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How to deal with being contacted by a company after I didn't pass their interview process before? Yesterday I posted a question wether 2 months was a normal time for an interview process. I got my answer today, and they told me they "wouldn't move forward with my application for this, but they will notify me of future opportunities". I didn't ask for the reasons why I was declined because, frankly, I didn't care. Assuming the "future opportunities" is not just politeness and they do contact me in the future, what would be the correct way to answer? For this position we didn't even get to the stage of discussing salary. Would it be impolite if I answered asking for their offering before moving forward with any more "interviews"? In case they don't have a tangible monetary offering, I'm not interested in wasting any more time with them in interviews. I get the feeling that their answer would be that the offering would depend on "the result of the interview", which, like I said, I won't be interested in taking if there isn't a real offer. <Q> Would it be impolite if I answered asking for their offering before moving forward with any more "interviews"? <S> There is nothing wrong with asking for the position's salary although there is no need to explicitly state that you need to know it before moving forward. <S> You can say something like: <S> Hello X, thank you for reaching out to me. <S> Could you please provide the job description and salary information for this position? <S> Give the company an opportunity to answer your question. <S> At the very least they should provide a lower and upper range. <S> If they refuse, then thank them for their time and move on to your next opportunity. <S> The lack of transparency on salary is a big red flag. <A> This experience you've had? <S> This is normal. <S> That <S> , and the fact that they actually contacted you back afterwards is actually more polite than normal. <S> Generally, companies that decide not to take you default to just never contacting you again. <S> The amount of time it took to go through the interview process was long, but that's most likely more about them being busy <S> and/or disorganized than anything deliberate or malicious. <S> Pay is always one of the last things decided. <S> No one is going to tell you how much they're going to pay you before they even know if they want you in the first place. <S> The "real offer" you're talking about here is something that happens at the end of the interview process, rather than the beginning. <S> Now, they've indicated to you that their interview process is super-long, and may or may not come to anything. <S> If you find that seriously annoying, you might not want to bother interviewing with them again... <S> but the only way in which they're any way exceptional is the time it took to get through it. <S> This is why you should keep looking for other places even once interviews at one place have started. <A> For this position we didn't even get to the stage of discussing salary. <S> Would it be impolite if I answered asking for their offering before moving forward with any more "interviews"? <S> Since they didn't discuss salary up front during your first go-round, it's unlikely they would do so the second time. <S> Asking for that will likely elicit a reply along the lines of "Let's no get ahead of ourselves here. <S> We can talk about salary if we get to the point where we both think this is a good fit." <S> If you do happen to get called back for an interview for a future opportunity, take it as a positive sign, since they already know more about you than they did before your first set of interviews. <A> In case they don't have a tangible monetary offering, I'm not interested in wasting any more time with them in interviews. <S> You don't want to waste time, but they don't want to, either. <S> There are some companies who are forced by bureaucracy to interview multiple candidates even though they already know who they want to hire. <S> This is rare, however. <S> No one wants to go through interviews for no good reason. <S> And they definitely won't call you back a second time for that. <S> If they call you back it will be for a real position. <S> Most positions have a normal range of salaries, and I was always told to put "open" under salary requirements. <S> It isn't impolite to ask for salary ranges, but it is potentially one more thing that they might use to eliminate you. <S> Some positions really want people who are motivated by money (sales jobs are this way), but some companies like to pretend that everyone works there for the fun times they have. <S> My advice is don't take the initial rejection personally. <S> I have hired people who were turned down previously, because jobs and requirements change.
| What they mean when hey say they "wouldn't move forward with my application for this, but they will notify me of future opportunities" is that they don't want you for the current position, but they don't find you fundamentally objectionable, and will keep your resume on file.
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How/should I ask my boss if I can work remotely due to covid19 I am a software developer at a small company located in NY (about an hour outside of NYC). I do not need to be in the office for my job, most of my communications with people is over Teams (messaging app) and the actual job duties are easily done from home. My boss lets us work from home on occasion, if we are sick or for other reasons, but is not a fan of it. Friends of mine that work at other companies are required to work from home now due to the covid outbreak. I would like to work from home because I am concerned about people spreading the virus. My boss sent out an office-wide email about covid a few days ago saying if you are sick don't come in to work... (But by the time you feel sick from covid weeks may have passed where you are transmitting it to everyone in the office.) Would it be reasonable to ask my boss if I can work from home until things calm down? Last time I asked my boss if I could work from home for a week to visit family they said I was 'asking a lot of them'. I don't want to get on their bad side but I feel like this is putting me and others at risk unnecessarily. <Q> Its a reasonable ask, especially given the current situation. <S> My current workplace is scrambling to setup remote access which was previous denied for "Security reasons". <S> Some Argument points you can bring up <S> If you do get sick you won't be able to work. <S> You need time to recover The more travelling and people <S> you are around, <S> the higher the chance of you being infected Symptoms don't appear instantly so you could infect colleagues while not knowing your sick <S> No one is immune to the disease. <S> If Tom Hanks can catch it, so can you <S> This is a special situation and is not expected to continue after the crisis is over <A> I think it is reasonable to do so. <S> You can refer to this list of many tech companies relaxing their policies. <S> https://stayinghome.club <S> There's an extremely sobering article making the rounds today on Medium: https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca <S> The author writes: The coronavirus is coming to you. <S> It’s coming at an exponential speed: gradually, and then suddenly. <S> It’s a matter of days. <S> Maybe a week or two. <S> When it does, your healthcare system will be overwhelmed. <S> Your fellow citizens will be treated in the hallways. <S> Exhausted healthcare workers will break down. <S> Some will die. <S> They will have to decide which patient gets the oxygen and which one dies. <S> The only way to prevent this is social distancing today. <S> Not tomorrow. <S> Today. <S> That means keeping as many people home as possible, starting now. <A> It is a business risk to have all employees on site at the same time. <S> This is not about you, it is about protecting the business. <S> People are infectious 48 hours before symptoms and this can rip through an office and make all the critical employees so sick they are unable to work even from home, all at the same time. <S> There are legitimate productivity challenges to working from home. <S> Be ready with plans to mitigate them, and consider accepting a compromise like being divided into 2 or 3 teams that rotate between on-site and off-site. <S> This reduces density at the office, which in itself lowers transmission, and also (if done properly with no physical contact and strong cleaning routines) completely separates the teams so they won't all become unable to work at the same time. <S> Good luck, these are scary new normals and the transition is rough. <A> I'd prefer to ask forgiveness rather than permission, especially in this case. <S> Starting Monday, work from home. <S> Send the boss an email with either of these strategies:- a quick one-liner that you're working from home for safety- <S> that one-liner, and statistics for your area about why you should work from home to keep people from getting sick and dying. <S> Tell him you have to bring groceries to Grandma every week if you want. <S> As long as your production does not suffer, he likely won't fight the issue. <S> This can be a chance to prove that you are more valuable as a remote resource.
| As a side note, many people are more productive when working from home.
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Should I ask my company to pay my internet bill if circumstances and the company strongly recommend remote work? COVID-19, remote work is "strongly recommended" by the company I work for. I live in a place where the internet bills/plans are ridiculous. (I am not paid a competitive market salary rate if relevant.) I have chosen a capped internet plan and have been happy with it. I am concerned as my usage has increased and I could be charged if I go over. I can briefly tether to a workphone's data plan but that has a tiny quantity of data (2 gb) Is it reasonable that I ask my manager/the company to pay for overages (or a temporary upgrade to unlimited, if my ISP would allow that but probably not) while I work remotely? Edit: I work as a software developer, my company does not pay for my regular travel expenses to and from work under normal circumstances. I have not measured how much data transmission my normal day to day at work takes. 2nd edit: Unexpectedly my ISP has temporarily uncapped and the company has said they will expense overages. <Q> If this is at the company's recommendation and you would be incurring additional costs that you wouldn't face normally <S> I think it's reasonable to ask for reimbursement, either that or ask whether it would be feasible to get the data plan increased for the company mobile. <S> The latter option might well be easier for the company to deal with as they won't have to deal with expenses claims etc. <S> Although depending on costs for mobile data where you are it might be more expensive than just giving you an amount to cover the excess charges. <A> Keep business and personal separate. <S> If you are already provided a company resource for internet connectivity then use it. <S> If you reach your limit on this resource, then let your company know and let them fix the issue. <A> It's always reasonable to make a reasonable request. <S> You should be prepared to have your request denied, though. <A> Yes, absolutely, you should make it clear that you'd be happy to work from home but do not currently have the setup to make it possible. <S> If you were a high-level salaried manager, they might reasonably say, we pay you big bucks to just cover things like this, but if you're a lower-paid operational employee, you should treat this as if they'd asked you to use your own car for a work-related errand, or take a business trip, and expect them to cover the direct costs. <S> They might respond, ok, you keep coming into the office. <S> That would be their call. <A> However, I think discussing the problem is more productive than just requesting compensation. <S> I would recommend explaining the situation and asking them if they have suggestions on how to proceed. <S> Then, if they respond to that without a clear idea on how to solve the problem, that's when I would suggest compensation. <S> Even if that's what you end up with, I think that they will be more likely to agree with it if it was just a suggested solution to the problem (and if they come up with it themselves that would be even better). <S> And who knows, they might actually come up with another solution. <S> For example, depending on your mode of transport and the number of people not working remotely, it might actually be okay to work in a mostly empty office, which they could give you explicit permission to do.
| If they need you to continue to work remotely, it is their responsibility to make sure that you can. It may be reasonable to ask your company's bosses or your local politicians to put pressure on the internet service provider to lower their rates to help their customers deal with this pandemic. I believe you should be able to ask, as long as you're willing to accept no for an answer, which is basically in line with what the other answers are saying.
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Boss at workplace has threatened me and other colleagues to finish project before going to work from home Someone from my workplace in Houston has actually tested positive for COVID-19. The branch manager has declared everyone to work from home for at least one month. Unfortunately, my boss (let's just call him Joe for now) has forced us to work together physically for at least a week in order to finish the programming aspect of a game the company is making. He already rejected my request to work at someone's house. The higher-ups have made it clear that if the game is finished (we did 85% already over the past year) within one week, Joe himself will get at least a $50,000 raise in his salary because that would show his "ability to concoct efficiency and cohesiveness within a group". Now I wouldn't mind working harder to help Joe, but after the coronavirus case in the building, I cannot fathom working anything but work from home. However, Joe has threatened to tell the branch manager that me and my three other colleagues that he caught us doing "very naughty things while he was away". He claims it is way more productive and speedy to work when we are physically together. I know the branch manager wouldn't fire my group because of our achievements in the programming field, but he would still do something very serious to us. We made our first game last year, and it was an out-of-the-blue hit in the United States. The branch manager will not tolerate any misbehavior when making the sequel of it. There is a high chance he will heavily dock my pay due to Joe's lies. I really do not want to work in any public places (to preserve my health), even if it wasn't in our company building. Honestly, this situation seems so surreal, and I thought its kind is only in movies or TV shows. My three colleagues and I are stressed out about this since we are all 26 and under and don't have too much experience in a workplace. Joe said we must prepare to come in two days. I have considered telling a higher up, but I don't want to risk my group's salary in any way. I would greatly appreciate any kind of advice received. <Q> I don't think you need to choose your health or your job, at least not in this instance. <S> Try to get any instructions to work in the office, in writing. <S> Joe is not really doing much to suggest to me you should be risking your own health to earn him an extra $50k. <S> The fact that he is willing to risk your health, and the health of everyone you know for money probably tells you all you need to know. <S> Your best bet is to email the branch manager and ask for clarification. <S> Do not mention the $50k, or anything like that. <S> Just say you are getting conflicting directions and would like to understand which you should follow. <S> Also, it may be worth indicating your concerns around working in the office. <S> If the branch manager tells you to work from home <S> That's what you and your colleagues do. <S> If your boss makes up stuff, then you defend yourself. <S> If the branch manager tells you to work at work <S> Then you need to make a decision about your health vs. job. <A> Go straight to Joe's boss and tell him what Joe said to you. <S> Talk to your team first, since anything you do will be more effective if you act together. <S> Try to agree on what your response should be. <S> My advice is to go to Joe's boss, and go together as a group. <S> Threatening someone with lies is the sort of thing that gets people fired, and good riddance. <S> Getting him to make the threats in writing is an idea, but assuming he's not stupid he won't. <S> If he made these threats to more than one of you (separately or together) then it won't be needed - four of you giving the same story is going to be more then enough to get him punished and his decisions overridden. <S> After that he will have nothing over you, and you can go work from home and deliver an awesome game. <A> Simple: The moment Joe threatens to tell nasty lies about me, I’m out. <S> After informing the branch manager and whoever is above him of everything that happened. <S> Joe can say goodbye to his $50,000. <S> Will you be fired? <S> The company still wants that game finished. <S> There are only two people who can finish it, and Joe isn’t one of them. <S> Joe is a liability. <A> First, we can not tell you definitely what to do. <S> Consider that you are not just risking your health, but the health of your friends and family, your co-workers, and their friends and families. <S> I don't have a good ethical argument at this time for going to work, especially a facility that has been directly exposed. <S> Consider looking for a new job immediately. <S> If the higher-ups back up Joe, then this definitely is not a place you want to work. <S> Agreed <S> this is not the optimal time to job hunt, but the earlier you start, the sooner you will see results. <S> Perhaps you should consult with your colleagues. <S> If everyone is willing to risk salary to avoid sickness, then it will be an easier decision to make. <S> My assumption is that the higher-ups would want to distance themselves from this nonsense, but it's a crazy world out there. <A> What a terrible situation you are in. <S> I feel sorry for you. <S> In terms of what to do directly right now, it would be to report Joe as what he's doing on the face <S> I would think the management, at the company you are in right now, will not approve. <S> If I was his manager I'd be super duper angry at him, because he's essentially trying to steal $50k from the company by putting my employees' lives at risk. <S> That's pretty much all you can do. <S> Report him and make sure your fellow game developers also report him in the same manner. <S> Good luck!
| This strikes me as a no-win situation -- you can either protect your health or your job, but not both. Try to get any threats in writing.
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How to address dropping out of grad school I'm a mechanical engineer with several years of practical experience. About a year ago I came back to university to pursue a Ph.D. and am coming up on my first years' report. The prof I've been working for has grand (and realistic) ambitions for his lab and has all of us working on a giant group project in addition to our course work and research. However, the section that I am on is identical to my prior work experience and therefore old-hat for me. I'm not learning any new skills, but it takes about 60%-80% of my time to keep the project moving on schedule. Due in part to this extra project and all of my course work as well (20-30% of my time was spent on course work). I have completed almost nothing related to my actual research goals. I honestly feel like this entire past year has been an incredibly expensive and complete waste of my time. The course work has been impractical and useless for me and I've gained no useful skills from this extra project. (No I cannot drop this extra project, I've asked repeatedly) Before I came back to university, working on my own I made leaps and bounds more progress. I came back to university because they have the resources to support the project and they open a lot more doors and have access to personnel to help with my research. Completing the research on my own would have become far too expensive for me to do on my own when it gets to the prototyping stage, but doing it at a university seems like it will just take too long to do. But the main issue is that I'm NOT doing academic work, I'm doing the same thing I was before I got here, but with an 80% pay cut. I'm considering leaving grad school and wondering what future employers will think of someone who drops out of a Ph.D. program after only a year? I'm wondering if employers will view this past year as a "placeholder" job while I looked for something better, sort of like I was trying to hide the gap in changing jobs. How can I address this if it comes up in an interview? <Q> Some excellent industry engineers and programmers try the PhD route and find it is just not for them. <S> One year is a very reasonable amount of time to give it a chance before deciding you are one of them. <A> It's not for everybody, and it takes self-awareness, confidence and grit to push through it and still decide to move on. <S> After 18 months, it becomes an all-or-nothing investment: you either spend 3-5 years of your life on it and pass the viva, or you failed your phd. <S> There are a number of reasons why a phd might fail: the first 18 months are there to help you understand your probability of success. <S> The "extra project" should be your main PhD project, if it takes most of your time. <S> You need a clear understanding with your PhD supervisor about whether this is the case or not. <S> However, it all comes down to who owns the funding for your tuition and research. <S> If it all depends on your supervisor, then your best bet seems to have that project as one or two chapters of your thesis. <S> But if you came in with your own scholarship and funding, then you might find out that if you want to complete your phd you might have to start from scratch in another lab. <S> Good luck, whatever you choose to be. <A> You may just have the wrong advisor. <S> If the current advisor is not working out, you could switch to another research group or even another university. <S> This happens from time to time. <S> Search academia.stackexchange for many people in similar situations <A> If you did so, and in interview explained it to me exactly as you've explained it to us here , I would not only completely understand, but also find it a point in your favour that you recognised a problem, gave it a fair chance of being resolved (rather than cutting and running immediately), then after an appropriate period of time changed tack to a different approach that had a better chance of working for you. <S> All of these are good signs! <S> Do not worry. <S> Good luck! <A> Unless your next interview will be in academia, this will be seen just as any other position you took but ultimately didn't like. <S> Unless there's a pattern of not being able to hold down a job for more than a year, that's not a problem. <S> I'm doing the same thing I was before I got here <S> Then list it as such on your resumé. <S> Most employers won't even care why you decided to work in a university for a year, if you have more significant prior work experience. <S> You can tell your story to those who do ask, there's no more shame in dropping out of a PhD than there is in never trying to earn one. <A> Don't call yourself a dropout. <S> Call yourself a person with a Master's Degree, who additionally gained a bit more education before moving onto greener pastures. <S> Being a "dropout" implies failure. <S> Not what you want to communicate. <S> Instead, you achieved something significant (most people I encounter in my field don't have Associates Degree). <S> Focus on that. <S> Some places will read through the lines and consider you a drop-out and judge you negatively for that. <S> There's no getting around that. <S> Some places won't. <S> (Even if they do figure out that you could be a classified as a drop-out, they may decide to not judge you negatively over that, as you can tell from Patricia Shanahan's attitude.) <S> Hopefully you end up managing to easily connect with one of those places.
| If the extra project is not going to be the bulk of your thesis, then you should not be prioritising it. Dropping out of your PhD is perfectly acceptable in the first 12-18 months.
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Forced by client to remove security feature, now client blames me for data theft During last months the project manager (PM) from a client requested many times to remove some security features we put on their web portal to “ease our day-by-day operativity” (their own words). Initially these requests were calm and we managed to stop them. After a while PM became more pressing, so I (as the team leader of the project) wrote a detailed email with clear evidence of the dangers that could be incurred by meeting their demands (I copied my boss, my team, our IT security division, our test/QA division and their boss). After a few days PM replied to me only (all other recipients removed) in a very unprofessional way (all capital letter sentences, direct and personal insults, threats of lawsuits for incompetence, etc) ordering me to apply their requests or “to be prepared to face very serious consequences” (again their own words, capital letters removed by me). I immediately discussed the topic with my boss and she suggested to do what PM had requested and she would have sent an email (with all the previous recipients copied) saying we did all the requests but stressing again our concerns. So I removed the security features and she wrote the email. From that day to yesterday, total silence. Yesterday morning PM wrote me that their security team found out someone entered illegally in the portal and some private data from their customers was found online. PM also said that this was “all my fault” because they were unaware of the possible consequences of “your choice to disable our portal security features”. Looking at how PM described what had happened, I noticed that this was (literally, step by step) one of the scenarios I highlighted as a potential security threat. I went to my boss again, and she decided that we had enough of PM. So for next week she will organize a call to discuss the situation with me, she, our division general manager (2 levels above my boss, so 3 above me), a senior coworker from our security division, PM and their boss. Although I think I did nothing wrong and I can count on my boss, I'm also afraid there may be consequences for me. How can I be fully prepared for this important call and cover my back? How should I behave during it? <Q> You highlighted the security concerns. <S> Everyone was aware of what would happen. <S> You have a paper trail. <S> Also, most importantly, your boss will have your back. <S> So, relax and print the documents right now and highlight your warnings as mentioned by TheoreticalMinimum in the comments. <S> Bring those as proof when asked. <S> You are completely safe on this. <A> How can I be fully prepared for this important call and cover my back? <S> How should I behave during it? <S> Sounds like your boss <S> has it covered. <S> Talk it over with your boss. <S> Ask her if there's something else you should do as preparation. <S> Then follow her lead. <S> Bring your notes to any meeting. <S> Only use them when your boss asks you to do so. <S> Don't be defensive. <S> Act <S> like you have done everything asked of you in spite of your professional recommendations - because that's exactly what happened. <S> Indicate that you continue to be happy to do whatever is requested. <S> Start thinking about how you can re-implement the security features that you were told to remove. <S> Prepare estimates for doing so. <S> And don't be so worried. <S> You have handled this professionally. <S> Laying out the options and your professional recommendations was smart. <S> Kicking it up to management when your warnings were overridden was perfectly appropriate. <S> Doing what the well-informed PM required was correct. <S> And clearly, your boss has your back. <S> This is all good. <A> Already good answers but one thing to add <S> How can I be fully prepared for this important call You should discuss with your boss exactly how this meeting is supposed to go, especially if you don't have a lot of experience with this type of thing <S> What's the goal and desired outcome of the meeting? <S> What's the agenda and who is going to drive? <S> What is your roles, when should you speak up and when should you shut up? <S> What exactly are the supporting documents you should have. <S> What form should they be in and when & how should they be presented. <S> Review them upfront <S> What are some key-phrases you should be using? <S> Write them down and memorize them. <S> Discuss what possible reactions/arguments the other party might have and how you will answer/ <S> react to them <S> If you go into a potentially controversial and stressful meeting, it's helpful to be well prepared. <S> The more you can anticipate what exactly is going to happen, the better you can react, the more at ease you will be and the more likely it is you will get the desired outcome. <S> One of the potential meeting strategies is to find the weakest person on the other side of the table and start hacking them: try to get them frazzled, riled up, or confused <S> so they say something wrong or inappropriate. <S> Make sure that's not you. <S> Remember: you are fine. <A> Already lots of good answers, but an additional point I haven't seen well-covered about your behavior during the meeting. <S> Remain calm. <S> Judging by the tone of the emails you have received from this customer, be prepared for them to yell at you, blame you, and just be generally unpleasant. <S> Let them. <S> Let them wear themselves out and don't take it personally. <S> Then when it is your turn to talk, you can calmly present your printed emails where you outlined all the risks and they approved the changes anyway. <S> They are going to try and drag you into a shouting match, but it is really hard to do that with someone who won't engage. <S> Don't let them drag you own to their level. <S> You did nothing wrong and have the documents to prove it. <S> It's likely this customer actually knows they are in the wrong, but is trying to pin it on you to save themselves. <S> If you let them get under your skin and get worked up, that's their last chance to drag you down with them. <S> It won't work if you stay calm and professional.
| You did all the right things and have documentation to back it up. Let them say everything they feel like they need to say and don't interrupt.
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How do you continue to engage and recruit new employees during the pandemic? Our company believes that the pandemic will create new opportunities within certain industries and the workforce will re-organize in order to meet the new demand. We want to continue recruiting, so it would be great to hear how others are maintaining engagement with potential new hires. [Update]We're Software Consultants/Contractors. Our team is based from an office and we work remotely with our clients. Currently, we're all fully remote (from home) due to COVID-19. <Q> With difficulty. <S> I doubt it is worth it for the time being. <S> The process of acquiring someone new isn't the real issue here. <S> You can handle all the paperwork, the interview process and so forth remotely. <S> However, once you've gotten someone new hired in, you need to get them set up with everything they need, train them to get used to your system and with their new colleagues. <S> Doing that remotely is time-consuming, difficult and it is doubtful they can get much done over prolonged periods of time. <S> That is, of course, assuming they are a good fit for your company in the first place. <S> Making a proper judgement of that during the first weeks of employment is very difficult. <S> If they're all working from home as well and/or have less work going on due to their own clients, and whatever else is going on down the line,your services may be needed less. <S> Maybe there won't be any new projects for a while. <S> Do take that into account. <A> Recruit from those who haven’t been sent home <S> It wasn’t until yesterday that my company finally relented and sent people home. <S> There are still companies that refuse to do that. <S> Many of those companies have also thrown contractors out of work due to VPN and IT security policies. <S> Lots of those people are looking to move as a result. <A> I think it's fair to say that the current situation is unprecedented - hiring right now may be difficult. <S> When things start to change, our speed of decision making slows down. <S> From my personal entirely anecdotal experience that mainly comes from startups - a lot of businesses across sectors will have layoffs and smaller concernes with cash flow issues may disappear completely. <S> Even firms not experiencing a major downturn are probably very afraid and that decision making speed is slowing down and they will probably slow their hiring intake. <S> My main point - if you are in an industry that will see an upturn in coming months there should be no shortage of skilled workers looking for employment.
| Your clients may have far less work for you due to the Coronavirus, so hiring someone new may not be necessary.
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Finding a job with non certificates after PhD I'm a PhD student in my first year. My field is biology but I've been using python and some libraries such us: Numpy, Pandas, statistics, SciPy and BeautifulSoup for analyzing, processing and searching for data. The problem is that I do not have any certification about this and I have been self-teaching my self how to use all these tools with the help of the Stack Overflow community and some friends. I really like programming and using it for my work but I'm afraid that maybe a recruiter would not give me a chance because I don't have anything to show them that I have these skills. Do you think that people would trust me if I show them some of the codes that I have made or it would be necessary to do some courses to obtain certification ? Could be a good Idea to do a posdoc related in bioinformatics or data science ? Any opinion recommendation or answer helps! Thank you <Q> Programming isn't like being a gas fitter or pilot, where you need to be certified on a specific task, because you're rarely asked to do the same thing multiple times. <S> What is important is the ability to pick up a new tool, skim the manual (if there is one), dive in and have a go, troubleshoot and fix your mistakes. <S> You can't get certificates in that, but it's probably exactly what you've been doing. <S> A senior engineer will be expected to have a few years experience of some tools, but they will still be expected to learn new things, and the probably aren't still using the tools they started on. <S> Junior programmers usually find that learning their way around the company's code is the hardest part of the job. <S> In an interview, you can usually tell whether a candidate knows the basics of language/tool with a few simple questions, but what you really want to know is whether they're able to research something on their own, and whether they generally find a solution and make things work. <A> Do you think that people would trust me if I show them some of the codes that I have made or it would be necessary to do some courses to obtain certification ? <S> You might be having a lot of certificates, but in the workplace world, showing them to a potential company <S> /academia would not probably land you the job/course directly because it is the due diligence for certificates and/or interview for your knowledge as mentioned in those aformentioned certificates. <S> Certificates issued by reputed institutions could be of some value to a few recruiters because it lessens the efforts to test the candidate knowledge to an extent. <S> Otherwise nowadays, most recruiters value what you have worked on and their models and results/observations. <S> You could put it up in code-hosting sites like github, gitlab, sourceforge or your blogs. <S> Certificate is not a must unless mentioned by companies/universities. <S> For instance, GMAT, IELTS, GRE, TOEFL and/or LSAT scores are made mandatory by most of universities for foreign students (and/or local students). <S> If you are confident and able to learn on your pace and comfort, then by all means, do it on your own. <S> If you have doubts, then as you wrote in your question, you get help by using SO community and with your friends. <S> Could be a good Idea to do a posdoc related in bioinformatics or data science ? <S> Data science prepares you for any field that involves understanding and dealing with data whereas bioinformatics is more specialized form i.e data science + biology (dealing with biological data). <S> But bioinformatics should also help you to transition to another field of informatics like astronomy or marketing. <S> Either way should help you for a career in data science. <S> That said, you need to see the reason to do postdoc. <S> For most cases, PhD should be enough. <S> So, you need to see whether doing postdoc would leave impressions on your career prospects. <A> I'm going against the two existing answers here. <S> You're into programming and that is all fine and good. <S> However, the person looking at your application is looking for proof that you're not just talking big or overestimate your ability. <S> You don't have any proof. <S> The application right next to yours has, so yours will land directly in the discard pile, unless there is a severe lack of applicants. <S> Proof doesn't have to be certificates, but lacking anything else, they might get you above the threshold. <S> Proof is previous employment in the field, public projects you've done yourself, even blog posts and such. <S> Anything to show that you can do what you claim you can do. <S> Code samples are nice, but they don't have any place in the actual application document and they don't show that you can do a project from start to finish. <S> You can write small snippets, you can copy-paste a few stackoverflow answers, but can you actually program? <S> The recruiter doesn't know. <S> If I have the choice between someone with professional experience and someone with a "Python 101 certificate", you don't even need to guess who I'm going to hire. <S> So in summary: You need proof that you can do what you claim you can do, or your chances are very slim. <S> You could try for an internship next to your studies, paid or unpaid, which reduces the risk for the employer and still would provide the "prior professional experience" for future applications. <S> You could actually do a project from start to finish by yourself and publish it. <S> You could finish a degree in Bioinformatics. <S> Any of those options work, but without those, as harsh as it may sound, I wouldn't even invite you for an interview. <S> You wouldn't even get a chance to show your ability.
| From the recruiting side, prior professional experience is the first thing I look for, then any larger public projects someone did himself, then a finished degree and at the very last any certificates the person holds - since certificates are usually very easy to get.
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Instant Messaging: How to Politely Re-ask an Ignored Question With the current state of the workplace, many companies now run things from a 'work from home' perspective. My current workplace is similar, with everyone working from home, so there is no way to ask questions in person. I have read the responses to a similar question , about asking for responses from coworkers for responses to emails, but our company uses Instant Messaging (IM), and many answers on the post also focus on asking in person. Thus, I have decided to post a question here. I have been primarily using the common Slack-like IM tool of our company, but several times where I message colleagues about some questions regarding job-related concerns, they read it and either ignore it to talk about an unrelated issue, or don't answer completely. Edit: this occasionally happens in one on one direct messages as well. I was somewhat offended by the lack of response to my questions, but I understand that this is common in workplace messaging. They are also ultimately very helpful colleagues in general. As such, I hold no hard feelings. I am, however, asking these questions in a work environment, so I want to ask, what is a good way to bring up the question again in a polite and professional manner? I don't want to risk re-asking the question in a way that seems aggressive, but I do desire their input for these questions. Of note, I realize that if people are ignoring my questions, a potential issue is certainly with how I phrase them. I will look into online resources on digital communication and question phrasing on my own time. However, the current question is more specifically looking for a way to re-ask them about an initial question in a polite way . <Q> Reply directly to the question with "could I get an answer to this?" <S> This is Facebook, but Teams and Slack and most other messaging apps have the capability as well. <S> Not many people would be offended by being this direct as it just got missed (as tends to happen when there are as many messages as there are in a group chat). <S> It wasn't ignored deliberately. <S> Group chats are terrible for questions which don't follow the immediate group chain of thought simply because nobody can interject right away and stop everyone else in their thought processes. <S> EDIT: this is going to be a very culturally dependent answer. <A> This is a case where the rule " never assume ill will where forgetfulness explains behavior " is important. <S> They're not refusing to answer, they're forgetting to answer. <S> So remind them. <S> Just ask the question again, maybe with a word or two about why you need them to respond promptly. <S> Everybody is learning how to work without being face to face. <S> It takes time to learn these things, and we all need an extra dose of patience. <A> People will often postpone long responses to the beginning or end of the day, or until just before lunch, or until that awkward half hour they have between meetings later. <S> If you bump a thread, try to aim for those times. <S> Also, people don't check chat continually. <S> They might not even see the message for a half hour or more. <S> It feels more polite if you give a reason for being pushy. <S> "I need to start this shortly if I'm going to be able to merge it today. <S> Does anyone know the answer to my question?" <S> Another idea is to narrow your audience. <S> If your message got lost among a larger group, try asking again in a specific team's room. <S> " <S> Did you see my question here ? <S> @joe <S> do you know? <S> " or "@jennifer, do you have a preference?" <S> If you're pretty sure <S> your message has been read and there has been ample time to respond, sometimes you just need to give people something to hang a thumbs up on. <S> "I'm assuming since no one commented, either option is acceptable. <S> I'm going to proceed with option A unless I hear any objections. <S> " <S> I keep hearing the word "over-communicate" being used to describe remote work communication, and I think if you're doing it right, it will occasionally feel like you're talking to yourself. <S> Sometimes not getting a response is the response.
| My first thought is just be patient, especially if you're asking for a complex response. " If your message got missed in a smaller team's room, try @ing a specific person. "
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Should I delay a salary increase because of the coronavirus outbreak? Right before the coronavirus hit I got a large raise from my employer. I accepted a match, after getting another offer. The company is on the smaller side and I think it was a stretch for them to make this match, but I don't actually have any real insight to their financials. I'm pretty sure if we had this negotiation a few days later, there would have been no match offer. I also feel guilty adding strain at a difficult time. All things considered in this new world I'm extremely lucky to have this job, even at my prior salary. I can very easily work remotely, and there is flexibility. At the same time, I sought this other opportunity because I needed the extra money due to other circumstances I won't get into here. I could get by for awhile on my prior salary, but it would be hard and not sustainable long term. Should I offer to delay the raise? <Q> The company gave you a raise because of the value you bring. <S> Instead of feeling guilty, think of how you can add even more value to the company. <S> In such a difficult time, instead of internalizing negative energy, try to project positive energy. <A> I could get by for awhile on my prior salary, but it would be hard and not sustainable long term. <S> Should I offer to delay the raise? <S> Don't do it. <S> But otherwise, don't. <S> After all, chances are that you've been underpaid for many months if not for many years. <S> Also, since there is no transparency as to how much others are making, or how much the company is making, it's clear to me <S> you're not being viewed as a real partner in such decisions. <S> Also, while you showed wisdom (or luck) in remaining with your current employer when so many other new employers are currently rescinding contract offers or delaying starting dates indefinitely, accepting the counteroffer from a current employer was also a risk. <S> The fact is some employers purposefully make a counteroffer, only to retain an employee a little longer, so they can fire that employee on their own timetable. <S> Now, I'm not saying this is common, nor am I saying this is going to happen to you. <S> But if this did happen to you, you would be much worse off with no raise and no competing offer during this time of crisis. <S> And if not for your self-interest, think of your sanity. <S> If you forego your raise today, and tomorrow, your employer orders a $10,000 foosball machine, it will infuriate you to no end. <S> And it doesn't have to be a foosball machine, it could be your company blowing the money on brand new furniture, or the owner buying a brand new BMW. <S> My point is every time money gets spent frivolously, you will think of it as your money being spent. <S> And this can't be good either. <S> Again, if a sacrifice must be made, everyone should share in the sacrifice. <S> and everyone must be on the same page. <S> Otherwise, you will come to regret your individual contribution. <S> Making a shared sacrifice also ensures that the sacrifice doesn't last as long, has more of a total impact, and is less likely to be reneged on when it's finally time to undo. <A> Let's start by imagining a different scenario: <S> There is no coronavirus outbreak, and your company is doing okay. <S> One of your family members gets sick and runs up large medical bills. <S> This puts you in a precarious financial situation. <S> Your employer finds out about this. <S> In that scenario, is it plausible that your employer would volunteer to gift you tens of thousands of dollars, above and beyond your agreed salary, in order to help you with your financial challenges? <S> If the answer is "no", which it would be for most employers, then you shouldn't feel any moral obligation to give them <S> a gift in the circumstances you mention. <S> (A delayed raise effectively is a gift.) <S> OTOH, if they are the kind of generous employers who would spend money to look after an employee in need even though they didn't have to, then perhaps you owe them the same consideration. <A> I don't actually have any real insight to their financials <S> Your boss (or the people your boss reports to) do have this insight. <S> They will approach you if they need to talk about pay cuts. <S> Don't put your head on the block unnecessarily. <A> Offer to defer the salary increase (no back-pay for the increase) until after the economy returns to normal, but with the amendment that you won't be retrenched during this period, and if you are you get a severance pay of insert-number-to-last-you-6-months-here.
| If the company is willing to share the burden and make an across the board salary cut (except for the lowest-paid employees), or make an offer of unpaid time off, then maybe, consider doing one of those things. Don't unilaterally offer to take on that burden all by yourself.
