requires a background check you'll need to list your old job for that (or lie again, still bad, and fatal to your application when the background check uncovers it anyway). <S> Depending on your area (this site has taught me that some locales expect a reference to be from "the company", but wherever I've worked it's been from individual people), it would be better to get a former manager there to supply a reference. <S> Someone you reported to at some point in the last ten years, preferably who has left the company so has no stake in the politics of why you were dismissed. <A> In the 10 years that you worked there do you not have a single person who could provide a good reference for you? <S> I'd mention the job on my resume and just use a current or former employee that I trust <S> would say good things about me as a reference. <S> If you're asked why you're leaving or why you left <S> you could just say something like "I'm ready for a change of pace" or something. <A> Even if you were fired for cause, 10 years in the same company is a good indicator. <S> You were good enough for them to keep you that long, please acknowledge that. <S> By omitting the experience, you seem to say that it's a shame your job there was so long. <S> It's not, it proves you were faithful to the company and are not a butterfly who changes jobs too often. <S> Besides, honesty is always you best card. <S> As others have said, you can surely find people who will say nice things about you if asked for reference. <A> It is very difficult to spin this without more information. <S> If you were let go for something that was your fault (and <S> even worse it was very recent) then you're not going to want to highlight that at all. <S> On the other hand people can be let go for things that are not their fault. <S> It is one of the worst kinds of red flags you can have. <S> You're <S> applications will get passed over every time by someone who doesn't have a gap. <S> Best bet is to put the job down and hope for the best. <S> as suggested you could put a colleague or someone you trust as a reference. <S> You could ask your old boss to see if you can gauge what kind of reference you might get but its hard to say without knowing what the cause was or what his/her temperament is like. <A> You can't hide something that was going on for 10 years by simply omitting it in the CV. <S> Even with a gap of two years the first question you will get will be "what have you been doing recently?" <S> List the job on your CV, and prepare answers to questions about your career there (and your termination), should they arise. <S> Answers where you admit your mistakes and which sound like you learned your lesson tend to work better than answers where you try to shift the blame. <A> You must explain those ten years. <S> If the HR department has to guess, they'll either make a worst-case assumption (like "10 years in prison, maybe?") <S> or they will not bother to guess and discard the application. <S> Depending on your family situation, you might be able to imply family time without any outright lies, but even then a gap is probably worse than being let go. <A> I feel like you're conflating two different issues here. <S> First is employment history. <S> This will likely be a call to an HR department, and it consists more-or-less of three quick questions: Did Cathy work for you? <S> She said her employment dates were June 2009 to June 2019. <S> Is this correct? <S> Is Cathy eligible for rehire? <S> That's it. <S> The other is professional reference. <S> There's no rule that says this needs to be your old manager. <S> Talk to your other coworkers and get their permission to use them as a reference.
| List the experience on your résumé and be honest about why you had to leave when asked in the job interview. 10 years is too big a gap to leave it blank on your resume.
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How do you make sure to stay on top regardless of your age? I am 19 years old and I'm working as a software engineer since september.I'm trying to level up myself but I get stuck sometimes because of people thinking that I don't have enough skills and experience because of my age. I don't like what I'm doing right now as the programming language that I'm using is very old, I want to break into other fields where I'm interested and where I spend most of my free time studying it. How do you break into the world regardless of your age ? Does age matter in this situation? <Q> Age doesn't matter. <S> Experience does however, and a young age implies inexperience. <S> You've been working, total, for less than a year. <S> That's nothing in the grand scheme of things, and, without wishing to be too blunt, they're correct when they say you likely don't have enough experience. <S> Chances are you'll look back in, say, 5 or 10 years time, and realise just how much you didn't know that you didn't know. <S> My advice would be to stick it out until you've worked there at least a year - perhaps give it until after Christmas so you've got a "2018-2020" date range on your CV - <S> and then if you're still not happy, look for other work in an area that you're interested in. <A> I don't like what I'm doing right now as the programming language that I'm using is very old <S> Instead of focusing on the code, focus on the process. <S> Learn and implement best practices in your current workplace. <S> Does your workplace use unit tests? <S> If not, convince your boss(es) <S> that putting them in will improve the maintainability of the code (and ultimately save money, and then take it upon yourself to implement them and write as many as you can. <S> If you already use them, make sure that you have as close to 100% code coverage as possible. <S> Does your workplace do code reviews? <S> If not, try to convince your peers and bosses that they're useful, and even if you can't get it fully implemented try to make sure that any code you write is reviewed by someone, even if informally. <S> Does your workplace have good source control practices? <S> Code conventions? <S> When I was starting my programming career, one thing I went through all our codebase after workhours for a week and eliminated all the "warnings" that visual studio was finding (none of them were bugs, just code that could be made more readable, more explicit, etc.). <S> I spent another week or two adding XML documentation to every function. <S> None of that required that the code be modern, but it helped me be a better software engineer by forcing me to think about cleaner code and better documentation for anything I wrote in the future. <S> and you'll be in a much better position to learn newer, more modern languages in the future. <A> How do you make sure to stay on top regardless of your age? <S> As a software engineer, your best bet to remain relevant and marketable is to make sure your are proficient in relevant technologies . <S> Being able to produce is what really matters, as the other answer point's out, but being relevant is also key. <S> In our field, you also have to keep an eye on what is coming next, and invest some of your time in learning on your own. <S> Do not rely on your employer for this. <S> My other advise to stay relevant would be to attempt to be capable in a FULL <S> STACK <S> ( LAMP, etc. ). <S> To determine what is relevant is simply a google/job search away. <S> Note: Since the OP is a software engineer, my answer is angled toward this.
| The fact that you are working and gaining professional experience is going to be more important than any particular language at this point in your career. You are inexperienced - and there's no shortcut you can take to having more experience, it takes time and only time will help. Most of what you do as a developer isn't going to be coding, but engineering - use this job as a starting point to learn the non-code skills
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Should I update my recruiter on my other opportunities? I am applying for positions in a country to which I am moving to soon and one of the positions I am excited about has gotten to the stage where they would have extended me an offer but they have a company policy of meeting face-to-face before making an offer. I am about to fly over for an informal meeting to meet them and hopefully agree to an offer. The entire process has been through an external recruiter and during this time they have always asked for updates in regards to my other opportunities to which I have always answered honestly, early stages nothing concrete/exciting to report (I worry this could have lowered my expected offer as the price range discussed has gradually decreased). Now since arranging to fly over I have actually received solid interest from a few other companies (discussing a higher price range) which also want to have final interviews with me once I arrive and i have scheduled them. Should I update my recruiter with this information? Will it be of any aid/detriment to me? <Q> Should i update my recruiter with this information? <S> If you find/create the interest (the lead if you will), I would keep this information to myself . <S> I would only tell the recruiter that you are searching on your own too , and let them know when there is a direct overlap -- meaning the recruiter says " Hey I have an opportunity for you at company A " and <S> then you say " I am already engaging company A ". <S> Will it be of any aid/detriment to me? <S> As with most things there are pro's and con's. <S> The big pro of course is they are doing the leg work for you , scoring you interviews. <S> The con is they are scoring you interviews for companies they have relationships with, potentially limiting the pool of companies who look at you. <S> In fact, some companies will not deal with outside recruiters at all . <S> Another con is that typically a company will offer a lower salary to offset the cost of the recruiter. <S> Now, you can usually negotiate this back in, but its still a potential obstacle. <S> So in short, when I am seeking employment, I typically use a recruiter (or two) along with my own efforts while being honest about it to all involved in my search. <A> Telling the recruiter can help get the company to move along. <S> If you're no longer interested, it doesn't matter. <A> No. <S> Unless the recruiter offers to place you in the same company, you only need to say (if asked) that other opportunities are on the table - nothing more than that. <S> Many years ago, I worked with a recruiter in the UK; they presented me to a couple of companies, but nothing came of it. <S> While talking to them, I mentioned another company that I was interviewing at. <S> I later found out that they had contacted the company and tried to place another of their candidates into the same position. <S> I was upset at the time, but later realized that it's just business. <S> I'm now careful about what juicy information <S> I let slip to the wrong people.
| No, I would only update the recruiter if one of those other companies made an offer and the first company still had not and you were still interested in that company.
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The hiring manager forgot to call me three times now; how to proceed? This is for consultant role at a major hospital. I got an email from the recruiter and they forwarded me to the hiring manager. I was excited as it's a great job regarding pay, location, company and line of work. I had my first call set up - they forgot. I emailed them after 20 minutes and they called me back, it was 40 minutes later by then. They invited me to an personal interview. I got another email with an invite to talk one the phone before the actual interview. We set up an appointment. They never actually called. Not even an apology. I had my in person interview talked to a lot of different people and it felt positive. Two weeks later, the hiring manager asks me if I am still available and if we can talk on the phone. I say yes.They never call me - yet again!! I am just soo frustrated with this. I have been prepared for each of the interviews and even took an uber twice instead of the bus to be faster at home to be on time. It's so rude!! I keep my calm and we set up another time this morning and I am not sure anymore if I was just stood up again. The email read: "Can we talk at 3pm or 1 pm tomorrow?"I said 3pm assuming its today but I once again have not received a call. I want the job but I am beyond frustrated. If I would take the job I also would be working together with this hiring manager and if they were my supervisor I don't know how I would deal with this on a regular basis. How would you react to this behavior? What would you do? Should I call them out? Thank you!!! <Q> I want the job <S> but I am beyond frustrated. <S> If I would take the job I also would be working together with this hiring manager and if they were my supervisor <S> I don't know how I would deal with this on a regular basis. <S> How would you react to this behavior? <S> What would you do? <S> I'm sorry you experienced this; surely it can be frustrating. <S> I must say that I agree with you in the fact that this reflects poorly on the hiring manager and the company's practices and punctuality . <S> To me, this is a red flag and would strongly consider if working there is worth it if they eventually reached out (or I will be sure to ask during interviews <S> so I can get an idea if this is the norm). <S> I suggest you do two things: <S> Continue pursuing this opportunity in case they reach out. <S> Best case they were in a bad streak, and you feel comfortable after the interview and are able to take this job you want. <S> I strongly suggest you keep your options open and pursue alternate jobs in the meanwhile . <S> Don't put all your eggs in one basked. <S> so you don't waste your time in this company in case this doesn't work out. <A> If that is how they treat interviewees, then how they treat their staff must be fantastic (not)... <S> This is a red flag to find something else... unless they impress you with their explanation at the eventual interview, if of course, it ever happens... <S> So, if you work in teams on shifts and there are shift changes - how will you get notification of changes? <S> You might come in for the PM shift - <S> “where were you, we expected you this morning” and you check your email to find an email sent 10 minutes after the start of shift... <A> How would you react to this behavior? <S> What would you do? <S> Should I call them out? <S> They don't value your time. <S> The last time a hiring manager did that to me, they missed 3 interview time slots. <S> Apologized each time. <S> Finally when I did a ~30 minute interview and was told that a former co-worker of mine who works at the same company had given me a great reference. <S> After I get off the call <S> I notice a notification from Indeed.com that was emailed to me just 2 minutes into the call telling me that the hiring manager had rejected me as a candidate. <S> Last time I give a guy like that the chance to waste my time. <S> Not going to help you. <A> Goldfinger's Rule: "Once is happenstance. <S> Twice is coincidence. <S> Three times is enemy action." <S> (according to Ian Fleming) <S> Either the hiring manager is deliberately ignoring you, or he is INCREDIBLY disorganized. <S> In either case, you don't want to work for him. <S> Move on.
| Consider searching and applying to other job openings and opportunities you see No I wouldn't bother calling them out.
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Quit after 2 months, should I put job in resume? I joined a company about two months ago. I do not mind the work but the work environment is very toxic (just found out that two people left this position in the last year). I really tried to adjust to the new role but there are many problems with my team members and how things operate here that I don't think will improve with time. So I am planning to look for a new job. My question is should I put this two months job on the resume? If I do, at least it shows I have a job but it may look bad to employer that I am leaving after only two months. I can explain why I am leaving to potential employers but it might not even get me to the interview stage if they see that I am leaving a job right after I started. If I leave this job out, then I have to explain the "gap" and explain why I left my last job without something lined up. This could also look bad. I am not going to use the current job as a reference so that won't be an issue. Can anyone advise on my situation? I think either way is not going to look good for me but which way would be better? Thank you. <Q> Your resume should only contain information and experience relevant to the positions you are applying to or are going to apply to, and you should be comfortable with having those experiences in your resume. <S> If you do not want to be affiliated with that company, and the chances are you might not want to be - leave it out. <S> There is nothing inherently wrong with leaving something out of your resume. <S> If you do not feel comfortable listing this experience, you are free to not do so as long as you can explain the gap. <S> If the gap is a couple of months, personal time off is also a good excuse-explanation. <S> From my personal experience, I have removed experience from my resume once because I did not want my name affiliated with that particular company. <S> I see nothing wrong with that, both from the perspective of being a candidate and from the perspective of hiring people. <A> As I see it, there are a couple things you want to consider: if your current employer is called for a reference would they provide a good character reference. <S> two months can be overlooked as an employment gap depending on the nature of your work, or your specific location. <S> Provided that this act is not a pattern in your resume <S> Regardless of the amount of time you held at any job, many interviewers will ask the reasons why you left each of your previous employments. <S> For this case, mentioning that the company culture was not a good fit for you is an okay justification for leaving. <A> In my mind this hinges on whether you've had other short spells of employment on your CV. <S> If the rest of your experience shows you've been at company A for 5 years, company B for 3, company C for 10, then any reasonable interviewer is going to look at that and realise that you're likely correct in your assessment (that your current company's workplace is toxic through no fault of your own and you need to get out as soon as possible.) <S> If, on the other hand this is your first job, or you've been at other companies for less than a year, then that's much more of a problem. <S> In that case however I'd advise sticking employment out for at least a year if you possibly can, as however much you'll have to struggle through, this will set you up much better for future opportunities down the line.
| , I think it's fine to leave the job in your resume to show no employment gap, and highlight that you are "desired" in the job market.
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Is this fair to ask or say hi hello to CEO? Actually I am working in Multi-National company. Our head office is in another city and we are few members team in another city. All our upper management is not in our city. I am hired by company CEO and did very cooperate with me when I was hired. Since they are in another city that's why usually they come after two or three months in our office for two or three days. So is this fair to ask "How are you?" or "Hi n Hello" something like that after 4 to 5 weeks. Kindly guide me about it, thank you so much. <Q> However, it should be fine to say "Hello" or "Good morning" if you happen to pass in a corridor. <S> He might well remember you and you can then thank them for hiring you if the conversation allows. <S> - these people meet a lot of people in their day-to-day work. <A> If you have been introduced to any worker, not just the CEO, it's perfectly fine to say hi, and would be considered rude in some circumstances not to. <S> But what matters greatly is the context, and indeed the manner in-which you communicate. <S> You can't walk into a meeting, look across the room and greet the CEO. <S> You also should refrain from seeking them out, just to say hi. <S> They will be busy. <S> Also, keep in mind, that brown-nosers are spotted a mile away. <S> Don't be that guy. <S> If they are speaking with a client or customer, or with people you are not familiar with, you should probably refrain from making the first move. <S> It's better just to do a small nod if you both make eye contact. <S> Also, senior management, and even interviewers often meet hundreds of people a year, and it can be hard to keep track of them all. <S> So don't worry if they don't remember you. <S> You will get a feel for the workplace culture at your place. <S> At the places I've worked at for example, the CEOs will happily sit down for lunch with random workers (after being invited) and have a chat over lunch. <S> (And these are companies with over 1000 workers). <S> But equally, there may be places where the CEOs never do this. <A> Yes, but with a clear intent and very briefly. <S> The most important resource for higher ups in most companies is their time, and they tend to value it, and value people who respect it. <S> They do not have much for office chit chat. <S> So, if after 4-5 weeks, you want to "touch bases", you can send something along the lines of Dear Boss, <S> I Hope you are all right <S> ,I myself have found my place, and enjoy working here at ACME company, and I wanted to thank you for the opportunity once again. <S> Looking forward to seeing you on next meeting <S> All the best, Imran <S> This message has a purpose (it is a thank you note and an update on how you fit in your new job), is short and fills your need for some contact. <S> But as a rule of thumb, i tend to limit communication with higher ups to what is strictly necessary.