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How can we increase spontaneous conversations when working from home and using instant messaging? Given the current state of working from home for many companies, instant messaging is the go-to communication method. After a few weeks of using instant messaging, however, I noticed the distinct lack of small talk and spontaneous conversations that would usually happen. Conversation that would happen when having lunch together, grabbing coffee, or just passing by a coworker’s desk. Our team used to communicate much more often due to the in-person interactions. We do have a group chat for my teammates, which we do chat on occasionally, and we do some small talk before meetings formally start, but the amount of personal communication has decreased. A retroactive observation made over the past few months of the pandemic points towards spontaneous conversation being more than just about socialization. Conversations allow us employees the chance to better understand the overall circumstances and health of the company (eg. new hires and departees), gives us a choice for short breaks from the work routine, and lets us better bond with other members of the team. Knowing these potential advantages, what can we do to simulate our normal in-person interactions and spontaneous conversation, and facilitate it between our team members? Note: we do have daily scrums. Edit: Have gotten some deleted comments that I am simply projecting onto my team members, and should leave them alone. For the record, I am thankful for the reminder, as I had not considered that I could be projecting before that. I will definitely keep it in mind, but I will clarify that I am not trying to force my colleagues to talk, I wish to find an online way to let us carry out our daily conversation if we wish to , not conduct an experiment on my fellow coworkers. As such, I will clarify what I am looking for in terms of an answer: methods to encourage online conversation between my team, without disturbing our workflow should we choose not to participate in it . I hope that this will address the concerns of some, and I should note I believe that these methods will actually be better when done online: people cannot 'escape' from small talk without at least giving some cursory response when in person, but can be more free to choose when to participate online, especially in groups or channels. Update (April): I have followed the advice and answers given here, which have all been useful. I have mostly been passively observing the conversation without making any suggestions yet, but it seems that having a general/random channel has been useful. Update (August): There are now periodic 'coffee talk' meetings scheduled over the past few weeks, that are fully optional. People looking for conversation are thus able to join and chat face to face about casual topics, and thus far this option has been quite useful. In a similar vein to the other question about departing toasts to our team members, video conference toasts to the employees has also been working well as an alternate medium to a farewell lunch. Additionally, I've added a retroactive observation to the main body, about the other potentially beneficial effects from casual conversation, and gave out a bounty for the existing answer that suggested a 'coffee time' first, as it has been working decently. <Q> In my remote work environment, people occasionally post hyperlinks to interesting items, either related to our work or our city, or the epidemic, or whatever. <S> Other people comment, and so we get a little bit of personal interaction. <S> We happen to use Slack, and we have a #general channel. <S> It's a good compromise between lots of distracting chatter in our work channels and no personal interaction at all. <A> Try having persistent voice chat rooms, like Discord. <S> These are unmoderated'chat rooms' they're not formal meeting voice chats, they're designed for spontaneous communication. <S> https://discordapp.com/ <S> You might also include a 'meeting room' that people can switch to during meetings. <S> There's two types of Voice chats in the remote-world, meetings, and non-meetings. <S> During a meeting people are less likely to bring up spontaneous chat because there's usually a purpose to the meeting. <S> Tools like Sococo <S> https://www.sococo.com/why-sococo/ allow you to have a "Virtual office rooms" like a Breakroom, A quiet room, an open workdesk room. <S> these 'rooms' are important to having people still feel like they're next to each other. <S> You have the freedom to 'switch rooms' at any time, and you'll instantly be able to spontaneously communicate with anyone in the meeting. <S> Using Voice chat <S> , you'll have much more spontaneous communication that you would have with just text chatting. <S> It's important that not everyone is in the same room, as this could cause too much noise. <A> Mind you that there are workers who get pretty much annoyed with all that small talk culture happening in offices — when people chat just for the sake of it without any business purpose. <S> They make effort to participate just to be nice so that you won't even suspect they hate it. <S> These people get huge relief when the need to do so comes off with remote working. <S> What can we do to simulate our normal in-person interactions and spontaneous conversation, and encourage it between our team members? <S> Consider whether the team actually wants it. <S> You might be surprised to learn that many just want to get work done <S> and that's all. <S> Get people focused on work first: <S> when they need to communicate because the work requires so, they just do it and the question does not stand. <S> And if they can get work done without any chittering-chattering that is perfectly fine. <S> At the end of the day, they are working — as opposed to participating in some sort of social gathering. <A> Ask open questions: Who, What, Why, How, When, Which. <S> See this list of examples. <S> With remote working, many people will find it easier to get into the "flow", and some might welcome having less conversations. <S> It depends on the person. <S> Try to understand what level of conversation your different colleagues are happy with, and try to use open ended questions to stimulate exchanges. <S> Instead of <S> "I watched Frozen 2 yesterday, I thought it was great"ask"What <S> did you think of Frozen 2? <S> I watched it yesterday and I thought it was great" <S> They might reply later, but still engage. <S> Also, keeping the video on in a shared chat might help as well (but again, expect some to say no). <A> What can we do to simulate our normal in-person interactions and spontaneous conversation, and encourage it between our team members? <S> In one job, a bunch of us temporarily worked remotely while we were moving from one office building to another (not quite ready) building. <S> We designated one 1/2 hour period mid-afternoon as "coffee time". <S> We all took a break from work, drank coffee or tea and chatted remotely. <A> Typically in-person interactions, just like meetings, require very little effort. <S> Writing documentation, just like typing instant messages, require more effort. <S> That is why typically people prefer meetings to writing documentation. <S> (Oftentimes writing documentation is more efficient than addressing the same in meetings, but that would be for a different discussion.) <S> I can think of two options, waiting until people will start missing the in-person interactions and will start having more small talks using instant messaging or waiting until all start commuting to work. <S> With less of small talk, I would expect that more work is done, but there are other large factors too. <A> Formally schedule an after-work online drinking time. <S> This is something that Atlassian does as a part of their efforts at building a workplace community - it's something their CEO mentioned in passing during an interview on (Australian) <S> 60 Minutes tonight when discussing how businesses can do their part to help fight the Coronavirus. <S> The footage they showed displayed them using a software that allows multiplexed video chat (with each participant having a small box on the screen with their image), but presumably you could use whatever team-based collaboration tools your business is using - though, ideally, you'd want to use something suitably ephemeral to minimize the impact of people reading employees' drunken postings afterwards. <A> From my point of view it would be useless. <S> I don't know you team or your culture, but I (software dev myself) don't like being interrupted during work. <S> When I'm in the office I am the guy sitting there with ANC headphones and doing my stuff. <S> When working from home, I enjoy that I don't have to deal with unwanted stuff. <S> From personal experience I can say, I would close all these apps unless really really necessary.
| So in conclusion I guess the go to option would be to make it possible to talk to each other, like an always ready communication channel (like previously mentioned e.g. Discord), but the the sake of the sanity of your team, don't force them or expect them to join. Persistent voice chat rooms. Formally schedule a time (usually on a Friday) after work where team members can hang out together online and drink alcoholic beverages, as the online equivalent of the business encouraging employees going drinking together after work as a team-building exercise.
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Is it ok to send a recognition email Some of my team members worked in a project in amazing way. We managed to deliver on time and these guys worked day and night to achieve that. I would like to send a Thank you email recognising the effort they gave CCing the senior manager. My concern is that, will that make the other employees who did not work on this project not happy?will that make it a must for me to send thank you email for every achievment?does that mean they have to get salary raise, bonus or any other benefits? <Q> So you are considering not to give your hard working team the credit and appreciation they deserve because you are afraid it will step on toes of collages who did not participate in this work-marathon? <S> Seriously just send that email and celebrate the result of the hard work. <S> If someone is offended by this, they are the one who are grudging about your recognizing your team's hard work. <S> You don't have to give any bonus or salary raises but expect to be reminded of this email at next salary revision. <A> Don't overthink this. <S> Seriously, one of the biggest problems in most workplaces is that there's not enough positive reinforcement and recognition. <S> If someone did an awesome job? <S> Give them a kudos! <S> Or put another way: At least 3 people (as I write this) upvoted Simson's answer but didn't upvote your question. <S> Does that mean your question is bad? <S> And the people that upvoted Simson's answer aren't obligated to upvote everything else on the site as well. <S> Same thing on the job. <S> If your coworker Alice does a great job handling some troublesome issues, would you rather she not get any kudos out of fear of upsetting you? <S> Or would you rather she get some praise for her good work? <A> Many larger organisations have dedicated tools/portals that allow sharing such feedback - if you work in such a setup, you can look into utilising them. <S> (Some may support Anonymous feedback as well). <S> Even otherwise, in the companies I've worked at, the usual practice was for the project lead to send out an email to all stakeholders making them aware of the milestone achieved and thanking the key contributors. <S> So, if you are the lead, you can send such an email, otherwise, you can pile on it when somebody else sends it out. <S> Additionally, the mail / feedback serve as a strong data point for managers which they may utilise when the performance review cycles take place for the team members. <A> I once contracted at a government health organisation where people regularly slapped each other on the back and went so far as calling each other geniuses, even though their skills, experience and work ethic were ordinary to say the least. <S> But the funniest day was when the minister had to front a parliamentary enquiry into the poor performance of our departments roll outs. <S> All I can say is <S> one groups exemplary performance is another groups slapstick comedy
| No - because it's simply recognizing that Simson wrote a good answer and deserves some recognition for it.
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What to do if you discover your team is not responsible for what you were hired for I got a job to automate processes in a specific field. My background is in process automation. After I started, I discovered my team is not responsible for the processes or their automation at all. Another team is and whereas the colleagues are friendly and stress that they welcome suggestions, they also make it very clear that they don't need external involvement and don't see it as recommendable for me to take over any of the automation tasks. My team are just users. It's also clear that everyone involved in my recruitment knew that I wasn't to take care of the processes as this is not what my team does. Instead, I'm relegated to much more junior tasks: basically, I need to perform the processes manually. I can't automate the process without the other team's involvement since I would need access to systems, which I can only get from them and they made it clear I won't get it. Could you please tell me what the solution is? This situation happens to me for the second time in my life. When it happened the first time, I tried to prove to the other team I could contribute - which was definitely the case given I actually had much more technical expertise in the field than they. I tried to make it cooperatively with them. So I spent a year basically trying to make the very territorial colleagues "like me", being totally cooperative but despite that being blamed by them for even proposing any contribution. I was forced to perform simple manual tasks during that year. I never want to experience that again. <Q> Find a replacement job as fast as you can feasibly do so. <S> The sooner you can do this the better. <S> Don't wait to confirm that your new boss lied to you directly or try to work around the situation because you already know how this will turn out (I might offer different advice if you were a rookie). <S> If you live in a European country and have been placed on a standard probation then I would be inclined to take advantage of the reduced level of notice required during the probation period. <S> Normally I'd suggest that you owe your employer more courtesy than that but under the circumstances I don't think you do. <A> Your time is your only non-renewable resource. <S> Therefore, it matters whether this employer is wasting it. <S> You have a decision to make, as you know. <S> "Should I stay or should I go?" <S> You don't have to decide immediately. <S> Promptly is soon enough. <S> In other words this is not an emergency (yet). <S> One step to take now <S> : Look for other jobs. <S> Having one in hand makes your "go" choice easier when the time comes to choose. <S> Make sure your supervisor knows you're surprised by the assignments you are getting. <S> Respectfully say you expected to make a contribution to the company's success using your expertise. <S> Another step <S> Approach this, if you can, as a business question. <S> Depersonalize it if you possibly can. <S> They may have some organizational change in mind. <S> If that's true they need to enlist your support and ask for your patience. <S> At least they need to tell you the plan. <S> As you know, accusing people of lying makes rational conversation harder, even if they did lie to you. <S> So, if possible avoid that while you're gathering information. <S> Another step. <S> Decide whether this job really is a waste of your time. <S> Are you learning interesting and useful stuff about their business or your specialty? <S> (It's fine if the answer is "no", but it's good to decide this intentionally.) <S> Another step: If you can, figure out why this happened twice. <S> Is it something about your particular line of work that makes companies hire overqualified people? <S> Is your particular trade plagued by squabbles between departments? <S> If you know why this happens, you'll be better equipped for your next interviews. <S> In short, keep your options open, decide rationally, and don't let people waste your time. <S> Good luck and strength to you! <A> Find a way to automate your department’s processes without the involvement of the other department. <S> You weren’t hired to play politics, you were hired to automate processes. <S> If the other department isn’t willing to cooperate, then do it without them. <S> If they control the business’s computing or data storage assets, for instance, consider putting it on the cloud. <S> If they control your organisation’s database, and just give you access to a web interface, then build a program that can automatically strip information from those web pages - and maybe even use that information to build a database of your own. <S> Obviously, any actions you take should have the backing of your manager, however; that way, if the other department pushes back, you can just point at your manager and say “I was just doing my job”. <S> If you have a good manager, they should be happy to go to bat for you because you’re saving the organisation money by improving the efficiency and thus productivity of your department. <S> Removing roadblocks that prevent their employees from doing their jobs is literally a manager's job, and if the other department are making themselves into roadblocks, then it's up to you and your manager to find a way to work around them. <A> The subject that you need to be studying is "Automated vs. Manual User Testing". <S> I know you aren't interested in testing the roadblock team's interfaces, but the techniques used (to automate the testing of interfaces intended to be used manually) can also be used to extract the data you need from that kind of interface. <S> You should write a wrapper, or layer, or whatever you want to call it, that extracts your required data from whatever they send you, and adds your required input into whatever forms or pages they require you to return. <S> The side of this wrapper that faces your process automation should look like a sensible API. <S> Make it a separate wrapper instead of baking it into your automation, because the roadblock team can change their interface on a whim. <S> You want your response to such changes to be all in one place. <S> Keep careful separate track of the time you spend writing this wrapper, and especially the time you spend maintaining it. <S> Once you have some useful process automation running in your department, you can report what fraction of your development cost was attributable to the other team's obduracy. <S> Your department can then use this number to convince higher management that the roadblock team should be more cooperative. <S> If the roadblock team should ever offer a more tractable interface, you will discover another reason for confining your interface translation code to a separate wrapper: you can now remove it.
| : ask the managers who hired you why they hired somebody with your skills if they didn't need them in your department. Start looking now, you can always cancel the search if you find out that you have misunderstood, or that your colleagues in automation have misunderstood.
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I work on a side-project with a friend and we spend uneven working hours. How to make sure we both get fair pay? Long story short, my friend and I have started a side-project and we have different responsibilities in this project. I am the developer, doing technical stuff. My friend is a sales person and manages sales. Our goal is to split the proceeds 50/50. However, since we don't work full-time on this and have normal jobs, it is likely that we don't spend equal time on this project. I'm especially in charge in the beginning, while my friend will have a lot of work later on. Of course there are also tasks both of us can do. After a year or so, it might turn out that one of us spent double the amount of time than the other. Should we split the proceeds according to working hours? Or should we define a fixed hourly rate, which will be subtracted from the revenue before the proceeds are estimated? How do we make sure that both of us get a fair pay? With the first approach I fear that one of us might earn too less, even though we are both vital for the project's success. Please note, we both have founded separate businesses, so we are more of a work group than a single entity. We might found a company together if the project is successful, but for now my company "owns" the project. <Q> Should we split the proceeds according to working hours? <S> Or should we define a fixed hourly rate, which will be subtracted from the revenue before the proceeds are estimated? <S> How do we make sure that both of us get a fair pay? <S> This is something only you and your friend can really answer. <S> Yes, you could consider "checking" work hours and use that as a guideline or parameter to calculate the split. <S> You could also include to that consideration the difficulty or complexity of the task: more complex tasks require more effort thus more revenue. <S> Or you could well just agree on an even 50/50 split regardless... again, talk with your friend to see what works best for you two. <A> Just to add another perspective on Stephan's good answer. <S> As someone who has started several online ventures (I'm a developer too), I think you're looking at things in slightly the wrong way by only considering time/effort put in as a measure of equal partnership. <S> For example, it's likely that you will spend hundreds of hours building the software, but what if your salesperson, through his network of contacts and sales skills, lands you a big client that generates significant revenue for the business? <S> It might only take him a few hours, but is his contribution any less valuable than yours? <S> A business with no customers is just a concept. <S> In other words, I don't think you can really say that one hour of your time is necessarily of equal value to his. <S> Most of my ventures failed, not because they lacked technical quality, but because we couldn't sell them effectively, so I know how valuable sales is to a new business idea. <S> Don't undervalue it. <S> With all that said, you should formulate an agreement based not on effort put in, but on tangible outcomes. <S> For example, his role as the salesperson is to get you customers, so his equity should be tied to delivering them. <S> Your role is to make the product meet those customers' needs. <S> Sit down and discuss what you both feel would be fair justification for an equal partnership, and include timescales and clauses so that if one person abandons the project they forfeit their equity. <S> Ideally use a lawyer or legal professional if you want the agreement to have some weight. <A> Read The Partnership Charter by David Gage (there is an audio version too) <S> You need to ask yourselves many questions. <S> For instance, what happens if your friend gets sick or gets hit by a bus. <S> Who's going to own his shares after that? <S> Or what happens if he gets promoted at his current job and never wants to leave his main employer? <S> Or what happens if he just doesn't perform well as a salesman in this new environment? <S> This is why an incoming CEO joining a tech startup (with no personal funds to buy his way in) does not get 50%, not even close. <S> And don't get me wrong. <S> That friend of yours needs to ask himself similar questions about you. <S> What happens if you get hit by a bus? <S> What happens if you turn out to be a shitty technical partner? <S> These kinds of questions need to be addressed too before any kind of partnership gets started. <A> You both need equal motivation, but unequal number of shares. <S> In entrepreneurship, one of the most common recipes for failure is to have equally split equity, e.g. 50/50. <S> One of you must have 50% + 1. <S> Once this is done, try to look at the roadmap of your startup: at the beginning you need to develop an MVP, and the sales person is going to be super busy while you code. <S> He/she has to work on scoping the market, understanding the competition and keeping communications open with customers and partners, pitching your idea and coming back to you with feedback. <S> In the same way as you are working on a product that has to work, your sales colleague will be accountable for the conversations he can open, the contacts he provides and the demand he generates, plus all the strategic work. <S> Actually, I can't even imagine a sales person working LESS than a developer, especially at an early stage. <S> If this process goes well, it's very likely that after one year you will be working on "plan B", a new offering validated by the MANY customer conversations your sales co-founder had in the previous 12 months. <S> These conversations will also open the door to investor conversations, bringing in new funding opportunities and partnerships, as needed.
| I suggest you two get together (a call or virtual meeting would be best, given the recent events...) and talk about what is "fair" for both of you, and reach a proper way of splitting revenue that both of you are happy with.
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How to include future position on resume? I am currently a law student finishing my first year of law school. The summer internship recruiting process is so aggressive that it has created the following situation: I will be applying for my second-summer job before even completing my first summer. I have accepted a position as a summer associate with a firm for this summer (May 2020). I am now working on updating my resume to begin the recruitment process for the next summer (Summer 2021). Employers seeking associates for summer 2021 will look at my resume even before I begin this summer's position. I am looking for advice on how to list my accepted position/role for summer 2020 on my resume. How would you recommend listing the title of the role (future summer associate? prospective summer associate? just "summer associate"?)? How would you recommend listing the dates worked? How would you recommend filling in the details of the role (based on what I know? leaving them blank?)? <Q> While you may have accepted a position, there is no guarantee that from today until your start date that something doesn't change causing you to no longer start at that position. <S> Also, even if nothing were to change and you start the position as planned, it is useless to have it on your resume as you would not have experienced anything with regards to that position. <S> In short, don't list any experience or skills on your resume that you don't actually have. <A> Include the position as "Incoming Summer Associate" , or if in doubt contact graduate recruiter working for the company you're applying to <S> If you were accepted in competitive summer internship program, that's something that will be important for screeners/interviewers, even if you haven't started/finished it yet. <S> I work as a software engineer, and if I was put in similar position (that is recruiting someone in April for an internship next summer) <S> , I would want to know if this person was accepted into GAFA internship this summer. <S> If they passed Google interview process, they're good and I should talk to them. <S> Caveat <S> I can see: I'm not familiar how law firms structure their internships program (1), but you may be asked why you don't want to continue your career with the firm <S> you have internship this summer, or what you will do if you have an offer after this year internship. <S> Internship programs are mostly designed as an employer branding tool that enables companies to recruit more efficiently for full-time graduate role, so you want to show during the interview that you will stick with them longer if possible. <S> Lastly a lot of companies organize networking events, or (in current situation) networking webinars, when you have possibility to ask questions. <S> Ask recruiter directly if they want to see what you'll be doing this summer! <S> If no events available, try to approach graduate recruiters through LinkedIn or email <S> (1) <S> E.g. investment banks often has spring programs for students who have two more year till graduation and summer programs for students who have one more year till graduation, with assumption that good interns from spring program will join summer program, and good interns from summer program will join as graduate workers <S> --EDIT: <S> I haven't answered question in full: <S> How would you recommend listing the dates worked? <S> If you know start/end date, you can put it there. <S> In other case you can just put "Summer 2020" <S> How would you recommend filling in the details of the role <S> You can mention specific project you're assigned to, or briefly describe how the program is structured (e.g. duration, team or teams you'll be working with, acceptance rate if known) <A> In general, you should not. <S> You certainly don't want to state or imply anything that is not true - that'll get you burned right quick. <S> If the job market for internships is so searingly competitive that you think that you need the extra edge of whatever the other internship will offer you, and you're quite certain that it won't look overly pretentious, then you could include "accepted for internship blah [date]->[date]" somewhere appropriate. <S> That's a bit risky, though. <S> i wouldn't do that unless the job market is vicious enough that others are already doing that in decent numbers. <S> Being the first person to post something like that just makes you look desperate and/or overly impressed with yourself (two things that won't do you any favors when trying to sell yourself as an intern) <A> I think the other advice that has been given is pretty poor. <S> As long as you make it 100% clear that this position is in the future then securing this role is an accomplishment in itself. <S> Usually work experience is described after the title, here you should clearly state what your future internship will involve, as it may have future relevance in the roles you are currently seeking, the company will discuss with you in due course to find out if the experience was actually gained, chances are because of covid, it may not eventuate anyway. <S> They are not stupid, they will know this and will ask
| Your resume should only contain skills an experience up until the present. You shouldn't put too many details in my opinion.
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How to maintain engagement with a (newly) remote workforce? I work on a project of ~50 people, split across 4 sites. To maintain employee engagement, we have various long-running employee engagement activities, including: Team morning teas/coffees After work drinks Out-of-office activities (e.g. volunteering, escape room, etc.) Town halls (whole project updates) However, with the onset of COVID-19, we are making the switch to working from home arrangements. Obviously some of our current activities can translate to this model, such as having coffee catch-ups over video conferences, but I was wondering if anyone has any innovative suggestions for other activities? I have looked at this question on general engagement but feel it doesn't quite apply. One current plan we have is to mail a "care package" to team members and have everyone open it during a team meeting. Note that we are tracking and managing people's personal circumstances during this time (e.g. carer responsibilities with schools closing) to cater to more practical engagement needs. Edit: The specific problem I'm looking at addressing is the risk that team members will feel isolated and disengage. This is in part due to the removal of their every-day interactions with colleagues, as well as the broader social isolation resultant of COVID-19 ("social distancing" campaigns, mandated isolation, etc.). In this context I'll limit the definition of an engaged team member to one that feels personally connected with the rest of the team/project. This connection could be at the one-on-one level (previously improved by coffee catch-ups), one-on-many (drinks or morning teas) or one-on-project level (project updates). <Q> I don't know if this is what you're looking for or is at all helpful - but since I'm in the same boat and just decided on a course of action earlier in the day, I figured I should share in case it might help someone else. <S> Our group used to do a monthly game-lunch. <S> Last month, we all ate pizza and played a casual game of Settlers of Catan. <S> Well, obviously that's not a possibility now. <S> So I started thinking: is there any way to play a game with that same sort of atmosphere but with everyone being remote? <S> I ended up deciding on Quiplash, but the general thought is: if you can find an online party game that's accessible via phone, you can: <S> Have everyone join a Skype/Jabber/Zoom <S> /Whatever meeting on their computer Have everyone also join the game on their phones Have everyone kicking back and chatting/etc while also playing the game and eating <A> A virtual happy-hour can replace the after work drinks. <S> Zoom, Google Hangouts etc can provide video conferencing which many companies are already using as part of group work from home scenarios. <S> People can join the call with their beverage of choice, if the weather is nice people might be able to do it outside. <S> Tried this with my team and it was a great way to informally wrap up the week of isolation, no talk of work just hanging out enjoying a drink with the team. <A> We are in the same boat, 350ish workers all from home now. <S> Think trivia/risk/other free games while on camera and having a beer. <S> Of course it's optional but everyone seems pretty up for trying to set something like that up this week. <S> HR also set up an all day zoom meeting for breaks during the day that you can just drop into after you get some coffee and see who else is taking 15 minutes after grabbing a coffee or doing a big code push. <S> And probably end up shooting the shit with someone that you might not have directly worked with before, much like running into someone at the coffee maker. <S> The upper management is also scheduling a end of week wrap-up meeting every Friday afternoon to keep everyone in the loop, shoot down any rumors that might have started and update everyone on the situation in the company/county/state and what the steps forwards for the next week are.
| We have talked about doing a 30 or so minute virtual happy hour 15 of which would involve our end of day check-in/daily status meeting with our team and possible doing some kind of quick online multiplayer board game.
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What should I do when I feel like I'm in the wrong job? My Bachelor's Degree is in Business Administration. I never really had an interest in Statistics, Finance or Economics as I was keen on looking for a job in Marketing / Management. To this end I got a job as a Management Consultant at a Boutique Consulting firm that specializes in marketing and brand strategies. I quit 18 months later due to personal reasons related to certain coworkers. After this I found a new job at a Market Research company as a consultant / international salesman, and while the job wasn't completely in line with my previous job, it wasn't anything too difficult for me to handle. I was forced to quit 6 months later due to mishaps with my work visa, and now I found a job at yet another consulting company. Unlike my previous jobs however, this job requires extensive knowledge and skill in coding (SAS and Python in particular) as clients are mostly financial institutions that depend on my company to develop custom credit scorecards for them. I was already second guessing myself during my interview and flat out told the interviewer that I had almost no background in statistics and absolutely know nothing about coding, and yet they hired me anyway. Now that I'm on my first project, I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing. None of my coworkers are giving me any form of guidance, and though my supervisor doesn't really give me any tasks that I can't manage, there's no way I'd feel comfortable with sitting around on my hands doing nothing. I'm devoting almost all of my spare time to learning to code in SAS and Python, but progress is slow. All of my superiors (including my boss) are well aware of the fact that I have next to no knowledge of coding and statistics, which is why I have no inkling of an idea as to why I was hired for this particular job. TLDR: I was hired by a company that is fully aware of the fact that I have no experience or knowledge in their field. What should I do? <Q> Now that I'm on my first project, I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing. <S> None of my coworkers are giving me any form of guidance, and though my supervisor doesn't really give me any tasks that I can't manage, there's no way I'd feel comfortable with sitting around on my hands doing nothing. <S> I'm devoting almost all of my spare time to learning to code in SAS and Python, but progress is slow. <S> I cannot stress enough that you should speak with your manager and work with them to lay out a 30/60/90 plan for you based on your current skill level and where you need to be. <S> If you're easily managing your workload, talk to your manager and see if there is some other work you could be picking up. <S> Learning a skill you didn't come with when you got hired is doing something. <S> But I think you need more clarification on what level you need to get to. <A> You have a job you don't completely know how to do. <S> With respect, that doesn't make you any different from most knowledge workers. <S> Seriously. <S> And, guess what, this will happen over and over again during your career. <S> Continuous learning is, I believe, the most important thing that makes knowledge workers successful. <S> The good news for you: <S> your supervisor and co-workers know you have a lot to learn to do this job. <S> They wouldn't have hired you if they wanted somebody who already knew how to do it perfectly. <S> They are willing to invest in you . <S> Write up a training plan for yourself . <S> Include the reading of books, the doing of tutorials, the going to training classes and conferences, the reviewing of your work by an expert, and so forth. <S> Show your training plan to your supervisor and ask for advice and suggestions. <S> Don't treat your plan as a demand (it's not "gimme money to go a conference"). <S> And, please keep this in mind: when people are new to a particular kind of work, they often bring a perspective that helps them do the work better. <A> If you want to keep that job, you need to work backwards from what the tasks are, and what skills are required to successfully complete those tasks. <S> Once you know what you need to learn, create a phased learning plan where after 1 month you will have learned A, B and C and will be able to contribute to project type 1, and after 3 months you will have learned D and E and will be able to help with project type 2. <S> The beginnings are always hard, but you will gain more confidence as you make a habit of improving along those skillsets you need. <S> The alternative, of course, is to just look for a project which can be completed with the skills you have, in this or another company.
| Your action plan: get yourself trained.
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Development team not adhering to coding standards I recently joined a development team at a company and have found that coding standards are not adhered to and seen as unimportant. Development on this team is done primarily in Python and PEP8 and any type of linting is for the most part not paid attention to. I have spoken to my boss who is generally the leader of this team, and she has acknowledged the importance ("Yes, you're right, we probably should do that.") but doesn't seem to have any plan to do anything about it. Should anything be done about this?edit: There are no standards set by the company. <Q> I recently joined a development team at a company and have found that coding standards are not adhered to and seen as unimportant. <S> Tread carefully when judging your new team. <S> My advice is to go into information absorption mode when you join a company before you try to affect change. <S> Why? <S> There may be a method to the madness that you don't understand yet or the team doesn't think you understand yet. <S> I have spoken to my boss who is generally the leader of this team, and she has acknowledged the importance ("Yes, you're right, we probably should do that.") but doesn't seem to have any plan to do anything about it. <S> Should anything be done about this? <S> Linting really helps improve the readability of the code by making it more consistent and you can be more productive by not having to argue over style differences. <S> But at the end of the day, it is a change to the way the team has done things in the past. <S> Make it easy to adopt the change such as having the linters run with every build, educating the team on how to address common linting errors, and have a plan for rolling out the enforcement out. <S> You could even take it a step further and invest in an autoformatter (e.g. Black ) instead of a linter. <A> You don't specify in your question if the coding standards are set by the company or simply generally accepted coding standards for the specific languages you mention. <S> The distinction is important in how you should approach this. <S> If they are the companies standards you should follow them regardless of the actions/attitude of your team lead. <S> While others not following them could be problematic for you, it's not ultimately up to you to enforce the standard upon others in your team. <S> If you're speaking of generally accepted language standards then simply use them in your code. <S> Perhaps over time, others on the team will see the benefit of using a standard and will adopt its use. <A> First, try to understand the reason behind lack of compliance. <S> Is it difficult to follow because of auto-formatters not being good enough? <S> Or is it forgetting to format, or disputes about what is correct, or confusion over which parts are mandatory vs personal preference, or maybe it's a common opinion that coding standards aren't worth it. <S> Then, depending on the results, the solution may differ. <S> If it's that coding standards aren't worth it, then perhaps the solution is to double down and move to something like Sonar, which goes way beyond formatting and does in-depth code quality analysis and metrics. <S> maybe code style is less of an issue when you have a way to reduce the total bug count of the app.
| You should talk about it with your team and get buy in from your team members that this is important. If it's forgetfulness, then find a way to auto-format the code for developers who forget, either by setting up common IDE settings, or somewhere in the build chain if you're willing to.
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Is there a way to effectively incentivize preparation, prevention, and risk mitigation rather than heroic action afterward? This is admittedly a mostly hypothetical question as I am not yet a manager, merely a technical lead, so if you don't want to waste time on a theoretical question, this is your warning. Whether it be IT or pandemics, the incentives in life strongly skew towards slaying dragons rather than keeping them away. The IT guy who keeps the system forever running is forgotten by management.People wonder why they have him around as "he doesn't do much." The IT guy who lets the system fail and then works 18 hours straight to fix it is considered a hero and rewarded. In China, officials took a lot of steps to downplay the virus and hoped that it would go away for fear of it impacting their performance indicators. Admittedly in my own career a couple years ago, I identified a bug one evening in a release and let it fail in production overnight instead of fixing it immediately as I wasn't going to stay late and have nobody know. We don't have an on call rotation as we assumed that things wouldn't fail in prod. I noticed it and went in early to fix it. The director of the department gave me a $2000 bonus for coming in so early to fix it. Had I stayed late to fix it, the company would have saved many thousands of dollars, but I would have gotten nothing. Management at my current company couldn't be bothered to put together a work from home plan until last week when the city panickly ordered offices to close. Now we all use our personal laptops to remote in and access sensitive data as it never occurred to anyone that we should be prepared for that eventuality. I got hero points for showing people how to use remote desktop from their personal machines. Had I done that before the pandemic (I had no reason to as we shouldn't be accessing medical data on personal machines), I would have gotten no credit for it despite potentially saving two days of work time. I am someone who aspires to management, but I cannot think of an incentive structure which encourages preparation over save the day heroics. I myself have a resume filled with save the day heroics. I could see micromanagement being an option, where you demand a contingency plan for everything, but that seems very inefficient. How could one reward preventing harm rather than mitigating existing harm? <Q> My employer recently went through our first ISO-27001 information security certification. <S> In order to pass we had to think through various failure modes and add procedures to work around them. <S> We needed to test those procedures. <S> The failure modes were things like office building becomes inaccessible due to disaster (fire, flood) <S> employee becomes hostile and tries to do damage executive laptop stolen from car cybercreep breaks in to production data center. <S> etc etc <S> In the present disaster our office building has become almost inaccessible. <S> So our ISO-inspired procedure for carrying on remotely turned out to be very useful indeed. <S> I'm happy it was sitting there on a Google drive for us to follow. <S> Now, here's the thing. <S> Our customers love love love that we have this ISO certification. <S> It will pay for itself in increased sales in about a year. <S> So, even if it's a bureaucratic pain in the ... neck, it's worthwhile. <S> You can point to the standard instead of saying "because I said so. <S> " And you can make heroes of the people who work on it via public recognition, bonuses, and so forth. <S> When I was wrangling ISO compliance, I had lots of conversations like this: Employee : This is a waste of time and money, we'll never need it. <S> Me : Maybe not. <S> But the ISO certification insists we work on it. <S> VP Sales : <S> Hey, we need that ISO thing. <S> CEO : Getting ISO done by the end of the year is our priority. <S> Employee : OK, I'll work on it. <S> Me : How can I help? <S> We got it done, everybody involved got a bonus, and we had a blow-out holiday party to celebrate. <A> This is difficult. <S> Maybe eight hours work in time would have saved you 18 hours work later. <S> But there are many potential problems that will take eight hours to fix in time and may cost 18 hours later. <S> If you have ten such potential problems, but only one actually causes problems, you traded 80 hours of work against 18 hours heroic overtime later. <S> I think our IT got orders to prepare for everyone working from home, with highest priority, eight working days before the office closed down. <S> And the last four days everyone carried their laptops from work to home and back every day, so everyone would be able to stay at home on a phone call without having to go to work once to pick up things. <S> So in this case while the whole Covid pandemic was not foreseeable years ago, working from home was foreseeable two weeks ago. <A> It seems to be human nature to reward heroes more than planners - so any cultural shift requires a quite massive change. <S> Rewarding the heroes must stop. <S> Instead, having post-mortem investigations after every incident could perhaps slowly change the culture to a more proactive one. <S> After some time, you will realize who the proactive people are - as they will be the ones repeatedly invited to the post-mortems, from which the heroes will be absent. <A> That often improves based on experience. <S> Saw one case where the IT team asked for UPS on 3 sites for the servers based on data safety - did a report showing consequences <S> etc Answer by management was NO... <S> 2 months later one of the 3 sites got hit by lightning... <S> data loss, time lost in rebuilding etc etc. <S> Within 2 weeks all 3 sites had UPS for the servers... <S> a real case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. <S> Or “that is such a tiny risk it will never happen” which is why many companies did not pay for pandemic risk insurance... <A> Research safety-critical industries like aviation. <S> Planning ahead and mitigating threats is very much rewarded, and heroes can get in trouble (up to being fired or losing their certification) for not successfully anticipating problems or following procedures - even if they then "save the day". <S> It's a learned culture that I've found very different from many other industries. <S> Major features of this culture are open lines of communication between levels in the hierarchy, a culture of compliance with procedures, but also giving experienced people on the team enough freedom to make decisions without interference from upper management. <S> The most important tool is a briefing before and after each event (call it a team meeting if you like). <S> The debrief, especially, focuses on 1) <S> what was done well <S> , 2) what was done poorly, 3) how to fix it going forward. <S> For this to work, you need mature professionals who can point out problems, even their own, and who can give and accept criticism without taking it personally. <S> You need leaders who can take criticism as well as they give it. <S> A culture of both not assigning blame (including not giving out punitive punishment except for egregious/careless mistakes) and accepting responsibility for the outcome as a team is essential for this to work. <A> I am proposing a monetary solution. <S> There is a project in Germany to pay the doctor for being healthy. <S> People subscribe to a doctor and the insurance is paying him for every healthy person. <S> If a person gets sick, the payment is lowered. <S> The intention is to fix the health of the people in the long run, instead of monetary incentivising the doctor to fix the health for the short term, so that people have to return for another treatment. <S> To be honest, I don't have any experience with implementing this. <S> My idea is to pay a bonus for IT maintenance that gets lowered for production errors or downtime. <S> This should incentivse the maintenance crew to have highly available systems, learn from mistakes and implement prevention measurses.
| At the very least, do not give bonuses for putting out a fire that their negligence essentially caused. To answer your question : If you want people to be proactive rather than reactive, standards-compliance is an excellent tool.
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After getting laid off, should I wait for the corona pandemic to pass before applying for a new job? Backstory: In my country, as in most countries I presume, there is a big shortage of engineers and software people, and companies are desperately trying to reel in as many as possible. (At least, this was the case before COVID-19. I am not sure how this situation will evolve when the recession strikes.) As an embedded software engineer, I had no trouble getting job offers when I graduated about half a year ago. After making a selection of all the offers, I was left with Company A and Company B. I was really eager to start at A because I had known them for a long time (had been in contact with them previously) and they also spoke about very interesting projects. I was a little less familiar with Company B, but I also felt very comfortable with the job offer. Ultimately, Company A did some things during the hiring process which I found very rude, and thus I accepted B's offer and rejected A's. Up until this day, I have not regretted this decision. I have great colleagues, and also the relationship with higher management is very good. Unfortunately, my company (B) made some poor decisions business-wise in an attempt to grow fast. I was already expecting rougher times ahead, since me and a lot of my colleagues had been stuck at the office for quite some time now without a project. (I'm in consultancy, so we're supposed to be assigned to customers who have projects for us, but due to circumstances we didn't get any and thus only costed our company money, while not bringing in any money.) We also didn't expect this to improve in the near future. Then COVID-19 struck, and all of us working at the office had to work from home. A week later, I received a letter telling me my contract would be terminated... Crap... I got a phone call from my superiors, and they explained the situation. Pretty much what I already knew: we costed a lot of money, and they didn't have any customers for us. So, now I need to find a new company. Fortunately, I've always remained very polite in my communication with Company A, and I'd like to try my luck again there. However, I'm not sure if it's best to contact them straight away and let them know I'm looking for a new challenge, or if it's best to wait until COVID-19 passes. I can imagine the recruitment process is going haywire at the moment... I'm also not sure how the recruiter will react to knowing that I previously rejected their offer. Some other things that might be important to know: Company B is a direct competitor of Company A, albeit A is a lot bigger than B. During my work at B, I received a very valuable training and gathered relevant experience for my work at A. Getting laid off after only six months is of course never a good sign in a resume. They told me that because the laying off had nothing to do with me personally, I was allowed to use several of my old colleagues/managers as references while applying, and they are also thinking about writing a recommendation letter (they just have to figure out if there are legal consequences for them in doing so). So my question: how can I best handle this situation? Contact A right now? Or wait until the COVID-16 storm has passed? Also: I know it's hard to predict, because a pandemic of this size is unprecedented, but should I expect changes in the job market in the near future? Are there things I should keep in mind while trying to get my career back on track? <Q> I can't see the advantage in you waiting - if you've been laid off, you presumably want to find new work as quickly as possible. <S> As you say, company A (or any other company) may well not be prioritising hiring at the moment, and as such you may struggle to gain traction - but you won't know unless you apply. <S> If it were me in that situation, I would be hitting it hard, and applying to a variety of companies (both company A and other relevant opportunities.) <A> No, as you don’t know how long this will last. <S> There are estimates that predict this will last 18 months. <S> Find a place to wait out the storm. <S> There could easily be a stampede of applicants as jobs disappear. <A> Getting laid off after only 6 months of starting somewhere is ofcourse never a good sign in someones resume. <S> Depends when... You entered the job market 6 months before a huge crisis. <S> No one will ever hold that against you, except perhaps a poorly informed beginner 20 years from now, and that person won't be entitled to reject your application. <S> Reach out to A. <S> And reach out to other companies: if B laid you off from lack of customers, and A is a competitor, there's a good chance that A doesn't have enough activity to hire you. <S> And keep in mind that, however in demand tech skills are, the party is basically over. <S> (Many startups that keep engineers needlessly busy will fail.) <A> Begin Your Job Search <S> Now <S> - But Prepare To Wait <S> I'm in a similar position myself right now - before the outbreak spread, I was trying to find a job closer to my spouse's family, and very nearly got even accepted an offer - but the sudden rapid spread and shutdown of businesses brought that to a much slower pace. <S> However, companies are still always looking to hire as quickly as possible, and still need positions to be filled - <S> even now, I am still getting interviews done with companies looking for people to work, and have even gotten an offer with a sign-on date "to be determined" - specifying a hire date will be posted once on-site work resumes. <S> To put it another way - do you want to have to wait until several weeks or months after the outbreak subsides, going through the interview process and sign-on process at the peak of workers seeking to regain employment? <S> Or, would you rather have your new job set to go the second the outbreak recesses, so that you can begin work as soon as possible? <S> If the latter is your goal - start seeking a new job now . <A> While the pandemic causes lots of problems for some companies, it also offers opportunities for others. <S> Especially in the IT sector. <S> Lots of clients are struggling to maintain their business models in times of social distancing. <S> The solution is to do more things online. <S> This requires investments into IT infrastructure and new software solutions for online collaboration. <S> Further, IT companies are among those industries who have the least issues to convert most of their workforce to 100% remote. <S> Our company (3000 employees, IT full-service provider, public sector) is now operating about 95% from home - and it works. <S> And we are still hiring. <S> In-person interviews are now conducted via Skype. <S> New employees get their onboarding packages with hardware and everyting sent to their home. <S> So no, don't wait with your job search. <A> I was in the midst of a job hunt when this happened. <S> Not in embedded software, but in software engineering. <S> Hiring is still happening, especially for larger companies. <S> Interviews are virtual, and it may take slightly longer to get interviews scheduled, but that just means you need to start the process as soon as possible. <S> Restart your search entirely...but include Company A on the list if they still make it. <S> That is, you shouldn't immediately fall back to Company A. Look through job postings, sort out any that are relevant, and pick the best to apply to. <S> If Company A is still one of the best, then go for it, but a lot can change in 6 months. <S> There may be better jobs that opened up, or Company A may also be having problems. <S> Don't worry about your resume. <S> Unless it was your job to actually go out and get contracts, then this isn't a problem. <S> For now, you can talk about all the training and things you learned. <S> In a few years, you can leave it off entirely. <A> Unless you have reliable information that they have a position they want to fill, I wouldn't bother with Company A. Do <S> you have someone to call and ask? <S> Other than that there is no reason to "wait out" Covid-19, just start applying anywhere else. <A> First things first - apply for unemployment. <S> Chances are companies have frozen hiring in an effort to conserve cash, so finding a job will likely take a while. <S> Second - reach out to your contacts in company A. <S> Tell them you've been laid off due to the COVID-19 epidemic from company B and wanted to see if they are hiring. <S> Mention the training you've received. <S> That's your best chance <S> - they know you, they were willing to hire you, the company is in the same industry, and they got the competition to train you for them. <S> It's a perfect match. <S> You dumped them but that's just business, as long as you stayed professional, they won't mind giving you a second chance. <S> If they are not hiring at moment tell them you understand <S> and you want to stay in touch with them. <S> Check again with them in a month or two. <S> In the meantime search for other positions.
| Do not wait, start your job hunt now.
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Does title degradation affect my career negatively? I am currently working as a "Senior Software Developer" and possibly will be promoted as a "Lead Software Engineer" very soon. My current employer is moving the focus out from software development to cyber security, thus they are not getting more projects on software development. So I was looking for some other opportunities and eventually found a position for a better salary than my current salary but the role is "Software Engineer". Will this obvious title degradation affect my career? I understand titles do not matter, but I am also aware that HR people when it comes to my possible future jobs may raise a concern over this one. How do I overcome those questions if they ask anything on such a title degradation? <Q> No, it doesn't. <S> At a very small company, you could have a title such as 'IT Director', but if you moved to a large company you might be just a 'Software Developer'. <S> Neither of these titles will pay your mortgage - your salary will. <A> Does it matter? <S> Maybe even at the company. <S> And when you switch, how much a title matters depends upon company/industry. <S> I used to work for a companies where titles ment little, so I didn't care. <S> Now, when searching for projects as IT Consultant, I often talk with people that have zero knowledge about IT, and I kinda regret not having better titles to throw around. <S> If you actually get the position offered, you can negotiate. <S> And one point you can ask for is that they put that title (Senior Software Engineer/Developer) onto your contract. <S> That way, you can switch and also keep your title. <S> If asked for a reason, simply state something like: I am already a Senior, so I want to keep that. <A> What matters are 1) <S> your achievements, and 2) your brand. <S> A nicer title might contribute to your brand, but will do nothing for your achievements. <S> Focus on those, with a caveat: if your role and responsibilities match a bigger title in your company, then you will have to make an argument to get not only the title, but also the compensation and benefits that specific company associates with it. <A> The key things are the content of your role. <S> In your CV for example, you can show and display exactly what you did with clear examples of increasing responsibility to back it up. <A> Many companies are aware that "seniority" it not something hard. <S> You can earn it by sitting at a job for x amount of years, or because they hired people for Junior and had to give older employee that title. <S> Engineer is something more tied into reality. <S> You know, like having test for engineer. <S> They don't have to be academic test <S> but it's assumed that if company hire someone for such position they check knolwedge and abilites in same way. <S> In Poland we had a title craze few years ago. <S> A janitor was "regional manager for keeping flat surfaces clean", a babysitter was "compliance controller for OSHA" and so on. <S> Also HR realized that some jobs are just "title stuck". <S> So can do your job very well <S> but there are just no prefixes you can earn. <S> So distinguishing experience had to be based on WHAT you've been doing and not how somebody decided to name that.
| Recruiters are more interested in the quality of your resume rather than the titles themselves. In some companies, pay increases and the like depend on title. I do not think that this is something to be concerned about.
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How can we effectively organise Q&A in a teleconference? Due to COVID-19, the plenary meeting of our ICT department (30 people) will be on Skype. How do we effectively organise the question and answer part ? What is the best online equivalent of raising your hand? How to avoid people interrupt each other (voluntarily or not)? If you ask people to submit their questions in writing, should you still involve them in the discussion? etc. <Q> Keep it simple and get the questions on a side channel , for instance email,slack or SMS, when it is time for a question read out loud for everyone to hear it and answer it. <S> This way there will be no wasted time switching presenter, having problems to unmute the microphone or having a voice which no one can hear. <A> Since it's on Skype, use the instant messaging channel on the conference for questions. <S> Somebody can then pick and choose which to ask. <A> Doing a Q&A without preparation can be very inefficient. <S> A Skype call with 30 people is VERY expensive. <S> A good way to get this done is: share a document with the proposal or topic of discussion to all 30 people, beforehand give all 30 people a time limit to read the document and send questions to you use the call for your answers. <S> If people come up with new questions, go for a second iteration. <S> This will help the whole team participate in a scalable way, giving you control of how time is spent in the "big call", while making that time useful for your team. <A> Lots of video conferencing apps actually have a "raise your hand" function. <S> Someone clicks on "raise my hand" in their window, and the presenter sees it and can stop or not, as they choose. <A> I have had good luck with having people ask questions on https://cardboardit.com/ or another similar product. <S> It seems to get the best result if the person moderating the questions is "off camera". <S> Since we have a distributed team we would introduce the questions the way they did on the show Frasier. <S> This was useful when we needed to "prime the pump" with questions because we would have planted questions we could use if we did not have any from the group, or we wanted to reiterate an important point. <S> "John from the 6th floor break room asks; Can you clarify the new break room clean your own mess policy?"
| Control the time allowed by prioritising the questions you received, and make it clear that some extended discussions will be taken offline.
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How should I address the fact that I'm struggling to work during the pandemic due to anxiety? I am a software engineer, and I have been in my current position for almost two years now. I am really happy with my job. I enjoy the work that I'm doing (for the most part), the hours are flexible, and my manager is great (friendly, understanding about mistakes, etc.) However, I still find the job quite stressful. I have been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and the stress has much more to do with my mental health issues than with the job itself. I'd find a new job if I thought that it would help, but I'm aware that literally any job is going to stress me out, and there are enough positive aspects of this job that I don't want to change. I haven't spoken with my manager about my anxiety issues. I can typically keep my composure while in public (though I'll occasionally go cry in the bathroom), and my performance reviews have been very positive, so I don't feel like anyone needs to know. Though I imagine that my manager likely picked up on my anxiety to some extent, since my voice/hands shake pretty badly when I get anxious, which is a fairly common occurrence. The issue is that we've now been working from home for two weeks due to the current Coronavirus pandemic, and in that time I've only done a fraction of the work that I could normally get done. I am constantly so anxious that I can't focus on my work. It's at the point where I've spent the past two days crying almost nonstop. I don't know anyone who has gotten sick (yet), so I don't have a particular reason for being so anxious other than my disorder. I feel like I can handle the stress of the pandemic, and I can handle the stress of work, but I can't do both at once. I don't know how to handle this situation. I've thought about asking whether I could use some of my vacation days now, but the pandemic could potentially last for months so it wouldn't be enough time (plus I wouldn't want to use up all my days before we've even finished April.) Should I talk to my manager, and if I do, what should I say? I don't want to outright say that I've barely done any work lately, but I'm sure that my manager will notice at some point and it might be better to just own up to it. Thank you for any advice. <Q> I think this is a case of "Asking The Internet For Advice Instead Of A Psychologist." <S> You probably shouldn't be asking us. <S> Asking a "Workplace Problems" forum probably isn't where you want to be with this. <S> Or put another way: we don't know anything about you, your situation, or your mental state - apart from what we interpret from an internet post that you typed up. <S> We also don't have any sort of verifiable qualifications that any advice we'd give you would be good. <S> So if I told you, "Oh, you should X!" <S> or "You know, maybe you need to Y!"... <S> do you really think it'd be wise to blindly trust me? <S> Schedule a visit to talk through some of your problems - or if you're really worried about the virus, find a online resource for clinical help. <A> I'd first check with your health or well being department (I'm not sure if your company has one, but as far as I know, major companies do) if they provide counseling or something like that. <S> On the other hand, your manager needs to know this condition you have - if you productivity is low enough to make them consider kicking you out, maybe bringing your condition in that point wouldn't help and it just makes them think you are making that up to get away with it. <S> If your boss is as cool as you said, then he will understand - being honest is key. <S> If someone in my team would have such problem, I'd like to know it. <S> All of the above will help in the short term, but I strongly recommend you to get professional help - <S> mental health is not to be taken lightly and even when someone (or even yourself!) could say you are just overreacting, they don't suffer what you suffer. <S> Stay safe and remain calm please! <A> Talk to HR about reasonable accommodations under the ADA (or its local equivalent). <S> Simply put, as someone with a disability, you’re entitled to “reasonable accommodations” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), or its local equivalent if you don’t live in America- most first world countries will have one. <S> As such, I would recommend talking to HR about this: while HR is not your friend, its job is to protect the company from the lawsuits that might occur if they break the law by disregarding your disability.
| If you've been diagnosed with a psychological condition, and that condition is giving you formidable problems... you should be talking with someone qualified to give you clinical help. While you’re talking to HR about it, you can ask them if you should talk to your manager about it or if they’d prefer to handle that; I imagine that getting HR to manage the discussion with your manager would be less stressful for you.
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Am I eligible to be placed on furlough after resigning? I work for a small company in the UK. I had found another job and handed in my 4 weeks written notice, then coronavirus wreaked havoc with the British economy and my job offer was retracted (It was directly as a result of coronavirus, as stated in an email I received from that company). I was then handed a 1 week notice to leave my current employer, which meant I was fired or made redundant after the 28th Feb (Furlough cut off date). I have now left my current employer and I'm asking to be put on furlough, but my current employer's saying it's not in my rights as I'd handed in my notice. As far as I'm aware, this isn't correct, but I can't find anything concrete on the rules around furlough in the UK. Am I eligible to furlough payment, despite the fact I had handed in my 4 weeks written notice? Update (14th April): I have been placed on furlough by my old employer. It required a lot of work to convince them to do it, but they have agreed to re employ me on the basis that I will be paid at 80% of my previous salary by the government. I think a lot of the difficulty around this was the uncertainty of re-hiring someone that you never intend to have work for you again I hope this helps anyone else in this scenario. It can be done <Q> Am <S> I entitled to Furlough payment, despite the fact I had handed in my 4 weeks written notice? <S> In short, no you aren't entitled to it, the employer is the one who makes a claim for it <S> and it's up to them whether they want to furlough an employee <S> - they need the employee's consent to do so but the employee can't demand that the company furlough them. <S> As @scotty3785's answer points out HMRC have recently clarified the scenario for those who have left a job after 28/02/2020: From https://twitter.com/MartinSLewis/status/1244931531807825920 CONFIRMED: If u left a job after 28 Feb, that old employer can rehire you to > furlough <S> u. <S> So if needed ask. <S> Which at first glance suggests it might help out here, of course there are some caveats to that hope: <S> It still requires your previous employer to agree - this is in no way automatic. <S> While Martin Lewis talks about people who had voluntarily left still being eligible for re-hire as yet the government pages do not - they only refer to those who were made redundant, so that's not 100% clear. <S> Although in your case OP this wouldn't be an issue from the sounds of it since they let <S> you go. <S> As with anyone affected by this you have my sympathy, you really do <S> and it's certainly worth having a conversation with your former employer given the recent developments. <S> If it doesn't work out, I know it's not much <S> but you would likely be eligible for the new Universal Credit thresholds. <A> According to Martin Lewis' website https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/03/coronavirus-self-employed-and-employment-help/ furlough may be available to you <S> but it is up to your old employers. <S> This has been clarified with the government. <S> Lost your job due to coronavirus, or were in process of changing job? <S> Furlough may still be available - but it's up to your old employer <S> Before the furlough support was announced, many people were laid off by panicking firms. <S> And then there were some unlucky people who resigned one job to go to another, but who were then informed that their new job was delayed or didn't exist. <S> We've had it confirmed that in either of these scenarios, you could be eligible for furlough, <S> but only if your old employer agrees to take you back on to its payroll AND you were on its payroll on 28 February. <S> Sadly, there are no guarantees that you'll be offered furlough retrospectively, but speak to your old employer anyway and ask it to help you. <S> Edit: seems many people disagree with my post, How about you check the posts on twitter from Martin Lewis himself who has clarified this matter with HMRC From https://twitter.com/MartinSLewis/status/1244931531807825920 CONFIRMED: If u left a job after 28 Feb, that old employer can rehire you to > furlough <S> u. <S> So if needed ask. <A> Its my understanding that if the company where to apply for the UK government furlough scheme you are required to be a full time employee for them to get the grants, employees that have been let go or have left, are not entitled . <S> So sadly if you're not full time with them then you're not entitled to it. <S> However during your notice period, you are a full time employee and will be entitled to it during the course of your notice. <S> However furlough needs to be offered to you <S> it is at the companies <S> discretion as to whether they offer it to you or not. <S> Sadly there is no benefit to the business as you have already left, if they where to take you back <S> you're card will permanently be marked during your duration there as someone who is looking to leave the company. <S> The only reason that they would give you it is a favour, so hopefully leaving on good terms with everyone will serve you well <S> , theres no harm in asking. <S> But there is no obligation to give you it as you have left and their payroll and finance team will need to process the your information for the government. <S> Sadly its bad timing with the world the way it is <S> and no one could have predicted this <S> so i'm really sorry that this may not be the answer that you wanted. <S> Universal Credit would personally be my next port of call. <A> I think I can help. <S> If you are currently serving your notice period or have officially left the Company you previous worked for you are not automatically eligible for the government furlough payment which covers 80% of employees regardless of contract types on or before 28/02/2020 at a maximum claim of £2500 per month with a maximum annual salary of £37,500. <S> Payments will be calculated to either your average monthly income for the the same time last year or an average or your income of your last month - which ever is calculated more. <S> If you had a remaining 3 weeks left on your notice as you claim you have already served 1 week this should be paid to you including any holiday entitlement. <S> Manager - HR experience.
| Your employer will need to agree for you to be place as a furlough employee but if your notice has been served or being served then unfortunately you may not be applicable.
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Struggling in my first software development job in this SME company, not sure I should continue in the programming line I am new to the programming world and my first language I am using is Java in Android App development. I am currently working in a company in my 5th month. There were few things that I was not aware when I accepted the job as a software engineer. The first thing I was not aware was when I accepted the offer. I was given the choice in a mobile app project. A bit background story on this mobile app project is that the company just started implementing the idea and it has gone for a 3rd project but there were no documentation or template to continue with. The javascript framework for front-end was Ionic-angular and VB.net for front-end and back-end respectively. For this mobile app project, it was handle by 3 developers which the first developer handle the first project completed like 90%. The 2nd developer who came in and then left after I join in has completed the first and second project. He had started on the 3rd project and left it done like 40% which then I came in. I went in and took over. Just a fyi, there were no team or seniors in the mobile app team so I was a lone wolf. The other seniors are working in a portal web team(using VB.Net and Telerik) and no one knows how to handle the javascript framework (Ionic). I ran into some issue in the front end part as they have done the back-end which the front end just need coding to retrieve the data and I have ask my colleagues(for a pair of fresh eyes) or google search to find a solution but it fail. 3 months pass, the manager ask me for the solutions which I stated that either have a senior to guide or provide me the first project to do code review but he said no cause I'm not full time and it's confidential. He ask me what other language I'm familiar but I told I'm newbie. I said React and he ask me "What is React?" as he does not know the existence of this javascript framework. The moment he ask me this question, I was wondering, why are you not aware as this is a new idea. I believe you would have done some research before starting the mobile app project. Sadly he was not happy with the progress even though I have made small accomplishment for myself which he said it is not a big deal. After that, he decided to throw me into the portal team. Then not long, due to the Corvid spread increasing in Malaysia. We were going to lockdown which then make us to Work From Home. So I was assign to some task remotely. I have encounter errors and I have debug to find the source which I'm aware is around that block of code. I have try making changes but fail to solve it. However, I may be blind or dumb not to understand the code which then I ask my senior for help and then he said please debug. He has been doing this repeatedly which I do not know what to do. We both ended up had an argument on the voice call stating I should be self-independent and not being spoon fed which he did for some part for me. I had wasted many people's time. What he said it's true and I'm now thinking whether I should further continue in this line of work? UPDATE - I was given a task by a senior. The senior pass me a few file out of the whole application system. The senior mention that these are the only file needed as I just need to modify that particular page. So I took it and try to compile. However I ran into some error and have tried whatever necessary to compile it. Sadly, I failed and I told the senior what I did and show the senior a screenshot of the error. The senior then told me to check again and do the steps that I have done earlier. I told the senior, I did already and the senior mention check again and it is not possible cause it should work fine. I got fed up and I don't know what to do. The senior doesn't seem want to help when I have try every possible way I can think of to solve it <Q> This is normal, I've been developing software professionally since 2006 and before that for about 10 years non-professionally and I've seen this both in myself and <S> others so don't worry. <S> You are feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of knowledge / skills you need to accomplish seemingly simple tasks. <S> The "seniors" you are working with should really understand understand this if they have any amount of experience and <S> their job is to help you through this. <S> It seems to me like they aren't which to me <S> is the role of a senior developer <S> so I would say they aren't doing their job very well either at the moment. <S> This might be due to the pandemic or it might just be that they don't know that this is part of a seniors role is. <S> What you need to do is break down your tasks into smaller chunks and work on them. <S> Just like someone climbs a mountain they don't constantly look to see how high they are <S> they just take one step at a time. <S> So if you have problems break it down to the smallest thing you should do then tackle that <S> and if that's too big a problem break it down to as the smallest thing possible. <S> Put these steps into a todo list (a bit of paper is fine btw) and as you finish them cross them out. <S> should further continue in this line of work? <S> Yes <S> definitely, this is a little blip you'll get through it. <S> I would say that the others in your company should be helping you out here <S> but it sounds like none of them are. <S> This is quite curious if you ask me as I've never seen that before. <S> All the devs I've worked with where willing to help me out. <A> (I am making the Community wiki because it promotes one of my web pages which I think may help, but want to minimize any gain from it.) <S> It sounds as though you are being asked to debug without much idea of how to do it other than make changes <S> you think might help from reading the code. <S> It is possible to take an organized approach to understanding the bug, so you can make exactly the right change to fix it. <S> See my Debug Strategy page. <A> Ionic-Angular with a vb.net back end is a tech stack with substantial learning curve. <S> Frankly its crazy to put anybody new to programming on that project even with support. <S> It sounds to me they are not making any effort to accommodate your level of experience. <S> You need to make it clear that you will need support and don't be harsh on yourself. <S> In the mean time do all the learning you can to get up to speed. <A> Should you pursue a career in programming? <S> That one is entirely up to you. <S> It is normal for a developer to face this kind of issues? <S> Yes. <S> The most important thing for you right now is to decide whether you're okay struggling with a steep learning curve, knowing it should get much easier overtime as you learn more and more about the stack. <S> I've been in tech for 7 years and haven't done the same job for more than two years. <S> Tech is a field where you're constantly learning, which may be an advantage or a no-go depending on your personality. <S> This is especially true in programming, where you'll most likely learn many languages, frameworks and stack throughout your career. <S> Your manager did a poor job by letting you stuck on an issue. <S> They should remind themselves you're a junior and still need to learn a lot. <S> From what you're saying it sounds like they don't want to do it themselves or maybe not even know how to do so. <S> I'd advise you to look up for job opportunities but given the current events, now doesn't seem like a good time. <S> Have a break. <S> When I'm stuck on something I switch to another task or have some leisure time because by the time I go back to the issue, I look at it in a different way. <S> My mom always says your brain continues to work on the issue in the background and when you go back at it you have a calmer point of view as well. <S> Double win. <S> If possible, talk to a colleague about the issue. <S> Rubber ducking is a great way to move forward because putting words on the problem makes you look at it in a new way. <S> It's even better if the colleague isn't that skilled with the specifics of the project because you'll have to be as simple as possible when explaining. <S> That greatly helps in troubleshooting too. <S> Finally, use Stack Overflow/Exchange. <S> There are lots of people out there who are skilled in these languages and willing to help. <S> Don't be too harsh on yourself. <S> Learning is part of being an developer. <S> We all learn everyday and this is part of what makes this career so interesting so <S> if that's what you really want to do, don't be afraid by the difficulty and know that's <S> it's okay not to know immediately.
| I think you need a mentor which should be someone at your work but failing that you could use an online site some of which are free.
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How do I interpret changing to report to my previous manager's manager During a meeting with my manager that I get along with, how do / should I interpret soon reporting to my n+2 (manager's manager)? There was no mention of a title change or salary increase but increased visibility to business stakeholders is mentioned. This seems like more trust by my company on me and perhaps "training" to move upwards to more senior role? My original manager is staying and I have been with the company for about 5 and half years. I am currently a team lead with about 8 direct reports. This takes place in the cybersecurity profession within financial services sector. Edit for more clarity My evaluation last year was great,noting my technical solid skills, my initiative, and how I mentor younger colleagues well. My responsibilities within my current role does include supervisory responsibility. I am interested in what the implications of the change in reporting structure may mean. I am interested in staying as I am satisfied with my work, great colleagues, and am decently compensated. <Q> How do I interpret direct report to my n+2 manager <S> Interpret it as a positive chance to network and impress a bit further up the food chain. <S> The outcome and reason is an unknown but obviously your manager is involved in it which usually means you're making your manager look good. <S> But in any event networking is always a good thing. <A> There are lots of reasons that your employer could have made this change. <S> Maybe your current manager is overloaded and needs to hand you off. <S> Maybe there is some restructuring going on <S> and it no longer makes sense for you to report to the current manager. <S> The best way to find out is to ask. <A> Congrats! <S> Don't overthink the corporate hierarchy thing. <S> This is 21st century business, not medieval Byzantium. <S> Your manager-to-be surely thinks it will be good to have you as a direct report. <S> Only that manager knows exactly why. <S> You should ask directly. <S> "What expectations do you have of members of your team? <S> What do you expect of me? <S> How will you know I'm doing the right things? <S> Do you have any kind of special projects in mind for me?"
| This is very likely to be a positive thing for your career.
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Should I return to my old job? Or am I just being nostalgic? I left an engineering position after 4 years for a job with better commute, PTO, salary, and hopefully work-life balance. Two months in and I feel like I want my old job back. I miss my old coworkers, my old boss, and feeling like my role is making an impact on the company. I was told I am welcomed back. They can match or exceed my new pay and PTO, just not the commute (35-45 mins down to 10 mins). I left on great terms and didn't really dislike my work situation, I just felt I could improve it (I was frustrated many times and sometimes felt overworked, but its hard to place this feeling in retrospect). Maybe this change was sort of a perspective check I needed. I worry that I'm simply nostalgic for my old position and missing the comfort/familiarity of it. Anyone face something similar? If I want to go back, how much longer should I wait? I think that I need to give this new job a few more months just to see how it pans out once I start gaining some momentum. <Q> What should I do? <S> - well that is a question for which only you have the best answer. <S> Or am I just being nostalgic? <S> Well, you may as well be. <S> Just do not let light feelings drive your actions. <S> Should I return to my old job? <S> As I said, make a proper analysis of all factors. <S> Only you know which are the factors, and how important they are. <S> Some questions to have in mind during the analysis: <S> Why did you leave the previous job? <S> Was it bad? <S> Who / what was bad? <S> Why did you join the current company? <S> Does it really make a big difference for you in which company you work? <S> In my personal case, there are very small chances that I would return to a previous job. <S> For each case, there are several reasons not to return. <S> However, I know people to returned to their previous jobs with no problems. <S> I even know one case when a guy left and re-joined the same company several times in one year, before moving to another country, and thus breaking the "spell". <S> I even know a case when a guy returned to a company, after leaving them in the most unfriendly terms - very strong arguments, very bad loud cursing and so on. <S> Complete "circus". <S> Bu after some time he considered it is more beneficial to return, there were some negotiations, and finally he returned. <S> The last time when I had some info, he was still there. <S> I guess that I return to my previous jobs when sleeping exactly for the reasons you touched already: not everything was bad. <S> Maybe some colleagues were very nice, or the projects challenging, or good benefits... <S> In the end, it is only a matter of what you feel and think to be best for you. <S> Just do not decide based on temporary mood. <A> After changing jobs a couple of times, for me personally what I value most is the work environment - colleagues, boss, atmosphere. <S> To me this is something that is much more valuable and hard to interview for. <S> If you have the opportunity, go and have lunch at your previous company, with your colleagues, see how your mood develops. <A> It sounds like you have two great options now. <S> Congratulations. <S> Be patient with yourself. <S> You're right at the most demanding time of starting your new job; you know what you have to learn <S> and you're scrambling to learn it. <S> And, you're right in the thick of integrating with your new team. <S> If you compare your mastery of your old job with your present scrambles, of course the old job looks good to you. <S> Just don't make life-decisions like that too hastily. <S> And be careful about making them on the steepest slope of your new learning curve. <S> If it were me, I would choose the job which gave me the better chance for continuous learning. <A> Don't forget to listen to your gut. <S> There is significant research (e.g. Klein, Kahneman) which shows that in big life decisions your instinct is very helpful. <S> Since you're going to spend a lot of your time at the workplace <S> I think it qualifies as a life decision. <S> So just like when choosing to marry someone, you're probably not going to pull up an excel sheet with pros and cons, think how does it feel to go back? <S> If your gut is not helping then know that often nostalgia is actually your brain trying to convince you to go back to wherever <S> was safe and comfy. <S> No hard feelings for the guy <S> , it's just the way it was programmed a long time ago. <S> Getting out of your comfort zone, one of the biggest challenges for us all, has more than once proved to be the best way to grow and move forward. <A> It takes a lot of work to put together a CV, going through interviews and negotiating a new job. <S> And usually this comes after months of considerations. <S> It doesn't sound like what the old job is offering is going to be enough for you not to leave again in a few months. <S> And the thought of your old colleagues was not enough to stop you at any point in a long hiring process. <S> To answer your question, yes, it's very likely you are being nostalgic. <S> I recommend giving this job at least six months before considering going back, or moving again.
| Don't rule out returning to your old job. While feelings are important, please make a proper analysis of all factors before taking and implementing a decision. Personally, I also return to previous jobs, but only while dreaming during proper sleep.
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How should I word a company transfer on my resume I have a bit of an unusual circumstance that I'm not sure how to word it on my resume. Background Back in 2019 I was offered a job at Company B, which is a subcontractor for Company A. Due to various factors Company B wasn't yet approved for the project that I would be joining. So Company B offered that I would work at Company A since they were the prime, and when Company B was approved as a subcontractor for the project they would "flip" me over to Company B. Question What is the best way to list working on the same project for different companies with no new roles or responsibilities between transfers? As well as presenting that the transferred occurred within 6 months of starting a new job. Attempted Solutions List each company separately Pro Would make it easier to view Con The content is the same for both companies I only worked at Company A for 6 months so this can make it appear that I'm job hopping Use only Company B on my resume Pro Simplest Con The start dates are different which can be an issue during a background check Combine both and list them in order Pro Most thorough Con I only worked at Company A for 6 months so this can make it appear that I'm job hopping Can be confusing to people reading my resume Current Solution I've combined both companies to a single entry in my resume, and noted that I previously worked at Company A. I'm worried this can be confusing. Example Company B fake city Consultant July 2019 - Present Previously at Company A Developer Achievement 1 ... <Q> The purpose of the CV, from your point of view, is to help you sell yourself as good as possible. <S> I would present the two jobs separately, describing the job done at each. <S> If you are asked, tell the interviewer that the companies were "married" and you actually only changed paperwork, but not really the project. <S> However, the change might not be trivial, if you actually changed office / team... <S> because a job is not only about work-products, it is also about team-work and other non-technical details. <S> Even more interesting is that the companies were not completely "married" (as in one owning the other, or both being in the same corporation), the were only having a "consensual relationship" (customer-supplier). <S> And this makes the change actually BIG. <A> Like this: 2019-2020 XYZ Project, Company B, subcontracting to Company A XYZ, now completed, is a high-priority project to provide high-capacity framis-zumbinating capability to Company A's facilities. <S> Describe the project. <S> Remember, the purpose of a resume is to get the interview. <S> It's a resume, not a legal document. <S> It should brag, accurately, about what YOU did. <S> Nobody is going to investigate whether you got the corporate history right. <S> (If they do, great. <S> A wanted you badly enough to work around their slow contracting process to make sure you were on the team. <S> It's a topic of conversation about getting things done.) <S> When a new company tells you they'll do a background check you can tell them about the shenanigans to help them avoid confusion. <S> If possible give, as a reference, the manager who figured out the contracting workaround. <A> Are you in Company A's employee database? <S> What does Company B say your start date is? <S> You will probably want to get the answers to that to guide how to present your work history, considering potential future background checks. <S> This may mean listing two companies to cover a gap or just Company B with a note that you were assigned to Company A for six months.
| Mention your present paycheck-providing company, and the business relationship to company A. Focusing on the project takes the emphasis off their outsourcing shenanigans.