| If you bump into them in the hallway, you should certainly feel free to say hi. It would seem strange for you to knock on the door of their office and intrude if they're working. Don't expect that they'll remember you (and don't be offended if they don't)
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Should I tip my salesperson about the managers on the client side starting to dislike them? I currently work for a consulting firm (A), who sell my services to a big client (B) whose office I'm spending my work-time at. Effectively, I'm always at the client office and almost never see the company I'm working for. Things being as they are, the consultants here are way closer to B than the A-salespeople and hear a lot of things on the client side. I also have a casual relationship with my direct B-manager (on the client side) and we're able to have friendly conversations. Multiple times, that B-manager slipped in the conversation how much the A-salesperson in charge of us was annoying him and the other B-manager on our floor. The grievances point to the A-salesperson's efficiency not being up to the standards the two B-managers are expecting (things such as: not knowing on the spot the contract's monthly price for a consultant they are trying to place, lack of care in reviewing the invoices that caused small inconsistencies - such as trigrams being wrong). Not making any judgment on that (since I only heard one side's version and would personnally tend to minimize those mistakes), I'm perplexed as what I should do in such a situation. I'm relatively new in the consulting business (less than a year). I feel like my "loyalty towards my employer" (as is expected and per my contract - working in France) should lead me to share as many useful informations about the client to my A-management, as long as it does not breach any non-disclosure policy. On the other hand, I don't know if it's my place to tell my A-salesperson, and reveal what are in fact off-hand casual conversations. Moreover, I get really rare opportunities to exchange informally with my A-salesperson (only when they come to the B-office in fact). I would prefer to have this exchange off the record, as a friendly pointer, to avoid any written traces that could backfire in any way (don't know how or why, but again, don't know if it's my place to share that information in the first place). TLDR: Should I let my salesperson know that their behaviour is causing slight dissatisfaction with our client and that the phenomenon is escalating? If so, is it a problem to do so informally and off the book? <Q> Things being as they are, the consultants here are way closer to B than the A-salespeople and hear a lot of things on the client side. <S> I also have a casual relationship with my direct B-manager (on the client side) and we're able to have friendly conversations. <S> Both of these things are pretty common, especially in long term engagements. <S> I feel like my "loyalty towards my employer" (as is expected and per my contract - working in France) should lead me to share as many useful informations about the client to my A-management, as long as it does not breach any non-disclosure policy. <S> Again <S> yes. <S> Loyalty to the employer is expected and in many cases is usually emphasized in the contract. <S> On the other hand, I don't know if it's my place to tell my A-salesperson, and reveal what are in fact off-hand casual conversations. <S> I don't know if "it's your place to tell [them]" either, but I do know that if their relationship and business interests are damaged when this could have been avoided, they will blame you if they find out you withheld information. <S> I would tell them informally, then follow up with an email giving the examples which the client, B, helpfully gave you. <S> It's up to them to act on this information. <A> You obviously care about both your employer as the client you are working for. <S> You want to share this information with your employer, without breaking the trust of your B-manager. <S> This seems like a win-win situation to me, where the relationship between your employer and client will improve if said annoyances are fixed. <S> You mention having a casual relationship with said B-manager. <S> Next time he mentions (one of) <S> his grievances, could you tell him something along these lines: <S> "Hey Bob, I noticed you've mentioning some things about COMPANY NAME <S> you're not happy about, on several occasions. <S> I've been thinking about this, since I want you to be happy with our services, and it bothers me to hear that you aren't. <S> Would it be okay with you if I mention these issues to my manager at COMPANY NAME, so we can see how to fix this? <S> I don't want to break your trust by not asking you first." <S> If he doesn't want you to tell your employer, then don't. <S> If he is okay with it, your company has a great opportunity to use his feedback for improvement. <S> In both cases, you've showed B-Manager that you listen to what he has to say, and value him as a client. <A> I'm working in the exact same kind of situation as you, except insofar as I have a good relationship with my managers at my employer and generally meet them at least once a month. <S> In your situation, I'd tell them just what the client told me, including the circumstances around it, such as fact that it was in a casual conversation. <S> Your manager needs to know that the salesperson working with your client isn't doing a good job. <S> This isn't tattling, or passing gossip, or otherwise talking out of school - it's part of your job to give the manager the information they need to be able to do their job. <S> Since it appears you don't have regular meetings with your manager, I should call them and ask if they have time to see you over lunch or a coffee at a time that won't bother your client. <S> Again, in my own company, that would lead to me seeing my manager within the next few days. <S> If your company doesn't have any way to handle this kind of feedback, start looking for a better employer. <A> It could be a good idea depending on a couple of things. <S> How good is your relationship with the sales person? <S> are they likely to take offense to the idea that someone doesn't like them? or react negitively to critisism? <S> do you think these critisisms are fair and resonable or was the manager just whining? <S> if you think these are genuine critisisms, that could help the salesperson improve their realtionship with the manager and they are going to take the critisisms on board and try to improve. <S> then yes its a good idea to tell them
| At our company, it's my duty to let my manager know of any issues with the client, whether good or bad.
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High income and difficulty during interviews I'm interviewing for a new job. My income is 20-30% higher than average. The immediate reaction is usually 10-15 seconds of silence. The delayed reaction is usually: They won't call me back, or They tell me I failed tech interviews for trivial reasons (for example, I have been told, "your solution is very good, but I don't like the name you gave to that variable" and "you're too technical") I don't think it's my skill set that's the problem. I have quite a good knowledge of many required tech stacks (bigdata, devops and some frontend) and of some software development patterns/conventions (such as clean code, solid, dry, etc.), so I think I am "decent" in what I do. I tried stating that I don't have any expectation on their offer (a.k.a. make a lower one), but that didn't get the desired result. How can I increase my interviewing success rate when my salary is on the high side? <Q> If you are willing to take a pay cut, your current salary isn't really relevant. <S> Try something like <S> I'm currently compensated significantly over the market rate since my current role has some particularly difficult aspects to it. <S> I have no expectation that this new role would match my current salary <S> and that's perfectly fine. <S> Given my understanding of the role and the current market, I would expect something in the XXX range XXX should be your target rate +10% or thereabouts. <A> As anybody else would do, I am applying for job interviews to find another job, but I realized that my income is way higher than average <S> (+25-30%). <S> Usually 10-15 seconds of silence follow after I say my income. <S> If your mention of your salary is only followed by silence, then you must immediately add more to your statement. <S> Something along the lines of "Well, my current salary is X, <S> but I'd be happy to discuss a lower salary. <S> I'm looking for a company with a good fit, rather than for a high salary. <S> " should work. <S> You basically want to quickly change the subject to the kind of company/job you are seeking, and make sure they realize that you are happy to sacrifice salary to get there. <A> Do not state what you earn during interviews. <S> Doing so gives no benefit to you and places you in a weaker bargaining position. <S> Plus it may incur a jealousy factor from the people interviewing you, where they may explicitly sabotage you to fail. <S> If the question is pressed during the interview, one approach would be to redirect the question with what is your expected salary from them. <A> Interestingly no one has mentioned yet.... <S> Apply for a better job. <S> The pause in the interview is likely caused by the person interviewing you not getting paid as much as you are. <S> The other answers are no less valid. <S> Asking for a lower salary is an option. <S> But from what you say it's likely that you're qualified for a higher paying job than the ones you're currently applying for. <A> I had a similar experience to yours (moving from capitol to much smaller city). <S> Don't say how much you earn. <S> Ask them how much they can offer. <S> Then you can decide if their offer is good for you. <S> And, IMHO, it won't make them think you will be leaving them soon for a company that could match your previous salary. <S> Just by telling how much you expect to earn or asking them to present their gap is normal practice in negotiation (and everybody believes that whoever says the price first loses), so it wouldn't be perceived badly. <S> In general it's better to avoid telling how much you earn (if it's higher than average) because you might run into people who think that money is the most important thing in life and by changing high paying job for your mental benefit <S> means you are not willing to do overtime, extra days and additional work. <A> By "address pay", I mean discuss future pay. <S> I never disclose past pay in any part of the interview & hiring process. <S> HR once pressed me pretty hard for past pay stubs, after I was hired, and I simply (politely) held to "no <S> ; let me know if it's a deal breaker". <S> Of course, it was not. <S> Disclosing past pay can do two things: limit pay growth (which seems to mainly happen when changing jobs), or let the employer know you're taking a pay cut, which is really none of their business. <A> There are several tactics that you can use here: <S> Mention salary before going to the interview. <S> Ie. <S> in a phone call: "I'd like to earn X. Is that possible at your company/in this role?" <S> Mention salary after they have indicated they want to hire you, and only to the people to whom it concerns. <S> If your future colleagues know you are going to earn a lot more than they do they will make problems. <S> You can soften this by saying something like ' <S> and I think you should earn more too'. <S> Let them indicate what their range is first. <S> That way you can lean to the upper end of that range. <S> A combination of the above. <S> You are trying to sell something (yourself) so before spending time on a customer a quick survey on if they are willing to pay for the value that you are supplying is in place. <S> That way you won't spend a lot of time on companies that do not need you or see the value in you. <S> After you established that they are indeed a potential customer you should leave the financial talks out until you have convinced them that they do indeed need you. <S> When the customer is willing to buy is when you want to talk about the price. <S> If you want more info, there are a couple of very interesting reddit articles about this. <S> Unfortunately I can't find them right now and have no time to search for them <S> so I won't paste the links.
| My recommendation is to address pay either before the interview (so no one's time is wasted), or after the interview (after they're sold on you and when they've had time to discuss privately and consider your worth more carefully). What they want to know is what your target range is. There are higher paying jobs out there that you could (and likely should) apply for.
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Recruiter wants to represent me for a role that I've already applied to Bit of an odd situation here. I had a chat with a recruiter who told me of opening. Liked the role he was describing etc.Got the company name, and realised it was a role that I've already applied to.Recruiter still wants to represent me, and tells it would give a better chance for hire if the same application came through the agency. I always thought it would look unprofessional to the employers for the candidate to submit multiple applications for the same role. Is this true? <Q> Is this true? <S> Based on my experience as a hiring manager - <S> yes <S> it's unprofessional. <S> I would definitely not allow a recruiter to present my credentials to a company I am already working with. <S> In the past, it was annoying to have a candidate presented by a recruiter and then already be in our system via their own efforts. <S> It came across as desperate. <S> Another point to consider is if the company has to pay a recruiter, that is potentially less salary to pay you . <S> The only exception I would make to this is if you discovered that you knew someone who worked for the company already , then perhaps they could present you to the hiring manager, and up your chances at getting your foot in the door. <S> And even in this case, it isn't a recruiter . <A> Your instincts served you well here - there's no real benefit to you allowing the recruiter to "represent" you in this one. <S> Quite the reverse in fact - and the same goes for the company as well. <S> Many recruiters operate on a commission-like model where they get paid either a fixed amount or percentage of a new hire's wage once the hiring goes through. <S> In this scenario such a model would mean the recruiter would be able to claim that the company owed them this despite the fact that you were already in contact with the company. <S> Sure the fact that they can prove the initial application was before the recruiter brought you to their attention <S> negates this somewhat but the more the recruiter "does" in this the more argument they have for some remuneration from the company. <S> Recruitment fees are a fact of life when you're hiring in many cases, but if you asked 10 employers whether they would prefer a candidate application that didn't have these fees associated vs the exact same candidate with the recruiter fees attached <S> I don't think you'd get many votes for the latter. <S> So the question you need to ask yourself is whether you have reason to believe that the employer won't be seeing your existing application - which isn't quite as a crazy as it sounds. <S> Some companies will only fall back on the general applications if recruiter-suggested candidates don't pan out. <S> Because if they do see your application and the recruiter one all you've done is make yourself a more expensive (or at least slightly more complicated) candidate then you were before. <A> The answer is "it depends". <S> Usually this isn't a great idea. <S> On the other hand, if the company has passed on you or has been slow to respond, it couldn't hurt. <S> I once applied for a job and received no response. <S> A recruiter contacted me about the job several weeks later, and I explained that I had already applied. <S> He called the company and found that they had decided not to interview me. <S> He convinced them to schedule an interview, and eventually I received an offer which I accepted. <S> It worked out well for both the recruiter and myself. <S> Again, not the norm, but something to consider if your initial efforts fail. <A> it was a role that I've already applied to. <S> This is because a recruiter gets paid once you are selected, and even if you get through, the company can always reject the recruiter's claim since you had applied with them directly. <S> Recruiter still wants to represent me, and tells it would give a better chance for hire <S> The recruiter is right about this aspect. <S> If a company has a direct relation with a recruiter, there are more odds of him being able to work the system for your interview than you relying on the cogs to turn on their own. <S> However this is correct <S> only if you haven't heard back from the company, there is no point in opening 2 channels of communication with the same company. <S> So, in essence, you should look after your own interests and let the recruiter judge their own. <S> As long as you land the offer and all goes well, don't think too much about it. <S> Source: Real life. <S> This once happened to a novice recruiter who helped one of my coworkers land a job, and the company denied the recruiter's claims because they had an email where the coworker had sent their resume directly to the company's email <S> id before they received it from the recruiter. <S> PS: As suggested in comments and other answers, there can be negative effects as well, so take a call considering all aspect.
| Unless you have a prior communication with the recruiter, and the recruiter with the company, before you applied to this position, I don't see a way of the recruiter benefitting from your candidature.
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How do I handle an extremely late delivery? I took a client on in February for a mobile app. Another developer had built some infrastructure and I told them that I might try to save some of the infrastructure. We made an agreement for certain features, including a style redesign. Since that time, we had several meetings, the style design grew larger than I initially anticipated (I expected around the same complexity as the last design, instead it was more complicated). They've also been consistently adding new style requirements, like animations, new pages, new layouts, etc. I also decided to integrate with a large part of the devops as it was enterprise level. I could have delivered a much smaller devops setup (I'm not a devops engineer), but I chose to try to preserve it as it would serve my clients long-term goals better. I don't feel I've communicated that well, as now the project is about two months late (due to the aforementioned stylistic parts, as well as this devops stuff). My client is incensed. The app is late, and extremely so. But their employees have been asking for changes, and this devops stuff has just been a gigantic mountain of work for me. I finally finished it, but I had to learn Docker, Kubernetes, and an identity management system from scratch. I realize that in the future I need to get an explicit contract with the exact features my client wants (we never discussed the exact server architecture or anything like that, and I'm not sure that the client understands enough to know whether or not this is valuable to him). All I know is I am exhausted, I have worked extremely long hours over the past couple months and they're still angry. I haven't even billed since early April as I wanted to ship before billing. I feel this is a combination of my and my client's fault (mostly mine), but how do I deal with them? Do I just say sorry and keep working? Try to explain what's happening and why things have taken so long? I'm working constantly on this and have been for months, and my client is extremely angry for non-delivery right now. <Q> I feel this is a combination of my and my client's fault (mostly mine), but how do I deal with them? <S> Do I just say sorry and keep working? <S> Try to explain what's happening and why things have taken so long? <S> You say you already finished the app, so I suggest you deliver it and put an end to this stressful situation you were in, and move on. <S> Make sure you get paid the moment (if not before) <S> you hand over the app (in future gigs, I suggest you ask for an initial payment at the beginning <S> and then the rest at the end). <S> It is good that you realize that you have to be more explicit on the requirements, changes, etc., during development and designing. <S> What you should do now is learn from this experience (which seems you already did) <S> so you can do other future freelance projects more smoothly and without stress. <A> An additional, important piece here is to communicate clearly when new requirements are added (because there will always be gray areas in contracts). <S> You can say something like: <S> This requirement was not included in my original time estimate, and I will need to evaluate the effort required to fulfill it. <S> Depending on the size, it may have to be deferred until a new agreement is reached or the original agreement is ammended to reflect a new timeframe and cost of development. <S> That's not the best wording, but my point is you need to let the client know that modifying the original request can both take longer and cost them more money. <S> In my experience, the more upfront you are about this, the more likely both parties are to come to a happy agreement. <A> Tell them how much is done and how much is remaining. <S> If they get angry, simply say that due to the changing requirements the scope got bigger and thus you haven't been able to deliver. <S> If there's something else that's causing this delay, simply say that you're sorry and give a date. <S> It's also reasonable to be able to tell them which part of the delay is because of the altered scope of the work or unexpected problems that occurred. <S> What does this mean for their cost? <S> Stop accepting new requirements. <S> Only accept new requirements when the client understands what it will mean in terms of delay and added cost, assuming you have time for it to begin with. <S> You should definitely get feedback from the already pointed out Freelance SE if you're not sure how to proceed, and there are numerous videos and articles on the matter that should help you navigate from here.
| Once the project is over you should research how to better anticipate the scope of such project, set an acceptable buffer for new requirements and so on (tell client what new requirements mean in terms of delay). Give a realistic estimate from today.
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My business partner does not want to participate on the business activities, how should I proceed? I have started a business together with another partner as an equal in terms of earning and effort. There's no written contract, just a gentlemen's agreement. We are an IT software company, so we don't have too many physical assets, and we do have a few other employees. Lately he doesn't participate as much anymore in the business activities. Initially, he invoked some family problems but yesterday he confirmed very clearly that he just doesn't feel like 8 hours per day is a reasonable amount of work he should invest in the business. I usually invest about 10-12 hours each day, plus time on the weekends. So how should I proceed? Is there a good way to make this partnership more equitable, or am I not going to be able to change things? <Q> Have a talk with your partner about it and agree (in writing) <S> how "effort" is evaluated and how earnings are related to effort. <S> Then follow these rules. <S> If you can't agree on this point, you'll have to part ways, better sooner than later. <S> If the company is only two of you, and there's not many assets in the business, you'll have no problem to restart exactly the same business with someone else. <A> There are a few different options you should consider, depending on your assessment of the situation: <S> If the challenges your partner is facing outside of the venture are real, be patient and caring toward your colleague. <S> Part of having a partner is being able to lean on him/ <S> her when needed. <S> Your partner needs some help until the trouble passes. <S> The family issues are made-up, but your partner still has an ownership mindset - address the lying and consider updating your agreement. <S> Lying is never acceptable, but it doesn't mean your partner doesn't care about the venture. <S> If you're both still dedicated to growing the business, consider adjusting the partnership agreement to reflect the different amount of time spent. <S> A disinterested partner, or an owner who doesn't act like one is likely to become a persistent drag on the business. <S> If you can find a path to an amicable break-up, do it sooner rather than later. <S> With regard to (2), you might want to explore some other partnership agreements to see how they are structured. <S> At least, you should be aware that: Partnership agreements (charter, articles of incorporation, etc.) can always be changed, usually for free when all partners agree. <S> Ownership interest, financial interest, and decision interest are all separate quantities to be distributed in an agreement. <S> 50/50 ownership doesn't automatically mean 50/50 split of the profits. <S> Each quantity can be assigned separately and variably. <S> Interests are typically assigned through vesting in early ventures. <S> Instead of assigning interests upfront, individuals earn them by meeting milestones or putting in hours - even in 2-person ventures. <S> The default agreements available from incorporating authorities are universally poor. <S> Find a lawyer that specializes in new ventures or small business to create a well-functioning agreement for your business specifically if you haven't already. <S> I wish the best for both you and your partner, regardless of whether you continue in the venture together or part ways. <A> And you would save your employee's jobs in the process, too. <A> The mistake that you made was that you didn’t choose your business partner careful enough. <S> At some point money needs to be paid, either salaries or dividends. <S> It is quite likely that paying most money through dividends would be a lot more tax efficient, but that puts you in a very bad position. <S> Here’s what I would do: suggest that salaries are paid at a good market rate according to the useful work done for the business. <S> His salary would be quite small compared to yours. <S> If the business can’t pay these salaries, then both owners must invest additional money in equal amounts. <S> Alternatively, you buy his share. <S> Alternatively, you stop working, you wind the company down, and each gets back what remains of their investment. <S> Going into business with the wrong partner sucks.
| Ask your "partner" if he is willing to give you his shares of the business (for a price probably), then you can manage your business as you see fit, and don't have to worry about either your partner's performance nor about killing the business you want to keep alive. Your partner has lost interest - it's time to break up. The family issues are real - support your colleague through a troubled period.