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New employee - Remote working - daily update call with FD - what should I say? Please help To provide you with a background, I just joined a company in the Finance team exactly a month back. Just after 2 weeks of joining we started remotely working due to the situation with COVID-19. Ever since then, we have been having daily catch-up calls with the FD for around 15-20mins, to help him understand how the work is moving. As all the others on the call (a group of 10) are experienced staff, they have things to contribute and provide updates about on the call. However, as I have just started recently I am being kept occupied by small simple tasks. So when it's my turn to talk, I usually just say that 'Everything's going great, and I have work to keep me occupied for now'. Initially I felt it was fine to say this, but as days passed I felt that no one now expects me to say anything else and I feel like I'm being considered as the quiet one. I am just concerned that considering these are my initial days in the company, I don't want to create that kind of an image. Please help! Is there anything else I can talk about or mention? Or is it fine to just continue saying the same? <Q> You don't need to (and shouldn't) go into much detail, but "I've been entering the financial data for the previous month into our reporting system, and it's all going smoothly" or something similar about whatever you've actually been doing is good. <S> This will give your team confidence that you're working on what they expect you to be working on, and it should be clear to them that you don't have anything else you need to say. <S> If you're worried that you need to improve your image, you can ask at the end of your update whether there's anything you can do to help anyone else in the team (assuming you have the time capacity to do that, of course). <A> In scrum, during the daily stand up you answer 3 questions. <S> What did you do yesterday? <S> What do you plan to do today? <S> Is there anything that will prevent you achieving today's goal? <S> I know you are not doing scrum (and may not know <S> /care what it is) <S> but those 3 questions probably provide a reasonable template for what your contribution could be. <S> As a new member of the team, the 3rd question may be particularly relevant to you. <S> Presumably you need to understand their working processes, the software used, the market space the company operates in etc. <S> You might say "I plan to do X <S> but I'll need a little help to understand how to do Y in our Z system". <S> Finally, while it will be difficult to ramp up when working remotely, you should make an effort to let your manager and teammates know that you are keen to take on more responsibility and contribute to the team. <S> Ask what else you can take on or arrange to sit/screen share with somebody while they do a particular task so you can learn it too. <A> Hopefully you have a list of the tasks you're working on? <S> Ideally prioritized by your line manager and have picked or been assigned the most urgent/important to work on (or failing that, as you're new, ones within your capabilities). <S> Your update should be a very brief list of what you did yesterday and what you're doing today. <S> Mention anything you're having problems with or that is blocking you from getting work done ("Still waiting on March figures from Alice"). <A> While it's expected of a new joiner to take time to understand the work process and get accustomed to the workflow, it also depends on the person's grasping and adapting power.
| If you feel you've got a hang of the process and need to know more about the roles and responsibilities expected out of you - simply ask what new areas you can explore and how you can be of help. Talk about the specific small tasks you've been working on. Make sure you state anything you have finished ("I completed the month end report and emailed it to Bob in marketing").
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How can I prove that I am familiar with a certain technology? During a job interview I was asked if I had any experience with Software Technology X . I had not. But I was curious and afterwards I got intensively involved with Software Technology X .I watched countless videos on Youtube and have now even completed an online course on this topic.Additionally I started to develop open source projects with Software Technology X .Unfortunately this technology is not used in my current company. How can I make future employers assume that I am proficient in Software Technology X even though I am just doing it as a hobby? <Q> Mention the specific open source projects you've developed using STX. <S> In addition to being more convincing than just putting it in a long list of "technologies used", that lets the person reviewing your resume actually look at your use of STX. <S> When reviewing a resume, I love love love seeing open source projects listed, and I trust them over work history "responsibilities" as indicators of skills. " <S> Developed high-performance SQL queries" in your work experience might mean that you're an experienced SQL wizard, or it might just mean that you added a column to someone else's table. <S> But if you've got a GitHub link, there's no ambiguity about your contributions. <S> And then don't worry too much. " <S> Just doing it as a hobby" may have been a big problem once, but it's at most a minor consideration now. <S> Everybody's come to understand that in software development, people can build expertise even when they're not being paid for it. <A> This is what I did for my current job, even though I used the technology at work at a previous job. <S> I couldn't give them work from that job, so did a bit in my spare time at home and used samples from that. <A> Be honest, State that you fit their profile for a backend/frontend/fullstack developer and that you have experience from Y technology and that you also have experience with x technology which you´ve learned on you own. <S> You might add on your CV a "statbar" of the technologies you know and fill it in honestly <S> how well you know it. <S> You might say that you are a master on technology y but pretty good on technology x. <S> That way they get some scope <S> I think they care less about you <S> are a maste of technology X then <S> that they know that you know how to code. <S> They can always help fill in the blanks. <S> I once sent in a website I had buildt with PHP for a ASP job <S> and I got hired. <S> Ofc I knew asp <S> but that was less important. <S> All they wanted to know was that <S> I wasn´t <S> a fraudster who claimed to know how to code despite not actually knowing anything. <S> Which happens ever so often in the technology world. <S> I also recommend that you add that final touch to your cv and use a free template service like www.canva.com. <S> You need to show to them that you really want to work there. <S> Remember you are selling yourself. <S> They are the buyer. <S> So package yourself as an honset, hard working person who focus on every detail. <S> I also recommend practicing coding interviews on youtube.
| If you can, put together some sample work or code done using it and send it in along with your job application in the future.
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Does it matter who is marked as an author on a work product? For a new software project, I'll be reusing more than 90% of a colleague's work as the base. But since it needs to be created as a new project, I'll be listed as the author of the product despite most of the work having been done by my colleague. He digested requirements, worked on new concepts with a trial & error approach, tested and so on. I've been thinking that I should recognise his contribution in some way but does it matter whose name is on the repository? How important is being listed as an author on a work product? I was considering cloning his repository as a base but that won't be an option. Now my first thought is to put the name of major contributors in the "README.md" file. Is this a good idea? <Q> Re-read your contract. <S> As such it's the company's repository, not yours, or your co-worker's. <S> If this is going to be a valuable long term project used by the company, then over it's life time it will have a ton of contributors, and in any organisation I've ever worked at, the first contributor wouldn't be regarded as the major (or even an important) contributor to the project. <S> That's achieved by participation over years, if at all. <S> If you want recognition for your contributions (or want to give your co-worker recognition for theirs), then the best way to do that is to highlight the relavent contributions to the relevant manager at performance review time. <A> It is always good when work is tracable, not just to the author, but <S> the project that inspired the first work to begin with. <S> Maybe in the future, someone comes across some part of the work, and they can't figure out why it was written that way. <S> If they can look at the first project it came from, they may have sufficient context to figure it out. <S> Or maybe they can ask the first author. <S> Also, if you can link the work together, if there is a serious defect found in the first piece of work, you do want to be able to identify subsequent piece of work that have the same defect. <S> If there is some sort of technological solution, or even documentation that links the work together, that may make that possible. <S> In addition, you don't want to be seen as the person that steals credit. <S> Even if that is not your intention, you don't want to cause friction in the workplace. <S> While this answer is software centric, it need not be. <S> Maybe instead of a piece of software, it's a configuration file, or a legal document, or a policy document. <S> Lastly, there can be some industries where there are legal obligations for particular people to be the one to complete work. <S> For instance, if you are forwarded a legal document that was certified by someone, it would be ill-advised to replace their name with yours. <S> Or maybe it's an engineering schematic that needs to come from a registered engineer. <A> Every company has, or should have, a policy setting out what to do in this case. <S> Ask your supervisor. <S> If there isn’t already a policy offer to write one and submit it for approval.
| If you're a full time professional software developer, it (almost) definitely has a clause in it saying that your employer owns all IP produced by you during company time.
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Is it polite to not give follow-up reply to a freelancer? I find it very impolite for an employer to not give any follow-up response to a job seeker after receiving a CV/ after a job interview. When I was in the position where I remotely interviewed a freelancer, I felt somewhat different, though, when I decided that the given freelancer was not my match. I tried to analyze this feeling prompting me, "it just doesn't fell right to tell the freelancer "I took a look at your portfolio and for the time being I would be looking for something else". That sounds somewhat rude or more precisely out of place - even, though it carries the best intentions to inform the freelancer whether s/he could rely on my gig or needs to continue searching for work. What I came up with, was that a freelancer, by definition, always has numerous options and resembles a commercial service, a micro-enterprise, unlike the full-time job candidate. That is to say, that the freelancer would be considering other clients in all cases, no matter my decision. This is not the case with full-time job seekers, of course, if they are about to get hired for job A, they should not negotiate for job B, because they may get in the confusing situation of getting proposed job B, before job A, while A being their top desire. Therefore a freelancer is not really dependent on getting my reply for earning his or her bread. Just the way you do not inform the shop assistant at a given outlet that you chose trousers in the next one, so they better not expect money from you today. It would sound silly above all. This is what my analysis is telling me, but I cannot be sure. What do you think? <Q> For all you know, they may be planning their work around your contract. <S> If I organised a tradesman to come to my house to do some work, and I no longer needed them, I wouldn't delay in letting them know. <S> For some freelancers they do need a steady stream of work to put food on the table. <S> Keeping them in the dark may limit their flexibility in finding other work. <S> You may find it annoying if the freelancer went missing at the last second, so extend them the same courtesy that you would hope to receive yourself. <S> The polite thing would be to communicate that you won't be needing their services for this project. <A> Is it polite to not give follow-up reply to a freelancer? <S> A simple "No thanks, I've decided on a different option" is all that's needed. <S> Case closed and everyone can move on with no loose ends. <S> It takes less than 10 seconds. <A> Is it polite to not give follow-up reply to a freelancer? <S> It <S> maybe not polite to not give a follow-up reply, but it definitely is not professional. <S> When I was in the position where I remotely interviewed a freelancer, I felt somewhat different, though, when I decided that the given freelancer was not my match. <S> and That sounds somewhat rude or more precisely out of place - even, <S> though it carries the best intentions to inform the freelancer whether s/he could rely on my gig or needs to continue searching for work. <S> It is never a bad idea to reply the freelancer by writing a brief email starting with thanking them for spending their valuable time interviewing. <S> They you can state that unfortunately your company do not see the kind of match it's looking for. <S> Additionally, the company would/could be willing to consider working together in future if a good fit between their skills and a job is found. <S> You can close by wishing them good luck with other work opportunities. <S> It's a good idea to ask them if they are okay with company keeping their information on file (this could also be required by law in some jurisdictions) for the purpose of containing for a future work possibility. <S> Writing this alone shows a courteous gesture without coming out as rude. <S> Let's not forget that a professional alliance may not always be possible, but we are all human beings after all.
| It would be polite to let the freelancer know. No, it's rude and inconsiderate.
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Would it be acceptable to ask for an Intern position until a full-time position becomes available? I passed the hiring committee in my dream company back in November 2019. The recruiter told me even before passing the committee, that, since I am a new graduate, and there are currently no open positions in my country (a small country with just two offices), she doesn't have a job for me at the moment. After passing, she told me that she can check a re-location option somewhere else in Europe if I am willing to do so. I declined and told her I am willing to wait until a position opens up (which is even better for me, since technically I finished my degree but I wanted to take my courses; which I can do in a discount if I am still registered as a student). Lately, the company puts up that it is recruiting for its internship programs. Would it be acceptable for me to message the recruiter telling her that I am interested in an internship program until a position opens up? <Q> would it be acceptable for me to message the recruiter telling her that I am interested in an internship programs until a position opens up? <S> Yes, certainly. <S> An internship is often a good first step to get a foot in the door. <S> You should make sure you understand the conditions: <S> Is it paid or unpaid, what type of benefits or support will you get? <S> Is there a time limit? <S> What's the trigger point for ending the internship? <S> Is this in the same work area/department, you want a permanent job in? <S> Is there a credible path for converting an internship to a permanent position? <S> If yes, what are the rules/guidelines? <S> How is this all impacted by the current pandemic and upcoming recession? <S> Once you have all the info, you can decide if that's a reasonable choice for you or not. <S> This also depends of course on what other options you may have, but these are not good times for job hunting. <A> Would it be acceptable for me to message the recruiter telling her that I am interested in an internship program until a position opens up? <S> There's nothing stopping you from talking this through with the recruiter. <S> There's no harm in asking them. <S> They has access to the right people who can actually take a decision on this matter. <S> Since the committee has already approved you, and have even promised you a job when a position becomes available, the decision makers would be more willing to take you as an intern. <A> Would it be acceptable for me to message the recruiter telling her that I am interested in an internship program until a position opens up? <S> You may or may not fit what they are looking for in an intern. <S> And this internship may or may not lead to a full-time position. <S> But it never hurts to ask.
| It's perfectly reasonable to ask. However, you may also wish to evaluate (possibly by discussing with a hiring manager) on if and how the internship could potentially benefit your actual full-time role.
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How to stop a colleague about to offend and embarrass everyone Obviously, this is still ongoing and has started maybe two or more years ago in my office. One of my coworkers, let’s just call her Sara, used the company’s educational services to go back to school to get herself a bachelor's degree in a relevant field (her current bachelor’s degree is in Exercise Health Science). After much convincing, she finally decided on Computer Engineering after everyone begging her to do so. At first things were fine, as most of the things she asked about were computer related (explain why X gives you it). Then she ended up joining some sort of club where you would hear increasingly strange assertions usually against men. It never really got anywhere beyond a few borderline HR comments, occasionally. Fast forward to a few months ago, she’s given a task to gather a few people and create an interactive presentation for our CTO and external partners. I was a bit worried that she may include some interesting material, so I tried to keep in contact with her team whenever I could remember. As of last week, I heard from some sources who were too afraid to speak up, she changed majors to Gender Studies and is taken classes called “Lesbian Literature” and “Angry White Male Students” (I am not making this up, these are real classes I looked up). She ended up scrapping the entire interactive presentation, removed it everywhere, and quickly put together something about how all men are out to get women filled with conspiracies that have nothing to do with Gender Studies, potentially muddying that field of study. Further, she put in some personal material against me and others (she somehow found out about something that could put my marriage at risk and WILL get out..it's not my fault). Now I have asked a few of those team members to stop her and report her to her manager, but nothing seems to be happening and everyone wants to watch this fail. HR and other groups even mention that it’s not my responsibility to handle this. What can I do to stop this train wreck, not just for me, but for all of those involved? EDIT: I asked her to remove me from her presentation and she did. Thanks! <Q> A few hours of a lawyer's time might be pricey, but not nearly as much as a breakup of a marriage. <S> Companies usually want to avoid that, and might tell her to shut up, not out of any sense of ethics, but to protect themselves from a lawsuit. <S> But for that, first get an advice from a real lawyer, not from me or anyone here. <S> Also, this could put you at odds with your company, since you would in effect threaten to sue them. <S> Measure pros and cons <S> well. <S> A smart HR person would contact her and told her to be careful not to put any info about anyone's personal life in the presentation, without commenting on the presentation in general. <S> That, however, is what a smart HR would do. <S> What a real one will or won't do is anyone's guess. <S> If your company lets her use the company educational services without verifying that she stays in a field relevant to her job, well, that's already an indication that not everything is as it should be there. <A> I thought of that, but I could not prove it and the only reason I know is from second hand. <S> HR wanted some solid evidence before they'll allow anyone to even touch this <S> Did you make the request to HR in writing? <S> If not, you do need to create a paper trail, for when things finally explode. <S> If you had this conversation over the phone, you need to retroactively memorialize what HR said to you in an email. <S> But be careful, do not make it about her major or the classes <S> she's taking. <S> Focus solely on how she's targeting you and creating a hostile work environment for you. <S> For instance, how come were you already suspicious of her presentation? <S> How did you already know to keep tabs on her through her coworkers? <S> She must have made comments to you before. <S> Or something must have happened. <S> And even if there were no witnesses to it, sometimes HR may be duty-bound and legally required to investigate (or at least, HR may be required to record people's statements). <S> And I agree with Dragan, you'll probably need to consult your own lawyer on this. <S> HR is not your friend. <S> Maybe what she's doing to you could be considered workplace bullying, or sexual harassment. <S> Or maybe she'll turn around and accuse you of sexual harassment. <S> Either way, I think consulting a lawyer that specializes in that kind of thing would be a good idea right now. <S> Also, giving your wife a heads-up may be a good idea as well. <S> And if you can't be open with her right now, you may want to consider getting some marriage counseling (or because of Covid19, some remote marriage counseling at least). <A> Further, she put in some personal material against me and others (she somehow found out about something that could put my marriage at risk and WILL get out.. <S> it's not my fault). <S> This right here is your way out. <S> Make a complaint to HR and say that the colleague is using company resources to defame your character and harass you. <S> Also, seek legal advice.
| Seek legal advice, as in, a lawyer in the city/state/country where you are. Normally such a presentation should really be left to fail, but if your personal life can be seriously affected, you could potentially tell HR that if she exposes any of your personal info in public, you will consider legal action.
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I'm about to graduate. Should I include a previously halfway completed academic program on my resume? After school I went to college. I studied there for 2 years (the program was of 4 years) but for some personal reasons, I dropped out and then got myself enrolled in a different college and program. I will graduate in a few months and am not sure if I should mention the previously halfway completed program I dropped out of. Since am a fresher I have no idea how this works. Can an experienced person please help me with this? <Q> No. <S> Leave it off. <S> In the long term, all future employers will care about is the degree that you were awarded, and for that all they need to know is the name of the degree, the institution where you earned it, and the year you graduated. <S> In the short term, it will raise questions about why you did not complete it. <S> Even if there are valid reasons, it can't strengthen your resume - you didn't complete the degree, and years spent at college aren't convertible to years of professional experience. <S> Sorry. <S> If there are skills relevant to the job you're applying for which you learned during that time <S> then it would be a good idea to include them, but in a separate "skills" section, unrelated to your education. <S> For what it's worth, I spent way longer than normal earning my degree as well, and while it was a little more difficult to get my first job, it has not impacted my career after that at all. <S> Don't stress about it. <A> Did you learn something valuable during the 2 years at the first college? <S> If you did then do include it and be prepared to explain it and to answer the question why you quit the program. <S> If you didn't, leave it off. <S> As someone correctly points out in a comment, a factor you might also want to consider is whether you will have a gap in your CV if you don't include the college. <A> Including it in your resume or not is up to how you want to handle questions regarding that period in time. <S> Leaving it in: You may have to explain why you left the program early. <S> The trick is to put a positive spin on it -- you had personal reasons for leaving. <S> Stating that alone will not help you though. <S> After leaving and completing your education elsewhere, what did you learn from it? <S> Showing that you can learn from a bad situation puts a positive spin on it. <S> Likely, they won't even care after a few years of job experience. <S> You could even be proactive during the job interview when asked about your schooling and explain it right at the start. <S> Again, putting a positive spin on it and show how it gave you personal growth helps. <S> Maybe you were working on FOSS during that time, your own little pet projects, traveling etc.. <S> My personal experience: <S> I was actually in the same situation as you. <S> I finished high school and went to university for two years. <S> Due to personal reasons I left the school and went to a college instead. <S> I'm from Canada, so a 4 year university degree and a 3 year college program in computers is not considerably different. <S> If prompted specifically about the two years at university, or about my education in general I would go lightly into it. <S> Generally following the theme of I <S> wasn't the right fit for the program and so decided to switch to a program that matched better. <S> Then focus on where I did graduate from and what I studied and learned. <S> Few interviewers bothered to ask in detail as it really wasn't important. <S> Don't doddle or put emphasis on dropping out. <A> I will speak from my experience. <S> I left a Computer science degree on the last year in Brazil because I had an opportunity to move to the USA. <S> I did this after getting all subjects complete, with the exception of the "filler" laboratories (chemistry and so on) and the final thesis. <S> I moved to the USA and completed another degree. <S> I still keep both in, adding a note on my incomplete one that explains "All major subjects completed". <S> This did cause me to be discarded in some cases, but, in most others it allowed me to start a conversation and explain what happened. <S> So, in short, if your reasons to leaving are good and show your qualities rather than negatives, then I would take the chance. <S> Also, as @BigMadAndy said on their answer, if you learned anything valuable, then keep it. <A> You need to get used to putting a positive spin on just about everything that happens in your career, truthful or otherwise. <S> This includes previous studies that were not completed. <S> This is especially true if you are trying to break into a highly competitive career path where it's tough for graduates to get a start. <S> I once moved to a place in Australia where jobs were extremely hard to come by, I soon discovered that I was up against hundreds of liars who would say anything to get their foot in the door ahead of a person who actually had the experience and then when I got the job, a horde of back stabbing jealous psychos who were traumatised the company went to market to get the skills they didn't have but desperately wanted to get. <S> It can be tough out there, good luck
| If you worked at the time and can include the job you won't have a gap, so you should only include the college if it brought you something really valuable. There is really no one good answer to that. Leaving it out: You may have to explain the gap between your last education (assuming high school) and the post secondary institution you graduated from.
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Employer asks me to sign document after resigning I live in the UK and have recently resigned from my job. My employer is now asking me to sign a document, which basically says that I will not sue them, have no claims against them and also reconfirms the notice period and non compete written in my contract. They offer nothing in return for signing this document. Our non compete is quite long by industry standards, so it is not clear if this would be fully enforceable for someone with my seniority. I will join a competitor after the non compete is over and my new employer is happy for me to sit out the full non compete, so in theory there would be no problem to agree with the non compete. However, I do not want to sign anything I don't have to. Do I have to sign this? Can they force me to sign it? Thanks. <Q> Generally you don't have to sign any contract, unless it's a condition of you getting something. <S> If they aren't offering you anything in return, or if that something isn't worth the restrictions the contract places on you, don't sign it. <S> Slavery is illegal in civilized countries, so they can't refuse your resignation just because you don't sign a new contract which doesn't give you something acceptable in return. <A> Do I have to sign this? <S> Can they force me to sign it? <S> No, you do not have to sign it, and they cannot force you to do so. <S> They will simply note your refusal to sign the document and file it away. <S> Double check to make sure you are not being offered anything at all (severance, recommendations, etc) <S> in return before you decide either way. <S> If you refuse to sign, you would have a slightly better chance to attempt to claim lack of knowledge about the notice period and non-compete agreement. <S> But you would still be unlikely to win against a lawsuit if it's actually already written into your contract. <S> Don't make any assumptions in this regard without first consulting a good lawyer. <S> The document is pretty standard, but signing it is not required. <A> In the UK, restriction of trade is not permitted. <S> Non-compete clauses that stop you taking customers or IP with you are totally enforceable, but they cannot stop you getting a similar job with a competitor. <S> There have been a number of tests of this. <S> You are perfectly entitled to tell your company that you will not be following that, and to tell your new company that you'll start the Monday after you leave. <S> If your existing company wants you to stay out of the job market for some time, they are entitled to give you what's known as gardening leave. <S> You remain an employee for that period, on full pay (or whatever you negotiate), and you simply enjoy not working for that time. <S> If they want to prevent your skills/abilities/knowledge being used by a competitor, they need to pay you for the privilege. <S> As for the "you won't sue them" part, that's not legally enforceable either. <S> Many people only feel able to sue an employer after they've left, and constructive dismissal for example basically requires you to leave. <S> In short, it's a sign the company is trying to get one over on you. <S> Don't let them. <A> I actually signed twice that I will not sue the company, and that I have no claims against them. <S> Both times this was condition for receiving severance pay that was significantly higher than what was legally required. <S> The "not suing" had exceptions: <S> For example if I visited the office once more to return company property that was at my home, and I slipped on a slippery floor and broke a leg, I could still sue them for that. <S> But as one employment lawyer told me "if you sign this, and then you find out there was a conspiracy in HR to get rid of all male employees, you won't be able to sue them anymore". <S> I took that risk :-) <S> Your contractual relationship with the company may last longer than your employment. <S> For example NDAs, generally keeping company secrets secret even without NDA, if you are asked to be a witness when the company is sued etc. <S> But nobody can force you to add new contractual obligations. <S> So signing an NDA after leaving or signing a non-compete agreement after leaving is not on. <S> Making it a condition for a voluntary severance payment or offering you payment in general for signing is legal. <S> Since you have to return company property anyway, I think they can ask you to sign that you returned it. <S> They can ask you to sign that you received severance pay when you received it. <S> They can ask you to sign that you know there is a non-compete in your contract, they cannot ask you to sign that this non-compete is enforcable (I hope you see the difference). <S> If they threaten to fire you if you don't sign things that you have to sign, you would be signing under duress and any court would throw it out. <A> You are entitled to seek independent legal advice and can tell them so. <S> You are also entitled to modify the agreement ( which is a contract to which you will be bound if you do sign it!) . <S> They are asking you to sign a document beyond the employer employee relationship- <S> which from what I see is a relationship that has ended as you’ve resigned. <S> This is a document that is of benefit to them, not to you. <S> Please do not sign this. <S> To put the concept in other scenarios say you get divorced, have legally divided your property and you’re in the process of moving to a new apartment. <S> Your ex shows up with a document he wants you to sign that says he can take your car every weekend for the next two years. <S> He will pay for the petrol but no car for you every weekend... <A> They offer nothing in return for signing this document. <S> That's the answer to the question. <A> Ask them how much they will pay you to sign it. <S> This is where it gets interesting. <S> If they wont pay you then that tells you its not worth it to sign it. <S> Not to them, and not for you. <S> If they are willing to pay you to sign it, then its probably worth more if you don't accept their first offer of payment. <S> Its probably worth more <S> to have you sign it.
| They have no means to force you to sign it, there's no benefit to you to sign it, and it might not even be enforceable even if you did sign it.
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Alien Wanting Wanting Me To Create a USA Upwork Account for Him to Use Someone found me because he noticed that while working on the freelancing site, US workers get top dollar. Therefore, he wants someone in the USA to create an account for him, and work under that account under a revenue share agreement. I think that the ethics of this are shady. Likely, people/companies are looking for US employees because they only want to or can legally hire from the USA. Otherwise, perhaps they only trust Americans, or don't want to be bothered by different currencies. Is there a legal reason for this? I looked through the TOS, but I don't know what part of it deals with impersonation, if any. Likely, this would mean that he would work under my name (which means that my reputation follows his), or that my account would be under his name (meaning that my taxes are somehow linked to his name). If this arrangement is motivated by competitive pressures alone, reputation risks are a concern covered by the return of the agreement, but if it causes more serious concerns, then obviously this is a danger zone. Could such an agreement result in account termination from the company, or in legal problems? This question is not about the legitimacy of the person's request (spam). <Q> More than likely the Terms of Service for Upwork would prohibit you from sharing your account with another user, regardless of where they are based. <S> Violating the TOS would most likely be cause for termination of your account. <S> Any income reported by Upwork or the client would be reported as your income and you would be liable for any taxes just as if you had earned it directly. <S> Even if you were willing to take on the risks this could land you in legal/tax trouble that could be expensive for you to remedy. <S> There is also the possibility of either industrial espionage or export limitations. <S> Doing work with the purpose of gathering information or simply working in systems and/or products that can not be legally exported outside the US. <S> But perhaps most importantly to you is the simple issue of fraud. <S> This could result in both criminal and civil penalties. <A> I looked through the TOS, but I don't know what part of it deals with impersonation, if any. <S> Could such an agreement result in account termination from the company, or in legal problems? <S> https://www.upwork.com/legal#registrationand <S> "ACCOUNT PROFILETo register for an Account to join the Site, you must complete a User profile (“Profile”), which you consent to be shown to other Users and, unless you change your privacy settings, to be shown to the public. <S> You agree to provide true, accurate, and complete information on your Profile and all registration and other forms you access on the Site or provide to us and to update your information to maintain its truthfulness, accuracy, and completeness. <S> You agree not to provide any false or misleading information about your identity or location, your business, your skills, or the services your business provides and to correct any such information that is or becomes false or misleading." <S> "ACCOUNT <S> PERMISSIONSYou agree not to request or allow another person to create an Account on your behalf, for your use, or for your benefit, except that an authorized employee or agent may create an Account on behalf of your business. <S> By granting other Users permissions under your Account, including as a Team Member or Agency Member, you represent and warrant that: (a) the User is authorized to act on your behalf; and (b) you are fully responsible and liable for the User’s acts and omissions, including for obligations and liabilities relating to making payments and entering into Service Contracts and the Terms of Service. <S> If any such User violates the Terms of Service, it may affect your ability to use the Site and Site Services. <S> Upon closure of an Account, Upwork may close any or all related Accounts." <A> It's a Federal felony Having it done to you unawares is called "employment identity theft". <S> You fully participating (for pay, no less) is " illegal employment conspiracy ". <S> You might think "oh, this is a hack, it's too imaginative for them to have made laws against it yet". <S> Which only tells me you're not an employer of unskilled laborers near the Mexican border. <S> If you were, you'd have to constantly prove to the Feds that you're not doing that, because lots of employers conspire to hire illegal immigrants under someone else's name. <S> Here. <S> This guy (Arroyo) who would be standing in your shoes just got 27 months in the Federal slammer. <S> That's a felony conviction, and the Feds don't give early release. <S> They won't extradite from Pakistan for a crime of this level, so their eyes will be on you. <S> Also, you'll get stuck with the tax <S> Mind you, all that person's income will post as income for you. <S> That will be on top of your normal income, which means it'll be taxed at your next dollar rate, i.e. your top bracket. <S> You could be paying 30% tax or more on the money between Fed and state. <S> Some people don't know the gory details here; they just tick 0 or 1 exemptions on <S> their W-4 " <S> and it always comes out even for me". <S> For bracketing reasons, that won't work if you have 2 parallel jobs at once, and it will wildly under-withhold leaving you with a giant tax bill on April 15. <S> Further, the person could pull a dirty trick on you, and select 70 exemptions, ( <S> yeah you can really do that; I've done it!) <S> , at which point 0 taxes would be withheld at all , leaving you holding the bag for all the income tax "you" supposedly made. <S> Your partner giving you, say, 20% won't even pay the income tax, which again is happening at next dollar rates e.g. 22% or 25% Federal <S> and ?? <S> ? <S> state.
| By allowing another to use your credentials to perform work while presenting it as yours would easily be prosecuted as fraud.
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Manager put hands on me for a joke, left marks on body While looking out a window with another employee manager x came up from behind and surprised me by putting one hand on my shoulder and the other he formed in the shape of a finger gun all the while asking for my lunch money and pushing me into a corner. While I realize it was a joke, he was very rough and left marks where he jabbed my side and on my fore arm where I was pushing back against the corner. This is my first workplace. Sub 200 employees. I'm not even in my twenties and this retired marine was pushing me into this corner. I have photos of the marks, but I have not talked to anyone. What should I do and what should I expect. All of the managers are very closely knit and I feel if I report this, I will lose my position in IT. <Q> What I would do in your situation is: Seek a private conversation with said manager and tell him that while this may be meant as a joke, it went a little bit to far as he left marks on your body. <S> Some people are just used to a bit rougher handling or do not even realize how strong they are. <S> Most likely the feedback is appreciated as it would not have been his goal to harm you. <S> It's important to give feedback when something is not ok, if you want to develop a healthy relationship with your colleagues. <S> Do this only if you do not feel assaulted or mistreated. <A> First of all, I am sorry this happened to you. <S> (IE, email pictures of any bruises just in case). <S> Then, you should go to your manager or your company's HR rep and tell them how uncomfortable it made you feel. <S> In the US, it is illegal to retaliate against an employee for going to HR in good faith. <S> Please don't be afraid to go to them, HR is certainly not your friend, but this is exactly what they are there to prevent. <A> If you were assaulted, go to the police. <S> If you were not and think that this is a "fun prank", nothing to do, besides maybe ask to not do it again, or be gentler. <S> It's up to you to figure out which one is it.
| You should first make sure to document what happened as best you remember somewhere outside of work If you feel abused, you should obviously report this to HR.
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Chair is uncomfortable, do I just have to get used to it? Last Saturday I received a chair that is very very similar to this one (it's funny - I can't find the one I bought and this was just a few days ago). I've been sitting on it ever since and it feels comfortable most of the time, but when I try to stand up or stretch, the back of my legs feels painful. Here's a picture: The part in red is where it hurts when I try to stretch. I contacted customer support and this is what they said: This is the first time we are hearing this but please be assured that I will do my best to assist and advise accordingly. While we are not certified doctors/health professionals, I can only advise that this might have occurred due to sitting habits such as leaning forward against their desks when seated, hence placing more pressure onto the underside of the thighs. Comfort is subjective and you may be facing this because you were transitioning from a softer chair to a firmer one. Please rest assured that as our chairs are designed to promote ergonomic health, and it will take some time to get used to. I used to have a Herman Miller Celle chair and I've never had this problem, nor do I believe I had bad posture before. Could this really be a matter of getting used to it?? It's the third day in a row that I wake up feeling pain on my legs... <Q> I think resting your feet on a box is not the best thing. <S> You may subconsciously be firing your leg muscles continuously because your body is aware that your feet are not on a stable surface. <A> It's most likely not your legs - seems unlikely that they would hurt - and more likely referred pain from your back, where your nerves are getting hurt. <S> So first off, if you end up needing to, then return the chair. <S> Or throw it out - back pain is not worth 500 bucks. <S> Next up your posture is terrible - you should be sitting with far less hard right angles - your legs (thigh/shin) should be at ~100 degrees, and your torso/thigh should also be at ~100 degrees. <S> This implies that you would be sitting with your thigh not perpendicular to the ground, but a line from your buttock to knee should be at a ten degree angle to the ground. <S> You shouldn't feel like you are falling out the seat, but it should be a slight sensation of. <S> This puts more pressure on your feet, and reduces pressure on your low back. <S> Next, your feet should be totally, 100% supported - heels included. <S> Just get some books and stack them up. <S> Use something that can bear your whole weight - that looks like a tissue box! <S> Your feet should feel like they can be at rest. <A> Chair is uncomfortable, do I just have to get used to it? <S> I would say no. <S> Your current chair consist basically of two fixed, straight planes. <S> For longer periods of sitting, your chair should adjust to and support slight changes in your posture. <S> This will prevent you getting constant pressure on any one specific spot, like stopping blood flow to your legs and keep your intervertebral disks engaged. <S> Your photo also shows an incorrect setup. <S> Your feet should firmly touch the ground and your elbows should be able to rest comfortably on the desk surface. <S> So you should probably also think about lowering your desk. <S> See this link for an example of a good setup and notice especially the difference in the lower spine. <S> Your Celle chair at work had a mechanism that changes the angle of the seat relative to the angle of the backrest. <S> This way, when you lean forward the seat tilts forward also, relieving pressure on the underside of your thighs. <S> It also had a somewhat flexible backrest to enable you to shift your weight and actively engage your back muscles while still supporting your back with an adjustable pressure. <S> This video also gives some good tips
| If your legs hurt then something is very wrong. You should try lowering your chair so that your feet are on the ground. While some ergonomic chairs take some time getting used to, because your muscles need to adjust to more "active" sitting, this does not seem to be the case here.
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Should/Could I list small open source contributions on my resume? For example, fixing typos and spellings, improving the documentation, fix minor bugs or implementing non-vital features, things like that. Are these kind of contributions worth mentioning on the resume/CV? Could I self-proclaim as "Contributor/Developer of ___(the project)"? <Q> I would list it as "Made occasional minor contributions to <project>. <S> " I would give such a resume a slight edge in the hiring process, because it shows you find it valuable to improve things for the next person, and to contribute to an ecosystem from which you benefit. <S> It wouldn't weigh as heavily as full-time experience though. <S> A lot of people want to add open source projects solely as a resume-booster, but they just choose a random project and try to do something flashy. <S> If you chose a project because you actually use it, and are making mundane but useful contributions, that goes a lot further with me in an interview. <A> Otherwise, they are quite irrelevant for a proper job. <S> They might be considered more relevant if you target a job dealing with / developing open-source projects. <A> If nothing else, it shows that you have some experience with source control software and bug tracking. <S> Just be wary of the fact that you could be questioned about the extent of your contributions in an interview and if you say it in a way that exaggerates the amount of work you did, people will probably be disappointed when they find out the reality. <S> and you don’t have a lot of development experience. <S> If you do mention it, don’t go overboard. <S> Calling yourself a developer on the project may be a bit much.
| If your CV has an "Others" section, then you can add those efforts you made. I would suggest you only list it if it’s relevant
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Manager proposes bold idea (for inspiration and boosting morale), that is complete nonsense. How to handle this? Theses are challenging times for business. I work for software development company that has developed mainly desktop software (Embarcadero C++ Builder) for years (for sales domain). We have had endeavours in the web development, but these were mainly other projects, not the main business line. These days we are having discussions how to proceed. Management proposes idea to find some tools that can automatically convert our code base of (Embarcadero C++ desktop software) into full featured web sales solutions, aka webshop+web based backoffice solution. Well, I have always been open to the new ideas and challenges, I am committed to work hard and smart, but this is beyond my comprehension. I have proposed integration between existing webshops (open source and closed source) and our system and gradual development of web interface for our desktop system. But management asks for the immediate development of complete web shop solution without any integration of our current existing system. Current code base can only be used for the more or less automatic generation of complete web solution, without any desktop remains. This seems to be incomprehensible to me, because: I can't imagine automatic conversion from Embarcadero C++ to PHP/JavaScript (I am exploring options, in no case I am not asking options here), besides, how it will give web frontoffice operations if they have not been here. If we are developing new web sales solutions, then we should have clear picture, what features we can deliver that are not already in the existing web sales solutions or that can not be implemented as the plugins to existing web sales solutions. My thinking is that integration approach is the only rational option. What makes me uneasy is - how irrational is the approach proposed by management. But I am ready to cool down and change myself and try to see some rationality in it. I don't know what attitude should I take? I don't know whether the management is complete nonsense or maybe the idea from the management is so smart that I can not comprehend it yet? I am really, really open to new ideas. I acknowledge that Apple is Apple now because there were people who were not afraid of the most impossible ideas. So, I am having some deadlock and rethinking the whole things that I have known so far. <Q> What has been asked of you? <S> Have you been asked to investigate this idea? <S> or implement it? <S> Request some time to perform an investigation of the implications of this approach, or <S> if that's not your role, suggest that an investigation is performed before any more resources are committed to the task. <S> My CTO once proposed a ridiculous idea for a project I was leading, and asked me to investigate it. <S> I drafted a small document outlining what I perceived to be the pros and cons of several approaches to the problem. <S> I paid equal attention to his idea as other more-realistic ideas, but the document explained why we would not pursue the crazy idea further. <S> I then talked through these conclusions in a meeting with many of the stakeholders present, and we decided as a group which ideas warranted further investigation. <S> Your goal should be to fairly present the advantages and disadvantages of the options, to help your manager make an informed decision. <A> How irrational is the approach proposed by management? <S> It depends. <S> You need to look at the costs and benefits of both approaches. <S> If the management is planning to permanently throw away the knowledge, expertise and flexibility of your current systems in favour of a new, untried approach that no-one is familiar with and won't give you any speed/quality/efficiency advantages, then the approach is very irrational <S> If the management has a very small budget to produce something that won't be extended and doesn't need to be maintained or scaled-up in the medium/long term, then it would be sensible to use a quick-and-dirty solution <S> Most projects are somewhere in between and we need to work out what makes commercial sense <S> In the end, we develop software because someone is paying us for it. <S> If they pay a lot they can have a Rolls Royce. <S> If, for perfectly sound, commercial reasons, they pay peanuts, then they get an old banger <A> I actually see two questions here: 1) is the company right doing what it's doing? <S> and 2) how you should tackle that. <S> On 1): I come from the business side of the software industry. <S> In business it's important to have a strategy, to know the big picture. <S> It's not to say the strategy should stay the same and not change under changing circumstances, but it should be clear and not changed in a haphazard way, without a solid analysis. <S> However, it's important to analyze whether it will really be beneficial by scrutinizing <S> e.g. the competitors on the new market <S> (e.g. it's much more difficult to find clients if the two biggest companies dominate 90% of the market than in a fragmented market), the possible customer base, our value chain - to what extent will synergy effects be produced in the process of creating the pipeline for the new product line. <S> These are just some of the aspects; the list is not complete by any means. <S> If your employer hasn't analyzed these and other factors, the risk is it will end up with high sunk costs investing in an unsuccessful product line. <S> But, going to 2): What can you do? <S> You can ask your boss/ business side for a conversation and ask questions about the overall vision for the new endeavor. <S> During this conversation you can make it clear that (if I understood you correctly) the synergy effects in the code base will be negligible and the effort involved huge. <S> This, if others agree with you, should be taken into consideration by the management. <S> It doesn't necessarily mean the company shouldn't go this way. <S> The transparency on the effort/ cost is important even if they decide to do it anyway. <A> or maybe the idea from the management is so smart that I can not comprehend it yet? <S> No, you are the subject expert not them. <S> If you judge it unfeasible within the parameters set, then you should be listened to. <S> I'm not a developer, but converting in such a way seems unlikely at best and if such tools do exist they're probably more trouble than they're worth. <S> However you're in the industry of providing solutions not whining, so investigate feasibility, then change the parameters until you find something that's workable and then take that with you when you explain what will not work.
| Entering a new market can bring a company huge benefits: diversification of the product portfolio, less dependence on the existing products/ technology, a better adjustment to the changing market environment, synergy effects in production and marketing/sales, economies of scale. In these situations, you need to not dismiss an idea immediately because it's stupid (even if it is).
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How to proceed when you're accepted, but are waiting the answer from another company first? I applied for internship in several companies by the start of the month. I had a tricky deadline in another thing so by the end of the month I need to have definitive answers for internships. I was first answered by one company (big corporation) and they interviewed me twice. They asked me more in the beginning if there were another companies that were in contact with me, to which I truthfully replied no , since no companies had yet contacted me (I made it very clear to them that I had applied for other jobs, but also that they were the first to answer). In the final interview they were still the only company that had spoke with me, so when they asked for the second time I again said they were the only company that I was in contact with. Now, right after my last interview, another company (small Start up) called me and scheduled an interview for the next day, where they presented an internship offer that was really interesting. We didn't spoke salary nor working hours so I still cannot say which internship I prefer since these two topics will obviously be taken into consideration. Today, I have received an e-mail from the first company (big corporation) saying that they were happy to tell me I was approved for the internship, and told me to write back whether or not I wanted it. I obviously want to do an internship this year so this might be my only chance , however I would like to wait for the other company's answer (which might take until the actual end of the month) just to see which one I would like best. Now, I don't know how exactly I should proceed. I see only two options, and I am desperatedly looking for something beter: 1st: I ghost the big corporation for a bit. That is, I keep them without an answer until the other company answers me. This option has the terrifying possiblity of suddenly receiving a mail saying "Since we didn't hear from you, we decided to end the offer for internship". Which would be sad because I liked this internship as well. 2nd: I tell the big corporation that I would like to wait another company's answer before answering them. That would be sort of strange, since during the process they asked me whether or not there were companies speaking to me and I said no, and will also give the (wrong) message that I don't want to do an internship there unless there is no other option. I do want to work there, but if the Start up offers me similar/better remuneration and working hours, I guess I would decide in favor of it, since it's closer to where I live and is very intersting proposal. What is the most professional way to proceed in this case? I am (really) open to options other than the two described above. <Q> What is the most professional way to proceed in this case? <S> On a comment you mentioned that the interview with the second company also went well, and that they will be giving you a technical test to complete some day next week. <S> This tells us that, at least, you won't have a definite answer form them for a week. <S> Most likely it will be more than that, perhaps two weeks, considering the time to check your test results and any other steps they may have. <S> On the other hand, the first company already made you an offer, and is waiting for you response. <S> You don't specify if you have a deadline to accept or reject the offer, but if you do, you should compare that to the 2 week period you won't get an answer from the other company. <S> If you are not able/willing to do so, then you should decide if you take this offer and stop your application process with company 2 , or if you decline the offer from company 1 with the hopes of landing one on company 2 that also happens to be of your liking. <S> In any case, it would be wise to consider reaching out to company 2 and ask them for a description of their internship. <S> This way you won't have to wait for the technical test to know what they are offering you, and you can have a complete view of both offers and be able to decide. <A> Don't EVER ghost an employer, it reflects terrible on you as I shows you can't conduct yourself when making a big decision. <S> Most employers wouldn't hire people that stopped communicating when they feel like it. <S> Talk to the second company and try to leverage the job offer into a X faster hiring process. <S> And ask the first company if you could get X time to decide. <S> If you can get that you're golden, otherwise you have to decide. <A> What is the most professional way to proceed in this case? <S> At this point, the big corporation has already made you an offer and the start up has not. <S> You don't know if/when the start up will make you an offer.... <S> you have not even taken the technical test! <S> The professional thing to do would be to either accept or reject the big corporation's offer. <S> There is nothing wrong with taking some time to "think about the offer" but anything more than 3 days is unreasonable especially considering that based on your feedback to them, you only have their offer to think about.
| So, if you are willing/able to delay your response to the first company for at least 1 or 2 weeks then do that, compare both offers and decide.
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Employment contract in a small company A small Canadian company sent me an offer of employment in which there is nothing said about my salary figures (which does not concern me, as I and my employer have discussed this verbally). The only thing that he sent me to sign is a Non-disclosure agreement. The employer says that things are not very formal at this point, as there is also a probation period in effect. So I'm fine with that. But after the probation period is over, wouldn't I need to have a formal contract in place? Or if I find that there are no formal contracts with other employees and they make verbal agreements with the employer and have no problem with that, then should I not be concerned at all about having a written employment contract with this company? Update : I had to wait for several days before the employer even sent me that email (he was super-busy etc), yet he said he needed a person like me, with my skills, and that it is not easy to find someone qualified in that area. So he seems to be interested. When I asked him what I would show as a proof of employment if there is no contract he said he would produce a letter with all the relevant information to this effect. Is that alright? Wouldn't that letter serve as a contract? <Q> If they are formal enough for a non-disclosure, they are formal enough for a salary offer letter. <S> Salary offer letters are not complex. <S> My offer letter for my current job just has a table of things like hours, benefits eligibility, and salary right at the top. <S> Very simple and straightforward. <S> The employer says that things are not very formal at this point, as there is also a probation period in effect. <S> Exactly the kinds of things you want in an offer letter. <S> My offer letter has the probation period. <S> My offer letter states the "informal" aspects. <S> It is extremely concerning that they aren't putting these terms on paper. <S> Cynical me thinks that you are Being taken for an unpaid or illegally underpaid probation period <S> Will be stiffed at the end of your probation period for "underperformance" Not having your payroll taxes, EI, or Canada Pension Plan paid at the correct rate <A> then should I not be concerned at all about having a written employment contract with this company? <S> You should always be concerned if there is no written employment contract that includes salary information. <S> Without a written contract, any issues that you have over salary, duties, conditions...etc will be much more difficult to dispute. <S> It is very difficult to prove <S> /disprove verbal agreements. <S> If the company refuses to provide one, I would walk away. <A> In Canada no written employment contract is required however it is extremely beneficial for both parties involved. <S> It establishes compensation, it clarifies date of hire for benefits (EI or benefits that take effect on end of probationary), it clarifies the role you are hired for (helpful in cases of constructive dismissal). <S> There is very little up side for working under a verbal contract, especially if there is expectations that compensation will change at the end of probationary. <S> There have been a lot of questions on this SE from people who were promised a pay raise at the end of probationary but never got it in writing. <S> What I would suggest is ask your employer to produce a simple contract, name, start date, job title/position, length of probation, compensation, and any other details that you've agreed to. <S> If they won't produce this <S> I'd suggest asking if they'd sign it if you produced it. <S> If they are firmly against having any written record of the conditions under which you are employed I would see that as a huge red flag. <A> I have worked 20 years in Canada, for 10 different employers and have never heard of a contract not stating the salary. <S> I would discourage signing it. <S> You can amend the contract yourself, put in the discussed salary, then sign and send it. <S> Remember that you may need the contract to be shown to other parties (bank, government, etc...) <S> They won't take "we discussed it verbally" as a valid reason.
| If you want to save yourself from any potential headaches down the road I would request a written contract that includes the salary and any other conditions for employment you feel are important.
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Giving names of past colleagues to current employer looking for new hires My current employer at company A is looking for experienced people in their field. They asked me if I knew anyone who could be a good fit that I could refer them. A few years before working at company A, I did an internship at company B, where I met a few people who could fit the criteria. However, I have not kept in touch with them neither professionally nor personally. It is possible that they do not work at company B anymore, and it is possible that they are not looking for a new job. I wonder if there is any ethical or professional issue with giving their names to my current employer, who may then contact them to see if they are interested in some job opportunities at company A. I do not want to directly contact them, since it has been a long time that I have not kept in touch, and I do not think it should be my responsibility to introduce company A to them. <Q> You should definitely not give out names of people to companies without their permission. <S> However while it is not technically "your responsibility" to introduce your company to them, there are good reasons why you might want to do so if you can. <S> First and least altruistically, companies often pay a referral fee to someone who introduces good employees to them. <S> This can be thousands of dollars. <S> Even if your company doesn't do that, referring a good employee makes you look good, as well as actually benefitting your company, and that can only help your career. <S> Companies love referrals, as it hugely reduces the chance that they are are hiring an incompetent who just does well at interviews. <S> Secondly it is always a good thing to be working with good people. <S> Just for your own sake you should make an attempt to get them to join you. <S> Thirdly, assuming your company is a good one to work for, most people appreciate being given the opportunity to apply for a job if they want one. <S> That's not to say you should pressure them or try to 'sell" your company, but giving them the opportunity to apply is rarely disliked. <S> Given that LinkedIn is fairly ubiquitous these days, it should be an easy job to find your former colleagues on it. <S> It's a good idea to keep up with former colleagues, even if you don't have an actual conversation for years. <S> Most good jobs are found through networking, and you never know when one of them is going to be in a position to recommend you for a job when you need one, as well as vica versa. <S> So find them on LinkedIn. <S> Say hello. <S> If they accept your connection tell them your company is looking for good XYZ workers, that you liked working with them and ask if they would be interested. <S> If they say yes, ask if they want you to give their name to the company, or tell them where to apply. <S> (Incidentally, if you make contact don't make it just about the job opportunity. <S> Send half an hour chatting with them about what they are doing, what their new company is like, how their family is etc. ) <A> I wonder if there is any ethical or professional issue with giving their names to my current employer, who may then contact them to see if they are interested in some job opportunities at company A. <S> If they give you permission to pass their name along, then it's perfectly ethical and professional to do so. <S> Otherwise, don't. <S> They may not want to be contacted by potential employers or hounded by recruiters. <S> I do not want to directly contact them, since it has been a long time that I have not kept in touch, and I do not think it should be my responsibility to introduce company A to them. <A> You should get their permission before passing their names on.
| If you're not in touch with them and therefore can't get their permission then don't pass their names on. If you know good people, who you have worked well with in the past, then getting to work with them again will make your working life easier and more productive. If you don't want to contact your former co-workers, then just tell company A that you don't know anyone that you can refer.
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I’m a software engineer who might soon be laid off. Would spending time as gig worker hurt my return? I am a software engineer who works for a company that makes event management software. For obvious reasons, we may be in financial trouble (a lot of board meetings happening lately with a lot of lawyers and such) and I am considering the future. Obviously I am applying for other development jobs, but the market is obviously slow. The gig apps are all exploding in usage and I’m inclined to get my application in before all the other unemployed get off the CERB/Unemployment and figure out the same idea. I don’t want to be on a waitlist. Would this appearing in future background checks be a problem for me as a software engineer? I live in Canada. <Q> Short answer: <S> no, you'll be fine. <S> There's this old adage that certain companies won't consider "contractors" for full time employment. <S> That's only partially true at a very particular level. <S> I've had plenty of great candidates with traditional resumes with a heading statement of "seeking full time employment". <S> Perhaps they have has a job listing from a well known consulting firm or as "Independent Consultant" with a few details. <S> I don't dismiss these candidates. <S> It's clear they are seeking full time employment. <S> The consulting work is not a red flag. <S> It's even a talking point in an interview to hear about their experiences in this area. <S> However, I have seen lots of resumes come in from recruiters where a candidate is marketing himself strictly as an independent contract professional. <S> The header statement on their resume says "seeking contract employment" followed by multiple pages of short term gigs (3-12 months each). <S> In the rare times I've phone screened these professionals <S> , they get really confused when I start talking about their career interests and our product strategy for the long term. <S> They just want to come in, code, fix bugs, and get out. <S> Then take a long vacation and move onto the next gig. <S> As such, they aren't the right fit to hire full time for my jobs. <S> There's nothing wrong with these folks. <S> It's just that I know from experience how to identify them from their resume structure and move on. <S> In other words, unless your resume becomes dominated by listings of gig work experiences instead of consolidating to a few brief lines (like you would any job experience), I doubt you'll get mistaken as a contractor. <S> Update <S> When you originally spoke of gig work, I thought you meant "gig" in terms of software programming work. <S> Now that I see your comment, I think you might have meant "gig" as in "Uber driver". <S> That's perfectly fine too. <S> Just leave this type of work off your resume . <S> It's irrelevant for finding your next job and would only water down your resume. <S> If it comes up in an interview, the answer is simple, "I was doing gig work to pay rent during my layoff caused by the pandemic." <S> No one will question that. <A> I cannot speak for Canada, but generally speaking, I see nothing bad in getting laid off in a bad recession and finding a McJob to pay the bills. <S> A "career" is something you need to be able to afford and sometimes that just isn't possible. <S> Feeding your family is never the wrong decision. <S> The only thing I would like to see is that you still try to get a job in software development while you work to bring in money. <S> If someone still had their McJob 5 years after the recession when I was hiring again for 3 years already, that would indeed be a red flag for me. <A> It's common enough for developers to spend some time working as an independent contractor. <S> In fact, it shows initiative and the ability to understand a customer's needs. <S> It could give you the opportunity to acquire some new skills, and the broader your skill set is, the better your chances of staying employed during recessions. <S> Furthermore, people do understand that widespread events such as recessions (whether triggered by pandemics or otherwise) can lead to even highly skilled and employable people being out of work for a time. <S> A gap in your CV/resume is just one data point. <S> If there's a reasonable explanation for it, it needn't count against you. <S> My source for this information is that I've been in software development for 35+ years, have lived through several recessions, and have done my fair share of hiring, and working with human resources during recruitment.
| In the software industry, time spent doing gig work shouldn't count against you. If you do find yourself between gigs/jobs for a while, I recommend you use the time to learn a new skill.
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How to help people become meticulous and thorough in a workplace setting? I'm leading a team of programmers and I have had a number of interns/junior programmers who came into the team in the past decade. Some of them have done well and have continued onwards to become accomplished, senior programmers. However, there is a subset of people that have a lot of enthusiasm and have the right attitude, but even after intensive coaching sessions I am unable to get them up to the right level. Curiously, I find that their programming skills are okay (not great, but in general this is not the main problem). The main issue is that they lack more "administrative" skills around the job. Chiefly, they are unable to be meticulous in their work. They lack skills to read instructions, documentation, emails or other material with the level of attention and thoroughness that is required. What this ultimately means is that instructions often have to be repeated. The same mistakes are frequently made. When documentation is being read, half of this is "absorbed" and the other half is glanced over and ignored. When something isn't understood it is not interrogated. We have had lengthy discussions of what is unclear or where people are stuck, and 90% of the time it boils down to not having properly understood something or picked up on something important. I've tried checklists, documenting procedures, and being thorough in the instructions. However, I can't foresee everything and I need a certain level of critical reading and reflection skills - and those are simply not present. But these are some great people that I feel have potential. I know I can't offer them the upskilling and guidance that they need - I am merely there to help their programming skills but this goes further than that. However, when they leave I want to give them pointers as to what they can work on going forward, before going back into a similar programming role. I must note that I operate in a country with a poor education system and I feel several of these issues relate back to an education system where reading, reflection, and critical thinking are not well developed. What kind of resources should I point these people to? Are there (hopefully online and free) courses that address these kinds of issues? What would they be called? Any other tips? <Q> I'm going to use the term "detail-oriented" to describe a person who is "meticulous and thorough" in how they approach a task. <S> I'm going to use the term "intellectually curious" to describe someone who "interrogates" a document when something isn't understood, someone who creates little experiments to figure things out, etc.. <S> I use two terms as I think they represent two different traits. <S> I think both are required to be really successful as a software engineer. <S> I think intellectual curiosity is something innate to a person - they are born that way or not. <S> I don't know if that can be taught, especially to an adult. <S> Detail orientation is a different, I think, in that it can be learned, at least to some degree, as an adult. <S> While I'm not sure if there is a specific course to teach it, as a manager, I develop it in my staff by requiring that they take a detail oriented approach to problem solving. <S> For example, I require (and review) <S> a "plan of attack" which describes the various steps required to accomplish the task, and the criteria for determining when it is finished. <S> For another example, I'll require them to write out the "test cases" for the software, before they complete (or even start, sometimes) development. <S> In all cases, I will interrogate them and their plan to make sure they've captured all the details, and will send it back for a re-do if it is lacking. <S> I've definitely noticed that after doing this for a few projects, my developers start doing a much better job capturing the details of a task at the onset - which results in better software and much more accurate estimates of the time a task will require. <A> I think your questions could be rephrase as: <S> How to improve soft skills of developers How to encourage developers to develop new skills to help them grow in their career <S> The first thing you need to understand is that you can't force them. <S> The more you force, the harder they'll push back. <S> The second thing is understand the goal of the individuals in your team. <S> Some may want to do as little code as possible, other as much as possible and as few process as possible. <S> Some won't even know what they want. <S> But here is only one side, other sides are salary, workload, meaning of tasks, interactions with people, carrer growth... <S> If you understand what your developer want you may find that some don't want the seniority and what it entails, other want it but may have not yet understood what is required to achieve it. <A> It sounds like you may be pointing the developers at a whole bunch of documents, then effectively expecting the developers to read and memorise the whole lot. <S> But that isn't happening, and it's not going to happen. <S> You need to set up traceability. <S> If module X is required to meet requirements 5, 6 and 7, then you need a traceability matrix that says so. <S> You need a test matrix that shows that the tests for module X are demonstrating compliance with those requirements. <S> Anything that is part of the documentation set must actually be part of the documentation set. <S> Asking someone why their work doesn't comply with an email you sent out three months ago is futile. <S> If it matters, it should be added to the statement of work. <S> The "definition of done" for a module will involve showing how it meets the specifications/requirements.
| As a manager, I'm careful to not assign tasks which I think will require much intellectual curiosity to those incapable of it, and I try hard to test for it in my interview and selection process. Once you know what each person wants you can guide them on the track to better themselves by providing advice on how to achieve their goal.
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How to coordinate urgent video conferencing meetings with team when working remote with less than optimal Internet connection? I work as team lead of the IT Security team where I work. Today we had a security incident (verified via tripped canary tokens / observed IOCs ) and I had to coordinate all hands on deck meeting with the team with little notice. It has been my experience that incident response activities such as reviewing audit logs, reviewing system configurations, and restoring systems work best when team members are able to see and interact with each other, whether physically or via video enabled teleconferencing. Voice communication only just does not work well, as all participants being able to see what is being investigated (e.g: Audit logs or machine registry entries) is critical. Communication is also more easily distorted when the visual piece is missing. However, several team members have less than optimal internet connection bandwidth at home, making video conferencing in real time difficult. For example, just today the connection often cut out. Due to Covid 19 pandemic, entire company is being required to work from home and I anticipate this to continue for the foreseeable near future. During a fluid situation such as this, how can I better coordinate response when technology outside of the company control is constraining my work? <Q> During a fluid situation such as this, how can I better coordinate response when technology outside of the company control is constraining my work? <S> Open a telephone conference call. <S> Phone lines tend to be far, far more reliable than what you seem to be experiencing with your internet connections. <S> If your real-time video is unreliable, send snapshots via email as needed. <S> Again, email is more tolerant of weak connections. <A> Prepare ahead of time. <S> “On an emergency call” is not when you want to find out if people can connect. <S> Set the expectation people need video-ready Internet and make sure the company is paying for whatever upgrade they need. <S> Practice. <S> Have some “game days” where you exercise your security incident management process to work out kinks like this when there’s not a real crisis. <S> Use tools with graceful failover. <S> Share screenshots and logs via chat or other collaboration solution you have (this helps create an audit trail too, one would hope these things are being attached to a ticket or otherwise archived even if everyone’s video is great). <S> Evaluate your process. <S> Does everyone need video going all the time? <S> One screen-share takes a lot less bandwidth than 12 video streams. <S> Do you really need all those people on a call, are they all really contributing to the incident? <S> Or do you need a better incident management process and a stronger incident commander role who can update the interested onlookers while a core set of actual relevant people are working the problem? <A> If your team members have a poor internet connection due to lack of ISP offerings in their homes or lack of money to upgrade to a better plan/ISP, I don't see a way to make it work. <S> If the problem is due to a slow corporate VPN, you could ask your infrastructure team (if you aren't on it) to investigate and see possible fixes. <S> If the issue is specific to the tool you are using to do the calls (you didn't mentioned which one you are using), perhaps you could suggest another one for the company.
| A workaround would be your company issuing mobile corporate phone numbers with a data plan, so the person could use it the mobile internet in an emergency with the company computer by their own cell phone or a USB dongle, but it would require a significant funding if a lot a people would require this (and it assumes that the cellphone ISP has coverage on each team member homes). Most civilized videoconferencing solutions you can also phone into if video fails.
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best way to bring an informally or self-taught programmer up to specification I am a manager/supervisor of one programmer who, although enthusiastic, willing and hard-working, is inefficient owing, I believe, to the fact that he is self-taught and has never undertaken formal training in software development. His solutions are frequently non-standard and fragile and he makes mistakes about which I was warned as an undergraduate. As he has a constructive attitude, I believe that this can be remedied by giving him some formal training at company expense and my manager is willing to approve this. He is a full-time employed programmer in Australia. What would be the best way to 'fill in' his knowledge? Are there suitable courses on-line for example, or should we send him to a university for one day a week, assuming a suitable course is available? The languages we use here are mainly Java and PHP but I want more general data-structures and software engineering course rather than how to program one specific language. <Q> My answer is based specifically on the one example of "deficient" code the OP provided in a comment to another answer: he will create globally-visible static objects (in Java) 'just in case' he wants to access them from somewhere else in the code, <S> later I agree that this is poor code for a professional Java programmer to produce. <S> However, I'm not sure that this is the result of the developer being self-taught, rather than just very inexperienced. <S> I base my statement on having managed many freshly graduated computer scientists whom would likely produce the same code, and on my own recollections of my university assignments (now long ago) which focused on the algorithm vs the implementation. <S> I bring this point up because I think some of the ideas that the OP mentioned aren't really relevant <S> - I don't think an online/real-life university course will teach what this developer needs to learn. <S> As code of this style is the result of inexperience, the only way to improve it is by increasing that developer's experience level, by exposing him to code written by more experienced developers. <S> This can be accomplished by code review in both directions (having an experienced dev review his code, and have him review an experienced dev's code), reading through books designed especially for experienced programmers (e.g. "Effective Java" by Joshua Bloch), and even attending certain training conferences (something like QCon - <S> even if most of it will be too advanced for him, it will introduce him to the fact that there is a lot out there <S> he knows nothing about and will hopefully encourage self-growth). <A> I want to give answer to how to bring you team/team member upto specification. <S> First question is do you have any defined standard for calling good or bad? <S> I saw many people call code bad even if it is working and is efficient since naming convention is not as per their thought which is even not defined as any standard. <S> Do you have any Continuous integration tool in place? <S> Any code analysis tool in place? <S> Any unit testing & code coverage tool in place? <S> Any security testing framework in place? <S> alteast one of the code-analysis tool like SonarQube, JsLint, CodeLint,Fxcop etc in CI pipeline <S> make sure developer are raising pull request to be reviewed by others where code issues can be identified before merging to Development branch for all. <S> If you are concerned about security make sure there is some code analysis for securityand <S> some defined guidelines like OWASP top 10 practices and add in CI pipeline <S> Formal training might help but still will not make anyone write code what the way you want. <S> I also sometime write clumsy code when I am doing some POC/fesibility analysis and know that code will not be used in production. <S> People tend to avoid standard till there is a quality check in place. <S> Hope <S> it answers your question. <A> Have him read. <S> Start with Code Complete. <S> At the back of that book, there is a section titled "A Software Developer's Reading Plan" where the author has a whole list of books that are required at his company to progress to specific positions. <S> To get beyond "Introductory programmer level" you must read Code Complete as well as: Programming Pearls Conceptual Blockbusting Facts And Fallacies Of Software Engineering Software Project Survival Guide <S> I would recommend them in that order
| If yes your code already be upto standard otherwise my suggestions are: make sure you have some coding standards defined which is followed by whole team make sure there is a CI(Continuous integration tool) is in place make sure CI has
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How should I prepare for my SECOND probation interview in June, given the detail? I work for a research team in a large company in France, and today I've had my probationary interview. Normally, if things go quite right, they guarantee the position after the interview, or if not, they either terminate the probation period, or extend it by two months. For my case, it was extended by two more months, with the complaint that "I didn't take good ownership of the projects and didn't become fully autonomous." So, I'm starting to prepare for the second probationary exam in June, but I'd appreciate if you could give me the answers to a few questions: 1) What exactly is meant by: "I didn't take good ownership of the projects."? Does it mean that I didn't define the problems well enough? 2) I'm bit confused by "...didn't become fully autonomous". I did come up with a few problems, and solved them partially or fully. I did ask for a few discussion from my manager, but not a lot, and at the end, it was not he who gave the solution, it was me. I'm having a meeting with my manager tomorrow , where we're supposed to discuss on how we can better communicate. What kind of questions should I ask, and what should I not ask? Is there a suggestion that you can give me for how to prepare for my second interview? <Q> First I think 1) and 2) are really the same thing. <S> Apparently the company wants you to take ownership and act autonomously. <S> This means, treat your product/ modules / <S> whatever it is you are responsible for as if they where more or less your business. <S> Think about how to develop it forward, manage deadlines and priories, communicate with stakeholders and never loose the business value you are delivering out of focus. <S> This ranges widely from company to company - some just want obedient worker bees that work to spec and <S> don´t ask too many questions, some prefer the employees thinking for themselves and actually take part in driving the business. <S> (and everything in between) Seems you landed in a company that leans more to the latter than the former. <S> When talking to your manager, ask him to what extent you are "autonomous". <S> What are your responsibilities and what are your powers to fulfill those? <S> PS: I don´t think that asking questions or asking for help is counting against "taking ownership". <S> Realizing where you need help and and acquireing it is part of owning your product. <A> Is there a suggestion that you can give me for how to prepare for my second interview? <S> Write down everything you were told that you still don't understand. <S> If you enter a second probation period confused, you might as well just start updating your resume. <A> I have never worked in France, but hopefully there isn't a huge difference in culture there from where I am. <S> The questions you're posing to us are pretty much what you should ask. <S> Since they are providing feedback, it's fair to follow up on that feedback if you don't know how to change or improve so you can meet their expectations. <S> What you may want to ask for are specific metrics you can track. <S> If you can't get metrics, at least getting a qualitative list of areas of improvement paired with specific things they want you to do differently will help you narrow down your focus. <S> You might also ask your manager if you can plan on having regular meetings between now and your next interview where you can discuss your progress and make sure you're improving while still maintaining good standing in the areas that you didn't need to improve. <S> You really should be having regular meetings with your manager anyway, but having a monthly meeting that focuses on your performance would be valuable. <S> Your manager may deflect or outright refuse to provide any of this. <S> That would be unfortunate if you like the job, but at least you'll know that you can expect to be judged by your management without clear explanation to improve. <S> I'd leave it up to you <S> if keeping the job is worth it to you at that point.
| Make sure you don't leave the second interview without a complete and thorough understanding of everything they are asking you to do, and how you can fulfill their requests.
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Company is taking money out of our paycheck to buy the CEO's book My corporation just sent out an email that they will be deducting pay from everyone's paycheck for each of us to purchase a copy of our CEO's book, since his sales have been down lately. It's only $11, but it's really bothering me since it's $11 * 250 employees, or $2750 being stolen from the staff, and none of us consented to this. How would you recommend pushing back against this? <Q> There are multiple ways you can handle this. <S> Direct confrontation. <S> Reply to that email <S> , copying HR, saying that you do not consent to this. <S> Indirect confrontation. <S> If you have a manager/superior you trust, ask them to intercede. <S> This is something that a good leader would fight on your behalf. <S> Anonymous confrontation. <S> Skip trying to handle it internally and just report it to legal authorities <S> Don't do anything and be taken advantage of. <S> Not one I would normally pick, but sometimes you're not in a position to risk losing employment or causing problems at work <A> I would print the email (being sure that my name doesn't appear) and mail the printout to the state's Attorney General office anonymously with a printed note that this is illegal. <S> On the letter I would note CC of the appropriate labor board and the company's HR department. <S> I would mail the CC copies anonymously too. <S> Then I would drop the matter. <S> (I assume that you don't have a Union...) <S> If the manure does hit the rotary oscillator, you want to be as far away as possible. <S> HR is not your friend. <S> Your coworkers may pat you on the back for creating a stink about the matter and getting their $11 back, but upper level management doesn't like this sort of attention. <S> If it was discovered that you started the brouhaha then you would have cut your throat. <A> I would reply with: " <S> No thank you". <S> Simple, polite, and if they do garnish your wages then you have a clear case of theft/fraud. <S> If it is a dumb joke from pay roll, then you called their bluff. <S> If you get serious back lash, you can say you were going planning to buy it yourself already (a lie, to give you time to find a job with a less toxic ceo) <A> Considering the amount of money its costing I would personally go with a soft protest and have some fun with it to raise employee spirits and create some camaraderie about it. <S> One idea already suggested is to read the book in work time. <S> Other things could be: Get as many employees as possible to to give it a 1 star review on Amazon (Anonymously). <S> You could even explain in your review what the author/his company has done <S> Use it around the office for menial/trivial things e.g. using it as a notepad to take work notes, tearing out pages to wipe a spill etc Send out a bulk email asking all employees if they want to buy a copy of your book (or <S> a variation of that e.g. buy something of yours from etsy/buy cookies from your child etc), since the company has set a precedent for it now. <A> There is a response that everybody forgets, which is "talk to your colleagues". <S> If enough of you refuse to buy the book and threaten court action then seriously, what is the company going to do? <S> Fire everyone? <S> Forcing employees to by a book is essentially withholding wages, which is illegal in pretty much every jurisdiction. <A> Since it is so important to the company that you buy this book, you are likely expected to read it at work time. <S> I think the CEO would be really pleased that all 250 employees read his book carefully.
| Anonymously email HR saying that this is not ok and they need to not do this or it will be reported to legal authorities as it is theft.
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Potential employer wants to talk to friends of a candidate A potential employer of my best friend recently asked to speak to his friends during the hiring process. Of course I agreed yet it sounds incredibly weird to me, I have never heard of such practices in Germany, but I don't know anyone working in the insurance industry myself. I am not too worried about the meeting myself, if it gets uncomfortable I can end the connection to the online-meeting any time anyway, but I am wonderinger: Is this common in the insurance industry in Germany? Aren't friends the least reliable information sources? Is this a red flag? Edit: The position my friend applied to was for an entry level position as a financial advisor. Some miscommunication took place, as I was under the impression he was going to be selling insurances, however that is not the case exactly. The meeting was about 25 minutes long, where the potential team lead of my friend explained what exactly my friend would be doing if he got the job, what the company is doing and stands for and, as mentioned in the comments, tried to pitch their services to me. He was kind of surprised when I mentioned that I had never heard of the company before and yet already had a financial advisor and thus obviously did not need their services. My contact details never got into the hands of the company, so I believe this to not be illegal, but I still find this highly questionable because it was mentioned during the meeting that my friend has to talk to more people before he would get the position, all under the guise of training and setting up a network for himself. There was only one question asked of me that would have been of actual interest to the hiring process: Whether I believe my friend to be up for the job, which could have shortened the meeting to less than 5 minutes including introductions, as I was already familiar with the job and thus did not actually need the company presentation. So this boils down to a, in my opinion, highly questionable hiring process. <Q> From a German perspective this sounds intrusive and unusual. <S> There is typically also less emphasis (officially) on personal references in application processes than in the Anglosphere. <S> If at all, I'd rather expect that for low-level jobs where you get very young people that might have never worked or studied before and the employer wants to get a rough grasp on the general (work) morale of the interviewed person. <S> Or for entry level service oriented jobs where the employer wants to get a feeling for the interviewee's socialisation. <S> Personally, for my roles, I'd decline to provide any friend information and if the interviewer persists, decline to go any further with the interview process, as I'd consider them out of line and insisting on information that will not very much help them and waste all our time <S> (my friends don't work with me so <S> cannot judge my professional efforts and surely will only say nice things about me - and that only if I'd tell them explicitly to not consider the call a phishing attempt and have him bugger off). <S> The less senior the position, the lower paid, the more wild and mixed the applicant pool, the more I could to some degree understand such an attitude and perhaps tolerate it, while still thinking the essential information you could get from a normal interview and talking to the friends will not help in most cases. <S> Also, in some cases, you obviously cannot be a chooser. <S> But I'm also pretty sure that process would not stand in front of a German court (but no legal advice here^^) <A> For an entry level position (as you say this job is in the comments), employers have a more limited group of people to get references from than they do for people with professional experience. <S> Many entry level candidates won't have anyone apart from friends and family that they can use for a reference. <S> It doesn't sound like a red flag (for an entry level position) to me. <A> Other answers are right at pointing at a reasonable reason (" <S> somebody that could speak about you" might be only friends for some people), however if the job offer were any kind of scam, the "employer" could just be looking for more people to scam. <S> Once a potential victim is found, their friends are likely to be somehow likely-minded and from a similar background, and therefore potential victims too. <S> The insurance industry is a broad term that covers a legitimate industry but that also may include some shoddy commercial practices and some pyramidal schemes that could be constructed as job offers.
| Perhaps the person handling the interview is from an international background or in other ways not so well integrated into normal German privacy culture. The employer will be looking for evidence that the candidate has a good work ethic, and will be wanting to get an indication of the candidate's general attitude and skills, so that they can decide whether to invest in them by training them further.