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Software development skills or projects - what to focus on when starved for space in resume Space in CV's is very limited resource, often forcing to find a compromise between amount of listed information and brevity. In case of software development CV's, which of these approaches do you think is better? Maybe you can think of another approach? Personally I'm aiming towards game development (programming) position right now, but I think answers will be similar for any kind of software development. Let previous positions and personal projects speak for themselves, including some info about used technologies in their descriptions. List skills as separate section on CV, but only very basic info about previous positions and personal skills Expand resume to 2 pages to include both skills section and details about previous positions and personal projects <Q> In your specific case, I don't think you are " starved for space" <S> so I would want to challenge that assumption. <S> You have enough information for potentially 1.5 pages or so (I'm assuming from your possible option to " expand CV to 2 pages "). <S> 2 pages is an acceptable length for a resume/CV if you have enough information to include there which isn't just a dump of everything in your history (for example). <S> I would suggest you add your skills/programming languages/methodologies (e.g. if you have experience with Agile) in a specific section. <S> Then experience with your previous positions: responsibilities and achievements. <S> If personal projects have a significant place in your experience you could add a section for that. <S> Of your 3 options - the 3rd is the closest. <S> Don't leave things to "speak for themselves" on a CV/resume <S> (Edited to add: you are in charge of the narrative). <S> There's always someone in the hiring chain (recruiter, HR, other screening people) who won't be able to 'draw the inferences out' and potentially screen you out from the process. <S> Make it explicit, but without including too much mundane-level detail. <S> You need to get across "these are the things I can do" and "this is my experience doing the things". <S> Edited to add in response to your comment: You don't need to completely fill all the pages. <S> If 1.5 pages is the natural amount to capture your skills and experience -- that should be fine. <A> Focus on both! <S> No two jobs you will be applying for will ever be the same. <S> As the Job Description calls for it let one or the other shine. <S> And as you go through your career you will have more choices to make, in regards to what skills, methods and strategies <S> you are familiar with and capable of using. <S> Tips: <S> Focus on relevant projects, key words, and tools <S> you have used Show that you are responsible, and relevant using proper terms that someone with your experience (or what the JD calls for) would have Ensure your resume and cover letter are not cluttered and are easy to read both in digital and printed mediums. <A> Why Not Both? <S> Build projects that demonstrate principles. <S> Also, this is a nifty link for resumes . <S> I found it to be a good place to start when thinking about resumes.
| I would also add an "Achievements" section, for whatever work you have done that mattered. Don't add stuff to "pad it out" to completely fill the 2nd page, but also make sure you include (concisely) things that are relevant. Ensure your cover letter and resume match what is being asked for and are of an appropriate style for your industry.
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Internship in USA (or other country) for my last year of Engineering I am 21 years old French citizen and studying in an Engineering School, which is a master grade and i'm finishing my 4th year.My specialization is Information System (I think the equivalent in USA is Computer Science), and for my last year i am studying more in depth Cybersecurity. My 2 first years was composed of Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science (with soft skills lessons too and 2 languages). On my 3rd year I went abroad for one semester to London where I had some basics for AI for example. Then back in France I had more mathematics/Physics/IT.Actually i'm doing a 4 month internship in a big French company working on Communication and Security. I have multiple experiences on internships or contract job as a developper. Next year i have to do a 6 month internship starting on February/March (But i can also do a V.I.E. which is a contract based job for a french company in foreign countries, and longer than 6 months). And i would like to do make this internship in a foreign country and especially USA (N.Y. or SF would be nice but looking for suggestions). The question is : Do i have my chances to find an internship ? Where do i have to look ? I did some research on SE/LinkedIn but i don't know if there are any other ways. And another question : Is an internship income enough to live in USA ? In France internship are poor paid in comparison to an engineer doing the same job so i don't know. <Q> Because companies ask my school for students for 4 month work terms, I had a pool of companies that I knew wanted me or a peer and for that reason I cannot tell you where to look. <S> What I can tell you is, several USA companies are looking for foreign interns and would gladly take you, especially since 6 months is longer than 4 months. <S> However, as far as the rest goes: I am 19 years old studying engineering at a Canadian school and am currently on my third 4 month work term. <S> I am in Washington state, and have friends that are currently in the same situation but in San Francisco. <S> Pay for us is more than enough to live through the term and contributes to a large part of our tuition. <S> As a comment stated, you will need the company to sponsor you for a J1 Visa. <S> TL;DR: <S> Yes, you have a good chance at finding an American internship, I don't know where you can look, but specific companies' webpages are a good place to start, and yes those internships may be paid. <A> And another question : Is an internship income enough to live in USA ? <S> In France internship are poor paid in comparison to an engineer doing the same job <S> so i don't know. <S> In the US how well an intern is paid depends on the industry and major. <S> Thus "unpaid internships" making the news every now and then. <S> Engineering interns, including software, are (or at least should be) <S> well paid. <S> You'd get more as an experienced engineer with a degree but by intern standards you're the top of the heap. <S> I am 21 years old French citizen and studying in an Engineering School, which is a master grade and... <S> for my last year... <S> So you're about to graduate with a Masters Degree. <S> Congratulations. <S> This is your most serious/important internship. <S> Ideally (both from your and your company's perspective) this should be viewed as a multiple-month interview with a job offer at the end. <S> So the real questions should be: <S> Where do you want to work? <S> Live? <S> Figure that out, then apply there. <S> And yes, you'll need sponsorship if it's at the US <S> so it will have to be for a company that sponsors for junior roles. <S> On the other hand software is extremely in demand <S> and there are an absurd number of unfilled jobs <S> so there's that. <A> I think you have your chances, however you have to start looking from now. <S> If I understood well, you are studying in an INSA/UT school. <S> The good thing is, compared to other candidates from French schools, you have more experience. <S> Finding an internship in US will definitely open you doors there. <S> Keep looking on SE and other platforms. <S> The most efficient tool you have now is your network, ask your school's teachers and alumni (!!). <S> You can even ask on US labs websites. <S> I am not sure the VIE is fully compatible with your school's regulations <S> but it is a real chance. <S> There are a lot of offers on civiweb, go for it ! <S> Bon courage
| I realize that this is not a complete answer, but speaking from experience it is fully possible to obtain a living-wage internship in the USA, although my university certainly made it easier to arrange this.
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Company messed up with patent and now a lawyer is coming after me I work at a big multinational company as a software developer (security related services) and was part of the development team for a new product. Now the product is in the market and a few days ago, after work hours, I got a call from a very calm, nice guy who presented itself as a lawyer (I thought it was a recruiter as usual). He offered me a deal if I cooperate in his case regarding patent infringement regarding this new product, his client is a startup with basically the same thing. To be honest I think he is right, I heard the company I work for had some meetings with this startup some time ago, and also a time when there were some doubts on how to do something, and management just said "do it as startup X is doing it". I think I just could ignore his requests and let it roll and see how it goes, I know he needs me (or the information I can provide) so that could be in my advantage, but if his case is strong enough and I don't help they could come after me too. Location: South America (I'm sure telling the country won't make the answer vary or better, so letting it out for more anonymity) Question: what can I do today (apart from getting a lawyer myself) regarding; answering to the startup's lawyer, and actions to take in the workplace (ask to be in another role, save proofs, etc). Feel free to migrate this to legal.SE if better answers could come up there, although I'm already thinking in getting a lawyer. <Q> You should let your manager or another trusted leader at your company know that you were approached. <S> Your company should be aware of the actions of this lawyer. <S> Unless your organization did something heinous or to hurt you personally, helping a suit against your employer is likely to cause you trouble now and in the future. <A> From a workplace point of view, the answer to this is simple: you escalate this up the management chain, very hard and very quickly. <S> This is the company's problem, not yours - it seems unlikely that you the individual would be personally liable here, but take a lawyer's advice on that if you feel the need. <A> It's doubtful that, as an employee, you could be in any legal jeopardy. <S> Assuming that this person was telling you the truth they're likely reaching out to as many people as they can to try to scare you into giving them information that helps their case. <S> Again assuming that this person is telling you the truth, evaluating the legal merits of this potential lawsuit are likely outside of your wheelhouse. <S> Here are my suggestions: <S> You should inform your management. <S> You should NOT engage with this attorney in any way or provide them with ANY information... <S> personal, company, or otherwise. <S> If this person reaches out to you again you should direct them to your company manager. <A> Considering that you were just one developer on a team it is incredibly unlikely that the lawyer is only reaching out to you. <S> A decent lawyer for the startup would likely call every single person that is at least somewhat related to this project. <S> It is incredibly likely that one or more of your coworkers have already sent notice of the call to their managers. <S> Knowing this, how do you think management will react if you don't also escalate the call? <S> This is your employers problem, not yours. <S> Give the information about the call to your employer and then forget about it. <S> Just as important, if you deliver information to this attorney then you are likely violating any agreement you have with your employer. <S> That will only end badly for you. <S> Next, if you truly believe your employer stole information from the startup then from a moral perspective you should find another job. <S> I, personally, wouldn't want to work for a company that intentionally engaged in such practices. <S> I know he needs me (or the information I can provide) <S> so that could be in my advantage, In what way would this be to your advantage? <S> If you provide the information you will likely be fired. <S> Further, the startup probably wouldn't hire you. <S> At best you are looking at a small one time payment, but even that is unlikely because it would come out in trial and the startup's attorney wouldn't want a jury to think you were bought off for testimony. <S> but if his case is strong enough and I don't help they could come after me too. <S> Um, no. <S> You really need to get your own attorney that is not related to either of these businesses in any way shape or form. <S> I'm going to guess your statement is based off of something that attorney said. <S> You should realize that attorneys lie. <A> You were approached by somebody on the phone that is presenting themselves as a lawyer for a competitor and was told that you (or your company) infringed a patent but by your own admission you were neither given information on what you infringed nor you did ask. <S> At this point you can assume it is some random Joe prankster (phishing attack done by the book).Then you are being rushed into some sort of "deal" for your "cooperation". <S> Honestly this does sound like social engineering attack to get information from you about something. <S> Since you do not want to talk to your company's lawyers (or legal department) <S> and/or management (I don't think this is right <S> but I understand) <S> you would need to get to your lawyer. <S> Before that I hope you did not say anything. <S> Just listen what other person says over the phone and record it (you might want to inform the person that the conversation is recorded) and present this to your lawyer. <S> Whether you think you are guilty or not do not say anything before you would be instructed by the lawyer. <S> Especially since you are not sure that you infringed something and wasn't given any details. <S> Keep in mind in this world there are such things as corporate espionage, patent trolling and ... invalid patents. <S> Keep in mind software patents is too broad thing, software is like a black box: something gets in, something gets out and there are multiple ways of doing exact same thing. <S> Also keep in mind that even if patent is issued it could be invalidated for multiple reasons (prior art, trivial, etc).
| Do not speak to the startup's lawyer without explicit written authorisation from your employer's legal team, as doing so could cause you legal difficulties with your employer if you could be seen as acting against your employer's interests.
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Would it be fair to accept edits on the assignment when the candidate sent my company's hidden assignment? So the current hiring process goes like this: filter by candidates' CVs / resumes / portfolios / sample work send assignment to filtered candidate / filter by that assignment do interview(s) on the filtered candidates However, there's one case in which one candidate who uploaded assignment as sample work on step 1, when we didn't even send the assignment to the candidate. (the candidates receive the assignment on step 2. Maybe the candidate has a very good luck?) Now, my team is arguing on 2 choices: send email to the said candidate: "is it ok to use your sample work as your assignment, or do you want to edit your assignment?" proceed with the uploaded assignment, and tell the candidate that we're going to do so. I'm actually on choice 2, because: choice 1 can give a hint to the candidate: "your assignment needs more work". the candidate is already willing to be judged by the sample work. it's meaningless to ask for it again. asking for again may hint that the assignment isn't good enough. But that gives this candidate one more chance for the assignment, while other candidates don't get this chance. But some people are going for choice 1 because: the person didn't know about the assignment the person didn't know that the sample work will be used as the assignment. Currently, we're looking for a QA position, and the assignment is about how detailed the candidate is / can the candidate organize cleanly on the matters. What do you think will be the fairest thing to do? <Q> Follow your own process. <S> Step 2 is to "send assignment to filtered candidate / filter by that assignment". <S> This is the process your organization created for managing this process. <S> Use it. <S> This is what you will be doing for all other candidates. <A> First, check the documentation/website that the candidates use to submit their work and make sure that the instructions are clear and unambiguous. <S> The fact that someone made a mistake might be an indication that the instructions are not clear and need to be adjusted. <S> It only seems fair to give them the best chance. <S> Things can be addressed in the actual interview should the candidate get that far. <A> proceed with the uploaded assignment, and tell the candidate that we're going to do so. <S> You can only go this route if you know that the requirements used to make the sample that was already submitted were exactly equal to the requirements you are about to send them. <S> One of the concerns you have about sending them the requirements for the assignment is: asking for again may hint that the assignment isn't good enough. <S> But that gives this candidate one more chance for the assignment, while other candidates don't get this chance. <S> The reason that it might not be good enough is that the requirements were only similar. <S> So they used those colors because that was part of the other assignment; or they used that type of loop because that was part of the other assignment, or they limited the size of the program because that was part of the other assignment. <S> Punishing them because they has a sample similar to your assignment but missed a few of your requirements isn't fair. <A> No, it wouldn't be fair and IMHO <S> you should be looking at disqualifying the candidate as to me <S> it seems they're trying to take a short cut in the hiring process. <S> Somehow they've gotten hold of an assessment sent to another candidate and sent it in. <S> Who's to say they actually did the work themselves or if they just sent in someone else's work as they're own? <S> You have to ask yourself if someone is willing to cheat/ <S> take short cuts to get hired isn't it also likely they'll do that when working for you? <S> Now sometimes a short cut isn't all bad but most of the times <S> it won't be the best or most stable way to do things and often times could have serious (legal) consequences.
| Depending on the standard of work, I would contact the candidate and let them know that you're either going to accept that work as the assignment or let them correct their mistake if it's clearly not up to standard.
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Hiring "sentenced hackers" for security positions - a prospect or a ticking bomb? It's not uncommon to see individuals who have caused damage / breached big systems and have subsequently been prosecuted that have received job proposals for infosec positions. This is usually tied to their undeniable aptitude, but it makes me wonder why companies do not see them as a threat as such prowess may be held against them, or others . What are the circumstances and measures used to assist in gauging whether or not someone with a hacking offense in their record is going to be loyal to the company? Or should it plainly be avoided, both ethically and pragmatically speaking? <Q> I don't think there's any good answer to this question. <S> But if I were doing the evaluation, I'd think about three things. <S> Intent. <S> What was the intent of the crime? <S> Was this a crime of curiosity, to"see if it could be done" or "exploring the system", or was there afinancial, revenge, or even ideological motivation? <S> Beyond this,each motivation should be considered on how it might impact yourcompany. <S> DVD Jon (who assisted in cracking DVD protection), forinstance, was motivated by ideology, but the ideology was thefreedom to do what you wanted with DVDs. <S> That's not a good fit <S> forthe MPAA developing a new content protection system, but it might beirrelevant, or even helpful to your company. <S> Reform <S> Some people with actual criminal intent have been reformed. <S> FrankAbagnale Jr, portrayed in "Catch Me <S> If You Can" had real criminalintent, and stole millions of dollars through fraud. <S> He laterworked for the FBI to catch people like him, and later still for Banks to help protect against check fraud. <S> Over time that he's demonstrated that he's actually reformed. <S> Determining with any degree of accuracy if someone is truly reformed, especially shortly after the crime was committed islikely impossible, and certainly beyond the scope of a stackexchange answer. <S> Whether you want take this risk on a real criminalis likely more a matter of a gut-check rather than based on rational data and analysis. <S> Harm <S> What harm was done? <S> Harm done <S> has some indication of what the person might be capable of, and how they view their own actions. <S> Keep in mind that in the past, harm in hacking cases has sometimes been blown out of proportion. <S> In the early 90s Craig Neidorf, publisher of Phrack magazine was charged with publishing details of the e911 system, which Bell South said was worth $80,000. <S> Only later was it found the same publication was available for $13, and the charges were dropped. . <A> This is not actually a matter of security, but of psychological evaluation and human-associated risk assessment. <S> A sentence does not necessarily make a person evil or destructive. <S> If one hacked a gov site out of curiosity and you hire him in your company and put him in charge of data security, automatically granting him access to your data, his has no curiosity about your data anymore, therefore he can do harm due to that. <S> This is a simple example, but there are dozens similar. <S> On the so-called legal side, there's a big debate also. <S> Current laws are less and less based on morality and end up re-defining morality as the ones in power will it. <S> Therefore, a sentence-based on a current law does not necessarily mean that the sentenced person did something bad, even if at the point of its sentence it was considered illegal. <S> The companies filter them out, find a person fitting their requirements and hire that person. <S> Having a person in charge of security automatically implies a high level of trust in that person. <S> Here, the evaluations come in. <S> If the evaluations are done by competent people, everything ends up fine <S> and I personally know quite a few situations where it happened so. <S> Evaluation such a person may be an extremely complex thing to do, but it also may be pretty simple, depending on the situation. <S> Let's take some other examples: why should I not hire a person that hacked a football's team site for fun ? <S> Or a person that obtained restricted data out of pure curiosity ? <S> I would certainly hire them. <S> But then, I would not hire a person hacking sites for profit. <S> This will inevitably result in that person being susceptible to bribe and to selling my data to the highest bidder. <A> In the example linked, many of people used sophisticated methods to attack or exploit a system or vulnerability. <S> They didn't use a already made tool to exploit something (like downloaded a malware factory to lock people's computers), and they didn't use random luck. <S> Their attacks were on purpose and exploited a system at the lowest level. <S> With that said, these folks probably turned out to be model prisoners and probably did a lot to earn back trust. <S> To date, I never heard any of these folks turn against their companies. <S> But there was a case recently of a some kid who hacked apple to get files <S> They were not amused or offered him a job. <S> He got arrested. <S> His rationale is about these historical teen hackers who got jobs after a career of mischiefs.
| May companies prefer to hire previously sentenced security experts because a sentence by a high authority means usually skill proven beyond any doubt.
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How to part with Colleagues I have put in my two weeks' resignation notice effective next week Friday however, I have not told any of my colleagues I am leaving. we are seven in the office, only told my supervisor and CEO. I have been here for four months and I coordinate the social events so made friends with all of them. We have pizza lunch today which I organized and I feel I should let them know I am leaving but don't know if that is even allowed. Is it ok to just leave next week on Friday. I am sure they would all ask of me if they don't see me on Monday. Is there a better way to do this? Update:Thanks for your advice. I told them at the Pizza lunch and it was an emotional moment with a lot of...i will miss you...haha <Q> People come and go and four months is not much, but they deserve to know. <A> Is it ok to just leave next week on Friday. <S> Whatever else you do to part ways, please don't do this . <S> This will create a serious communication gap between you and them irrespective of whether you wish to remain in touch in future on not. <S> This is never a good thing from both professional and interpersonal standpoint. <S> Based on how soon/late it's allowed in your workplace, you should inform your colleagues about your move. <S> Inform them all together in a group email, group message. <S> You can gently give a reasoning explaining your move. <A> We have pizza lunch today which I organized and I feel I should let <S> them know I am leaving but don't know if that is even allowed. <S> Ask your boss if that would be allowed. <S> Is it ok to just leave next week on Friday. <S> Yes, of course that would be okay. <S> But it wouldn't be very nice. <S> I am sure they would all ask of me if they don't see me on Monday. <S> Is there a better way to do this? <S> The best way is to discuss this with your boss when you give your resignation. <S> Since that didn't happen, the next best was is to discuss this with your boss now. <S> Something like "I'd like to let folks know that I'll be leaving. <S> Would that be okay, or would you rather let them know yourself? <S> " would be appropriate. <S> Most likely you will be free to tell your colleagues whenever you choose. <S> But it's possible that management would prefer to break the news themselves.
| Ask your supervisor , though usually you are allowed to say so after officially resigning. Leaving without notice would not be too polite of you. Put it nicely stating that how it has been a nice experience working and bonding with them.
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How to approach my company about software made in my spare time that can help with our process As a software developer there is many part of my job that can be tedious and/or time consuming. Whenever it is possible I create scripts or softwares to make it easier on me, or make the process fully automated. Usually it's softwares that anyone could make in a few hours, so I don't publish them anywhere, as there is no point. But I've recently started to work on a software wich can drastically reduces the amount of work needed when it comes to our database. Basically my software is a script editor wich automatically implement every process we're supposed to take into account when creating a script. The script is formatted in a company-specific way, every needed verification needed is automatically performed. So my question would be, in what way could I present this software to my team/company ? I am afraid that his may be seen as a gadget/novelty, and end up not being used / adopted by the company. If it is helpful, we're situated in France, and we're working with the Agile method. In-house software to help with tedious processes are not uncommon here, but are usually done on command by the company. Note : To be clear, I am not trying to sell this software to them, but to give them the rights and sources of the soft, so that other people can use it, and develop it further.I tried searching for similar questions, but every questions I found where about selling a software. <Q> Sometimes just pushing the scripts to a side repo, putting them on a file share, or corporate file sharing account is all that's needed. <S> Then email everyone the link with a description of what it does. <S> Something like the following: <S> Team: <S> Like many of you, I continually am going through redundant cycle of building, deploying, debugging, and pulling down logs for analysis, then running the parse tool on the logs to find the output of my relevant sections of code. <S> This overhead easily takes 5 minutes per iteration regardless of how much code I changed. <S> And I do it 10 times a day. <S> So I wrote a script that makes it easier and does all the work for you. <S> So now this overhead is reduced to 1 minute. <S> You can find the script in your enlistment at tools/scripts/debugstuff. <S> Just edit the headers at the top of the script with your test account password and test machine IP address. <S> See the comments at the top of the file. <S> Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions. <S> user3399 <S> Stuff like this not only makes your team more efficient, it creates a great culture and motivates others on the team to do the same and/or improve your work, or offer suggestions back. <S> There's really no downside to sharing stuff with co-workers to make their life easier. <A> Here's a good template for pitching new ideas that's worked incredibly well for me in the past. <S> It has three parts: Describe the current situation. <S> Basically, what's the current process that's being followed. <S> List <S> the downsides of that approach. <S> Why would someone want to improve the process, what are the pain-points, etc. <S> Demonstrate an alternative. <S> Describe - or ideally show - an alternative way of doing the process that solves some of the downsides described in the second step. <S> This is an easy-to-grok format. <S> It gives the background info needed to make an informed decision on the topic. <S> It demonstrates a business use. <S> And it gives the manager a good position to decide whether your proposal is a good idea. <A> Firstly, the intellectual property rights for this <S> probably already belong to your employer , even if you wrote this in your spare time. <S> Check out L113-9 of the Intellectual Property Code in French law. <S> It sounds like you created this in your spare time but in the course of your duties. <S> in what way could I present this software to my team/company ? <S> Demonstrate your automation ; find the right forum and show people how it helps. <S> If your colleagues see it work, some of them will want to try it. <S> In my experience, software engineers create this kind of automation all the time , and it is very much a part of how we work. <S> Depending on your colleagues there could be some scepticism or resentment, but mainly people like things that make life better/easier and aren't hard to maintain. <S> To your manager: <S> "I took initiative and created some software that will help us become more productive." <S> Don't be shy - you've done something good, and any manager worth their salt will recognise and encourage that. <S> Maybe next time you will be allowed to carve out time from your working day to do this kind of work... <A> If you wrote it, and it is related to your job, you should assume they have complete ownership rights to it. <S> This is the standard employment agreement for software developers. <A> Is it something that helps a developer in his day-to-day work (e.g. An IDE plugin) ? <S> In that case, simply share your tool through an email or in a learn-and-share moment if your team organizes these. <S> Make sure to clearly explain why it's helpful - if it really is, you will have no difficulties in getting your colleagues to use it. <S> If it is something that helps the company/user (e.g. Something that makes it easier to avoid bugs and therefore create better software and bring in more revenue), you should probably talk to your manager instead. <S> In that case they will make sure in your place that it's used everywhere.
| If it's tools that you developed to make your own job easier, I'd absolutely encourage you to share it with your co-workers.
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Is it okay for an intern to leave workplace early on last day? So I know this question is already on here but with my circumstances I wanted to clarify. I’m an intern at a company with a pretty laid back atmosphere. My manager is out of the office on my last day. In fact because my last day is a friday almost everyone I worked with is out of the office so I gave most of my in person goodbyes the day before. My project is completely done and transferred to the new owner (as my access is being deleted) so I have nothing to work on. Is it okay if I leave early today? I tied up most of my loose ends over email because a lot of people just happened to not be there today. Edit: I forgot to add that the office does flex hours so it's pretty common in general for people to leave earlier or come in later. Also my direct manager was pretty absent during my internship in general (and is currently out of office as well). The other one simply advised me to tie up loose ends through email the day before (as he's out of office today) so I wasn't sure where to go from there. <Q> Is it okay if I leave early today? <S> I tied up most of my loose ends over email because a lot of people just happened to not be there today. <S> It's most likely okay. <S> If you are paid hourly, make sure you report only the hours you actually worked. <S> But if you want to leave the best possible lasting impression, leave at the normal time rather than cutting out early. <S> This is what I would recommend that all interns do. <A> Is it okay if I leave early today? <S> If you have said your goodbye's, and no one you work with is in the office, I would go ahead and leave . <S> There is no harm in leaving early under those conditions, and it is your last day anyway. <S> It might be wise, as a courtesy, to let your manager know your heading out and that all your tasks have been handled. <A> Go into some specific details about why. <S> Try to shoot for brightening their day whenever they read it. <S> Not only will it make them feel good, but you as well (and, from a cynical/selfish point of view, it'll let you leave on a really positive note.) <S> Why? <S> Simply from a cost-reward perspective, you don't really get all that much out of leaving early one time. <S> You could get a lot more out of making sure you leave on a good note. <S> Just because the boss isn't there doesn't mean you can't do that - and don't place to much emphasis on the boss . <S> Just because someone's not a manager now doesn't mean they won't be in 10 years. <S> The person across the cubicle isle you impress now could be your manager 5 years down the line. <S> Plus, you're in the great spot of not having a specific work task you have to work on - so you can literally do anything you want that will help out around the office, make everyones' day better, and leave on a good note. <S> Write some documentation from some process nobody's got around to doing. <S> Leave personalized notes to your coworkers. <S> Clean out the fridge that everyone's been avoiding. <S> Go on a bagel/donut run. <S> Whatever trips your fancy. <A> They're paying you to be at work for X number of hours <S> so you should be there for those hours unless other arrangements are made. <S> What you do during those hours is also up to your manager. <S> In your case, you have completed all known assigned work. <S> You should treat this the same way you would if you had done so <S> and it wasn't your last day: ask your manager for more work. <S> but there's also a chance that they have some other small tasks lined up for you. <S> Either way, it's your manager's decision as to how you spend your last few hours with the company. <S> Will there be lasting consequences if you duck out early without asking? <S> In this case, probably not. <S> But the professional thing to do would be to get permission first.
| Because it is your last day, there's a decent chance you'll be allowed to go home early First up, leaving early's probably not the right play. Here's my advice: write some emails/notes to your coworkers expressing how much you appreciated working with them. You should never leave work early without express consent from your manager (in this case, your manager is whoever has been left in charge of you today while your normal manager is out of the office).
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How do I address my Catering staff subordinate seen eating from a chafing dish before the customers? I manage a small catering staff for in-house events of our company. I have an employee who has a history of repeated bad behavior … hiding, not doing their job, etc. When confronted, her response is consistently that she wasn't trained, she "didn't know" to do or not do something (even though she's been with our company for approx. 5 years), or she outright lies about it. In the past, she's had multiple issues, has been put on Job-in-Jeopardy, straightens up her behavior just until she's out of trouble, then it starts all over again. I've recently been instructed to treat her like a new employee and retrain her myself. Today was spent performing such training. We had a event being catered and she was told to assist in the setup. The meeting organizers were in the room, preparing for the event to begin, when they saw my staff member reach into a chafing dish bare-handed, grab an item of food, then turn around and walk off while eating it. Obviously, she needs to be reprimanded … but how do I get around the anticipated response of "I didn't know" or "I wasn't trained"? <Q> How to reprimand? <S> Formally. <S> At this point, based on your description, she's willing to do whatever she can do to abuse the rules and slide by, and utterly unwilling to actually produce. <S> Fine. <S> Don't try to fix her. <S> Try to fire her. <S> Figure out what is required, both in law and in company regulations, to get rid of her permanently, and walk that path. <S> Do the counselling and documentation to get her back on Job-in-Jeopardy as quickly and efficiently as you can. <S> She'll make meaningless excuses, but you know they're meaningless <S> and she knows they're meaningless. <S> Give them exactly as much credence as the regulations require and no more. <S> Apply rebuttals (in formal documentation) as necessary. <S> The trick here is... <S> it's not about a conversation with her, anymore. <S> She's made it blindingly obvious that conversations with her are not fruitful. <S> This is now about you, and her, having a conversation with your company regulations, until you can convince your company regulations to fire her. <S> If she shapes up to the point that the company regulations won't fire her, then she's shaped up, and that's great... <S> for as long as it lasts, and when she inevitably stops, drag her right back on to Job-in-Jeopardy again. <S> After that, the only thing that you really need to worry about is her going to some leadership figure with a sob story... and that's the sort of thing that you use the documentation for - indicating that, whatever her words are, her actions are those of someone who's unwilling to learn and unwilling to try, except exactly as far as necessary to keep herself from being fired. <S> Admittedly, this is easier if you get your leadership on board with it. <S> Talk with them about the plan, and make sure that you have at least a reasonable amount of support. <A> From your question <S> Obviously, she needs to be reprimanded … but how do I get around the anticipated response of "I didn't know" or <S> "I wasn't trained"? <S> But then from your comment I'd been instructed by my supervisor and HR to document everything and retrain like a new employee due to the "I didn't know" comments during her written reprimand (for other behaviors) earlier this week. <S> So to me the answer is you reprimand her as you should, and then if she comes back with any juvenile responses you just document them as instructed. <S> From the way you have described her I doubt you can actually influence her in any way, but your management seems to understand this, so you don't need to "get around" any of her responses. <S> Frustrating? <S> Yes. <S> But unless you have the power to fire her its basically out of your hands. <A> "I didn't know" simply doesn't cut it as an excuse for poor behaviour. <S> That is not a legal (or even moral) defense. <S> What is the defense is if it is reasonable for someone to know something. <S> "I wasn't trained" is a very worrying excuse for someone that exhibits poor food safety . <S> Depending on your jurisdiction, they should have documentation that shows they have conducted a food safety course . <S> So, in effect, they were trained. <S> If they do not have such documentation, or your workplace does not require it, then that should be rectified. <S> Employees shouldn't have to be told not to steal from their employer and customers. <S> In any case, I wouldn't be too concerned about whatever BS response <S> the employee comes up with. <S> If you are willing to accept or consider some sort of justification, that is what they will keep on doing. <S> I would refrain from making it a game where you have to try to spell out every little rule. <S> For the record, theft is often considered gross misconduct, and poor food safety and putting the public at risk can be considered gross misconduct (I'm not sure). <S> These types of offenses can instigate instant dismissal. <S> You need to figure out if you actually want to get rid of this employee because of their conduct, or if you want their behaviour to improve.
| If your leadership is entirely unwilling to fire the low performer, then the best that you can do is formally request to not be forced to work with her, so that her poor performance doesn't get stuck to you.
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Posting jobs on “last 3 employers” of job application? I’m looking at a job application that asks to post “last 3 employers.” Would I be able to include independent contracting work and self employment? <Q> Yes, you can include contracting work and being self employed. <S> However, the question asks for your last three employers, so whatever you list should be your most previous three employers without gaps. <S> The recruiter/hiring manager will also see your resume, which you can use to highlight the most important previous roles, even if not the most recent. <A> Would I be able to include independent contracting work and self employment? <S> Yes. <S> If that's what you were doing then why would you not be able to include it? <A> I've been a contractor, both W2 and corp-to-corp (aka self-employed), for nearly 30 years now. <S> When I list them on my resume, what I put depends on the type of job. <S> I nearly always put the company I was contracted to because it's more likely to be a company that is recognized instead of the staffing/consulting company that actually pays. <S> me. <S> I will then often put "(via SuperRecruiters)" where the silly name I put there is actually the company that paid me. <S> My current situation is even more complicated. <S> I put the Fortune 50 company I worked for for 3.5 years and put (Via UberConsultants) <S> but they're not the ones that paid me. <S> It can all get very complicated but the bottom line is that you want to put where you did the work <S> but you can also put who employed you, <S> because even if your work-quality reference isn't from them, they'll be the ones to verify your employment for a background check. <S> In the cases where I'm self-employed, I just put the name of the company I was working for and merely put something like (contract) in parenthesis. <S> The above info is for resumes in particular but can be used for applications. <S> BUT if you've already submitted your resume and this is just for either a background check or following an HR procedure, put the people that paid you or "self-employed" and leave it at that. <S> For a background check you might get the BC company calling you asking for whom you did work, but that's all. <S> Good luck!
| It's up to you whether you aggregate freelancing/self-employed work together into a single item or break it up into additional details - do what you think enables you to list the recent roles you're most excited to share.
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Unethical behavior : should I report it? One of the ex-company I worked with, was a hell hole, with abusive bosses, the CEO who fired people because they dared to contradict him and all sort of twisted behavior like allowing people to come in drunk. I left that place a bit ago , with the upper hand but the moral part of me is still thinking if I should report to the authorities what I've seen inside. The issue is I have no proof that can put a finger on the terrible practices I've seen there and not to mention that everyone who worked for that company is afraid of the ceo. Many thanks for the insights you might be able to provide. <Q> should report to the authorities <S> What authorities? <S> Most countries don't have a "be nice to your employee" laws. <S> The only thing the authorities care about are violation of existing laws. <S> If your former employer did indeed break the law and you have decent documentation or proof, that they did, then, by all means, report them. <S> If not, that would be pointless. <S> If your goal is to help other people avoid this employer, you can post reviews on glassdoor.com or whatever review websites or social media platforms are relevant in your country and industry. <A> What are you going to achieve? <S> Just shout at the wall. <S> Move on in life. <S> BTW - You say that you have no proof - therefore nothing can happen <A> I think you should either let it go or maybe use a little bit of soft power to actually punish such terrible conduct. <S> Also, if you happen to find a better workplace, you could recruit key people or at least the ones that happened to be your friends or nearest to you. <A> There are sites such as Glassdoor.com which are meant for reporting this kind of issues. <S> Please be sure to report your old workplace there and on other similar sites. <S> Other than that, you'd have to find a specific law that was broken to bring a civil lawsuit. <S> There is no one central labor conditions monitoring board. <A> Most of the things you mention are either bad business practice but not illegal in most countries (like allowing people to work drunk, as long as they do not put anyone in danger) or cases where the actual victim needs to file a lawsuit (like wrongful dismissal). <S> So there is nothing for you to report here. <S> You could try to contact the victims and encourage them to take legal actions, but you can't take legal actions on their behalf. <S> What you could report to the authorities are things where the authorities are able to enforce the law without requiring a concrete victim. <S> These are, for example, violations of safety or hygiene regulations or violations of tax or customs laws. <S> But only do that when you actually have good reason to believe that the company broke such a law. <S> The authorities won't be amused if you end up wasting their time for nothing.
| If your goal is personal revenge or just venting: Let it go and move on. You could go to Glassdoor and post that the company had such issues and of course tell your friends and people that would like to work there, so that they are aware of such a bad workplace.