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Basic proficiency in a language make you a better candidate for a job/internship abroad even if they will be speaking English in the workplace? Would having basic proficiency in a language make you a more attractive candidate for a job/internship abroad even if they will be speaking English in the workplace? My degree allows for a year in industry and I am really interested in the idea of having this year in industry abroad. I obviously cannot become fluent in a new language in time, but would having basic skills in a language, if not required for communication within the workplace, still make me a better candidate? For example if there is a internship/placement year at a job in South Korea. And the advertisement states that you don't need to know Korean. Would having a TOPIK (Test of proficiency in Korean) certification still make you a better candidate? <Q> Would having basic proficiency in a language <S> make you a more attractive candidate for a job/internship abroad even if they will be speaking English in the workplace? <S> Yes, absolutely. <S> It signals to the recruiter: <S> That you are serious about this and willing to put work into it <S> You are genuinely interested in the culture of your host country <S> You are more likely to fit it and you will require less hand-holding and support Your on boarding will be quicker and you will require less cultural training. <S> The actual language capability probably matters less. <S> You are unlikely to get to a proficiency level where you can do work related communications, but the ability to exchange a few friendly phrases with the locals and handle shopping & transport by yourself can be quite valuable . <S> English proficiency in East Asia is quite varied (depending a lot on age!) <S> and you are also likely to encounter some strong accents. <S> Getting exposed to the local language ahead of time may also help you to understand the local English better. <A> I can't speak for the situation in South Korea myself, but I have worked abroad and found that there are plenty of people who don't speak English, whether they be in the company itself (as was in my case: I worked with a guy who spoke only the national language and no English, so had to quickly get up to speed in the national language just so I could work with him) or people you meet out of work: the person at the supermarket checkout, the cashier at the bakery, the people living next door. <S> Speaking the language of the country, however good or bad you rate your own proficiency, helps you to integrate into the local culture. <S> I'm not a recruiter but <S> Far better than being "dropped in the deep end" having to work with colleagues with no common language and thus resorting to a "pidgin" language. <A> It’s better, of course. <S> But for an internship, if the advertisement says you don’t need it, it would only be a very small advantage. <S> I would suggest that spending your time on work-related improvements to your CV is a better use of your time. <S> Knowing a bit of the language so you can say “good morning” and “goodbye” and <S> “my name is Retsek” wouldn’t hurt.
| my experience is that knowing and speaking the local language beforehand would put you at an advantage for your internship.
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Should I ask for reimbursement of unclaimable vacation prize after being terminated as severance pay? I was just terminated from my position at a tech company in Canada. During the holiday Christmas party, I won a draw for some kind of all-inclusive vacation to be reimbursed as a taxable benefit by the company. Upon later discussion, this would amount to a few thousand dollars but wasn't specific and I'd simply be reimbursed for expenses. I never got a chance to take that vacation, and feel like there was an implied contract to deliver that independent of how much time I've worked there, as I had only been at the company for about 2 months prior to winning it and there were no conditions associated. Am I in the right to ask for it, or is there any case precedent for this? More clearly, it was a prize that would be included as income upon my use of it, and was previously won rather than as a future benefit with strings attached. <Q> You can and should ask. <S> But it's a prize you've won, so it has nothing to do with any severance pay. <S> The terms that were agreed "we pay for your holiday and you have to pay tax on this" obviously cannot happen anymore, so you can't get exactly the price you won. <S> Everything very much depends on the terms how you left the company. <S> If you lost your job because COVID made work dry up, your chances are good. <S> If you lost your job because you stole money at work, your chances are quite bad. <S> Ask them, and hope that they offer something of value. <S> They might offer something of significant value if the company has money and is generally a decent company. <S> If you are happy with the result, that's fine. <S> They might make it part of severance pay. <S> If they offer nothing, you may decide to ask a lawyer. <S> A good lawyer would tell you what your chances are to get anything. <A> Should I ask for reimbursement of unclaimable vacation prize after being terminated as severance pay? <S> Very sorry to hear about your termination. <S> I am not a lawyer, but my assumption is that your all-inclusive vacation is a benefit included in your employment agreement (perhaps explicitly in that agreement's language), which has now been cancelled by your employer. <S> To approach this as a legal matter will likely cost you more in time and legal fees than you are able to recoup. <S> There is no harm in asking about the vacation, but considering you may no longer be entitled to it, I would be polite, and emphasize that you are asking for a favor. <S> They may say no, but there's always the possibility that they might work something out for you. <A> You can ask, but don't expect them to give you anything. <S> This prize would be similar to vacation or sick days. <S> Some companies will reimburse you for unused days when you leave the company and some will not. <S> If your company is in the category of the latter then you likely will not receive anything. <S> Check your contract to see if they have provisions for reimbursing unused sick and vacation days. <S> If they do, you can make the argument towards having your prize reimbursed but there is no guarantee that they would accommodate you. <S> Good luck.
| Asking will most most likely lead to an outcome as good or better as not asking, so ask. Usually accepting severance pay means you sign that you (roughly) can't sue the company for anything, so that would be it.
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Newcomer proposed a new project with greater scope than what my team is doing. Management is supporting the idea. How to protect my roadmap? My team has a product roadmap for a few specific projects.A team of newcomers pushed a new project proposal in front of senior management. They love it.This project takes some of the concepts in our product roadmap, and puts them in a much broader initiative.I want to avoid losing control of my team's product roadmap. The scope is much bigger and complex than what we are working on, but the team behind the new proposal can't build anything without developers.Now that senior management is enthusiastic about this new project, I am not sure what the right course of action is.How to avoid a much bigger project take over my product roadmap? <Q> Now that senior management is enthusiastic about this new project, I am not sure what the right course of action is. <S> Since you indicate that you are in control of your team's product roadmap, you meet with senior management and explain why you believe that your roadmap is better without inclusion of the new initiative. <S> And if senior management insists that the proposed initiative is their preferred path, you dig in, scope out a revised roadmap, and present it to senior management. <S> This new roadmap might scrap the existing one, or be proposed as a follow-on to the current plans. <S> Your presentation should cover all the costs and tradeoffs required to make the revised roadmap work. <S> Then, you solicit feedback and a decision from senior management, and proceed accordingly. <A> Maybe you are being too protective of your project and your roadmap. <S> It's the job of senior management to look at the bigger picture and decide what the company needs to do in the longer term. <S> Will some parts of it need to be de-scoped in order to expand other parts, or will the team need to expand, or will the timescales need to be extended? <A> Tell your management that the scope of the work has been made significantly larger, so you either need several additional developers, or the time frame to deliver will increase according to the additional workload. <S> The realisation that there is no such thing as a free lunch can often focus the mind.
| The correct thing to do is to meet with management, so that you can understand what they want you to do, and make sure they understand what the implications will be for the project.
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How To Keep People From Talking Over Each Other In A Videoconference? With the enforced work from home that a lot of us are doing right now I find myself joining more and more videoconferences. One issue we keep having is multiple people talking at the same time. Those of you who have been working from home for a while--any suggestions on how to run a videoconference in such a way that people can politely say their piece without talking over each other? EDIT: Someone pointed out in one of the comments that I should discuss what I've tried and what I'm looking for. We've tried having folks make sure their cameras are on and having them raise their index finger to indicate they want to speak. We've also had moderators; that is, everyone is muted by default and then they put something into the chat to indicate they have a question or comment and then the moderator says "Joe Dokes has a comment or question" and unmutes them. I was hoping that people might have other ideas which I had not considered; that's why I asked the question. <Q> As sf02 already wrote in the comments, you can basically handle it exactly as you would in a face-to-face meeting <S> : Ask all participants to have their video on and watch the other people's body language <S> Have a moderator who decides who to talk next <A> There is a direct answer, and a suggestion to re-frame your problem. <S> Somebody should regulate the traffic. <S> Mute everyone, and then unmute people who want to contribute, perhaps using round-robin scheme. <S> This is absolutely professional, as it allows the decision making to move forward, and reduces noise. <S> Move as much work as possible outside of the meeting. <S> Have a shared google doc as a whiteboard where everyone can contribute outside of the meeting, writing pros and cons of certain decision, comment on proposals and such. <S> The meeting is about making a decision (I hope at least) which can be done outside of face-to-face interactions <S> Whatever you pick, you should clearly define who is making the final decision, and who is allowed or asked to provide input. <S> If you have a committee, somebody has to chair it and represent the decision to stake holders. <A>
| Raise your hand if you want to say something If you have admin privileges, most video conferencing software should allow you to mute others, as well as not allow others to speak until they have "raised their hand" and been given permission by you to do so (at least in the case of Zoom) and restrict outsiders from joining
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I am the sole statistician in my group, and I am scared of making mistakes I am fresh grad statistician and I am working in the agronomy industry (first time working with this kind of data), I am doing the best the best in my knowledge to produce analysis within the given time frames but I am scared that I may make a mistake or interpret a problem in an incorrect way. I try to validate my results with my colleagues, but I can't validate statistical methodology or discus methods with them. How I should deal with it? <Q> I suggest you reach out to your manager with your concerns. <S> Perhaps he or she has advice or knows someone elsewhere in the company with the expertise you can consult with. <S> Aside from that, perhaps you can indeed discuss your methodology with your team. <S> You might be underestimating them, they may have intuition to compare against your results, or barring that, the act of explaining can help you realize mistakes where they are present. <A> Try not to fool yourself - but you are already skeptical of your work, which is good ! <S> If all give the same outcome, you are in good shape. <S> Basically, it's the same principle as with "checksums". <S> This can hold for individual formulas as much as for statistical statements, where having several ways of looking at a set of data is good practice anyway to understand what it says. <A> You go and do your best. <S> Everyone makes mistakes. <S> Many of yours will not be found, or they will be found by you. <S> Be open if your results are questioned, because you know you can make mistakes, but show confidence. <S> If it happens, verify extra carefully. <S> PS. <S> Sometimes it’s hard to find the correct result, but relatively easy to verify that a result is good or bad. <S> If that happens then make sure you verify your results if possible.
| One tip for checking results in uncharted territory or where you have no peer to oversee you: identify 2 or 3 different, ideally independent, ways of verifying these results.
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Changing jobs shortly after expensive training I and one other coworker will receive expensive two weeks training within the following weeks.But I am actively looking for a new job at the moment and I have some interesting opportunities, none of which I have a written contract by now. Will it reflect poorly on me profesionally if I would still take the training and hand in my notice, 3 months if that's relevant, shortly after or maybe even during the training period?The software is widly used in the industry, and it will be beneficial in the future that I already received this training. I dont want to leave this job burning bridges. I like the people here, but I realised this is not the tech and industry I want to work on/in for the next years. Edit: For anyone that is interested, the situation resolved itself. We got an email sunday evening that due to shortterm budget cuts the training will be postponed. <Q> Will it reflect poorly on me profesionally if I would still take the training and hand in my notice, 3 months if that's relevant <S> Not your problem, not your money. <S> It's just the costs of running a company, so really nothing new. <S> As an employee, you are not shareholder. <S> You have no responsibility on how they spend the money. <S> You should only do whatever beneftical to you such as: <S> and it will be beneficial in the future that I already received this training <A> It reflects badly on you. <S> On the other hand, telling your company that you want to leave could be an expensive mistake, and if you want to leave you should be able to leave. <S> You should feel bad about it, but not bad enough to reject a good job offer. <S> So it's just bad luck, a bit for you, and a bit for the company. <S> Just unfortunate. <S> This being May 2020, finding a new job might be harder right now, which solves the problem. <A> The job has to be advertised <S> The CVs received have to be read and filtered The remaining candidates need to be interviewed The accepted candidate needs to have paperwork drawn up, has to be inducted, and has to be added to payroll <S> The accepted candidate needs to be trained By a third party specialist trainer <S> By an established employee who will not be doing their actual job while training you And finally: while you're in training, I assume you're being paid a salary? <S> All of the above incur significant costs for the business: both in terms of time and money. <S> Costs that will need to be paid again for your replacement. <S> You will almost certainly have burned your bridges with people in the senior positions in the company, and anyone who contacts this employer for a reference will probably be met with something far from glowing. <S> EDIT: <S> It's been pointed out to me <S> there's nothing in your question that indicates you are a new employee; I'm not sure how I made that assumption. <S> But I stand by my verdict: if one of my team was to push for expensive training, receive it, and then immediatley hand in their notice it would leave a very bad taste in my mouth. <A> Of course HR/your manager will be mad, but that's just the cost of doing business for your current company, so don't bother too much. <S> Since you're german-based it's not likely that a potential new employer will officially call old employers and ask them about you - as long as you don't tell them to, especially with GDPR in place... <S> If your old and potentially new employer are located in the same area, it realistically can happen that HR-people/managers from your old/new company know each other personally. <S> So there is a good chance that you will come up as a topic, which wouldn't work in favor. <S> One thing I strongly recommend: as soon as you get your certificate of employment (Arbeitszeugnis), let a professional (someone like HR-people/lawyer/manager) check it for bad wording and <S> then demand to have it changed. <S> By law a certificate of employment must be phrased benevolently.
| In my opinion: quite possibly yes, this will reflect badly on you professionally. Do the training, use the skills for better job opportunity elsewhere.
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Is it unprofessional to ask a manager about the salaries of their employees I have a couple of friends in managing positions from an industry that I plan to work in the future. Is it appropriate to ask them about the salaries of the position that I am interested in? Keeping in mind that I may work in their company. I'll make it clear for them that it's ok for me to take no for an answer. <Q> Before making any decision (on anything significant) it is sensible to find out all you can about the matter using a number of disparate sources. <S> Assuming you ask politely, it's not unprofessional - it's market research. <S> That said, instead of asking "how much does a ... on your team earn" (which could put them in an awkward position from a GDPR/Data Protection perspective) <S> ask a more generic question like "what range salary could a ... <S> with 10 years experience expect to earn in your industry" or "what would be the starting salary for a ...". <S> However, asking your friends would result in a very small sample size. <S> Recruitment agencies regularly carry out market surveys to benchmark salaries for all types of roles. <S> This helps them guide both candidates and employers on what salaries are realistic for the role in question. <S> They are often quite detailed too and will break down the package into base salary, commission, bonus etc. <S> Get in touch with a recruitment agency that works in that industry and ask them or google something like "auctioneer salary atlanta" <A> Is it unprofessional to ask a manager about the salaries of their employees? <S> Yes Is it appropriate to ask them about the salaries of the position that I am interested in? <S> Yes <S> But note these are two very different questions! <S> When you're interested in a job starting the conversation on the topic of salary is common, expected even, and it's absolutely fine to discuss this directly. <S> What are your expectations, what are theirs? <S> Do they align? <S> That you're friends with the people you're asking <S> has no bearing here: the above is true whether you've known them for years or just met. <A> Is it unprofessional to ask a manager about the salaries of their employees? <S> It's not only unprofessional <S> , it's illegal for a manager to disclose their employees' salaries depending on your locale. <S> I recommend you use salary websites (such as Payscale , Paysa or Glassdoor ) to do your research instead. <A> "You are a Buyer. <S> You want to make a Deal. <S> It's none of your business to ask about any other Deals that the same Seller might have made to any other Buyer. <S> " <S> "The Seller, if he is willing, will make you an Offer." <S> This Offer is a Binding Business Proposition. <S> For the most part, you must either Take It or Leave It. <S> Do not look a gift horse in the mouth.
| The thing you must not ask about or discuss is specifics about salaries of anyone other than you .
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Was I wrong to be candid with a potential new hire about my reasons for leaving the company? A little bit of backstory:I quit my job 2 months ago and I am serving my notice period. I had some issues with the management because I did not accept their new exploitative "leadership" and they started to personally attack me. I had a very important role for the future development of the company and quit after addressing these issues multiple times. I am not the only one who thinks like this: Three other (two very important) persons are also in the process of searching new jobs (management and boss does not know about this). To be precise, if the other two people leave, the company is history. Anyhow, my boss did not take my termination notice very well. He got very angry and wrote an email to me the next day that he does not want to talk to me anymore. However, he demands daily reports from me and always tells me I have to prepare everything for my successor. So I'm writing a lot of documentation and teach my current colleague about my projects. I asked my boss multiple times if he could introduce me to my successor and he always told me "When it's time". Lately he has written me that he won't introduce me my successor so I could teach him. Now the real problem. My successor called me privately. He's a fellow student from my time at the university. He asked me a bunch of stuff about the work-life balance, equipment, my overall experience and why I'm leaving . I told him the job is great. The perks are not to be surpassed, most of the colleagues are like family and the pay is OK. Since I know him well, I knew he would be a perfect fit as a successor and told him that I would recommend him to take the opportunity. However, he absolutely wanted to know why I am leaving if I am talking this good about the job. So I told him I had some personal issues with the leadership of the new management but quickly explained that I don't think will be an issue for him because it was strictly personal. Bottom Line / Question: I tried to cover up as much as possible so I can't be blamed for sh!t-talking and scaring of a potential successor. Or have I said too much? Should I tell my management/boss about his private contact with me in advance so I can't be blamed if he declines? I don't want to put him in a bad perspective or anything. When looking at a similar question ( Asked to speak to prospective employees about a company I'm dissatisfied with ) I think I did nothing wrong. I focused on the good things and told him I think he is a good fit. <Q> Since you are describing the leadership style as "exploitative", I believe you have actually said too little. <S> If the leadership style of the company is exploitative, and this can be supported by factual evidence, I would feel the need to share this information with your successor. <S> This person needs to make an informed decision before starting their job, especially if the company has a chance to close in the next few months (thanks @morbo for the point). <S> I don't think any of us is fully qualified to predict whether the new hire will have the same interpersonal problem with the manager that you had. <S> Therefore, we can only describe the situation with factual claims, and leave it to the successor to decide whether it sits well with them. <A> I don't think you need to be worried here. <S> You likely didn't violate a confidentiality agreement (hard to tell without reading your contract and look at local laws) <S> Bridges with your current company are burned anyway and given their behavior, that doesn't feel like much of a loss <S> They may be "history" soon if the other key players leave as you indicated. <S> So what exactly are you worried about? <S> Remember, your notice period is one of few times where you are in FULL CONTROL. <S> The company has almost no real leverage about you and you can do more or less what you want. <A> The post you linked was about an employee talking with prospective employees, as an employee, on the clock. <S> If I understand correctly, your situation is about an acquaintance talking with you, as an acquaintance, off the clock. <S> Let's address your specific concerns: [...] <S> so I can't be blamed for sh!t-talking and scaring of a potential successor. <S> The thing about exploitative personalities is that they will blame people regardless of what actual events transpired. <S> Or have I said too much? <S> Maybe. <S> If you truly think he won't have an issue with an exploitative boss in a company that you expect to go bust within months, you did well. <S> But if he happens to have an issue with that, you might just have burned a bridge. <S> Should I tell my management/boss about his private contact with me in advance <S> so I can't be blamed if he declines? <S> No. <S> Your private life is your private life. <S> In most western jurisdictions you can do pretty much what you want during your private life, as long as you don't share trade secrets or put demonstrably false claims about your employer in writing. <S> About "blame", see above.
| From the point of view of your successor, learning why you left is the most important goal of contacting you at all. You didn't say anything that wasn't true
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How, and when, should I explain to potential employers that I have a severe digestive disorder? I have a severe digestive disorder. A part of my intestinal tract is paralyzed, so I am unable to go to the bathroom without the use of two highly specialized prescription medications. This regimen is carefully regulated because the meds are so strong. The end result is this: Every other day, at 9AM, I suddenly and very urgently need to use the restroom 5-6 times during the hour. I'm away from my desk for about 30 minutes altogether. Given the nature of how embarrassing this disability is, but also how important it is that I have that bathroom access, I'm trying to figure out how to explain this need to future employers. At my most recent job (before I was laid off due to coronavirus), my boss was incredibly understanding of this condition and fully supported my no-questions-asked bathroom access. I asked him every once in a while if he felt my condition interfered with my work. He always said no. I spoke with him recently, and asked him if I should notify potential employers about this condition. He said, in short, no. I am not as optimistic as him about the idea that my next employer would be willing to accommodate my needs as they arise, without having informed him/her beforehand. I sort of want to say during the interview, "Look, I have this illness, but as far as I can tell it does not interfere with my productivity. However, I will occasionally be getting up from meetings or be away from my desk in the morning a few times per week." I've read through a few of the other posts about disabilities, but I feel my situation necessitates that I make a new post. The reason I wanted to ask this question is for two reasons; one being that my accommodation affects everyone else in a way that say, a standing desk accommodation, does not. Using the bathroom frequently might affect the people who need access to it. The other reason being that my condition is so embarrassing that some employers might not even want to hear about it. "TMI" etc. Should I disclose this condition in advance? Or when, and how, should I inform a potential employer? <Q> Wait until they've made an offer. <S> This gets you past any potential biases from a recruiter/HR person/etc. <S> that you most likely won't work with in your day to day job. <S> If they rescind the offer, it's easier to point to your medical condition as the reason. <S> (They may try to claim a sudden budget change but they can't claim you're not qualified.) <S> Assuming there's an on site interview 1 , you get to form your own opinion about their facilities. <S> Since this is still before anything is signed, you can get an idea of how much push back you'll get before you're stuck with them as an employer. <S> You may decide you don't want to work someplace where they'll give you grief over it. <S> Since you find discussing it embarrassing, there's no reason to have this discussion with anyone who won't hire you. <S> Since you're in the United States you're likely covered by the Americans with Disabilities <S> Act <S> so you may consider waiting until you're hired to disclose it since they're legally required to accommodate you, but that depends on how much you're willing to risk having to fight for it if it turns out they're going to be jerks about it. <S> The EEOC has more information: <S> Disability Discrimination is an overview with lots of resource links. <S> Fact Sheet <S> This one is gives an example accomodation I think is fairly close to your situation: An employee with diabetes may need regularly scheduled breaks during the workday to eat properly and monitor blood sugar and insulin levels. <S> 1 <S> In the general case if you ever have to work in an office. <S> I'm guessing that with a desk job, you're currently remote. <A> Sooner or later people will find out that something is going on and will start to talk. <S> You should communicate this to your direct boss, but you do not need to disclose it to other colleagues. <S> You could also ask your boss for some alternatives: <S> You could start your working day at ten <S> You could work remotely <S> A good company/boss should not refuse such things when a worker has such conditions. <S> At best they should provide such options by themselves. <S> If not you should ask yourself if this is the right company for you. <A> Every job application I've filled out recently (for office programming jobs) include an apparently mandatory section asking about disabilities. <S> This would be a judgement call for you, but that would be the place to give notice of this situation, however vaguely you feel you need. <S> The "accommodation" needed to address this issue is far less onerous than most unmet by the ADA, so it should not be an problem for any but the most squeamish employers, for whom your situation would probably eventually be an issue anyway.
| If the employer is interested in you, then most likely their HR will clarify the declaration before they make an offer.
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Chat etiquette in the office [US] I have two questions about "You are welcome" in business chats. When someone asks me to do something and I get back to them with some form of "done", they, in turn, respond with "Thank You. So far so good. At that moment am I obligated to post back "You're welcome"? Is it actually rude if I don't? Second question about abbreviations. I often see "thx" or "TY" for "Thanks"/"Thank you". Is there an accepted abbreviated form of "You're welcome". I came up with "wcm" but not sure whether it's appropriate. Additional clarification I'm fully aware of "sure" and "np" responses but my question is only about "welcome". I would like to respond " in kind " (if I have to respond at all). So for abbreviation I would like to respond with the same. <Q> Some people don't care and don't feel any need to adhere to traditional standards of politeness. <S> That's fine, but I'll answer in the context of a culture that does value politeness (Texas), where people are raised to use their "sirs" and "ma'ams" and suchlike. <S> Just like you don't want to be the worst dressed at a party, you don't want to be the least polite of your possibly global group. <S> Given that context, it's generally considered polite not to "leave someone hanging" in a chat conversation, and a "thank you" waiting on a response is an incomplete part of a normal exchange as much as an ACK waiting on a SYNACK is. <S> What I normally see is a "thanks", "thank you", or "ty". <S> Customary responses include "you're welcome", "yw", "no problem", "np", "sure," a thumbs-up emoticon, or similar. <S> Or often "Cheers" if you're a furriner. <S> Note that the older the person is <S> the more likely whole words will be taken well, and if they are older than about 55 then responding with "no problem" or "sure" instead of "you're welcome" will be taken as a sign of poor manners in "these kids nowadays" and you'll be complained about to their SO later that night. <S> Even in chat, adapt formality to seniority and the other person's tone. <S> If a VP says, "Thank you very much PM 77-1!", you responding with "np" would be considered putting "less" into the exchange and therefore a slight. <A> At that moment am I obligated to post back <S> "You're welcome"? <S> Is it actually rude if I don't? <S> This also should be taken on a case-by-case basis (it's ok to not reply back every time). <S> Is there an accepted abbreviated form of "You're welcome". <S> I came up with "wcm" but not sure whether it's appropriate. <S> Call me old-fashioned but abbreviations are not professional, and also hamper readability. <S> Typing "you're welcome" takes about one second (less with text suggestion), so it's not something that will hurt you, but someone reading "wcm" will surely take some time to decode. <S> Anyways, using abbreviations is not bad per se , as long as communication is not compromised. <A> Chats are usually pretty informal. <S> But each company has their own culture. <S> What might be considered overly informal in one company is considered completely normal in another. <S> See how chats are used in your company, and just go along. <S> At that moment am I obligated to post back <S> "You're welcome"? <S> Is it actually rude if I don't? <S> It wouldn't be considered rude where I worked. <S> I came up with "wcm" but not sure whether it's appropriate. <S> It would be confusing to me, and I personally don't like most unusual abbreviations. <S> But if it's the norm at your shop, it's completely appropriate. <A> I typically reply with things akin to "you're welcome" along with an invitation to message again if they need anything else. <S> Regarding abbreviation of "thank you" etc. <S> I hate them. <S> If you're going to go to all the trouble of thanking someone, the least you can do is actually type out the full thing. <S> As https://workplace.stackexchange.com/a/157977 indicates, it's about effort. <S> You don't want to be going over the top, but you do want to at least look like your message is sincere enough to actually spell it out.
| You are not obligated to respond, although being polite back to someone never hurt anybody. If I felt really compelled to use an abbreviation, I would actually throw a smiley emoji onto the end of the message so it didn't appear so lazy.
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How to mention prestigious academic work when applying to industry job I'm going through the process of adapting my academic CV to an industry resume. In particular, I'm aiming for a position with a well-known and highly competitive American company. I've worked in several research groups in Europe that are extremely well-known and prestigious in the specific area, but most likely are unknown to an outsider. Should I put a footnote somewhere in the resume to highlight the importance of these groups? If yes, how should I phrase it? <Q> If I were reading a resume and cared at all about the reputation of a person or institution I did not recognize I would pay little attention to a footnote that might be biassed and instead would do my own Internet search. <S> However, you are in effect asking potential employers to give weight to other people's opinions of your abilities in an unrelated field. <A> As somebody who is partially responsible for hiring scientifically oriented people into technical positions inq industry: Unless there is an objective criteria to a freshly set up program, just mention the name of the university. <S> What you could write is "Phd program by government, acceptance rate 1%" <S> if you have the feeling that it's really not known well enough. <S> Don't go for the prestige of your organization, go for your results obtained. <S> Keep it short: I typically appreciate if people mention h index, cumulative impact factor, number of project applications involved as co-author, and a list of their most important publications. <S> Whatever you do, show that mainly results/achievements (publications/successfully set up labs) matter to you. <S> When you tell the story don't say: "i wanted to go to the prestigious university since it is easier to get a job later", but say "I aimed for good publications, and the level of research at university x was excellent in the field". <A> It depends a lot on what you have there. <S> If something is very prestigious, it should be known to those reading your CV without you adding footnotes. <S> If you worked for very well-known institutions and now add footnotes or similar explanations, you risk coming across as patronizing. <S> Your readers may think you are taking them for idiots. <S> Normally, people with several years in any industry know its main institutions, schools and similar. <S> Just as everyone is Europe has heard of Harvard, most educated people in the US have heard about Cambridge. <S> On the other hand, if you're applying in a different field, unrelated to your prestigious work history, then the fact your past employers were prestigious probably won't impress anybody. <S> You might add a short explanation next to the institution, but should check twice whether the two risks described above aren't valid in your case. <S> If you chose to do so, only add very short, objective assessments (e.g. by adding some source of your claim) without referring to the institutions as being prestigious or considered the best. <S> Make it as fact-based as possible.
| Most of your resume should be about your own accomplishments, and how the skills they demonstrate will translate to the job for which you are applying. Adding footnotes might make you come across as delusional, stressing something meaningless in the field you are applying in.
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Employer asking for salary slips after signing the contract I have question regarding the current salary slips providing to my new employer. I tried to search for similar issue but they were either before getting an offer or before signing the contract. I am working in Germany.I signed a employment contract for new full-time job and sent them back.I have resigned from my current employer as well. Now they sent me a form to provide details of previous employers and salary along with salary slips.During interview process i mentioned my current package and benefits and I haven't lied but i feel this very uncomfortable.I don't understand why they need it?is it legal?How can i decline it without hurting professional relation? Thank you! <Q> That information is not needed. <S> It's not illegal to ask for it, but there is no legal reason to do so either. <S> I have never had anybody outside government authorities and banks that give loans ask for a payslip in Germany. <S> What they do need is your social security number, your health insurance number and your tax id. <S> That is a legal requirement because they are legally required to pay into those funds on your behalf. <S> They also need your bank account to pay you. <S> They may also need additional information like drivers license if you have access to company's cars or "Polizeiliches Führungszeugnis" (criminal record check) if you are working with minors. <S> Maybe you misunderstood them <S> and they didn't actually ask for a payslip, but for this information? <S> Maybe they thought it would be easier on both you and them to ask for a payslip because it already contains the information they need? <S> You are under no legal obligation to provide your payslip to anybody. <S> Period. <S> Anybody who legally needs it (tax authorities) already got it electronically before you even had it in the mail. <S> Obviously sometimes you want to provide it because you want a service and see their need to see it (loan application for example) <S> and I guess sometimes you get asked without seeing the need. <S> Never happened to me but you seem to have found such a rare case. <S> You should ask them what exactly they need from the payslip and if they say "the whole payslip" just act curious and ask them why. <A> Send an email back to HR/whoever sent it along these lines: <S> Excuse me, but why are you asking for this information? <S> If there is specific data you need then let me know <S> and I can provide it. <S> Otherwise, I have a policy of not disclosing private details about my employment". <S> Don't create an excuse (eg privacy) which they can try to counter or argue. <S> Just a simple <S> "This is not something I do". <A> Check your offer or contract from your new employer: are there any terms in there that require you to disclose this information? <S> Check your offer, contract and specifically any non-disclosure or confidentiality agreements from your previous employer: are there any terms in there that prevent you from disclosing this information. <S> Check your local laws <S> : Does that give any rules or guidelines disclosing this type of information? <S> A local union representative might help. <S> Apparently there have been some recent changes in Germany: https://www.zeit.de/arbeit/2017-12/transparenzgesetz-gehalt-einkommen-auskunft-kollegen-chef <S> Your response needs to be guided by the findings of the three items above. <S> First you need to make sure that you are not violating any contracts, agreements or laws. <S> Assuming this all comes back fine, you can try something like: " <S> I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that you required this information. <S> My previous employer considered this confidential <S> and I would prefer to not break their confidentiality expectations. <S> Perhaps you can explain why you need this information and we can find an alternative way to address this issue". <S> Make sure you don't state anything that's not factually true.
| Employers do not need to know what you were or still are paid outside of their employment.
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If I'm "not required" to submit a cover letter, does that mean it's optional or discouraged? I'm applying for a job and it gives the option of including attachments such as references and transcripts, but then also says: You are not required to submit a cover letter Does this mean I can, but am not required to, submit a cover letter? As in doing so could increase my chance of getting hired, but not doing so wouldn't disqualify me? Or it is a polite way to say I should not submit a cover letter? As in the simple fact that I submitted one would decrease my chance of getting hired, or disqualify me altogether, even if it's a really good cover letter? While they can simply ignore it if they don't want it, they may get the impression that I can't follow instructions if there is one when they specifically don't want one. I looked at some similar questions like Should I include a cover letter? , but in that case they explicitly say you can include it. Other related questions just discuss whether or not to include cover letters in general. <Q> Does this mean I can, but am not required to, submit a cover letter? <S> Yes, exactly, that is what it means. <S> Means that submitting a Cover Letter is not mandatory. <S> If the instructions wanted otherwise they would say "you should not include a cover letter" or similar phrasing. <S> As in doing so could increase my chance of getting hired, but not doing so wouldn't disqualify me? <S> Yes again. <S> It's better to include it if you have it, as it's more information and inputs the recruiter can consider to evaluate your profile. <A> Does this mean I can, but am not required to, submit a cover letter? <S> As in doing so could increase my chance of getting hired, but not doing so wouldn't disqualify me? <S> It's not required. <S> However, as they've left the option to you, I'd recommend submitting a cover letter. <S> Regard your Resume as the technical details of what you can do, but the Cover Letter is your sales pitch - why YOU are the perfect person for that position, over and above anyone else. <A> It's optional in the sense that you won't be immediately disqualified if you don't include one. <S> You will however be at a competitive disadvantage when compared to the other candidates who did submit one. <S> Also by not including one you are missing out on an additional opportunity to sell yourself as a candidate and make yourself stand out from the rest of the pack. <A> Just my two cents, but I think that if someone specifically puts "You are not required to submit a cover letter" on an advert, it means that they are just interested in your qualifications. <S> Not in some embellished story about how working as a accountant/receptionist/scrum master at their company is a childhood dream come true. <S> So my advice would be not to include a cover letter because they are probably not interested in it.
| Not using a cover letter means that the recruiter only has your resume to work with, and they may miss the pertinent points that you wanted them to notice.
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How does an unsuccessful software startup attempt look on a resume? I am coming up on 5 years at my first job, and want to leave it in order to pursue some personal development projects full time. I have been working on them in most of my spare time and think one of them has real potential. Additionally, I have enough savings to support myself for many more years than the project could take to launch. I'm hoping for the best, but am planning for the worst because it's absolutely possible the project will fail. If I determine the project is not going anywhere after a year and I need to go back to a normal job, how would this make me look to a potential employer? Positive? Ambitious, Self-motivated, Hard-worker Negative? Risky, Poor planner, Foolish And how does the amount of time "self-employed" influence those? <Q> I do not find any negative aspect of being an entrepreneur in the past. <S> That been said: <S> You don't know who is going to be your future employer <S> and you can always find an employer who thinks it is negative. <S> There are some positions that are a better fit for a non-ambitious person. <S> You probably do not want to join a company in either of those cases. <A> I agree with the others that a failed venture is generally not looked at negatively, but there is one more important aspect that I feel needs to be said. <S> You mentioned that if you feel the project isn't going anywhere after a year you may look for other work. <S> In an interview, you will need to be able to show what you worked on, and explain what you did for that year in detail. <S> If you have nothing to show or have made very little progress, it could very well be seen as negative. <A> Anyone who would see it negatively is probably a fool. <A> If I determine the project is not going anywhere after a year <S> and I need to go back to a normal job <S> , how would this make me look to a potential employer? <S> You don't have to add your self-employment experience on your CV, right? <S> Just list your experience like any other CV. <S> Give yourself a title such as "senior programmer", "product engineer" etc. <S> Your business, your company, your own titles. <S> As long as you don't claim yourself being a "CEO", "CTO", "head of engineering" etc, everything will be fine. <S> Reference check will be easy, it's your own company you will have total control. <A> I've been trying to launch my business for about a year now. <S> I still have no idea whether this will work long term or whether I'll have to get a job, so I want to point out the following: <S> A year sounds like a lot now, but everything takes longer than you think it will. <S> Clients need a string of well timed follow up calls before they buy anything, technical problems can get out of hand... <S> you might even end up locked down in a worldwide pandemic! <S> I think it's quite likely you'll get to the end of your allotted year, and <S> realise that you want to keep working on your project, and that you have the means to, but at the same time aren't at all sure if you've "made it" or not. <S> You may decide that, even if you are probably going to quit, you should work for a bit longer so you at least have a finished product that you can show off to employers. <S> You may even start job hunting after a year, but not get one <S> straight away (not unlikely in a post-corona world...) <S> I think, most likely, you'll be like me <S> -- you have a few encouraging little signs that you should keep going, and you'll really want to, <S> but it's still entirely possible that you'll have to quit eventually. <S> As such, my advice is: Assume you will be doing this for more than one year! <S> Set aside time to keep up skills that you won't develop on this project, even if it's ok not to work on them for one year; be careful with your money; be mentally prepared for setbacks! <S> I can't comment on how this will look to employers since I haven't yet gone back to work, but I imagine that the fact that you've tried your own business, and the time spent doing it, are less important than what you did and how you did it. <S> I wish you all the best, and I hope you have a lot of fun... <S> just be ready for things to not go to plan ;)
| So long as the interviewer can see that you made an honest attempt, and worked regularly on the project during that time, I think most people would not see it as a negative. Succeed or fail, I don't see how entrepreneurship could be looked at negatively.
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My superior has a tendency to launch into monologues overexplaining things - how to make them aware that I already know what they are talking about? My boss (who is also the owner of the company - so there's an unequal power dynamic there) is great but they have a tendency to massively over-explain things. A simple question to expand out an acronym can turn into a several minute monologue involving its background, motivation, and where the "acronymised" thing fits into the project. Or an introduction to a meeting can turn into essentially a pitch of why this project is noteworthy etc. I appreciate that their intention is to make sure that there is full visibility of what's happening in the company, but being told things I already know is not exactly the most productive thing. Not to mention it feels a bit patronising at times. I feel it would be rude to interrupt when they have already launched into their explanation, especially that those would take place on a meeting with more than just the two of us. That being said, I'm not sure if this issue is not too small to warrant taking them aside for a conversation. I mean, at what point am I just being, you know, nitpicky and petty? Have you had a similar issue in one of your workplaces? Is it worth addressing or just dropping / learning how to deal with it? <Q> Yeah, it can be frustrating. <S> Also the opposite is frustrating, which is when there is assumed knowledge, and the answer is very terse. <S> What you could try is book-ending the question. <S> For example: Instead of: What does XYZ stand for? <S> Ask: <S> It looks like data flows from Foo in XML format, then into XYZ, which then seems to convert it into JSON, before giving it too Bar. <S> Can you please explain what XYZ is? <S> You are more likely to get the exact information you always need. <S> Doesn't always work, though. <S> Use body language to your advantage. <S> Nod as they explain things. <S> You can even finish sentences, but you must make it look like the information they gave you has caused everything to fall into place. <S> And get used to the feeling, because there will always be a disjoint between what you understand and what other people think you understand. <A> Regardless of the power dynamic, there is absolutely nothing wrong with putting your hand up slightly and saying "Thanks, that's exactly what I needed. <S> " <S> Often monologuers (apparently not a word) are going on because they think you don't know the full story and need it. <S> If this is a common behavior, it is probably likely they've been "cut short" a number of times in their life and as long as you do it politely and respectfully there shouldn't be any hurt feelings. <S> Just don't over use it. <S> If you do it all the time, they'll come to think you're not interested in what they have to say. <S> It doesn't matter if that's true or not <S> , it's certainly not an impression you want to give. <S> Just be polite, and if it comes up in conversation just say you wanted to be respectful of everyone's time. <A> Is it worth addressing or just dropping / learning how to deal with it? <S> Learn how to deal with it. <S> He is your boss and the owner of the company. <S> If he feels that your time is best spent listening to his answers to a question that you asked him then you need to accept that. <S> Let him determine what the most productive use of his employees' time is. <S> He is, after all, the one who is signing your paychecks. <A> I have encountered such people in my workplace a few times. <S> They are good people and its actually their personality trait to go in the over explaining mode. <S> I think sometimes you can avoid such lengthy discussion by finding the answers yourselves but other times you have to still ask the questions from same people. <S> I think you can just wait for the moment the info needed is uttered. <S> Right after that you can try to shorten the conversation by giving your input that you have got the perfect answer to your query. <S> You can say this in a polite way. <S> Like I would not shy to say <S> "Sir, this was the exact answer I was looking for. <S> Thank you. <S> I will come back if anything else needed."
| Being able to interrupt someone talking in a non-abrupt way is a skill you will have to develop.
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Is it okay to have employees working after hours This is a hypothetical from a team manager perspective. Assume that I have been leading a team of 20 people in a fairly big company. The work-life balance is very much respected by everyone and therefore there are no expectations that one should work after hours or weekends unless asked (and of course compensated). Now assume that there is senior employee who's been working 10+ hour days and probably weekends for months but only for his own personal reasons (no idea tbh - probably not too much personal life going on). How should I react? Frankly, I am under the impression that such thing should be discouraged. Their output is going to be much bigger that other employees' and that may make them feel that they need extra praise which imo they shouldn't get, which would in turn probably lead to dissatisfaction might make the other employees feel less productive and discourage them or even make other employees feel that they need to work more and compromise their personal life What do you think? EDIT: To clear this up, this person works for 10+ hours (under a 40hr/week contract) on a daily basis and probably weekends too without either being asked to do it or expecting compensation for the extra hours. <Q> Understand why the employee is working long hours (and their answer might not be sufficient); Remind them of the official policy; <S> Evaluate <S> if and how you can support them; Measure the impact of their actions; I had an employee that prefers to work long hours when they are going through some heavy stuff in their personal life. <S> At first, I tried to discourage them from acting like that, citing the impact on their work-life balance and the bad example they would set for the teams they were close. <S> In the end, it wasn't a problem for the other colleagues, and I learned to let it go a little, as long as their long hours were a rational choice that was making them feel better <S> , I'd not intervene until I see negative signs on the horizon. <S> If their output is not lower than the rest of the team and it meets the expectations, then I'd recommend just to offer your support if needed. <S> If the output is not meeting the expectations, you need to make them reconsider their efforts and help them get through whatever is affecting them, be it wrong assumptions or difficult life. <A> I am going to take this in a different direction. <S> Now assume that there is senior employee who's been working 10+ hour days and probably weekends for months but only for his own personal reasons (no idea tbh - probably not too much personal life going on). <S> How should I react? <S> They are there on evenings and weekends and you don't know why. <S> Are you sure they are doing things that help the company? <S> They could be running their own company or doing work for another employer/client using the company resources. <S> They could be collecting proprietary information by accessing systems they shouldn't be using. <S> You might say there is no way they are doing anything dishonest, but I know of several times in my career where management didn't realize a co-worker was doing these things until it blew up in their face. <S> It is far easier to steal from the company when nobody is around. <S> Now lets assume they aren't stealing from you. <S> You need to determine why they are there and are they being productive. <S> If they have to be there that may hours, you might have a fundamental misunderstanding of how many hours it takes to do their job. <S> I have been in that situation. <S> If they have to always put in overtime, then they aren't using their time wisely, or you have heaped too much responsibility on them. <S> They might also not learned how to delegate and they are taking on tasks that can be done by somebody cheaper. <S> Delegating might cost the company more money in the short term, but it also might make them more productive. <A> Even if people are doing this "voluntarily", it can lead to problems. <S> The "voluntarily" might not actually be that voluntarily, but rather the result of the workplace setting unrealistic expectations of productivity and employees trying to measure up to them. <S> If "voluntary" overtime becomes common, then others might feel obligated to also do overtime out of peer pressure, not out of enthusiasm for their work. <S> The result is a higher stress level throughout the organization, which leads to expensive mistakes in the short term and loss of productivity due to chronic illnesses in the long term. <S> It is just not worth it. <S> For these reasons, organizations should usually discourage employees working overtime, even if the employees claim it is entirely voluntary. <S> If the organization is in an industry with irregular demand, then there might be alternating phases of high intensity which require overtime from some employees and low intensity phases where people aren't even required to work at full capacity. <S> This allows employees to work overtime when they are required and then get time off when they are not required. <A> Do you have a company policy against working after hours? <S> Is their work of good quality? <S> Is this creating any of the problems you've alluded to? <S> Or perhaps asking this individual why they choose to work after hours. <S> Don't create problems where they don't exist. <S> Don't make assumptions and don't jump to conclusions.
| If there's no company policy, and if their work is of good quality, and if this is not creating any of the problems you've alluded to, then I'd suggest doing nothing. Seek to understand the situation before taking action. In that situation, a flex time agreement with time accounts can be a good approach.
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Is it necessary to give notice while furloughed? I live in New Jersey (an at will state in the U.S.) and I am currently furloughed. There may be a job offer underway and I was wondering if I would have to give current employer a two week notice. I have not heard from my employer with updates on current job. <Q> You'd need to check your contract and your state law, you might be able to leave without notice. <S> Normally that is considered somewhere between rude and unprofessional, but in the current circumstances your old company might not mind at all. <S> If you are furloughed you can't do any work during a 14 day notice period, so there is no reason to hold you back. <S> I'd say talk to the new company. <S> Tell them that you can start at date X if you have to give 14 days notice, and ask if you could start earlier if you manage to leave without notice. <S> Once that is sorted and you have an offer, you can go to the old company and say ”I would like to leave. <S> I can give 14 days notice, but I’d rather leave earlier if that is possible at all.” <S> Just leaving without telling anyone is obviously bad. <S> And you’d want to give enough notice that all the paperwork can be done. <S> Let’s say first thing in the morning of the last day, or better the day before. <S> Be prepared that they say “You can leave now, but you need to come in in five days to sign everything”. <A> Is it necessary to give notice while furloughed? <S> No. <S> You are not working and you are not getting paid. <S> This being said, you can still be nice and professional about it. <S> Hand in your notice and ask for any notice period to be waived. <S> There is a 99% chance that the company will simply agree. <S> There is rarely a hard legal requirement for a notice period in the first place, so this is mostly about being professional and perception. <S> I'd be extremely surprised if any future employer would take issue with not serving notice on Furlough. <A> I have been in a similar situation in the past. <S> The contract in Virginia was coming to an end. <S> The company gave us two weeks notice, and then after that point they would only pay for insurance for a month. <S> After that we were terminated. <S> I had a coworker that found a new job during the two weeks notice <S> , the let him go the same day he told them. <S> Now he had an almost two week insurance gap. <S> I found a job that would start a few days into the insurance only month, I told them the day before I was to start the new job. <S> My insurance gap was less than a day. <S> So if you are going to give notice realize that they might let you go sooner than you plan. <S> Balance this with any benefits or pay you could be sacrificing. <S> If they are giving you partial pay, then they could want you to work for the two weeks. <S> But if you aren't getting any paid hours they are unlikely to bring you in. <S> In my case there was no need to bring us in because they collected the laptop, badge, and office keys on our last paid day. <S> I expect these actions are normal from a security standpoint.
| In fact, while on Furlough you are not allowed to do ANYTHING for your employer, so any notice period would be completely pointless.
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How to handle colleague who answer only YES or NO? I have a really qualified colleague. We work together, he is very smart but I struggle to communicate. He always answer yes or no. Sometimes a few words... He speaks very little, What is the best way to proceed? We have been working together for 7 months. Everything is working fine. But it's a bit hard and strange without comunication. <Q> Was it you who put that database change live this morning? <S> Yes. <S> Don't stop here! <S> There must be a reason you asked. <S> Consider this question sort of a topic-setter for what you want to talk about. <S> Why did it go live this morning, when my calendar says it will be tomorrow afternoon? <S> or Why did you do it instead of me? <S> or That's a problem, I have an angry voice mail from [boss] asking me to reverse it. <S> But before I do I want to understand why you did it. <S> Yes, this is a lot of work. <S> To be fair, so is guessing what you had in mind when you asked your yes/no question, and giving you a paragraph of details without any cues or hints. <S> Your coworker is putting all the work of the conversation on you. <S> You'll get better results if you accept that and start asking better questions. <A> Well, then don't ask questions which can be answered with "yes" or "no". <S> Ask open questions instead. <S> When you require information, explicitly state what information you require. <S> If you are fishing for opinions or proposals, specifically say so. <S> The question is not providing any specific examples or even what industry you are working in, so I can only guess. <S> And with nothing to base my guess on, I am guessing that you are Captain of the USS Enterprise. <S> But these communication techniques should also work at most other workplaces. <S> Requesting information: <S> Bad: "Ensign, is that a Klingon Bird of Prey heading towards us?" <S> Good: " <S> Ensign, please identify type and course of the vessel on the screen!" <S> Accessing their knowledge: <S> Bad: <S> "Lieutenant, do you believe the Klingons would listen to reason if we tried to negotiate?" <S> Good: " <S> Lieutenant, according to your experience with Klingons, how do you think they would react if we proposed negotiations?" <S> Fishing for proposals: <S> Bad: <S> "Number One, would you recommend firing photon torpedos? <S> [...] Do you really think that's a good idea?" <S> Good: " <S> What course of action would you propose, Number One? [...] <S> What do you hope to achieve by doing that?" <S> Getting time estimates and resource requirements: <S> Bad: "Lieutenant, can you repair the warp core within 8 hours? <S> How about if we assign more engineers to your team?" <S> Good: <S> "Lieutenant, how long will it take you to repair the warp core? <S> What could we do to help you repair it faster?" <A> If you feel that you are impacted by lack of communication with this person, you should privately take up the issue with your manager. <S> This sort of concern is their role and their headache, not yours. <S> Then, if and when the time comes, also be prepared to listen.
| Unless you are limited to only one question a day, you fix this with followup questions.
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What to do after doing poorly in an (online) assessment because time ran out? I was contacted by a recruiter from a large company. He asked me to do an online assessment to check my technical proficiency. He gave me a broad list of topics to study. I did the practice assessment and it went very well, however the real assessment went terribly. The assessment had two programming questions. You were given the method signature and a series of automated tests were applied against it. It had to compile for the tests to be applied. In the first question I got stuck at the end trying to convert the return value to match the supplied method signature, so it didn't even compile. I red over the second question and had ideas but ran out of time before writing any code. I strongly feel I would have been able to get everything to work if I had more time. The practice was easier and the study material was not related to what was on the assessment. I don't mean to sound arrogant but in a sense I found this to have been a bad way to spend time. Together I spent at least 4 hours studying, doing the practice assessment and the real assessment. If it had been for a job that I really wanted, I wouldn't mind but the recruiter only gave a broad sense of what the job would be doing. Is this normal for getting hired in the tech industry? Should a person bother to do a test even if they aren't sure they want the job? OTOH since I did invest time already and have thought of a solution, I would like the opportunity to complete this assessment. Should I email the recruiter asking if I can retake it? When doing an assessment is it a good idea to ask how they score it? For example is it better if it compiles but gives no right answers? At the end of the test it asked for feedback about the assessment. Should I have included that if I had more time I could have done more? If I am confident in something, and have done it before, I can work well under pressure and go fast. I do not work well under pressure if it involves thinking up a new algorithm. How can I use this information to target my job search? In a certain sense I found the assessment was up to luck. The questions made extensive use of the Map and List interface. When studying I focused more on algorithms and other data structure the recruiter had said. If it had been a Vector on Queue I wouldn't have had to read the documentation and would have done much better. <Q> Should I email the recruiter asking if I can retake it? <S> No. <S> They've already moved on to another candidate. <S> When doing an assessment is it a good idea to ask how they score it? <S> The recruiter won't know the answer. <S> They just have a checklist of things that a candidate has to do, and if one of them is 'Pass the assessment with a score of 70 or above', <S> that's all they'll look for. <S> The assessment company is an external supplier for them - they just purchase the right to use their questions. <S> At the end of the test it asked for feedback about the assessment. <S> Should I have included that if I had more time I could have done more? <S> Not really relevant. <S> They won't give you extra marks for that. <S> They're really looking for comments like 'This {specific section} is incorrect', or '{x} could have been worded better'. <S> If I am confident in something, and have done it before, I can work well under pressure and go fast. <S> I do not work well under pressure if it involves thinking up a new algorithm. <S> How can I use this information to target my job search? <S> These assessments are very common the development industry. <S> Why? <S> Because a lot of developers can talk a good game, and pass a few certificates, but can't deliver code. <S> There is a weakness; there aren't many assessment companies out there. <S> Keep applying for jobs (preferably, jobs you want...), and you'll soon see this exact (or very similar) assessment turn up again. <S> And you'll know the answer... <A> Checking if the candidate is able to solve a given task within an ambitious time limit is the very point of these tests. <S> Most candidates would do great "if the time didn't run out". <S> And yes, they are popular in several industries. <S> Just move on. <S> Sometimes you win, sometimes you fail. <S> That's life. <A> I strongly feel I would have been able to get everything to work if I had more time. <S> I can tell you that the majority of candidate feel this way and communicating that to the recruiter is not necessary. <S> Should I email the recruiter asking if I can retake it? <S> Generally there isn't a "retake" option with automatic assessments. <S> Companies will typically have a cooling off period such as 6 months before you can apply for a position again. <S> When doing an assessment is it a good idea to ask how they score it? <S> For example is it better if it compiles but gives no right answers? <S> I think you just need more practice. <S> Most automated assessments are very similar. <S> Best solution solves the problem and passes all of the automated tests. <S> If the company you're interviewing with is smaller someone might read your solution and evaluate it manually to see if your code is sufficient. <S> I know this because I have been doing this for our open positions. <S> At the end of the test it asked for feedback about the assessment. <S> Should I have included that if I had more time I could have done more? <S> Again this is unnecessary, because most candidates could do better with more time. <S> It's about what you are able to achieve in a limited time frame and not necessarily about providing a complete solution that passes every test. <S> Unless you have very specific feedback about how the problem could be improved i.e. automated test number <S> N is wrong because of XYZ, I would advise you to skip the feedback. <S> The feedback I have seen usually count against the candidate, because they often times just blame the problem and not introspect on their own approach. <A> Is this normal for getting hired in the tech industry? <S> No, just development mostly. <S> Most of the tech industry is based on qualifications and experience. <S> But due to the nature of development, people with similar papers can differ widely, hence the tests. <S> How can I use this information to target my job search? <S> Just keep trying, but 4 hours for a job you don't really want is a bit extreme.
| No, you shouldn't ask to retake the test, it would sound very naive.
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How exactly experience level is determined in Software Industry? I'm applying for a full-stack developer job and noticed that the job posting was open to three different experience levels (junior, mid-level, and senior as per the posting). In the posting, the number of required experience years wasn't mentioned. So, I was wondering on what basis does this level gets calculated, obviously years but how exactly?Assuming 3 years of work experience which level should I apply for? <Q> on what basis does this level gets calculated, obviously years but <S> how exactly? <S> I'm going to challenge your assertion here <S> - "years of experience" is in many cases a terrible measure of a developer. <S> I've worked with developers who after 10 years of "experience" are still not much above junior level and still need handholding through their tasks, and conversely I've worked with developers who after a year are taking ownership of tasks and showing more leadership skills than people with significantly more experience. <S> When I'm hiring, I look at the person in front of me, make a judgement on their skills, how well they fit into the role (both technically and softer skills) <S> , what potential I think they have to grow in the future, put all that into a big melting pot and make them an offer at what I think is the appropriate level. <S> How many years they've been working is just about the least important thing I consider. <S> Considering 3 years of work experience which level should I apply for? <S> This may be somewhat harsh <S> but if you don't know what level you're at, it's quite probable <S> you're still at a junior level. <S> Unless you know what skills you need to be a more senior developer, you're almost certainly not going to have them - or at the very least, you're not going to be able to convince me in an interview process that you have them. <A> In general, junior = needs hand holding, mid-level can do things on their own if not too difficult, senior = can handle any problem. <S> So where do see yourself on that scale? <S> But since there is no fixed definition, you can apply, go to an interview, and see if you match their expectations. <A> There is no universally applicable definition. <S> But in general it's usually understood like this: <S> Junior: New in the technology. <S> Can only solve basic problems without assistance. <S> Might not yet be aware of all the possibilities the technology has to offer. <S> Might require mentoring to achieve their full potential. <S> Mid-level: Proficient in the technology. <S> Can solve most problems on their own. <S> Is aware of the existence of most possibilities of the technology, but might not be experienced in using every single one. <S> Can improve their knowledge without requiring a mentor. <S> Senior: <S> High level of experience in the technology. <S> When they can not find a solution to a problem, then it's very likely unsolvable. <S> Doesn't just know which possibilities the technology offers, but also has the knowledge to make good decisions when to use which. <S> Can mentor other developers. <A> TL;DR <S> Generally you aren't ready to be senior if you haven't worked professionally for at least 5 years. <S> It could take longer, and some people never get there. <S> It's all about when it's no longer a gamble for management to entrust you with responsibility. <S> What is senior? <S> Who would you want to be senior if you were in charge? <S> Someone who can handle responsibility in a way that minimizes the risk to you and your organization. <S> After all, senior staff are who you put in charge of people and projects. <S> It's about responsibility and risk <S> How do you know someone is low risk? <S> They demonstrate it. <S> They show that they've been in many different difficult situations. <S> They know the game, they know a million ways things can go wrong and how to handle those situations because they've done so. <S> They know when to take risks and when not to. <S> They understand and are skilled at diplomacy, office politics, conflict management, delegation--the soft skills. <S> They've learned all this (usually the hard way), and can demonstrate so conclusively. <S> And so they can demonstrate that they can handle responsibility without undue risk to the organization. <S> It's not actually about technical skill <S> None of this necessarily has anything to do with technical skill, though hopefully a senior also has strong technical breadth and depth <S> (however strong delegation can often overcome shortfalls in technical abilities). <S> A junior is junior because they cannot demonstrate an ability to handle responsibility in a low-risk fashion. <S> They may be a technical super-star. <S> Though unlikely, they could even have all the soft-skills of a senior. <S> But they're unproven. <S> If given responsibility, they're a gamble. <S> It's not time-in-chair, but the two are often (loosely) correlated <S> So seniority is demonstrated skill handling responsibility in a low-risk fashion. <S> It is usually correlated with years of experience, but the two are not equivalent. <S> It's having a proven track record that you're someone the company can count on to take on responsibility. <S> That's what a senior is. <S> Some numbers <S> Numerically speaking, it's rare to be ready to become senior with less than 5 years total professional experience. <S> The number varies by person and some people never get there, but it typically happens at somewhere between 5 and 10 years total professional experience. <A> Why? <S> Because it depends on several factors: the device the software is run on (server, cluster, PC, embedded); the type of software (web related, control of electro-mechanic devices...); the safety level required (not safety related, critical...); the target industry (consumer, medical, automotive, aviation, aerospace, military, chemical...); the company hiring and their internal rules. <S> Considering 3 years of work experience which level should I apply for? <S> That is a matter which you choose yourself, but ultimately you negotiate it with the employer. <S> If it is at all possible / allowed, you might even apply for all levels.
| There’s no fixed definition. There isn't really any way / scale for "experience level" in the "software industry".
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nothing to say in daily scrum stand up My work is pending because I need a permission from someone outside the scrum team. The scrum master knows about this issue because I said that yesterday and today in the stand up. What I'm thinking about is shall I say "There is no update from my side" is that good to say? Or mention the same issue tomorrow (which everyone in the team already knows about) <Q> If your task is blocked, it sounds like you should have a lot to say during the Daily Scrum. <S> You and your team need to talk about what's going to happen now. <S> I mean, I'm going to assume that your task wasn't placed on the backlog to keep you occupied. <S> Generally speaking, tasks on the backlog are important. <S> And they are important soon . <S> But the task is not being done, because of an outside issue. <S> Is your task not getting done threatening your Sprint Goal? <S> If so, you need to talk with your Product Owner and what to do now. <S> You might need to escalate the whole "waiting for permission". <S> Who are you waiting for? <S> How aware are they that this pending permission is blocking your sprint and might cause you not to hit the goal? <S> Is there anyone around who can put some pressure on this person to do their job? <S> Is your task not getting done not threatening your Sprint Goal? <S> Then mark it as blocked, send the occasional status update to this person and then talk with your team about you'll be doing now. <S> Is there anyone you can lend a hand? <S> Is there any new work that you can pick up? <S> Can you do some admin while you wait? <S> Refine some stories with the PO? <S> In a daily scrum the only reason you might have for having "nothing to say" is "Everything is on schedule, nothing is blocked, we'll meet the goal on time. <S> " <S> Any other message is what the Daily Scrum is for . <A> If you're doing standups the way we do then the status would be 'blocked'. <S> You report that you are blocked. <S> The scrum master (are they also the project manager?) <S> can work on resolving the block. <A> You need to move from the idea of "my work" to "our work". <S> In Scrum, individuals do not have work. <S> The team forecasts and plans work in support of a goal. <S> If you took a piece of work as far as you can and are now dependent on someone outside of the Scrum Team, you should work to get that unblocked. <S> This could mean letting the Scrum Master know since one of their responsibilities is to help in removing impediments. <S> It could mean following up with the person or people you are dependent on. <S> Once you've done that, the next step is to help the rest of the team with other work. <S> It could mean starting a new task or helping someone else finish what they are working on. <S> You shouldn't be waiting until the Daily Scrum to raise impediments or seek out something else to do to help your team. <S> The Daily Scrum does provide a good opportunity to let your teammates know that you may be blocked on progress and you may be able to help them with other things. <S> If you have nothing to say about offering help or making progress, you need to start there. <A> Ask your boss, or whoever is responsible for running the meeting. <S> Different bosses will have different expectations. <S> In general it is usually a good idea to say something brief such as: <S> "I'm waiting for permission from team X, as discussed yesterday. <S> In the meantime I've taken the opportunity to do Y." <S> Y could be anything. <S> Helping a colleague, sorting out your emails, catching up on mandatory training, online learning, cleaning out the loos.... <S> whatever. <S> You just need to indicate that your primary objective was blocked but you still tried to achieve something, ideally without boring anyone with too many details.
| "My work is blocked and I'm not doing anything" should be the furthest from "nothing to say" you can get.
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What should I do if I have sensed my guy wants to quit and I don't intend to keep him too? There are signs that someone has plan to quit, e.g. suddenly calls in sick from time to time, frequently take "secretive" calls, avoids social interactions with co-workers, less engaged than they used to be, and acts more quiet during meetings. Being a manager for many years I find that "I had a bad feeling" almost always turns out to be correct. I have an employee doing this now. As his manager it is not that hard to sense it and the natural reaction is do I want to keep him or not? In this case, I don't want to keep him (for various reasons, not because I don't think his skill is not qualified for the job). What should I do then before he officially announces? ---- update ---- I said I don't want to keep him if I notice he has a desire to quit. That is a big if. If he doesn't show signs to quit, of course I want him to stay too. I am not sure if this logic is hard to understand or not because from the answers and comments I got I feel they didn't get this. ---- update 2 ---- My question was closed so I added some information, hoping it can be reopened and get more answers. First, as I commented to some answer he actually had announced it and then I asked the question in hindsight, thinking about is there anything I should do during that time. But not as one comment said "I was just probing to see if anyone will back me up". Second, I held a meeting with my guys, telling them that I know the situation is tough if they need to advice/help please just come to me. But I didn't talk to that guy in particular. I thought about it but chose not to, which probably was a mistake. Hence my question, what should do during that time ? <Q> You're reading a lot into his behaviour. <S> Sure, those could be signs he's about to quit, but they are more general signs of unhappiness. <S> It could mean trouble in his personal life, dissatisfaction with his job that's not bad enough to quit over, poor mental or physical health, or something else. <S> Unless his performance is falling below acceptable, then as a good manager, you should be planning for him to stay and be asking him <S> what's making him unhappy <S> is there anything you can do to improve matters <S> If he does go ahead and quit, don't be churlish and show that you wanted that outcome. <S> You also don't have to fight to keep him. <S> Simply thank him for his service, provide a decent reference and wish him well. <A> If you are well prepared to lose a person, what would be needed? <S> You are evidently a developer given you Stack Overflow profile. <S> If turnover in China is anything like it is in North America <S> (developers last 1-3 years on average), losing developers is a common occurrence and something most teams should be prepared for. <S> The key questions to answer: Do they have any key knowledge that would be lost if they left? <S> Time to get it written down. <S> Are they likely to take any other team members with them? <S> Even if knowledge is not unique to one person, it can easily be unique to a team. <S> Are there any client relationships that might be impacted by this person leaving? <S> Are there any passwords or software licenses they hold personally that you want to retain? <S> How about their files? <S> Will their files be retained or wiped? <S> Given that you don't want to keep this person, you are basically just waiting for him to announce his resignation. <S> Perhaps you write up a job ad or peruse your network of contacts so you can get a replacement quickly, but until he actually quits, what is there to do? <A> Have a direct conversation with your colleague. <S> You have a better chance of having mis-interpreted the situation than having correctly guessed your colleague's intentions - even if experience suggests otherwise. <S> Your colleague's recent changes in behavior should not be the reason for termination if you have yet to discuss your observations and offered to help. <S> If you'd like to keep your colleague on your team, share your observations with them, the impact those changes have had on you, and ask if there is anything you can help with. <S> Don't pressure your colleague into giving a rationale for your observations - instead listen and acknowledge the context or feelings that may be underlying the change. <A> I don't intend to keep him <S> As you've noted, it's easy to see people's behaviour change when they've got one foot out the door. <S> It's entirely; possibly he also realizes you don't want him and isn't willing to bust ass anymore. <S> If they're doing the job, I'm not sure what the problem is here. <S> People don't leave jobs. <S> They leave bosses. <S> Ask yourself why they're leaving. <S> Or just ask them. <S> It's a lot easier to have a conversation about this like adults.
| Instead of guessing the intentions and feelings of your colleague, engage them in a caring and direct conversation: If you're intent on letting them go, you should do it immediately.
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Is it advisable to mention your contract rate when discussing salary for a full-time position? I'm interviewing for a full-time position that wasn't advertised. I was referred by a friend of a friend. That being said, I have no clue what they are willing to pay me. I have a firm hourly rate already established when I do contract work. Is it advisable to respond with my rate just to establish a range we can negotiate around? <Q> I have a firm hourly rate already established when I do contract work. <S> Is it advisable to respond with my rate just to establish a range we can negotiate around? <S> Yes, and expect to be countered with a substantially lower number, and do not rush to dismiss it as while employee salaries are lower, they include bonuses like paid time off, which may actually make the gap not so insurmountable. <S> Make sure to do proper math before making any decisions. <S> The sooner you handle the matter of minimum payment you will accept, the less time will be possibly wasted. <A> Not necessarily. <S> Stating your contract rate is equivalent to stating your previous salary. <S> Converting between the two is relatively easy if you know the extra benefits that come with being an employee. <S> You can check the many many other questions on this site about when to state your previous salary, but in general stating it puts you at a disadvantage. <S> If they don't know your salary (or contract rate) then they might offer you something much higher. <S> If they pitch you something that works out being equivalent to less than your contract rate, then you can always tell them your contract rate at that point. <S> However if you are going to be happy with something that is the same as your contract rate (after allowing for employee benefits) then by all means tell it to them. <S> The difference between your contract rate and your salary is that your salary is extremely hard to change once established, whereas your contract rate can be renegotiated for each contract. <A> No, do the conversion yourself first. <S> If you leave it to the employer to do the conversion for you, it's one more opportunity for them to mislead you. <S> It would be like going to a car dealership and allowing them to do all the payment calculations for you. <S> Also, note that you may end up working way more than 40 hours a week without any overtime pay (since you'll probably be exempt). <S> So you'll need to suss out the working situation from your future colleagues before you paint yourself into a corner by giving a number too early.
| Knowing your previous salary (or equivalent in contract rate) means the company can pitch you a salary which they know is better than your current one, and that you are therefore unlikely to reject, but is lower than they might otherwise have offered.
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How to find companies without going through recruitment agencies? I'm currently studying embedded systems engineering (think software engineering but instead of apps it's IoT) and I'm having a lot of trouble finding potential companies for internships. There doesn't seem to be any internship opportunities directly posted by companies in my area (or country for that matter), so I have to find companies that would employ people by using the title I'd have when I graduate. However, most job openings are posted by third-party recruitment agencies that do everything in their power to hide what company the posting is coming from (I guess this is done to prevent potential applicants from bypassing the recruitment company). The thing is, I can't directly apply for these postings as I'm not looking for a full-time position and when I try contacting the recruitment agency to explain I'm looking for an internship, they understandably blow me off (since they wouldn't get a commission for bringing an intern to the company). So, my question in a nutshell would be: How can I find companies that have engineers/departments within my area of expertise to look for internships bypassing all the recruitment spam which hides the company's names thoroughly? <Q> How can I find companies that have engineers/departments within my area of expertise to look for internships bypassing all the recruitment spam which hides the company's names thoroughly? <S> Work with your university's placement office. <S> They usually have lists of companies offering internships. <A> Here are some ideas, you need to judge if they work in your case. <S> do a keywords-based search for companies in your area <S> ; example: internship, job, IoT, embedded engineering, ... use "generic" job sites, which present the company names too; save the list, you might need it later; discuss with your professors at the university, ask for company recommendations; they already have experience from the previous years, from previous students; if available, talk to the dedicated services provided by your university (e.g., the careers service); discuss with your colleagues, you might find some who are both talkative and informed; if available, go through a directory of companies operating in your area of interest; just go around business parks, see what companies are there; visit business centers, they also concentrate several companies. <S> Suggested by @StephanBranczyk <S> (thank you): LinkedIn; <A> They could help you get in touch with previous students now employed, who can in turn put you in touch with the right person in their company.
| Depending on your university, the alumni association may be of great help.
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Freelance Android - Client doesn't have source code to provide, only the apk is it normal? i'm new to all the freelance work and since last week i have receive two offer. The first one was rebranding of an Android App. The client had a version of his application and he want me to add his new logo and colors to his existant app. But he can only send me one APK file. Not the source code. Second mission was a team that want me to add a new functionnality to their existant app. But again they only have one apk file to give me. Is it normal to work with only an apk and to not have so much contact with the client before starting the work (even if it's not complex like adding a logo to a splashscreen ?)I find this solution really weird especially with the first client since they could just want to make a copy of an app. It's my first two missions has a freelance so i don't want to lose my first opportunity especially when the task they ask me is pretty simple. But on the other hand i don't want to start my work with illegal jobs... If anyone can tell me if this is normal in the field or if i should firmly decline those missions ? Have a good day :) <Q> Do i have to do decompile <S> the APK implement what the mission told me, recompile and then deliver the modified app ? <S> Yes, although there are tools for doing that like https://ibotpeaches.github.io/Apktool/ . <S> It isn't perfect, but should do for a reskinning. <S> I find this solution really weird especially with the first client since they could just want to make a copy of an app. <S> Companies that use freelancers are typically terrible at keeping their source code simply because they tend to be non-technical. <S> I interviewed for a job where they hired a contractor to develop their app and they were hiring a full time person as the contractor was a dud. <S> They didn't even know what language/framework the app was built in. <S> I would find what tech I was using when I arrived and figured it out for them. <S> Another friend works for a company where they hired a contractor to develop their website and the contractor disappeared. <S> That company hired a bunch of developers and assumed they would know how to get into the server. <S> In the end they were lifting HTML and JS off the page to transfer it over. <S> Friends who freelance have had people try to give them .exe <S> files to edit. <S> Technical and organizational incompetence could easily explain why they don't have source code and such technical and organizational incompetence is common. <S> But... <S> But on the other hand i don't want to start my work with illegal jobs... <S> You should do your best to verify that they actually own it. <S> Try searching for the apks/app names on Google to see if the publisher matches the people who are hiring you or see if they publicly claim the apps already on their websites. <A> If you were the owner, would you give out all your assets to someone you never met? <S> This is like taking a photo of your credit card and send it out. <S> It's absurd to even expect source code in freelancing from an existing running app, not until you gain the trust. <S> It simply doesn't work like that. <S> If anyone can tell me if this is normal in the field or if i should firmly decline those missions Super common. <S> You could decline it <S> but it's possible to do the works without source code. <S> Just charge more hours. <S> People are more comfortable paying more hours than sending you the source code. <S> I know I'd more than happy to pay you more and not risk of the product being stolen. <A> I would find it weird that all you get to work on is APK file, especially branding work First thing to do, IMHO, is to ask why and check the metadata of APK to validate ownership
| Offering only APK is common in freelancing, because nobody will trust a new external freelancer.