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What are some techniques to improve collaboration inside a design team? I work at a digital agency and we've got many different clients and projects, which is great, but we end up assigning each member to a few clients and getting evertone into their own client-bubble. We've got a channel for sharing references and briefly comment about them, which is nice but far for enough. We've tried having a daily channel for people to share what they are working so everyone knows what's going on and maybe have some insights but the engagement was poor. I feel like the main problems are time and information. How do we fit that in our schedule and how do we help each other effectively if we don't really "live" the client's day to day. So, what do you think? Are you also struggling with this? Have you achieved some nice system in your company? I'm really looking forward to share some thoughts with you people! :D <Q> We've tried having a daily channel for people to share what they are working <S> so everyone knows what's going on and maybe have some insights but the engagement was poor. <S> This may be a good idea, but engagement will stay poor until management enforces it. <S> When they do, there will be an adjustment period where agency members complain about the extra work load (1-2 minute per day per project to type up a short status - or, as a compromise, a weekly status report). <S> And then it will become normal. <S> Does management want this? <S> If I were in their shoes, I definitely would, because sooner or later, someone will "get hit by a bus" (get fired, get sick, win the lottery, really get hit by a bus), and the others will have to pick up the slack. <S> It's really not good form to ask your customer clueless questions about the job you're supposed to do for them. <S> I would also consider assigning two members to each client/project. <S> One would take the lead, and the other would keep up to date and assist when needed. <S> These measures cost time and money (though in my opinion, the cost of the daily/weekly channel report is negligible). <S> Agency members currently have no motivation to spend even a small part of their work days on information exchange, because it is not part of their job. <S> Again, it is the management's job to change that. <A> Take a page from Agile in software development and try a Stand Up Meeting . <S> The original purpose is for everyone to briefly tell what they plan to work on each day and any stoppers or blockers they faced. <S> In your case you maybe rotate through each of your clients and tell what you accomplished and how the client reacted (fit it to what works for you). <S> These are done usually at the same time of day, first thing in the morning... <S> if you don't have a set work schedule that might be a little harder. <A> The issue you're facing is not unlike the issue faced by teams that have a distributed workforce (e.g. in different locations, across different time zones). <S> The goal is to facilitate communication and increase communication fluency among all members of the team. <S> There is a good amount of research to support different methods and modes of increasing collaboration among design teams. <S> The literature supports the value of building shared mental models, common language, and universal access to resources and representations (e.g. mockups, drafts, and completed products). <S> This suggests that the particular communication medium isn't as important as the ability to access it and the perceived value of participating in it. <S> Here are a few of the most frequently-cited research articles. <S> For further information, search "design collaboration" at scholar.google.com or something similar. <S> For your situation, it may be beneficial to look for articles that are case studies or surveys of existing research. <S> An organizational view of design communication in designcollaboration . <S> Chiu, 2002. <S> Mental models in design teams: avalid approach to performance in design collaboration? <S> .Badke <S> -Schaub, et al, 2007. <S> Making sense of collaboration <S> : thechallenge of thinking together in global design teams . <S> Larsson,2003. <A> A variety of Agile techniques can help with this. <S> They will collaborate and learn from each other. <S> The immediate reaction to this is usually "but everything will take twice as long!" <S> But pair programming among devs has been shown to be 15% slower but to produce a 15% lower defect rate . <S> Demos - regular sessions where everyone demos their work to each other. <S> what blockers or questions they might have <S> THere are a lot of resources out there about applying Agile to a digital agency model, <S> check out this podcast with Rachel Gertz and Brett <S> Harned talking about it and look for some more!
| Retros - regular sessions where the group retrospects on what they've been doing and how to improve Standups - daily short meetings where everyone reports what they've been doing/will do/ Pairing - consider assigning 2 designers to a given client instead of one.
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What is expected when I'm asked to be ready to work by shift start? My employer is asking people to be ready and present for the shift-start briefing. What is normal for an employer to expect me to have done before the shift-start briefing and what is acceptable to do after the meeting? E.g.: Visiting the bathroom Getting a fresh coffee <Q> That means that you've gotten your coffee, taken the bathroom break you needed, have your required tools, implements and whatnot and are able to start your assigned work without further delay. <S> This can vary widely depending upon the type of work you do and the technicalities of labor laws where you work. <S> Not all of these variations are beneficial to the employee. <S> For example, if you are a waiter, it's common practice (in the US at least) to require waitstaff to be onsite and perform some side work/preparation prior to the start of your shift. <S> Although this is part of your job responsibilities, in most cases waitstaff aren't allowed to actually clock in before the actual start of the shift. <S> But your question reads to me as if your boss is simply asking that you show up to the briefing on time and ready to start the meeting. <S> A rather common sense thing to be honest. <A> what is norm for showing up before shift start, to ensure they can start on time? <S> A good rule of thumb would be to allow your self 15 minutes to get your preparations made prior to the briefing. <S> YMMV <A> what is norm for showing up before shift start, to ensure they can start on time? <S> That depends on a lot of factors: <S> Do you normally get coffee/tea before shifts? <S> Do you have chats at the watercooler? <S> Do you need certain gear from a locker? <S> Do you need to put on protective clothing according to your HSSE regulation? <S> Do you have long ways through the building getting across from one side to the briefing-room? <S> Your ATOTT (average time on the toilet) - in the case you haven't had a visit @home already.. <S> The best approach would be to take the average amount spent each day on such activities before the briefing, add 5 minutes to that figure in case <S> you have a red wave (traffic-lights) or delays of puplic transportation on your way to work and make sure you show up early according to that calculation.
| In simplest terms, the 'norm' is that you are at your station at the designated start time and are ready to start work.
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Negotiating working from home in awkward circumstances For a long time (I don't remember when it started), I have been consistently working from home at least one day a week. I work as a software developer and being physically off-site has never been a problem, in terms of productivity and my ability to work. My reasons for working from home were largely for my own convenience. If there was ever a need for me to be on-site, I made the effort to abide (providing I hadn't already arranged something that I couldn't move, like an appointment, etc.) Recently, our team has collapsed a bit, including a change of team leader. Said new boss is not as accepting of working from home as the previous and has, for want of a better word, viewed me with suspicion ever since he took over. He even told me once that such arrangements require trust to be established over years and, while I understand that, I have no precedent of abusing my "privilege" over the years I already had it. Indeed, while he's been my boss, he's reluctantly condescended to allowing me two days a week due to an actual personal need (rather than just convenience), for a fixed term. In this time, I have actively delivered everything that's been asked of me -- going above and beyond -- and have done my best to fit things around work. In the meantime, the nature of my personal problem, which predicated my working from home under my new boss, has changed but still exists. Indeed, arguably, the stressfulness of fitting everything in has exacerbated the situation. However, a couple of weeks ago, I was told -- again with HR in tow -- that I would not be allowed any time off in August and that, "We'd see how it goes, thereafter." I wasn't given the opportunity to negotiate. In part, this is understandable: In August there will be two new starters and I will be the most appropriate member of the team to get them started, as we share roles. (This bad bit of planning had nothing to do with me.) However, cutting me off completely -- even from annual leave was implied; which I'd fall back on, at my expense, if necessary -- seems a bit much. Having HR involved seems like a power play, to me, and frankly it's stressing me out even more. In fact, I was admitted to hospital over the weekend with chest pains. Nothing was found -- I'm relatively young and healthy -- but I have a condition that warranted it being checked out. I assume, therefore, it was an anxiety attack (I've never had one before). Assumptions notwithstanding, I'm showing increasing signs of serious depression -- which I intend to get checked out in the next few days -- because of all this (along with my own problems) and the general atmosphere at my workplace (said collapse wasn't without reason). As a compromise, I feel I need at least one day a week working from home in August, but I don't know how to negotiate this or even who to approach. I don't believe my boss will be that forthcoming; I'm not convinced he will take my condition in good faith (because of the aforementioned trust issues). As for HR, I feel like they're on "his side"; it's their job to protect the business. Even the thought of "just asking" or "telling them how it is" is making me anxious, which is why I'm writing here. What do I do? <Q> The work from home agreement was made as a result of a medical condition? <S> By getting rid of it, your employer risks breaching the Equality Act 2010. <S> To quote the [UK Government’s official website] <S> [1]: <S> Reasonable adjustments in the workplace <S> An employer has to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to avoid you being put at a disadvantage compared to non-disabled people in the workplace. <S> For example, adjusting your working hours or providing you with a special piece of equipment to help you do the job. <S> like you having to start taking sick leave even less, since when you’re working from home, you are at least getting some things done, while you’d likely get nothing done while on sick leave. <S> I would do this over email, so that his response is recorded in writing. <S> Then, if he refuses to do so, I would take it to HR and frame it as “my boss is putting the company at liability through his actions; what can we do to resolve this”. <S> [1] ( https://www.gov.uk/rights-disabled-person/employment ) <A> When management changes, it is not unusual for the new boss to require the physical presence of all team members so they can start figuring out what they have from a resource perspective: <S> talent wise, attitude, productivity, etc. <S> Your first course of action, and most important one , is to work with your doctor and get to the bottom of your medical issues. <S> Nothing is more important than your health. <S> Second, forget about WFH for now . <S> Focus instead on being as productive and trustworthy to your boss as possible. <S> Ask your new boss <S> " How can I make your life easier? " <S> If you get recommendations, try to accommodate. <S> If you don't, be persistent and keep asking (once every two weeks or so). <S> At some point ( 6 months maybe ) you should have been able to demonstrate your value and trustworthiness. <S> At this point you can make the case again for WFH. <S> If they are reasonable, they may see your value and allow it (you earned the privileges). <S> All that said, if WFH is that important, you may have to seek employment elsewhere if your unable to persuade your new manager. <S> That decision will be up to you, there is no magic formula to determine that. <A> As for HR, I feel like they're on "his side" <S> Human Resources exists to protect the company. <S> They are never on your side unless a dispute arises between you and a third party. <S> Even then it's still aimed at saving the company and not individual employees--we're saved as collateral un-damage. <S> Don't get me wrong--there are plenty of wonderful bosses with big hearts--but the existence of an HR department means someone with authority will view details in favor of corporate viability over the little people. <S> That (coupled with the fact that a boss was hired with authority over you) means this very plausibly could not go your way. <S> An exception of course being if your medical condition turns out to give you bargaining power from a discrimination perspective. <S> I don't have any good ideas for you--other than the above. <S> Mister Positive covered anything else I might have offered. <S> He's right about getting to the doctor asap. <S> Hope it works out for you--both your health and your job--please let us know. <A> They are many jobs out there that will allow you to work from home . <S> The minimum is 1 day a week . <S> Look for another one mate. <S> This is obviously too much stress in you right now and your health comes first. <S> Take some time off if you need to also. <S> It's you then your company. <S> Remember you work to live not live to work there is a big difference.
| I’d recommend talking to your boss about making an accomodation with you; he might dislike you working from home, but I’m sure he’d
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Manager giving feedback based on hearsay; how should I proceed? I've just recently started a new job, and my direct manager is also quite new in a management role. During my first/last review, he stated I needed to work on my soft skills and was not enough of a "team player". To illustrate this, he came along with examples like "someone claimed you didn't greet them in the hall" (in that regards, the question seems somewhat related to this one How to react to criticism referring to your personality? ) Is giving negative feedback based on anonymous hearsay acceptable for a manager ? I'm thoroughly confused with feedback encouraging me to fit in better with the team based on stuff which was apparently said behind my back.This just makes me overly cautious on what I say/how behave with team members as I can't help but wonder if the team member I'm talking to is the one criticizing me. On the other hand, maybe my Manager just misinterpreted what was said about me. In either case, I find telling me this is counter-productive. Considerations: Feedback on technical on-boarding is very positive I really don't think my manager is some kind of jerk (he's done a lot to help me settle in to the new town for instance) He's openly told me he's open to any feedback on his management since he's new at it If I am right in assuming he can do better in giving feedback, how could I suggest this without seeming too patronizing? I'm considering something along the lines of "if anyone complains to you about me in the future, I'd be glad if you asked them to talk to me about it" . I'm not saying the feedback is nonsense, I am new here and probably have plenty of room for improvement, but I'm struggling to find out why/how. <Q> Is giving negative feedback based on anonymous hearsay acceptable for a manager ? <S> For your manager, it was not anonymous. <S> Someone said this to him in some way, so he knows who that person was, but was refraining from disclosing that information to you (which was good, as to avoid to make it personal). <S> Chances are that this person is someone your manager trusts, and thus why he "took it as real". <S> Also, if this person is someone your manager trusts, chances are that you could be indeed lacking a bit in your soft skills as expected by your current company's culture and coworkers. <S> Anyways, the real point here is that you were given feedback, and you should try to work to improve on what was said . <S> Try to pay more attention and do things like greeting your coworkers (specially your superiors) and the other things your manager mentioned in your review. <A> Your managers role is to help you develop and this feedback is designed to help you develop. <S> As you said, he has helped you develop in the past. <S> If managers had to justify every single bit of feedback, through traceable evidence, it would be to the detriment to the workplace. <S> There is nothing to suggest the person complained about you, or even criticised you. <S> They could have been asked by your manager on their opinion, and they may have mentioned it, not thinking it was a big deal. <S> If someone ignored me in a corridor (as an example), I wouldn't complain to the person. <S> What's the point? <S> "You should be nicer to me!". <S> If we had a mutual boss, I might mention it to them. <S> So the conduct of your colleague makes sense to me. <S> If your boss is as good as you suggest, he may simply chalk this down to you not paying attention. <S> Sometimes when people are performing very well, it can be tough to find feedback, so you have to scrape the bottom of the barrel for things to say. <S> You say that technically you are performing well <S> , maybe the soft skills need a minor piece of work. <S> In addition, criticising soft skills is quite difficult, as sometimes it's hard to quantify how someone needs work. <A> From the outside, it's not easy to understand what is going on. <S> My train of though on your experience may be this: many people have little social/emotional intelligence . <S> This means both that you may not understand what is expected from you in somoe social/workplace contexts, but also that your colleagues may draw vastly unfair assumptions on your behaviour because they tend to "fit" people in their behavioural patterns. <S> "being a team player" is sometimes an abused term and used to cover what I mentioned above. <S> Most people, managers in particular, do not realize that everyone of us has a different personality and may be introvert or shy, and one person may "fit in" in a very different way from another (embracing their diversity) on this basis, I wouldn't ever complain about a colleague not greeting me, unless I have other elements that prove deliberate bad or negligent behavior towards me. <S> I can understand that some people are just quirky, or may zone out easily, or may be shy. <S> I had a colleague that literally did not talk to me, ever, not once for months. <S> But he was always super-nice in chat and very expert, I kinda got that he may have been super-shy or even smth like Asperger's and never took it personally. <S> on the other hand, we don't know if these remarks belong to a wider pattern or set of problems . <S> If you are not a good communicator, there are chances that people will misunderstand also trivial things. <S> If you do things that annoy other people for other reason, this may reflect in comments on less important things <S> there is no "going behind your back", and you taking the feedbacks as such is a problem . <S> Those feedbacks are anonymous on purpose, because social conventions may hinder our ability to express sincere concerns; think of the upside: compliments tend to be more sincere.
| I suggest you heed the feedback, and take it as an opportunity to improve.
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My employer is refusing to give me the pay that was advertised after an internal job move I have moved jobs internally and was told by the manager who posted the job I would be paid £50k per annum and that is also what was advertised. Now after starting the job they have finally sent a offer letter for £5k less when I have already started on the agreement of the £50k. I have said to them that they should have sent the offer letter and contract before so I had the opportunity to decline if they had planned to reduce the offer. They are also dealing with it verbally I'm assuming as they don't want a written trail trying to convince me to agree to the offer. What do I do? I've moved my whole family to a more expensive area for this job and need the extra money. <Q> You are saying that you have nothing written down and agreed before moving job and all of this was done verbally. <S> Speak to your manager again explaining that the offer you have received is not what you understood it was <S> and you only accepted on the basis of the £50k you agreed. <S> If this has no impact then there might be the avenue of escalating this through HR <S> If the manager won't change the offer (or even if he does) then you have learnt something valuable about them and have to decide whether you can continue to work in this company. <S> The answer may have to be to look elsewhere <S> and I am sorry to say you have learnt a valuable lesson. <S> A verbal contract is worth the paper it is written on Thinking on this further, it seems very unusual that a transfer in a company was done totally verbally. <S> It is possible there is a documentary trail that you could use the GDPR to ask for all data relating to you and there may be something in there about the offer but this is a bit of a nuclear button option and risks damaging the relationship between you and your company totally <A> "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." <S> You learned a valuable lesson here: <S> Your manager/boss cannot be trusted. <S> Unless you signed anything already (contract, offer letter, etc.) <S> , if I was in your shoes, I would stop working immediately for this liar and would look for a job elsewhere. <S> Of course, always follow the proper procedure, e.g. resign and give notice if required. <S> Also, next time don't start working until you have everything you agreed on in writing. <S> And don't make major life changes until you have the cash in hand (like moving the family to a new city/country). <A> They have to pay you the amount you verbally agreed before you started, an employment contract does not have to be written down. <S> https://www.gov.uk/employment-contracts-and-conditions/contract-terms <S> You can refuse this new contract as it is a change to the agreed terms. <S> The problem is that this is likely to enrage your employer so tread carefully. <A> What to do? <S> Talk to them and try to get the money they promised. <S> Don't expect it and look for another job. <S> Next time, get things in writing. <A> Along the lines of Niko1978's answer , but less aggressive. <S> It appears you're trying to work yourself up through life and were handed what looked like a solid opportunity of advancement. <S> It is entirely understandable that you trusted a verbal agreement with your current employer that didn't quite take shape. <S> It really is 'shame on them!' <S> Moving forward, commit this to memory. ' <S> Fool me twice, shame on me!' <S> Promise yourself that you won't commit to an offer until it's in writing. <S> And always make a copy for yourself because you'll never know when you'll need to refer back to it. <S> Secondly, you got burned. <S> Approach your manger in a calm manner and remain nothing but professional. <S> It sucks, but in hindsight going off, storming out, and ultimately quitting only burns bridges. <S> That forces the time and effort in recreating those potentially solid references somewhere else. <S> Present what you were offered and calmly ask if they are willing to fix their end of the agreement. <S> Finally, regardless of outcome bar some honest HR mistake, find new employment. <S> I've been in your exact same shoes. <S> If you're not in a position to put in your 2 weeks this exact second, do it passively until you find a new job. <S> You should not need to put up with this. <S> A dishonest company or a dishonest actor within a company will eventually make your life hell. <S> If this is the case, then it's time to move on. <A> Your employer offered you a certain sum of money, then once you had started, they changed the number, so now you have a problem. <S> Go to them and explain nicely that you had understood that you would be paid 50k and that your most recent pay cheque was only counting up to 45k/year. <S> Remember, it's just a number. <S> There's no need for confrontation or emotion. <S> Typically at this stage, the employer would apologize and offer to change the number. <S> If they do not, say that you would like to hand in your notice. <A> It's very likely that your trust in them is forever gone, meaning you have no satisfying future at this company, even if they end up honoring the verbal contract - the contract which is valid, relevant, and can be proven to exist because you already started the job. <S> Do not yet sign the offer, so the only contract in play is the verbal one that states 50k. <S> Instead of wasting time trying to convince them to be honest, contact a local employment lawyer to see what kind of damages you can recover, and look for a new job.
| If they made the offer verbally and you accepted and begun working they are required to honour that contract.
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Who is responsible for finding cover for my shift while I'm on holiday? how many days notice must I give for a one-day holiday? I work in a factory toolroom. I booked a one-day holiday exactly one week in advance. this has caused offence to my supervisor. saying I have not given enough notice and also I haven't spoken to the right person to provide cover for my shift. in light of recent events a grievance has been raised and now become a bullying issue. as others in the toolroom have given longer holidays in shorter notice and I very much feel singled out and my holidays are being challenged every time. I have asked my supervisor for the correct procedure and what I need to do in order to organise my holiday. nothing has been presented. in our employee hand book says one days notice for a one-day holiday, two for a two day holiday, so on. I have looked on the internet a lot to find out who is responsibility it is to find cover and also the minimum notice for a one-day holiday. I am beginning to see that management and HR are starting to twist their words with me. the situation has taken dramatic affects on my health and mental state. as it seems this way of thinking towards my holiday has been going on for as long as I have been at this place of work and need clarity before proceeding further. I am a member of a union and they are great with good advice. and have confirmed to me that I am correct in my assumptions. I would like to hear from more sources as possible. <Q> This is an excerpt taken from UK GOV Website (noticing the UK tag) <S> The general notice period for taking leave is at least twice as long as the amount of leave a worker wants to take (for example 2 days’ notice for 1 day’s leave), unless the contract says something different. <S> Unless your employment contract states otherwise (which it does - and is in fact more generous), this should be the default. <S> Your actions have been in accordance with default and company policies. <S> Note that it also states that they can refuse during busy periods. <S> Also note though that: An employer can require an employee not to take annual leave on particular days by giving the employee notice of at least the same length as the period of leave to be cancelled. <S> For example, if the employee has booked a period of four days' annual leave, the employer must give at least four days' notice of cancellation. <S> While not from the official UK GOV website I found this here and here <S> and I have also found this in practice too. <S> Finding Cover <S> Being a member of the Union will only benefit you here if they don't adhere to those rules (or their own rules if they are superseded in your employment contract) or if they try to take punitive action. <A> In these cases the legal framework uses a lot of words like "reasonable" or "within limits" <S> This is because this process is completely left up to the companies as part of the secondary benefits and working culture of said company. <S> A stringy and hard-ass company will force all the burden on the employees, a more flexible one will transfer some or all responsibility to the management. <S> So figure out if your company has anything written down in an employee handbook or union guidelines. <S> In most cases the procedure will be "talk to your manager before assuming you can take leave days" and if you are lucky it will give you a timeframe where you are allowed to make this your managers problem. <S> That timeframe is almost certainly more than a week. <S> If there is no employee handbook or the company is small enough that you frequently talk to the boss/owner it might be time to start one or at least get some guidelines on paper to avoid this situation in the future. <A> No other opinion, experience, suggestion, or guideline would overrule what is already in place. <S> It sounds to me as if your union rep/steward has already provided the answer you need.
| In the UK it is the responsibility of your manager/company to find cover (if needed) for your role (Unless part of your role actually involves arranging staffing levels and cover for holidays/sickness) If you are unionized then the union agreement would dictate the terms, and therefore the answer to your question.
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Overqualified underexperienced... what can I do? I am currently a PhD student in Finance, I specialise in time-series modelling, enjoy learning about stocks and shares and my research is going well, but for some (perhaps strange) reason, I do not want to immediately proceed with an academic career. My challenge is an academic career may be easier for me to go with. I have two previous degrees, a bachelors and masters both in Financial Economics and in both I received the highest possible grades. Now here the perhaps expected part, I have no work experience, during my PhD I have been a teacher in statistics classes and also a research assistant. Apart from this, during my degrees, I had part-time jobs that do not even warrant a mention on my CV. What would be the best approach to try and secure a position in industry. I would be interested in asset allocation, data scientist roles (with at least a hint of finance) or something similar. The other big issue is salary, how could I command a salary comparable to what academia could off (around £40,000 outside London). Additions from the comments: The reason I would like to leave academia is that one day I would like to grow to a salary that pays better than a Professor. <Q> You could ask us, a bunch of random strangers on the internet; But unless we have been in your position or recruiting for industries where you might apply, you will get better advice by asking a professional recruiter or two. <S> Send your CV and schedule a call. <S> It will cost you nothing and you will gain valuable insights. <S> Good luck, and please come back and let us know how it turns out. <A> "Apart from this, during my degrees, I had part-time jobs that do not even warrant a mention on my CV." <S> What makes you think that these aren't relevant? <S> Three things you should consider: 1) <S> It is impressive to be able to combine work and study, especially while achieving top grades. <S> 2) <S> One of the big question marks in your current CV is your ability to function in a workplace environment. <S> e.g. can you accept orders, do mindless tasks, keep a schedule, respond to emails, and generally work with others. <S> Heck, can you even be trusted to turn up every day? <S> 3) Similar to point 2, having previous jobs shows that another employer has, at some stage, considered you suitable for employment. <S> Just the fact that someone else even thought you were employable will make an interviewer see you more favourably, even without the job itself. <S> Unless your work was truly trivial (less than a week) or negative for some reason (you were fired after two weeks) <S> you should list it on your CV if it is the only work experience you have. <A> Short answer: you won't get that salary! <S> No company will give you 40k/year unless you can provide them way more than that (hiring someone has more additional costs than just salary). <S> It's not about "commanding" a salary, but about showing them the investment is worth it. <S> Also keep in mind that, unless you've published some paper that made a significant breakthrough in a relevant field, most companies won't care about what you've researched because, among other reasons, they won't even know what you're talking about most of the time. <S> So I would suggest you to gather experience as soon as possible, learning the techincal competences that are required in the "real world" (which may or may not be the same as in academia). <S> This could mean accepting some jobs for less than what you expect to earn later on. <S> In any case, you should be able to give your potential employers good reasons for hiring you. <S> Finally, if you cannot find your dream job, you will always be able to create it! <S> If you think you have the skills to deliver value to your clients, take those 40k you are earning each year and invest them in creating your own business. <A> Same as any other job: apply and find out. <S> The only issue you might run into would be you probably won't get a senior role fitting of your education straight away. <S> But odds are you will get there much faster than someone with a bog-standard bachelors degree.
| You are unexperienced, so you are (likely) not yet prepared to generate worth in a corporate environment. Having some credible work experience, however small, will go a long way towards convincing employers that you will fit into their organisation.
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Is an unsolicited thank-you email intrusive? I had a phone interview this morning with two interviewers, and I am planning on sending a thank-you email addressed to both of them. However, I was never in email communication with either of them, and I obtained their email addresses myself through the company website. This is probably a silly question, but would it be intrusive to send emails to these two employees if they had never solicited email contact? The only person I had been in email contact with was the HR recruiter, and they were not a part of the interview panel. Thank you for the advice! <Q> If you worked through a recruiter (either at the target company or a third party) you might be better off composing the thank-yous for your interviewers and then sending them to the recruiter to forward along. <S> It's a little less intrusive and still 100% professional. <A> A thank you note, even unsolicited, could never hurt. <S> I'm assuming there are work email addresses you picked up from the corporate site? <S> (seems silly otherwise) <A> Having been on the receiving end of a thank-you email after an interview, similar to what you're describing where the interviewee would have had to do even the tiniest bit of sleuthing to find my company email address, <S> I (and my colleagues who also received emails form the same candidate) <S> found it unnecessary and just a little strange. <S> We had no prior contact with the individual and expected no follow-up contact, particularly since no contact details had been shared. <S> In my mind, faced with 2 candidates who were absolutely identical in every other way, this would have tipped the balance microscopically in the other candidate's favor.
| By all means, send a thank-you to the hiring manager or whoever else you've already been in contact with or who have shared their contact details with you in the interview, but I would not recommend an out-of-the-blue email to anyone else.
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Is it unprofessional to mention your cover letter and resume are best viewed in Chrome? I recently had to fill out a job application and I was required to provide a shareable link to my cover letter and resume on Google Drive, which read: " Include your resume/CV (link to a Google Drive Document). " My issue is, when viewed in Chrome, the text is properly formatted, and looks professional, viewed in Firefox, the text is not properly formatted, and looks like I copied and pasted it without looking it over. I have no idea what browser they will use to view my resume, and I don't want to them to get the wrong impression. Is there a professional way to mention in my cover letter that my cover letter and resume are best viewed in Chrome? <Q> Is there a professional way to mention in my cover letter that my cover letter and resume are best viewed in Chrome? <S> I would strongly suggest you save your cover letter in PDF format and share that via Google Drive. <S> That way the format will be preserved, the text will be aligned, etc., regardless of the way they decide to visualize it. <S> Mentioning that it would be better to view it in Chrome would be odd, and people may wonder why the restriction. <A> viewed in Firefox, the text is not properly formatted, and looks like I copied and pasted it without looking it over. <S> This means that your file is not properly formatted , probably as a result of copy-and-paste from various sources with different high-level styling that map similarly to fonts in Chome but map differently to fonts in Firefox. <S> This kind of problem is endemic from the way WYSIWYG editors treat copy-and-paste, and short of digging deep into the hidden formatting, the only way to fix it is usually to select the whole block of text/whole document, click "remove formatting" or similar to make it all plain text, then manually add back the formatting you want. <S> Yes, it looks unprofessional. <S> It looks even more unprofessional if you ask the reader to work around your unprofessional document preparation. <S> Fix it. <S> For what it's worth, lots of articles published by "reputable" media outlets have the same unprofessional formatting problems in them these days. <A> If the recruiters explicitly demanded that you share your CV as a Google Doc, this suggests that they are accustomed to working with Google Docs and are probably already using the best browser for it. <S> So I wouldn't be too bothered by imperfect Firefox rendering. <S> You could certainly create a PDF copy and send both links, but if they did mention Google Docs as opposed to Google Drive, this is likely to mean that they would prefer to easily copy and edit your text, which using PDF will make harder. <A> The only situation in which I would consider browser compatibility relevant to a resume would be if the material related to web design, which you have suggested is not the case. <S> As mentioned by others, the safest option is really to export it to a PDF, which would allow you to comply with the request and avoid the formatting issue all together. <S> It would also avoid the situation in which the person reviewing it does not have Chrome on his or her machine and either declines to download it or does so with annoyance. <S> (I add my own answer here mostly to point out that not all people might react as negatively as the existing answers).
| I wouldn't go so far as to consider this unprofessional, though as an interviewer I might find it slightly odd.
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How should I ask companies to spend a day working with them? I'm the guy from this question about bad software practices . I've had a string of really really bad jobs, all of which I could have avoided if I knew what it was like to actually work there: My first job was for an alcoholic manager who was drunk all day and yelled at everyone and even pushed/hit people. I quit a year ago and he's still there. At my second job, everyone yelled, interrupted, and argued with everyone all day every day. Everyone hated each other. I realized this 5 minutes into my first day and had to stick it out until I found another job. For my current job, I asked about software practices and was told that they use Git and code review. On the first day I found out this was a flat-out lie (see above question for details) - my manager admitted that he lied on purpose because he knows its a red flag. I'm currently interviewing with several companies, and I ask about things like what working everyday is like, and what practices they use, and I ask to see codebases, but there's still no protection from being lied to or deceived. It's a big risk to leave a job for a new one, so I'd like to spend a day working at one (I don't need to be paid for it) to see if there are any problems. Is this something reasonable companies should be open to? How should I go about asking them? <Q> This is unlikely to be something a company would consider. <S> A non-exhaustive list of problems <S> A for profit company can't just let people come in and be volunteer developers for a day. <S> That's wage and hour theft <S> and it makes all sorts of state agencies frown and company lawyers tremble. <S> If they did go to the effort of hiring you, it's not like you're going to be doing real development day 1. <S> That first day is going to be for doing the new hire paperwork, doing some minimal onboarding, etc. <S> If they were willing to hire, potentially as a contractor on a 1 day contract, now they've got potential IP issues if you haven't resigned from your prior employer. <S> Lots of employees have relatively broad agreements that gives the current employer broad rights to things they develop so you'd need a lawyer for the new company to verify that any code you wrote in that day would actually belong to the company. <S> Rather than that, look for other ways to get the information you need. <S> Get involved in user group meetings to broaden your network. <S> Look at sites like Glassdoor for reviews. <S> Ask to talk with potential coworkers not just your manager. <S> Ask followup questions if you're concerned that someone is lying. <S> Unless everyone got together and prepared coordinated lies, it's going to be pretty clear when something doesn't add up. <S> Of course, it's pretty rare that someone is going to flat out lie to you <S> (I'm sorry it happened to you) <S> so don't invest too much energy trying to prevent a rare thing from happening twice. <A> If someone asked to do it i think we would be delighted, both with the opportunity to better evaluate them and with their dedication to find a workplace where they would be comfortable. <S> I also think that regardless of how you behave in an interview you will always alienate some companies, so unless you are desperate it might be better to ask yourself if you will alienate the right ones rather than how many. <S> "Are you using version control? <S> " is a question with a clear right or wrong answer. <S> "What branching strategy are you using? <S> , Do you have any issues with it? <S> " is harder to lie convincingly about. <S> Likewise questions like "What are typical issues raised during code reviews?" might be better than asking if they have them. <A> I have done something similiar in the past, from both sides. <S> At one of my old companies it was customary that interviewees spend a hour or two with the team. <S> If they got 2 hours, we issued them some coding tests and enough time so that we could learn more about them, and they more about us. <S> If they did well, we asked them out for lunch. <S> Note: This was NEVER real work, as real work involves a lot of legalese issues. <S> Only one is payment. <S> In germany, you have to pay for work, even if it's only one day. <S> The interviewee can't waive it, it's required by law. <S> An unpaid testing day is fine law wise... <S> When I went jobhunting, I asked for opportunities to meet more people. <S> At one company this was lunch with whomever happened to be in office that day. <S> (It was holiday season). <S> At another company, I was there for a day and met nearly everyone (small company).It gave me a lot of insight, and ultimately I realised I don't want to work there. <S> So <S> yeah, there are opportunities. <S> And a tip for framing: Don't say you are searching for redflag. <S> Say good working relationships are important to you, because they improve productivity and job satisfaction. <S> And you want to see if you fit and can form good relationships. <S> The employer is interested in that too. <S> The workprocess insight comes as byproduct.
| At my current company we have discussed whether we could have some interviewees pair up with someone for half a day of pair programming to better evaluate them, but concluded it was unfair to the interviewees. Look for recommendations from people you know about good places to work. If the manager talks about using Git and code reviews, ask someone on the team about the build and deploy process. Aside from working together you could also change the questions you ask a little bit.
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Am I entitled to ask my boss about rumours of my transfer? I'm working at a rather large company with some relatively intricate politics. I have been here for under a year. My manager as well as others I have worked with have expressed that they are extremely happy with the work I have done so far. In the past two weeks I have heard whispers from several other people in the company that there is a discussion going on between my boss, a manager horizontal to my boss in the business hierarchy, and their parent manager in the hierarchy. The company wants me to the other manager's team, which has had several employees resign or be let go. The work on this other team is absolutely not what I want to do, and if I am placed on this team I will immediately resign and find work elsewhere. The impression I have received from other people in the company is that my boss is fighting to keep me on his team, but the company feels I am a valuable resource and should be moved to the other team as they are lacking resources on that team. I haven't heard a word from my boss about this, but apparently it is a very poorly kept secret around our part of the company that this is an ongoing discussion. I am currently debating whether I should talk to my boss about this. On one hand, I am working with very incomplete information. I also am not sure what I can expect to change by speaking to my boss about this, I guess I'm just hoping for some reassurance that I'm not being moved. I am not sure if it is a good idea to tell him I will resign if I am transferred to the other team. On the other hand, I do feel I have some right to openly discuss things like this with my boss? Ultimately I'm not sure if this falls under "my business" or not given that I haven't heard any word on the subject from my boss, just rumors from others at the company. Thus I am not sure how it will reflect on me to bring it up with my boss. <Q> A simple <S> "Hey I have been hearing some rumors about a transfer to Y's team. <S> Do you know anything about this? <S> " should suffice. <S> Since this is about the future of your work, yes, it is your business and you should not feel otherwise. <S> That being said I would not mention any plans to resign if the transfer happens. <S> I would also try making the conversation private instead of bringing it up in company. <S> He may very well have been told not to discuss it and might feel more confident about giving you a heads up if whatever he tells you does not make a tour around the rumor mill. <A> If you have a good working relationship with your boss, and these rumours are concerning you, yes, you should have a chat with you boss. <S> Do so in person. <S> You boss may be able to use your concerns as a bit of leverage, or not, it's up to them. <A> I was in a similar situation <S> but I was the one who wanted to move. <S> Fortunately the upper management that had to approve "letting me take this job offer" realized that it was better to at least keep me as a resource in the company than have me go external for a new position, so my transfer request was allowed with the caveat of " <S> if system X goes crazy we get to borrow him back to fix it all". <S> If your current direct manager wants to keep you, and is on your side in this whole affair, then perhaps mentioning that you plan to make a quick exit if forced to the other team could help. <S> It also may help to soften that, and be willing to be "loaned" to the other team for a short period, like 3 or 6 months, so you can assist with keeping things going while new team members are found, and assist with getting them up to speed before returning to your old position. <S> Otherwise, polish up the resume...
| Like others mentioned if you have a good working relationship with your manager, you should be able to ask about it if you catch him at a good time.
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Should I put my name first or last in the team members list? I have been working on a project for about 4 months. When it started, it was me alone, but over time, I was "assigned" a few other employees to help with tasks. I was told to delegate stuff to them as much as possible. In the end, they ended up doing a pretty big part of the job. There is still no doubt that I did more, if only because I've worked on it longer and full-time (they also had other projects), but their contribution was extremely valuable. I wouldgo as far as to say the project would not have met the deadlines if they hadn't been there, and final quality would have been much lower. When I present it to the higher ups, I plan on adding a slide at the end crediting those people. It would be in the format of "The Team: [list]" Now the thing is, I am without a doubt a Junior here. All of the other people are older and more experienced than me, some are twice my age. In any other context, they would definitely be considered "more important" than me. But none of them are officially above me in the company hierarchy (None of us are each other's bosses). So I was wondering. Should my name be first on the list, on the basis that it is my project and I did more work, or should it be last, to better show appreciation for their contribution and to make it more obvious that we wouldn't be where we are without them. What is usually expected of someone in this situation? Or is it completely irrelevant? <Q> Alphabetical order <S> If you and the other members are on the same level (not able to make distinctions between "Team Leader", "Junior Dev", etc) <S> Everyone will understand that the list is presented in alphabetical order and shouldn't arrive to any conclusion on who did what. <A> It seems polite to simply put the team members into alphabetical order and forget about importance or seniority. <S> If there are well-defined roles for the project, then group people into those roles and list them alphabetically in them. <A> If you are doing the presentation, and the higher ups don't already know you, then consider putting your name on the title slide. <S> As for the rest of the team, if they are still around, take a team photo with everyone and insert that on the last slide of the presentation. <S> You can then list their names from left to right, however they happen to arrange themselves. <A> Whoever contributed most (preferably using an objective measure) has their name first, and other names are applied in descending order. <S> Alphabetical, typically by surname. <S> Supervisor last. <S> You would still need to determine an order for everyone else's name, but the leader or supervisor of the project or effort that produces the document or report or presentation goes last regardless of the sort order used for the other names. <S> Negotiation. <S> Work with the team to decide. <S> The team may decide on a predefined sort order (such as one described above or something different) or choose an arbitrary order. <S> However, the team reaches a decision by majority vote or consensus. <S> You should see if there are any organizational or industry standards. <S> This may help you make a decision if your field tends to favor a particular order for crediting people who work on a given project. <A> I don't think it really matters - but if you want to keep things clear, specify the order. <S> For example: Team Members (in alphabetical order) Person 1 Person 2 ... <S> Another reasonable ordering that hasn't been mentioned is the date they were assigned to the project. <S> This could be a good one if you want to see your name come first, but in a way that is quite reasonably justified. <S> But regardless of whatever you choose (even random), simply be specific and then people won't need to guess. <A> I agree with most suggestions about alphabetical order being the "standard". <S> If for some obscure reason this didn't work for you (for example, there may be no alphabet in your language), joining date (earlier to latter) could be an acceptable alternative criterion <A> The film industry has a long history about this. <S> With several stars competing for attention the credits list is a minefield. <S> Common options <S> there are: Start with the most important/famous star and go by order of importance. <S> This some times means that a star with 3 minutes goes before a main character with 100 minutes. <S> But if that sells... it sells. <S> Order of appearance. <S> And when they do this they always show the words "in appearance order". <S> So that there is no risk of anyone thinking the 1st one <S> is the most important. <S> Order of appearance might be a bit weird in your project. <S> You can use random order instead. <S> But make sure to start the list with "in random order". <S> It would be a good idea to tell your peers about this before the random order is rolled. <S> And to use a verifiable online randomizer. <A> As you said you are making a presentation slide, you don't have to stick to a text and look for a specific linear order. <S> Put the peoples' photos around the slide, in a seemingly random layout. <S> PS: <S> but I mostly agree it does not matter much. <A> You know best to what extent the people involved were actually a team you were leading, but you could also interpret the situation as a project for which you had primary responsibility with various other people doing part time work on it. <S> In that view, you can dodge the whole "project lead" issue. <S> Put your name on the title slide. <S> Head the last slide "Acknowledgements", begin with text along the lines of "The project could not have been completed on time or to the quality achieved without major contributions from:" (or other accurate but gracious statement about their contributions), and list everyone else.
| Whoever's surname comes first alphabetically comes first in the list and it goes from there. There are many different orders that you can consider for names on any kind of report: Order by contribution. Alphabetical order is good enough.
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Getting new boss with no experience in the field I'm getting a new boss (for several unknown reasons I was not promoted to this position, although I have the skills and experience), who does not have any specific experience in the field which he will be responsible for. My boss's boss told me that I have to support my boss and teach him all the skills and tasks, including all the know-how, which I built and have done over years, so he can be my boss. I have already had several discussions with my boss's boss, but without any resolution or any insight. Now, I do not want to give all my experience and know-how away and teach him from scratch all the things. First, because I think it is not my job to do this and I do not have the resources and secondly a boss in my view has to bring at least a little bit of a glimpse of the subject for which he is responsible for. What do you think is a good strategy to handle it to not beeing rude or denying, also regarding daily business and subject specific questions from his side? <Q> The world isn't fair. <S> Some people get the job (or get promoted over you) for a myriad of reasons, from being more skilled in something that is necessary for the position, to being better than you at kissing ass. <S> Sure, the guy has absolutely no clue on how whatever you do works. <S> But why are you so sure that this is the most important skill for this position? <S> Maybe the guy is great at managing people, or planning sprints, or whatever. <S> Being a boss is so much more than having technical knowledge. <S> Moreover, if your boss (or boss' boss) says you should teach someone about something, that is your job. <S> And I believe you wouldn't be complaining if you were asked to teach an intern or junior colleague. <S> This question (more like a rant) gives me the impression that you are only bitter because you didn't get the promotion. <S> And that's something you won't change. <S> If you can't live with it, better start looking for a new job. <A> I understand that you're disappointed you didn't get the position - and I can sympathize <S> but you're looking at this from the wrong angle. <S> As things stand now it's a done deal <S> , you didn't get the job and refusing to help the incoming manager get their bearings isn't going to change that. <S> You won't suddenly get offered the job if they can't perform - in fact if they don't perform <S> and it's because you wouldn't help them <S> I imagine that you would be putting your own position in jeopardy! <S> So you can either be difficult about training them, and be seen as someone who isn't willing to work with a colleague or you can be the new manager's go-to person and really impress with the skills and know <S> -how you've been building up over the years. <S> Neither of these is going to get you this position <S> - it's gone . <S> But which of these approaches do you think is going to put you in a better long-term position, especially if you intend to stay at this organization for the foreseeable future? <S> Also bear in mind that not all new hires work out - maybe this new manager is useless or moves on (for whatever reason). <S> If that happens you're going to be much, much better placed to put yourself in contention as a co-operative and productive person then as the surly recalcitrant. <S> Remember also <S> (and this is pretty important) <S> none of this is the incoming manager's fault - they didn't screw you over. <S> They applied for a job and were accepted. <S> That's it. <S> Attempting to "punish" them for that is misguided at best and downright childish and petulant at worst. <A> I do not want to give all my experience and know-how away and teach him from scratch all the things. <S> You can't give away experience. <S> Experience is a matter of reflection of the past. <S> You can however use your experience to be valuable in this situation. <S> Show that you're capable of transferring your knowledge to help your new boss avoid common pitfalls. <S> If you're successful then it proves that you're a valuable asset that the company can use in the future, making you a better candidate than others for future promotions. <S> Show that you're someone who can teach and guide. <S> What do you think is a good strategy to handle it to not beeing rude or denying, also regarding daily business and subject specific questions from his side? <S> If you deny then you're just asking to be fired. <S> Withholding information for the benefit of your own over the company is a sign of someone a company does not want to have for the long term, since you don't value the company's best interests. <S> You don't have to take your new boss into a heavy training session. <S> He'll appreciate it. <S> Maybe you can ask for a raise since the training of your new boss is obviously valuable to the company. <S> But even if denied, don't forget that you're helping the person who'll probably have a huge say in your future compensation. <S> A final note: <S> companies like people who make themselves expendables. <S> They'll be less likely to fire you if you're transferring knowledge and documenting, because it means that your future tasks will be more accessible to future employees.
| You'll effectively be useless in this whole situation. All you have to do is answer the questions your boss has, help him when he asks for it and give him pointers in where he can improve.
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Love the role you're playing in your company I am a frontend developer and I love to develop websites. But in my company I am only working on email templates for the biggest client our company has. Yes, I am playing a very important role for that project, but I am bored of working on this project for the last year. But if some other projects need my help then those project's manager is not allowing me to work on other projects, not even the manager. I have worked on other projects secretly. I have discussed this issue in my 1-1's with my manager almost every single time for last year and now I am getting other projects, but not a big project or something that I wanted to do. I feel like I am losing confidence on my technical knowledge and I am stuck. Also I can not grow as a developer. For that reason I don't like this project and not even my job anymore. I also feel like I know every single thing of that project and whenever I think now I'll be facing some issues I'm able to solve them in minutes. That is also a reason I don't like this role as there's no challenge for me! It'd be very helpful if someone can tell me how to deal with this people or get rid of this project or working on that project and loving it as well. Because I feel without loving a role you can not give your 100%. <Q> See if you can switch teams. <S> This will send the message to your boss that you really want to work on something else. <S> If there are no other opportunities within your company, then you should really start looking outside your company. <S> When switching teams, make sure that the new team will give you more freedom to work on varied projects, even if their baseline workload is not as interesting. <S> If you think you can do a good job on another project for another team, work on it secretly until you have a result that you can shop around to demonstrate your initiative and skill. <S> Then show it to folks and say: "Look at this! <S> You are not leveraging my full skill set, and the company could be getting so much more from me." <S> Make sure you find people in management positions that will both be impressed by your work and have the authority to do something about it (i.e., folks above your boss in the org chart). <S> Make sure that it actually adds value for the company, and <S> that those Directors/VPs/etc. can easily see the business value they can leverage by taking ownership of your project and shopping it around to the rest of the company. <S> If you do a really good job, and find the right ambitious/powerful managers within your company, they can form a new team just to take advantage of your under-utilized skills. <S> Of course, if your work is not actually as good/useful as you think it is, then this is a huge risk. <S> Make sure you accurately know your value before trying something this bold. <A> If you've been talking to your manager about this for a year and everything is still the same then <S> nothing's going to change until you change it yourself . <S> You need to look for a role where you'll be working on something you're interested in, in a way that you want to work. <S> That may be another team in your current organisation, or (more likely after talking internally for a year and gaining no traction) it will be a team in a new company. <S> Either way, your manager isn't going to change this for you, you'll have to be proactive about doing it yourself. <S> If the type of project you work on is that important to you, then be selective about the interviews you take and ask questions in them to determine if that sort of project is what you'll work on if you get the job. <S> And (most importantly) don't be afraid to turn down job offers if the interview didn't give you confidence that you'd be working in the sort of environment you want. <A> You want to do something. <S> Your manager is having you do something else. <S> Don't quit your job now. <S> If you just quit now, you will be selling yourself as a passionate professional with nothing to show for it. <S> Start doing what you love in your spare time, and complete a few projects from start to end. <S> That will be your portfolio. <S> Once you have 2-3 projects done, start looking for a new job. <S> Good luck!
| If nobody else is working on something that interests you, invent an idea that you think will impress high-level folks and build it in your spare time.
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What should I do about pay disparity? I just started a software job right out of school and have only been here a couple months. I found out another new hire with my same title and similar academic background (statistics for me, cognitive science for him with a machine learning emphasis) has a $5k higher base salary than I do. I don't want to rock the boat since I'm so new but I want to find a way to bring this up to my supervisor because this feels like an arbitrary pay decision. What should I do? <Q> Rather than the pay on hire being arbitrary, it sounds like your new coworker did a better job negotiating with the company while being hired. <S> There isn't much you can do without rocking the boat, and "S/He gets paid more" is never a valid reason for a pay raise. <S> Unfortunately, starting at a lower base tends to lend itself to smaller raises (same percentage leads to a smaller amount), but a promotion always opens the door to a renegotiation of the base. <A> I agree with @GOATNine's core premise, but I would like to add additional experience and perspective. <S> Aside from leaving or getting a direct promotion, your company may also offer performance-based raises, in which case you can also catch up to or pass your peer's "lead" by doing work that's more highly regarded (because it is directly more valuable, or you are more innovative, etc). <S> This is related to GoatNine's recommendation about professional development, but is more focused on achieving results rather than improving your credentials. <S> I can say my first-hand experience with this has been very positive. <S> In my current employment, I didn't negotiate starting salary well and later discovered that my salary was well below peers. <S> I went out of my way to demonstrate value, however, and within a couple years I was in a higher pay bracket than peers and not long after that I got significant promotions as well. <S> To me, it's mostly a difference in perspective. <S> Do you want to spend your time showing that you're more well-trained / well-educated, or do you want to spend your time showing that you have real value to the company? <S> If you ever choose to leave, I will say that (now that I've been a hiring manager also) <S> most companies will care more about a track record for high-impact project work than they will about additional education or training notes. <A> What should I do? <S> Do nothing. <S> There are many possible reasons for the new hire getting paid more than you such as: <S> Their educational background is a better fit for the position <S> They have some form of prior internship/work experience that you do not <S> They demonstrated a greater knowledge relevant to the position during their interview than you <S> They negotiated a higher salary <S> Regardless of any of this, when approaching your supervisor with salary increase requests the only person that matters is you. <S> Do you have more responsibilities than you did before? <S> Are you performing at a higher level than before? <S> Are you more valuable to the company than before? <S> If you can't answer yes to these questions then you should not expect your supervisor to give you a raise. <S> It may seem unfair that two people with the same title are paid differently, but much more goes into salary decisions than a title and "similar academic background". <A> Negotiation skills are a soft skill a company might deem as part of communication skills and <S> so the higher paid employee is actually a better candidate - hence the pay discrepancy is justified.
| The best you can do short of finding another company to work for and trying to negotiate a higher rate is to develop your professional skills at the company you're at, then use that development to negotiate larger raises/promotions in the future.
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How do I respond appropriately to an overseas company that obtained a visa for me without hiring me? I applied for a position with a small company in Japan (I live in the US). The company obtained (at their expense) the documentation for me to apply for a visa that would allow me to work legally in Japan, but the project my position was for got cancelled in the meantime (they informed me from the beginning of the application process that the position was uncertain). The company has offered me the option of starting employment with them next year, but expressed understanding that I will likely need a job before that, and also offered to mail the documentation to me now, so that I can apply for an employment visa and look for other work in my field in Japan (it will expire before next year). Having a valid visa in hand would put me at a huge advantage in my job search. In short, a prospective employer obtained something invaluable for me, using their time and at their expense, when I have not done anything for them. Is it appropriate to simply accept their offer to mail the documents? (I may want to work for this company in the future). <Q> You quite likely actually <S> don't have a valid visa (and can't get one using the documentation prepared by the company), since being employed by the company sponsoring the visa is probably a condition for it to be valid. <A> Engineering visas in Japan do not tie you to a single employer, at least not in practice; most of my several visa renewals were done under a different employer from the sponsor of the prevous visa and the immigration authorities had no problem with this. <S> However, to get or renew a visa you must have a sponsor (scroll down a bit to "Employer") who will be required to show that they are capable of employing and paying you, are or are going to do so, that they have an office, and the like. <S> In this case, if the employer isn't committing to employing you immediately, I would guess that immigration would not issue a visa, so your problem is likely moot. <S> Additionally, the documentation to apply for a visa doesn't cost anything, as far as I'm aware; you just go down to the immigration office and get it (at least if you're in Japan). <S> I've always used an immigration lawyer for my visas, but I have plenty of friends who have done the entire renewal process themselves. <A> Yes. <S> It's okay. <S> Take it. <S> The position was uncertain. <S> So the company took a risk and applied on your behalf anyway. <S> It didn't work out for them, not this time anyway. <S> But the visa exists now, and I guess they thought you'd like to have it regardless. <S> So thank them and take the visa documents. <A> I'm not an expert in Japanese culture or business dealings. <S> But in many cultures, it's common practice to offer something with the expectation that it will be rejected or politely declined. <S> It can be as simple as a gesture of goodwill or even something of value. <S> Strongly suggest you seek advice from someone you trust who is knowledgeable of Japanese customs and behaviors before accepting or rejecting. <S> The 'how' you respond can also have significances. <A> Aside from goodwill value... it preserves the sunk cost in creating the data, without the costs of securing the data . <S> They have two risks. <S> First in misplacing the data; you're less likely to do so since you have personal stake. <S> That could spare them the costs of re-creating it. <S> Second in a data breach. <S> Remember it's all Personally Identifiable Information, so they have to comply with the law in its handling. <S> They don't have to for data they didn't keep . <S> So it makes perfect sense to offer you the file, then delete it.
| It's OK to accept the documents but read the conditions of the visa very carefully before you move your life to Japan.
|
How to tell my current boss that I don't agree with company's current practice of employee leasing Background A few months ago I started a Job as a senior java developer at an IT consultancy. In the interview rounds they introduced themselves as a company that works solely in-house for their clients and don't ever send their employees and make them work on client location or ever bodylease. Current situation However the actual story is quiet different: It started off with current situation and lack of projects in the company in the start. I was forced to go into a project and work as a manual tester for a few weeks, which then slowly started to in direction of test automation (as a developer I still don't like this) I don't work at my company's location instead I must now travel a fair bit longer to get to the client location and sit and work there 5 days a week. One more untoward instance of company's bad behavior popped up when they recently fired a colleague of mine who didn't show intention to work as bodyleased extern at client location. What I want to ask / convey my boss How can I tell my boss to stop this practice of body leasing without any adverse risks on my career? I fear great backlash and have the fear that the same that happened to my colleague could happen to me. Bodyleasing in my personal opinion is unethical anyway. <Q> I've worked in this kind of industry for many years in the past, where I've worked for a company that coded for clients. <S> I spent about a third of that time working on client sites. <S> Doing this makes sense - the clients get to know you and your attitude to your work, they see that your company is fully committed to them, and you (as a developer) have the ability to really get to know your clients and what they want out of the system you're building. <S> You can certainly talk to your manager regarding the change of expectations in terms of your working location, but try not to do this in an accusing/demanding manner, just point out the disparity between what was said in the interview and what's actually happening now. <S> Remember that situations are <S> fluid - sometimes working environments do change to follow the needs of the client and business strategy. <S> The calm and reasoned discussion with your boss should give you some feedback on how things are going to progress going forward. <S> Whether you decide to stay or leave is your decision to make. <A> If your colleague told your boss to do something , or simply refused to do the task they were allocated , it's no surprise they suffered a negative response. <S> Especially if it is a change to something you asked about during the interview. <S> Of course, your boss may simply decline. <S> You have to be ready to accept that the business needs have changed, and if they have changed so much so that you now have an ethical problem, you may have to look elsewhere for employment. <S> Rather than tell your boss to stop body leasing, you have to find a way to solve the problem that your boss is trying to solve, and present a viable alternative. <S> You should also check your contract to see if there are any stipulations in there that guarantee a certain workplace or role. <S> Even if you think you have some sort of legal or ethical standing, you should ensure you resolve that with your boss, and don't simply not attend the client site as instructed. <A> First of all, you should check you contract, if it includes bodylease or not. <S> If not, he cannot lease you to another company. <S> Please understand, that there is a difference between bodylease (AüG) and your company working for another company at their site (Werkvertrag). <S> You should look up the differences and check with your situation, what applies to you. <S> Keep in mind, that if your company has more than 10 full time employees, you cannot be fired without cause. <S> (Sentences above are just my opinion, I am not a lawyer). <S> In my opinion, you should explore your possibilities, can you get another job? <S> Are you willing to lose your job without having a new one? <S> If you are dependent on keeping the job, I suggest to suck it up and make a good impression on the company you are working for. <S> Maybe they will offer you a job. <S> I do not think, you boss will change his mind about working at the clients site, unless you have the law on your side. <S> Anyway, I would recommand to update your CV and start looking for another job, because if you are not happy with your job, you will most likely not do the best job you can.
| If your employment conditions have changed since you have been hired, it's fair to go to your boss and ask to renegotiate your contract.
|
Is it unprofessional to hide my current salary from hiring managers? I was interviewed at a place (an IT company) and when I was asked my current salary, I replied that I can't disclose it. The hiring manager said "oh, really? that is strange!" That made me wonder, what was wrong about it if I want to hide it. <Q> No, it's not unprofessional to hide it and in fact you want to be careful how you answer this <S> so you don't end up with a lowball offer. <S> I work in IT too and this seems to be a common question in interviews. <S> They've asked you the question to see whether you fit into their hiring budget. <S> It's come up in just about every job interview I've ever had, and you'll typically be asked what you are earning now or <S> what salary range are you looking for. <S> I always reply with an expected salary range like Gregory suggested in his answer. <S> There are websites you can use to see salary ranges which apply to your role, area and level of experience to help you pitch this realistically. <A> It's somewhat unprofessional to ask someone for their current salary. <S> They may have thought you meant you were legally not able to disclose it, hence the surprise. <S> If they press you, I think the best way to respond is to say: "I am looking for a renumeration in the range between X - Y, which is comparable to what I currently earn." <S> In my experience, on either side of the table, the current renumeration of the candidate hasn't come up. <S> I am based in Australia. <A> It has become quite common for employers to ask prospect employees this question in an interview. <S> They sometimes claim this is to see whether they can fit you within their budget, but in my opinion that is an excuse: The really relevant information for them would be what salary you expect from them, <S> not what your salary was with the last employer. <S> This is why I never disclose my current/former salary in an interview; I always deflect that question by stating my expected salary instead. <S> So far, I only had one situation where a prospect employer insisted on getting information about my current salary (which was a red flag for me) <S> so I revoked my application for the job. <S> Last <S> but not least, I have often seen deployment contract paragraphs specifically forbidding the employee to reveal their salary with any third party (except government agencies); so I'd say it's definitely not unprofessional of you to refuse to reveal that information.
| No, it's not unprofessional to hide your current salary. Your current/former salary is only relevant for someone who wants to lowball you; in order to gauge whether you fit into their budget, they only need to know what salary you expect from them.
|
Employees treated differently when asking for unpaid vacation A colleague asked her manager for unpaid vacation for 6 months due to personal reasons (moving to another city/country). The manager and HR by extensions refused this although they allowed many colleagues to take a sabbatical or extended unpaid leave. I feel that this is not fair as it produces some discrimination between people. What should be an appropriate way for her to proceed? In the Labour Agreement there is a non-discrimination clause. <Q> Sabbaticals are usually granted based on seniority and length of tenure. <S> Companies have an interest in having lower level positions with relatively shorter term employees constantly filled instead of having a dubious 6 month absence whereas for more senior positions, granting such absences is worth retaining the employee since their domain knowledge is crucial to the functioning of the company. <S> So if a line software developer whose job market has a norm of 2-3 year turnovers wants a sabbatical, that is unlikely to be granted. <S> Whereas if a senior director with 20 years of tenure wants half a year off to tour the world, no problem, they are not going anywhere and the company would be fine with them <S> retained long term in exchange for a short term absence. <A> Your friend should: Document <S> the cases she knows of people who have had extended unpaid leave and what she knows of the circumstances around it. <S> Having details written down helps make sure she is able to adequately make her case. <S> Consult a lawyer with knowledge of the local laws and whether or not the company is legally required to handle her request similarly to how others have been handled. <S> A lawyer can advise her as to whether or not she has a case and how best to proceed. <S> Look into government agencies that regulate businesses, if any. <S> Some governments offer agencies that help people handle discrimination and unfair labor practices. <S> It may still be best to have legal representation to navigate this situation, but sometimes government agencies exist to help. <S> If there is any reason to believe it could be productive, request an appeal if such a thing exists at this company. <S> Sometimes appealing gets things evaluated by other people and can help you get what you want. <A> What should be an appropriate way for her to proceed? <S> Accept that HR has denied her request and move on. <S> If she values her job, she will leave it be or start looking for a new company to work for that has a more transparent and unambiguous approach to granting unpaid leave. <S> The fact that other employees have had their requests granted means little considering that there are numerous factors to be taken into consideration when granting or denying such a request such as: position length of request <S> years worked experience coverage <A> One thing to consider, is the workload planned for the period your co-worker has requested to be granted time off. <S> If the work load is of such a nature that they would be unable to cope without her and the company doesn't approve of remote work, it would imply that they would need to hire a temporary replacement to cover for her for this period. <S> This will cost the company time and money and will also most likely be somewhat disruptive. <S> Pushing the matter is unlikely to end well for your co-worker. <S> Alternatively, your co-worker could resign and do whatever was planned anyway. <S> She would of course have to find a new job when all is said and done. <S> Whether finding a new job is something that is easy or hard in her specific field of expertise should give you an idea of how viable this option is.
| Since the company has already declined the request, it would be best to just leave it at that. Attempting to fight the company's decision or complain about it whether through legal or non-legal means is not likely to end well for your coworker.
|
How can I list my achievements in my resume if I don't have any I used a free resume review service and was kind of disappointed from their review. The person who reviewed it kept mentioning that the way I worded my resume make me look like a "Doer" but not an "Achiever". Of course he is talking about my job experience and the Projects section. The problem is I didn't lie in my resume and that's the closest description to the truth. In my current company and my position there is no way to achieve something, there is no room for progress (it's like working for McDonalds). It's true I am a hard worker and I work 200% more then my co-workers and I do the job in half the time they take. But I am not sure if it's a good idea to say it that way on my resume. I work as an Instrumentation Engineer (I do what I am told to do), so I can't say like other job experience description that 'since I came to the company we made twice the money we usually make or saved them 30% in expenses' ..etc So what's the best approach to improve my resume in this area? <Q> First and most important advice in writing CVs and resumes: WRITE FOR THE POSITION YOU'RE <S> APPLYING and frame it in a way that's attractive for that position. <S> Essentially, you need to "sell" yourself to the recruiter and the hiring manager. <S> Do your research and understand what they're looking for. <S> As a hiring manager (I'm not a recruiter, mind, I'm their client), what I look for in a resume is a very simple framework of 3 topics: <S> Context: <S> what was the job about, when and where. <S> Sometimes the job titles are not really straight forward and you cannot understand off-the-bat what it means <S> and where you place them in your own organization Action: <S> your key responsibilities within that job, and <S> if you worked on something extra or other side projects, what was your role in them <S> Results: <S> what kind of results and improvements can be directly attributed to your contribution. <S> There NEEDS to be a clear causal relationship between your actions and the results. <S> You can <S> and you should always look for ways of making your work more efficient and easy, if not for yourself, for your internal and external customers, and the results of that can be put into your resume or CV. <A> Being on the high end of "doing" is an "achievement". <S> What you have to do is look at the results, which is typically some form of work product, how it is delivered (you say faster and better than your peers), and how that impacted your employer (things delivered faster, better, cheaper, more revenue, greater profit). <S> Those are your "achievements". <S> I gave a "hire this person" recommendation to a manager recently because the person I interviewed fit that description - faster, better, cheaper - perfectly. <S> He was hired, and it wasn't a mistake to hire him. <A> I find a couple items of interest based on your question: <S> You base everything on the opinion of one. <S> Who is this person? <S> What does he do? <S> Is he just browsing resumes on this free site? <S> What sort of qualifications he/ <S> she has? <S> He offers no improvements to your resume except to say you're a "doer. <S> "Whatever <S> that means in the context of what you're trying to do I have no idea. <S> That's sort of like pointing at a random car and saying it's a "goer" not a "racer." <S> Unless your resume is filled with fictional information or something, you should get back some hits in time.
| My thoughts: apply to the jobs you want and see what you get back.
|
How to gracefully excuse yourself from a meeting due to emergencies such as a restroom break? Let's say you're in a meeting with your colleagues, manager/boss and some 3rd party people (or people from another team/department) - important here because it's not only your personal image/reputation at stake here. And just to spice this up even further, let's say it's a video call, making "silently sneaking out" slightly more difficult, as this meeting is already in progress. And suddenly: You feel a strong urge to use the restroom NOW Your mom/dad calls you, and you know they don't call you at work for nothing Teacher of your kid calls you Or whatever situation that makes you think you have a good reason to leave the meeting immediately Now you have decided that you must leave this meeting to deal with this emergency. Heck, you might even be the person currently speaking, but you want to get out, NOW . But how to do so gracefully, to minimise the disruption and not let other people think you are disrespectful? <Q> Then say: I'm very sorry to interrupt. <S> This is X. <S> If you don't mind, I need to step away for 2 minutes. <S> The polite thing for them to do is to either wait until you get back, or proceed, and recap any important points. <S> If you are generally a professional in your conduct, they will understand you would not have done this unless you had a good reason. <S> If it's a larger meeting, or maybe where you absence is not that important, you could fire off a private message to a colleague in the meeting just saying that you've ducked out for a few moments. <S> If someone calls on you during the meeting, your colleague can indicate that you'll be back in a moment. <A> Things happen. <S> Things come up. <S> Excuse yourself politely and go take care of whatever it is that you need to take care of. <S> "Excuse me, I need to step away for a few moments. <S> Pardon my interruption." <S> Nobody will look at you strange, nobody will think you're being disrespectful, nobody will give this even a moment of thought. <A> I have found that the least amount of disruption generally equates to the least amount of attention drawn to your exit. <S> So just get up and leave. <S> Most people will figure out the obvious; that you had to attend to something that was more urgent than the meeting. <S> If I was speaking, or listening to what was being said, I would find it annoying that someone has interrupted my concentration to draw attention to the fact that they are leaving. <S> Unless it is a meeting that you are expected to speak at, why should I care whether you are present or not? <S> If you are expected to present, you might wait to catch the eye of whoever is moderating and quietly indicate that you would be gone for a time. <S> If it is a small, interactive meeting and you are actively engaged in conversation, simply stand and say "excuse me" and exit. <S> They will understand that you were unavoidably called away. <A> Depends on Work Culture <S> Some environments are extremely formal and some are informal. <S> I've been in meetings where people have their devices away and listening intently. <S> I've been in other meetings where people have devices out and are partially listening. <S> I've seen people excuse themselves, I've seen people just quietly get up and and then come back without interruption. <S> You'll have to feel it out and maybe observe it a bit. <S> Because in general, that's the determinant in how meetings are organized. <S> All about work culture. <A> On a video call there is often an embedded text chat channel; depending on your corporate culture it may be least disruptive to drop something into the chat like <S> I'm terribly sorry <S> but I need to drop off the call for a moment to handle something urgent. <S> and then follow up with a simple <S> I'm back, sorry about that. <S> (Based on US tech workplace culture.)
| If it's a small meeting, where your absence is important, if you can, wait until a person stops speaking.
|
Not taking Bereavement Leave I recently had a death in my family, my grandfather whom I was close to passed away suddenly. As I currently live on the other side of the country and it is a long weekend, I was planning on not taking any bereavement leave (assuming I can take the weekend to deal with it, and I'll likely not be attending the memorial service). Should I still inform my employer of the loss, as it has a possibility of affecting my work or attitude? Or should I not bother providing any information since it is not work related (e.g. its just a personal problem and is not a concern for my employer since I will not be taking leave)? <Q> Inform them if you want to. <S> Or don't inform them if you would rather keep it private. <S> Do whichever feels more comfortable. <S> Personally I would make the decision in the same way that I would decide whether or not to tell any other friend, acquaintance, or stranger. <S> I typically make this decision based on trust and personal vulnerability to the subject in question. <A> First of all, my condolences for you loss. <S> As for informing your employer, that is up to you and how comfortable you are sharing personal information with them. <S> I would not inform them to give them a "heads up" that your work an attitude may be affected. <S> Instead, should your attitude and work start to deteriorate <S> and they ask you what is wrong, I would mention it at that point. <A> Should I still inform my employer of the loss, as it has a possibility of affecting my work or attitude? <S> Or should I not bother providing any information since it is not work related (e.g. its just a personal problem and is not a concern for my employer since I will not be taking leave)? <S> If you think there's a possibility that it might affect your work or attitude then telling them is probably the right thing to do so that they understand why you're exhibiting this changed behavior. <S> If you think that it won't affect your work or attitude then don't tell them. <S> As for the attention, they're not going to fawn over you. <S> They're going to express their condolences/sympathies, tell you to reach out to them if you need something, and leave you alone.
| You have no obligation to notify your employer unless it impacts them directly. Personally, I think the wisest thing would be to tell them.
|
Is it reasonable to be paid hourly for a normally salaried position? A company I'm prospecting has many employees who work more than 40 hours per week (from what I've surveyed, the average is 45-55), and very regularly. However, the position that I would be filling is an engineering position in which every other employee is salaried. I value my time highly, and would prefer not to have work encroach on my other activities. That said, is it reasonable to ask to be paid hourly, with the equivalent of the salary @ 40 hrs per week minus company holidays? Is there any way I can strongly justify it on my end? Note: I do not have my PE (Principles of Engineering) exam certification, so I cannot legally do contract or consulting work. <Q> Is there any way I can strongly justify it on my end? <S> You can try by saying "I value my time highly, and would prefer not to have work encroach on my other activities." <S> But realistically, if every other employee is salaried, there is no way they will bring in a new engineer as an hourly employee. <S> If this is an important issue for you, you should move on from this company and start prospecting others. <S> If being an hourly worker is important enough to you, you should consider working as a contractor in some field that permits it, or finding the kind of job where workers are traditionally paid on an hourly basis, rather than being salaried. <S> For example, I believe you wrote that you wanted to be a mason, and I believe that masons are paid hourly. <S> Some companies can provide that kind of culture. <S> Read the job description - companies that "promote work/life balance" tend to require fewer hours. <S> Ask about that during interviews. <A> I value my time highly, and would prefer not to have work encroach on my other activities. <S> Even before discussing this with the management, the question you should be asking yourself is whether you are willing to work at an organisation where such overtime work may be the norm? <S> Your statement sounds a bit contradictory. <S> On one hand, you prefer not to have work encroach on your other activities, but are willing to put in extra hours if you are paid. <S> It may not sound reasonable when you put it this way. <S> An appropriate way to approach this situation would be to ask your employer if your job involves overtime work? <S> and if yes, is overtime compensated in term of equivalent hourly pay? <S> Some employers consent to it while some may not (varying from the nature of the business and practises prevalent in local market). <S> If overtime is paid in your market, it generally is calculated in the same manner as you deduced. <S> On the other hand, if overtime pay is not practised in the workplace (and you are not bringing extra ordinary skills to the table which gives you an edge to negotiate for time or money), your request may not get consented to. <A> I work in automotive manufacturing, our engineers work way more than 40 hrs a week, not paid over 40. <S> However they have salaries that start at 90k a year without a degree. <S> ( they are company sponsored “engineers”. <S> From my experience you can find a 40 hr salaried job but it will be a lower salary 60k or less. <S> Now if you have a bachelors or higher then sure you can find a decent 40hr job <A> Ensure that "extra work" is compensated with additional equivalent time off. <S> In some cases a rate of 1.5 hrs per hr ends up providing you with more time off. <S> Win win.
| If instead you are actually just seeking to avoid working more than 40 hours per week, you can still find a salaried job where employees don't tend to work extra.
|
Should I tell my project manager that I am not capable to do a task that even a senior can't do? I am on my way to the final month of the probation period which is the third month before knowing that I should look for a new job. I start as a junior developer and work with a framework that I never touched before. (It is too futuristic for me.) The only senior that we have are work in a different department said he cannot do it. The first month everything went good. I thought it was going to be fine.Then the second month came. Everything is rolling from the top of the hill. I stuck at one task for 3 weeks. I feel dumbfound. I told my project manager, I will take a long time to finish this nearly impossible task. Because in the document it's said that the framework currently does not support this yet.Many forums also confirm my theory that it cannot be done yet. The device is not that good; the framework is not stable yet. I am stressful every day. I had a migraine every day. I don't love to go to work anymore.I explain (not directly) to them it is impossible to do; they still want me to do it anyway.I cannot do that. I can do anything else but this. It is not possible ...at the moment!When I was an intern I create an app that was more complex than this, because it was possible to do so. This task is not possible in the present time. I told them maybe because I cannot say I can't do it loudly. I want to tell them that, but I don't want it to cost my first job. (I'm still looking for a new job anyway.) <Q> You should put your analysis of the problem in writing and give it to the project manager. <S> Explain what would be needed to make it feasible, and exactly why it is not feasible as currently proposed. <S> Make your analysis very clear and direct. <S> If you can see alternatives that would help with the business objective and that are feasible, describe them. <S> Ask for guidance on how to proceed. <S> There is a possibility that you have misunderstood something about the requirements or proposed implementation, but documenting your current thinking will help resolve that. <A> As Project Manager I would like to receive your feedback. <S> But be clear in your message and give some fundamentals to it. <S> Stand in your point of view but be open to suggestions. <A> Sadly, getting asked to do the 'impossible' is part of the job. <S> the only thing I can advise you to do is to talk to your manager, say you've been trying to get it to work <S> but it really isn't possible. <S> Not "nearly impossible", not "it will take a long time", but "The framework doesn't support it". <S> Add in that you checked with your colleague. <S> It adds validity to your statement. <S> The next thing to do is ensure that this won't happen again. <S> I would advise you to start new projects with going through the assignment and looking for pitfalls or difficult to impossible tasks. <S> Check for solutions and how long they would take.(this would take about 5%-10% of the time you get for the project. <S> some companies ) <S> Try to make sure you take a bit of time at the start of a project. <S> Look for pitfalls and things that could be difficult or impossible. <S> and if you see them. <S> Notify your manager immediately, preferably with the time it would take to fix said issues, or an alternative solution
| Then, go to your manager For the future tough.
|
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