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Employer salary range way higher than I was seeking should I say yes? Got asked the salary expectation question in one of my recent job applications via email. I deflected the question and asked the recruiter for his range instead (not sure if this was rude or not) and got a range way higher than what I expected. I am still interviewing for this position should I just say I'm happy with the lower end of his range? Two factors making me what to go lower than his range is that they may find someone cheaper who will disclose their range and Also I'm somewhat under qualified for this position (3 years instead of 5 they asked), or is this foolish? <Q> Say "Thank you for this information." <S> Why do you feel you need to make a preemptive declaration of what you're willing to accept? <S> Don't appear to be desperate or willing to accept whatever they offer, unless you actually are desperate and willing to accept whatever they offer. <S> They need a person for this position. <S> You don't need them (again, unless you're desperate). <S> This puts you in a position of power. <S> Maintain that position. <A> should I just say I'm happy with the lower end of his range? <S> Two factors making me what to go lower than his range is that they may find someone cheaper who will disclose their range and Also I'm somewhat under qualified for this position (3 years instead of 5 they asked), or is this foolish? <S> Companies don't seek the cheapest candidate they can find. <S> Instead, they look for the best fit for the open position. <S> Go through the interview process and give it the best shot you can. <S> If you get an offer in a range higher than you need, just accept it. <S> If you are uncomfortable accepting a position for which you are under qualified, then reject any offer. <S> Otherwise accept it knowing that the company feels you meet their qualifications. <A> You already gained a lot (potentially) by not telling what you thought was an Ok salary, but being told that the company is considering a much higher salary range. <S> Coming with low salary expectations doesn't do you any good. <S> Your salary is not the major selling point, what you can do is. <S> Low salary expectations say "I myself believe that I'm not very good at my job". <S> Why would I hire you? <S> And now, after you gained a lot by sheer luck, you want to undo it all by telling you are looking for the lower end. <S> That won't do you any good. <S> Once they decided that you might be the guy they want to hire, then salary is discussed. <S> You don't start with the lowest you'd expect, but with something higher. <S> If not, you'll be offered less, nothing lost.
| If they think you are worth it, great. Wait until you're interviewed and offered the position (if that happens).
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How to decline a summer job (after a successful internship) that doesn't align with my career plans? I’m a photography major, and this past semester I was fulfilling my internship requirement at an art museum. Due to the COVID-19 situation, the museum was forced to shut down, and my position in the digitization department left me unable to work remotely. My college chairwoman suggested we find a new internship for me, and had me apply to a local business as a photographer. I figured I’d be editing photos for the company, or out in the field shooting when things calmed down. I’ve been working with the head of the company since early April, and have been assigned nothing but graphic design work, which I am very unqualified for. Logos, posters, merchandise designs, etc. my supervisor sends me assignments with next to no instruction, and I’ve been having to learn things on the fly. I’ve graduated now, and he wants me to continue through the summer, however, I am uncomfortable with continuing. My grade is no longer in danger, and I’m certain that a graphic design student would provide him with far better quality work, and get more out of it than I. I’m uncertain of how I should bring this up to him. Should I resign? Should I grin and bear it? <Q> You do not take or leave jobs based on what is best for the employer. <S> You take or leave jobs based on what is best for you . <S> It appears that you are at least ok at graphic design. <S> Others might be better, but you're meeting this client's needs. <S> You probably have some other skills, like listening to what the client wants or accepting change requests, that are better than other students this client has employed before. <S> They might make you, overall, a better employee than any previous one. <S> Perhaps that's why you've been offered the summer job. <S> But that doesn't matter. <S> You have graduated and you need a job. <S> You'd like a job as a photographer. <S> You don't really want a job as a graphic designer. <S> In a normal economy, maybe you would say "no thankyou" to this and go look for a photographer job. <S> But this is not a normal economy, and a bird in the hand . . . <S> I would go to your boss and say something like this: I'm really proud that even though I didn't major in graphic design, you like my work enough to want more of it. <S> I don't know if [college chairwoman] was clear when we set up this short-notice position, I majored in photography. <S> And I would really like to be able to do some as part of my next job. <S> I like working for you <S> and I'm doing my best. <S> If I take this job, could we include some photography work in it? <S> This way you would see a variety of work -- graphic design, photography, maybe other stuff too -- and learn how the business works. <S> It could be an amazing opportunity with an employer who already thinks highly of you. <S> The last thing you want to do is walk away from an opportunity like that because you think you know better than the employer whether they are getting their money's worth! <S> That's his decision. <A> "Internship <S> you're not qualified for." <S> This is a possibility in vacuum... <S> for someone the boss hasn't worked with before. <S> This isn't a possibility for you . <S> Why? <S> Because the boss has worked with you before, has liked the quality of your work , and wants to keep you onboard. <S> This isn't a question of whether you're not qualified. <S> You absolutely, positively are: the manager has seen your work and likes it and wants to continue having you do it. <S> The only issue is: do you want the job? <S> I mean, you can certainly decide 'I want to be a photographer, not a graphic designer, and this job might take me out of the path I have in mind for my career'. <S> And you could certainly turn down the job for that reason. <S> But... don't turn it down because you think you're unqualified. <S> Take it, continue learning as much as you can with as much passion as you can, and prove your boss right for hiring you. <A> If you already have something better lined up in late May 2020, with the semester over and most summer jobs begun, then by all means take the better option. <S> "Better" meaning demonstrable improvements in your skill, demonstrable improvements in your references and networking, or demonstrable improvements in pay and/or benefits. <S> You have the benefit of being a student, so you are not expected to keep full employment. <S> Future employers will not question "And what were you doing during the summer of 2020?" <S> If self-directed photography study will yield you demonstrable increases in your skills, by all means go for it. <S> Being paid for "Learning things on the fly" is a good situation to be in. <S> It's good to learn to deal with unplanned challenges. <S> Four months of one successful internship is good on a resume, but four months followed by actually being hired is very good. <S> A good situation to be in is to have a current employer who very much wants to keep you, and will offer you increased pay and benefits in order to keep you from moving on. <S> My answer comes from an assumption of working long-term in an office environment. <S> You might become a freelance photographer or another role where you don't have to keep toeing the line of office expectations, such that "increased pay and benefits" isn't a consideration. <A> You've got a paying job, which A) puts you in a better position when applying for other jobs, and B) means you're NOT sitting around wondering where the rent's going to come from (unless you're living at home in your parent's basement/your old room/etc). <S> you're really interested in, while you also Look for another job <S> Maybe he/she will listen, maybe not. <S> Maybe your boss can give you stuff <S> you're more interested in, maybe not. <S> Try asking - it'll get you more in this world than quietly (or not) being annoyed. <S> When you show up at any new job you're going to have to scramble to learn the requirements of that job. <S> Regardless of how long you've been in the workforce and have been getting "experience" in a particular field there's always that several-week stretch at the beginning where you don't know what's going on, who to talk to about what <S> , don't know the tools, don't know where the bathroom is, etc, blah. <S> That is totally normal - get used to it. <S> At your current job you've proved you can do that - so, good, that's one more thing to mention in job interviews. " <S> Got internship, was assigned work <S> I knew nothing about, learned how to do it on the fly" - great stuff to mention.
| Stay where you are and do the work - which BTW your supervisor is apparently quite happy with, unless he's said otherwise - and Tell you boss you'd like to work in the field Ask for what you want (photography work) and you just might get it.
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Is it unprofessional to include additional explanations in a thank you letter? I'm writing a thank you letter for a technical position after the interview. I'm wondering if it's unprofessional to include additional explanations for a question that was asked in the interview; a question that we ran out of time to do. I know the explanation won't change the interview performance but my thought is that a quick explanation could clarify my thinking process and show dedication. <Q> As a hiring manager, I would not like it. <S> It would indicate to me that your thank you email is not really to say thank you. <S> It’s just an excuse to try to re-litigate your interview. <S> I’d file away the email and think 10% worse of you. <S> “Is this guy going to be a high maintenance complainer?” <S> I’d think. <A> I don't think it would be unprofessional, but I do think it would be unorthodox and odd. <S> If it were me I'd forego including it in your thank <S> you letter. <S> I don't think most employers expect you to be perfect and without blemish in an interview. <S> Everyone, including the interviewer, is nervous. <S> If you think you did well with the exception of this one question, then let it go. <A> As a hiring manager, I've seen this done. <S> If the answer the candidate includes is concise and complete, this can come across as someone who thought more about the problem given, which shows me they're interested in the position and the problem. <S> I thought it reflected well upon the candidate. <S> If the answer is long, meandering, or incomplete, it reflects worse upon the candidate. <S> I've seen the second more often than the first in these follow-up answers. <S> I time my interviews such that an excellent candidate will finish with time to spare <S> , a good candidate should get through all the questions, and I expect that an inexperienced candidate probably won't get through them all. <S> It doesn't mean you can't solve the problem, but it means you haven't solved enough problems like that one to meet their level of experience.
| However, if you ran out of time to answer the question, it's likely you didn't demonstrate a level of skill that the employer is looking for.
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How can I deal with a supervisor that constantly blames the previous manager that hired me initially? I work in a university in the US. I was hired by a person that left last year for a better position somewhere else. My previous manager invited me to join him in his new position and have a role equal to my current position, but I decided to not leave my current job. My new supervisor constantly blames my previous manager by undermining his contributions. My current supervisor reminds me, in each meeting, that the previous manager's time is over, and if he was good, he would still be here. She ignores the fact that my previous manager left our university because he found an incredibly good position somewhere else. Hearing these complaints and ignoring of my previous manager contributions hurts me a lot. My previous manager is still my friend and I believe he is a really good man, and really powerful and talented in his works. I'm not sure about the meaning of these complaints that are thrown on me; perhaps my new supervisor is trying to tell me that I need to leave also. Is there a way to professionally ask my new supervisor to stop this? <Q> Blame your predecessor is politics 101 <S> Politicians do it. <S> Managers do it. <S> Developers do it. <S> People told to organize a stockroom do it. <S> Blaming your predecessor moves the initial starting point back, so if you succeed it seems like a greater accomplishment, and if you fail, it is because expectations are too high. <S> The "predecessor did something bad" becomes the dominant narrative because they are not around to defend themselves and managers are rarely willing to actually investigate <S> so they assume it is accurate. <S> It doesn't help that it is frequently accurate, at least in part. <S> Companies also have a vested interest in promoting the narrative that they offer a superior quality environment to most workplace and that anyone no longer there was greedy, lazy, or couldn't do the job. <S> If they admitted that good people leave for reasons not related to negative character attributes, they would be admitting that the narrative is poor. <S> As much loyalty as you might have for your old manager <S> , your new manager is right that his time is done and a new era of politics has arrived. <S> Your new manager is trying to throw their weight around and seem in charge and discussing your respect for the prior manager is only going to make things worse. <A> This happens. <S> Blaming the predecessor because they can't defend themselves and nobody can refute the accusation. <S> Ignore it as best you can. <S> It's not likely that you can change your new manager's behavior. <S> When they start this talk try to steer the conversation back to the topic or task at hand. <A> My new supervisor constantly blames my previous manager by undermining his contributions. <S> My current supervisor reminds me, in each meeting, that the previous manager's time is over, and if he was good, he would still be here. <S> It's unprofessional of your current supervisor to continuously blame the previous supervisor and devalue their previous contributions. <S> At the same time, you have to ask yourself if your new supervisor is truly exhibiting this blaming behavior or do you still have an allegiance to our old supervisor and thus clouding your objective judgment. <S> I mention this because I have seen bad culture rip a team apart to where many people left the company, but the remaining team members still try to carry on that same poor culture due to their allegiances to the departed leaders. <S> I would ask yourself <S> if the feedback about the previous supervisor is well thought out and merit more investment OR does it just sound like baseless accusations? <A> For some reason no one mentioned possibility to have a honest talk with your new manager that you could initiate yourself (I mean one-to-one chat, because it does not concern any one else). <S> Her behaviour is not very professional for sure, but it could be due to the fact she feels a lot of pressure from higher managers or does not feel comfortable in her new position for whatever reason. <S> Some people get aggressive when feel vulnerable. <S> There is a chance <S> she sees you as a part of her problem. <S> Try to dissuade her. <S> Send her a clear signal that it is not the case, that you are ready to work with her <S> and you remain committed to getting your part of the job done. <S> I don't mean making oath of loyalty to her, that would be too much, but some thing like « <S> Hey, please let me know if you want me to do some thing differently than I have been doing so far. <S> I am open to adjust my style of working, but help me to realise what you expect from me, because I am confused». <S> Of course, if she merely dislikes you personally for no reason she can explain for herself, it is not going to work (I am not sure if there is any thing that is going to work in such case except for great patience). <S> But I would recommend giving it a try to get things constructive. <S> It might pay off. <S> But even if it does not, you will be able to understand the nature of the problem between you two and to know whether your differences are reconcilable.
| The fastest way to stop this is probably to never mention your old manager around your new manager again.
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How is anyone supposed to get their first job in IT networking or security? I just graduated with two degrees in IT networking and security, I have a CCNA and a Security+, and I spent a few years working for my college to tutor other IT students, but every "entry level" job I see in either field has hard requirements for years of experience in those specific roles already. I've applied for over 40 of them where the experience requirements were on the lower end, because people have told me that those are often inflated. But whenever I've heard back from any of them, the feedback I keep getting is that I don't have the experience they're looking for. I've run my resume and cover letter by a bunch of people who say it looks good, so I don't think that's it. Some people have recommended headhunters, but as far as I can tell these days they're not much different from Monster or Glassdoor- they just take your information and spit out a bunch of related job postings and tell you to go for it. I also have a LinkedIn page that's completely filled out, but I'm just not really getting any offers except for a few low-level and low-paying help desk/tech support jobs. So how does anyone actually get into any of these fields? I don't mind working at a help desk for a while, but my concern is that the track out of the help desk and into the networking or infosec departments is too long and I'm going to forget 75% of what I know during that time since I won't be using it, and also there's always a line of people ahead of me who want any openings in those departments as well so it seems like it will take forever (one interviewer told me, "Well, anything's possible " in regard to my chances of getting there within five years). So what am I missing here? <Q> I'm just not really getting any offers except for a few low-level and low-paying help desk/tech support jobs. <S> Those are the jobs you should be taking. <S> That's how you get your foot in the door in the IT profession (and probably with any/every other professional career). <S> Once you're in the door, you start building real world experience, skills, and knowledge. <S> You may have some training and education <S> but nobody is going to hire you as a system or network administrator except at companies that aren't going to pay well for those positions and are looking for someone like you who will accept those positions and low pay because they know that's how they'll be able to break in. <S> I worked for a year as a help desk tech and then found a job posting for a company looking for a system/network administrator. <S> The salary was half of what an experienced system/network administrator would normally earn. <S> I took the job because I knew it was my opportunity to break into the position I really wanted. <S> I worked at that company for 5 years, over which time I tripled my initial starting salary and earned the title Senior Systems/Network Administrator. <S> I haven't looked back since. <S> 20 years on <S> and I now work for myself, commanding an hourly rate commensurate with the best IT Consulting firms in my area. <A> So how does anyone actually get into any of these fields? <S> As with any field, you need to have the right background that an employer is seeking. <S> And you need to get lucky. <S> I'm just not really getting any offers except for a few low-level and low-paying help desk/tech support jobs. <S> Sometimes you need to start in lower-level roles and work your way up to your desired position. <S> When I was looking for lower-level workers for my teams, I often looked internally first. <S> That often meant hiring someone from the Help Desk or Customer Support. <A> I was in your position too early in my career 20 years ago. <S> That "Catch 22" of needing experience right out of school killed me in a major-metropolitan area. <S> I got the door slammed in my face countless times. <S> I even had some internship experience I thought I could bank on, which unfortunately didn't help. <S> I talked to many headhunters, and while they seem helpful at first, you have to realize they are only sales people trying to sell you, and not actually capable of giving you a job. <S> Eventually I got desperate, and took a technical job in a smaller town that didn't have the candidate pool a larger city would have. <S> I think we both were a little desperate. <S> While I only worked at that job 2-years, the experience I learned has been instrumental in each job I landed since. <S> Like the other answerer said, I can now command top dollar for my experience anywhere I choose.
| Then you work your way up the ladder, either at the same company or by applying for progressively more challenging and demanding positions at other companies.
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Is refusing offered stock options an option? The company I'm working for (for some time already) offered me and other colleagues employee stock options. They're presenting it as such a great "gift" to us and almost that we should be grateful for it. The vesting scheme is set so that I won't get anything for a certain period. But due to the local tax laws, you'd need to pay taxes on the whole sum upfront. My calculation is, it probably will not be beneficial for me if I stay in this company for - say - less than 2 years. Until that point, I will only lose money (on the tax paid, which cannot be reclaimed). I might gain quite a lot if I stayed for 4 years, but that's really a long time for me. I'm not really sure if I want to stay in the company long enough so it becomes beneficial. So my natural instinct would be to refuse this option. I don't mean to be ungrateful, I think I'm doing a good job for this company (even without stocks), I don't have a specific problem with that job. Also it's not that I don't believe in this company market success, I do. But in ~2 years I might want to be somewhere else. My concern is that refusing "such a great offer" (as it was presented by my employer) will be kind of a red flag for the employer that I'm thinking of leaving the company. I don't want to leave right now, I'm not ready for that change at this point. So is refusing a stock option an option? When from the company perspective, I don't risk anything, "just the taxes"? Or should I just swallow it and pay the taxes and live with the risk that I might only lose money on this? That certainly won't trigger any suspicion, but I'm not sure if it's very honest to myself. <Q> So is refusing a stock option an option? <S> When from the company perspective, I don't risk anything, "just the taxes"? <S> Or should I just swallow it and pay the taxes and live with the risk that I might have only loose money on this? <S> That certainly won't trigger any suspicion, but I'm not sure if it's very honest to myself. <S> I wouldn't start with either. <S> Instead, you can tell your boss the truth that while you appreciate the offer and have no doubt that in 4 years' time this will be of great profit for you, at this time you are uncomfortable having to pay the extra tax bill. <S> At this point, the boss can either offer to give you the tax amount together with the options or agree to delay it into more certain times. <S> Trying to pry into your personal financial decisions, like by saying "oh <S> but with what we pay you, you can afford the tax easily" would be a substantial warning for me, because how you spend your salary is not his business. <S> Be polite and there shouldn't be any issues. <S> Many employers try to give stock options to employees as a way to tie them into the company, and often enough use it as a way to not pay them market value, as the options are supposed to compensate it. <S> When it's free that's great. <A> Supplemental to Tymoteusz Paul good answer. <S> It looks like rejecting stock options in Beligum is not uncommon . <S> In the past international groups have noticed that the rate of acceptance of stock options offered to employees in Belgium was significantly lower that the global average. <S> Precisely for the reason you stated and the significant risk associated with it <S> : <S> However, if the options go “under water,” the employee has no possibility to recover taxes paid at grant. <S> It sounds like the rules are fairly complicated and the taxable benefit could range between 9% and 23% of the fair market value of the stock. <S> It may be worth to determine the actual tax liability for your specific case and do a risk analysis. <S> Example, let's say you get granted 10000 options at a strike price of €8 with a fair market value of €10. <S> It's a 10 year option that qualifies for the reduced rate. <S> The taxable benefit would be €11500 and if we assume your aggregate tax rate of 40% you would have to pay €4600 out of pocket. <S> Let's just the stock prices stays at put at €10 for the next four years. <S> At the end of that period you are fully vested and if you exercise and sell you get €20000 for a net win of €15400. <S> If the stock goes up ,it gets better, if it tanks, you lose out. <A> It is an option. <S> In salary negotiations, you can refuse options to increase your pay. <S> In 1999, I was offered stock options during salary negotiations to work at an SF start-up. <S> The "dude" was telling me what a great deal <S> these options were - how I was going to make SO much money from them. <S> I agreed with him enthusiastically and said "I'm sure you're right - <S> but I've got 3 of children to feed and a mortgage to pay, etc. <S> Can you increase my salary instead? <S> " <S> He couldn't walk it back <S> so he added a significant increase to my salary. <A> My concern is that refusing "such a great offer" .. will be a red flag for the employer that I'm thinking of leaving .. <S> No, <S> So is refusing a stock option an option? <S> Or should I just swallow it .. <S> Of course, not, just say <S> "Hmm, that's not for me thanks." <S> The heart of your question seems to be: <S> My concern is that refusing "such a great offer" .. will be a red flag for the employer that I'm thinking of leaving .. <S> On the contrary. <S> Say in a negotiation <S> an employer offers you some "deal!" or "incentive!". <S> (Whether free sandwiches, options, or casual Fridays.) <S> Say you say "No thanks" to the "incentive". <S> If the employer then whines and hounds you about the issue ... <S> that is a huge red flag . <S> To absolutely reinforce the answer, it's completely normal and commonplace to refuse option deals. <S> You just consider them and give your answer in a day or two. <S> When someone says "Here's an options deal! <S> " you answer "Good one, let me go over the paperwork and consider it this week, will let you know, cheers." <A> So is refusing a stock option an option? <S> I think you should sidestep this altogether and just ignore the requests. <S> my natural instinct would be to refuse this option. <S> Ignoring it leaves you options if questioned without outright refusing. <S> But the longer you can ignore it the more time you have to assess your situation. <S> I ignored a similar request for 2 years and then left the company before ever committing.
| But when you have to pay money for the privilege then it's perfectly fine to just say no. it's completely normal to refuse option deals. It's completely normal and commonplace to do so.
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On an hourly basis, do supervisors typically make more than staff? I work in the United States in the medical laboratory field and staff is paid hourly, while supervisors are paid salary. However, the salary difference is minimal, and supervisors routinely work more than 40 hours a week, so they earn less than their hourly staff on an hourly basis. Is this a usual occurrence in the US labor market? Does management often get paid less on a per-hour basis relative to staff? Or is this an anomaly of the US medical laboratory field? <Q> There are quite a few fields where this happens, for a variety of reasons. <S> Retail and fast food see this all the time; some unionized jobs where the hourly/nonexempt staff have regular overtime will also see this. <S> Why do people become supervisors in these fields? <S> Of course, it's the hope to become higher level supervisors or managers for some; for others it's the stable hours and wages where nonexempt staff might see part-time status; for others it's the kind of work - a preference for supervisory tasks to manual labor, for example. <S> Fields where the non-leadership staff are highly skilled and hard to find, and supervisors do not need the equivalent level of skill. <S> I'd even say this translates some to developers, where a highly skilled developer almost always makes more than the project managers theoretically managing their day to day work (but not necessarily the actual "direct report", depending on the structure). <S> There are probably others; it really boils down to supply and demand, and how much responsibility the supervisor has. <S> If the supervisor is just a line worker with a key, they probably make a bit more; they wouldn't ordinarily qualify for unpaid overtime in the US <S> (I didn't, in retail, for example), and so they're compensated for that responsibility. <S> But if the supervisor really has less useful skills than the line worker, or if they can be defined as exempt, it's just a matter of whether they can convince enough people to take the job at less effective pay, either with the carrot of more actual pay, of later gaining additional earnign potential, or the stick of less consistent earning potential. <A> Is this a usual occurrence in the US labor market? <S> Depends on your definition of "usual". <S> It's not particularly common <S> but it's not that particularity rare either. <S> It's certainly less than 50% but probably more than 5%. <S> Does management often get paid less on a per-hour basis relative to staff? <S> That's hard to define since exempt employees don't track hours. <S> For an exempt employee you often don't really know how many hours they worked or what activities exactly qualify as "work" time. <S> Compensation is also different depending on what (and how often) you do certain things. <S> One of the techs I worked with loved going to China: he was non-exempt and got paid time-and-a-half for the 16 hour flight from the east coast to Hong Kong, while the exempt person sitting next to him got paid diddly squat. <S> It's a different compensation system and sometimes it swings one way and sometimes it swings the other. <S> Or is this an anomaly of the US medical laboratory field? <S> No. <A> My experience in the Medical laboratory in the US is from observing two family members. <S> What is saw is different from what you describe. <S> The supervisor was salaried, but they were also the only ones that had enough hours to qualify for most benefits. <S> The hourly employees did get 401(k) with matching, but they didn't get vacation, and their hours were kept low enough that they didn't qualify for medical insurance. <S> They were kept to less than 29 hours per week. <S> It was a cost savings move to hire many part-timers instead of only full timers. <S> Since the supervisor might have to work more than 40 hours a week, their hourly rate might be lower than they want, but the addition of the benefits is part of the reason why the supervisor accepts the position.
| Fields where non-management employees are hourly/nonexempt, and supervisors are exempt, very often see the supervisors taking less per hour than the non-management employees - and sometimes less, period, if overtime is common for non-exempt employees.
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Returning to work but unsure about COVID-19 precautions I have to return to my place of work (based in UK) to carry out essential jobs after working from home for some weeks. My employer has forwarded around a presentation to those having to go to work, stressing the need for social distancing, and requests that employees clean their desk, mouse, keyboard and phone every day among other things. The problem is, I haven't seen anyone else wiping their desk at any time, and no one is making a huge effort to stay 2m away from each other. I also don't know if I'm cleaning my desk correctly - should I be using a certain type of cleaner? No detail was provided, and I feel maybe the presentation was just paperwork to cover the employers backs, and that if I raise a complaint nothing will actually be done about it. I don't want to be a jerk or lose my job but I feel concerned. Our HR manager is furloughed so can't be contacted. What should I do? <Q> Clean your area and interact with your co-workers in a way that makes YOU feel safe <S> Different people have different level of concerns about the virus, and with that it will be plainly obvious when getting back into the workplace. <S> I wouldn't start to try and file complaints against these employees, but I'd also not interact with them in a way that makes you feel unsafe. <S> Let them know you take this virus seriously, and you would like to keep your distance unless absolutely necessary. <S> Your co-workers should respect this, and if not it's probably time to talk to someone in your company about how you can get your job done and remain completely safe in these working conditions. <A> You could ask your company to make more specific instructions instead of what might be being treated as vague suggestions by some employees. <S> For example:- All employees must wipe down their desk, keyboard, mouse and phone when they arrive using the wipes provided in every office. <S> No meetings with more than four people in the meeting rooms. <S> Where possible all meetings should be done by computer even for people in the office. <S> No more than four people at a time in the kitchen. <S> Form a queue outside if necessary. <A> I feel maybe the presentation was just paperwork to cover the employers <S> backs <S> Yep sounds like it the gov't has published fairly extensive guidance around the steps employers are supposed to be taking (I linked to the version for offices here since I assume that's the environment you are in <S> but there are others for different workplace types), while the specific measures outlined in the guidance aren't themselves directly spelled out in law <S> there's the usual "duty of care" requirements from the Health & Safety Executive in play - as the linked document states: <S> As an employer, you also have a legal responsibility to protect workers and others from risk to their health and safety. <S> This means you need to think about the risks they face and do everything reasonably practicable to minimise them, recognising you cannot completely eliminate the risk of COVID-19. <S> I've heard some suggestions that businesses could potentially get in trouble if they haven't done their part! <S> On the face of it your employer does seem to be taking the barest of box-ticking approaches rather than taking it seriously. <S> Eric Nolan's answer (excellently) points out that a good approach here is to go back to your employer and seek more concrete measures, you could do this via asking for specific "clarifications" from the rather vague guidance you've had so far. <S> You mention that your HR person is currently furloughed but there will be someone who is responsible for this - if you aren't sure who that is then it would be sensible to contact either the person who sent the guidance or your direct manager in the first instance and let them punt it on the chain as required. <S> If they don't have anyone who is responsible for it <S> then it's not a completely crazy idea to volunteer - <S> it's certainly one way to remove any question of you being a "jerk" as you put it if you're volunteering to take the job on yourself.
| It sounds like your company has provided some guidelines, without any care or concern that they are actually followed.
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I wanna leave my new 2-month old job. What valid reasons can I give to the interviewers? I work as a Software Engineer (programmer), kinda in a senior level but not in paper, like I still have a senior or supervisor. There were multiple companies which got interested in me and they didn't seem interested at all to the reason why I'm looking for a new job even though I've been in my current job for only 2 months. BUT there was one company that really caught me off guard when the interviewer asked me a couple of times the reason why I'm leaving my job. Will saying I don't fit the company's culture suffice ? I know saying it's personal reasons will get me more into trouble. Like the interviewer would ask more follow-up questions. I just wanna leave my job. REAL REASONS: I just wanna leave my job. I can't handle my seemingly hot-headed lead. I just don't meet the company's expectation. Related to #2, just hours ago, the lead, while being disappointed with me, he said that I'm very well paid. (of course he knows my rate). p.s. Current full-time job is merely a contractual, means it's like I'm working as a freelancer but in full-time. <Q> I can't handle my seemingly hot-headed lead. <S> If you can phrase this appropriately, then it is a valid reason. <S> "Cultural" doesn't work here, see this for reference . <S> It is important to gauge whether you have done your best to learn how to communicate with the lead. <S> Two months at the job is not very much time to figure out communication and relationship. <S> It is important because it might be a recurring problem if you don't learn how to resolve work conflicts. <A> BUT there was one company that really caught me off guard when the interviewer asked me a couple of times the reason why I'm leaving my job. <S> Will saying I don't fit the company's culture suffice? <S> It's not uncommon to ask why someone is leaving their company after only 2 months. <S> It's because 2 months is not enough time to assess and make an impact on your work culture. <S> I recommend playing up the fact that you're on a contract <S> and you're looking for either your next contract position (as expected of contractors) or looking for more stable employment. <A> In many countries there is the experimental period, where both parties can terminate the contract at will (typically six, can go up to nine months). <S> However, the experimental period is for salaried employees. <S> Doing exit interviews for contractors, whilst not unheard of, is...strange. <S> Even more for a resource that is still fitting in the culture and/or in the experimental period. <S> I would refuse an exit interview solely on that basis. <S> Nevertheless, whilst the chosen question is the right answer, it fails to mention it is perfectly reasonable to: . <S> not liking a job; . <S> the interview/job experience being a two way street. <S> You own them nothing, it is a business experience. <S> Go for it and find someplace else more to your liking.
| I think the general description would be something like the job turned out to not be a good fit .
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How do I communicate that I do not want to collaborate with coworker anymore I am quite new to this company which has a very small department for my particular profession.Everyone in this department comes from other professions and they have poor knowledge about it. There is one coworker which is working on similar projects as me and very often I end upworking with him. Because of seniority he has the final say in pretty much every decisionalong the way, and they are usually poorly thought decisions which only cost us more work down the road. Recently my boss has offered me more responsibility and I am willing to accept the offer,however I would like to request that I do not collaborate with this coworker anymore,that is I would like to manage my own projects and make my own decisions. How can I achieve this without alienating everyone at work (to ruin the relationship with the coworkerand to appear arrogant to my boss)? Trying to win over the hearts and minds of the people involved by showing them why my choicesare better is not really an option because of a "just get it done" mentality. <Q> So basically: You’re better at this job than everyone else. <S> You make better choices, but everyone else would rather just get the project done, whether it’s done right <S> / well or not. <S> If your perceptions are correct, you should find a job with a better company. <S> If your perceptions are incorrect, your boss will probably set you straight pretty quick. <S> Either way, you have nothing to lose by talking with your boss. <S> Lay it on the line and see what he <S> / she says. <S> Be respectful / professional, but don’t sugar coat it. <S> If your boss appreciates your argument and directness, you now have a better job. <S> If not, you have a golden opportunity to go find a new job. <A> "Because of seniority he has the final say in pretty much every decision along the way, and they are usually poorly thought decisions which only cost us more work down the road." <S> "I would like to manage my own projects and make my own decisions." <S> "Trying to win over the hearts and minds of the people involved by showing them why my choices are better is not really an option because of a "just get it done" mentality." <S> You are asking to be made the decision maker for your projects without having to have the difficult conversation of why your choices are better. <S> This is precisely why you do not get along with your coworker, because you don't have authority to debate his solutions. <S> Take the time to research and justify why one choice is better than another and try to reach consensus. <S> You have to time box the conversation though if the team cannot reach consensus. <S> Because you are leading the project you have ability to make a call on the team's behalf as well. <A> I suggest you focus on two other aspects of your question: <S> "Everyone in this department comes from other professions and they have poor knowledge about it." <S> "Because of seniority he has the final say." <S> Offer to your boss to identify shortcomings in knowledge your coworkers have (without naming individuals), and then to propose resources to rectify that. <S> Also, tell your boss that you must have equal say in projects that you contribute substantially to. <S> Tell boss frankly about your experiences with senior coworker in confidence to motivate this. <S> I doubt you can avoid this coworker (small department) or appearing arrogant <S> but this should help.
| The stance I recommend you take is that you ask your manager that you be given authority over running your own projects, but use that authority to change your team's approach to making decisions.
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How to raise red flags when you don't have much political capital yet? I joined a company a few weeks ago. I'm a team manager responsible for several projects managed my PMs. One of them is sponsored by very senior stakeholders at my company. The stakeholders and my predecessor signed the plan, participated in the steering committee, etc. There were several issues with the project that came up in the last weeks. All of them are now solved. The senior leadership celebrated that "we are getting forward!" and is expecting the launch by the agreed deadline. I think that's totally improbable. When I look at the project plan, the regularity with which the issues come up and how much it takes to solve them, I don't believe the go-live will happen on time. There's nothing super critical, but in the planning phase the PM seems to have gone for the best-case scenario. The problem is this doesn't work for most projects and we currently see that. The issues we've had show that the project is much more complex than previously expected. At the same time, the project wasn't planned very well, which means that there are no clear missed milestones or KPIs. The project has a huge visibility so if I now raise a red flag and tell the sponsors that I don't believe the project will succeed by the date planned, this will come across badly. Also, there are no huge red flags - no missed milestones, etc., just my "gut feeling" and expertise in projects, which obviously isn't a reliable thing. If I don't mention that, the project will probably fail at least by 2-3 months, maybe much more. What is the most politically savvy way to approach that? I suck at politics, so any tip is welcome. <Q> If you have not already done so, I would speak with your PMs and ask them to assign dates to all of the project milestones ( not just the go-live date ). <S> This way, any time an issue arises you will have a clearer measurement of how it is ultimately affecting the project. <S> If the next milestone needs to be pushed back because of an issue, then you will likely have to push back the rest of the project. <S> Your gut feeling based on your experience may be fine, but when your peers do not know you that well the best solution is to provide facts. <A> With the added context that you're responsible for the project itself, it makes sense to follow the guidance of @sf02, and then take it to the nth degree. <S> In addition to the milestones, require them to provide concrete data that the milestone is achievable. <S> Disallow the usage of Well, {X} thinks that it can be done in # of days. <S> It needs to be a measurable thing backed up by current team velocities. <S> If they can't then instruct them that estimates need to be revised to account for slippage. <S> There is no such thing as a project that has zero slippage. <S> You've mentioned the regularity with which issues have come up. <S> That's data. <S> With that previous data, you can coherently extrapolate the number of expected issues per milestone and the amount of time things will slip. <S> It won't be purely scientific, but it'll be numbers that you can use to support your position that the go-live is in danger. <S> Another data point would be overtime or extra hours being worked by staff currently to meet objectives and prevent milestones from being missed. <S> When you add all of that up, you have a tangible differential between current project and project delivery expectation. <S> That number will likely only increase as the milestones become more impactful and closer to full delivery. <S> Over the next few weeks you'd be able to plot that on a graph to show the expected drift in timelines. <S> All of this is data. <S> Some of it may ultimately turn out to be smoke screens. <S> In the absence of political capital you only have 2 options <S> : Find the data or figure out how to manage the fallout of a failure. <A> The project has a huge visibility so if I now raise a red flag and tell the sponsors <S> These would be the wrong people. <S> There is no need for drama yet. <S> The project managers are the ones to approach as you are in charge of them. <S> You should be able to set your mind at ease <S> and it's the professional way to handle things. <S> You may still need to escalate but at least you will be doing so on more than gut feelings. <S> You shouldn't start drama unless you have professional answers to what you will be asked. <A> This is what I'd say to your management. <S> Boss, this project is very exciting, challenging and complex. <S> Given its importance, I'm going to give a special glance to it. <S> I'll frequently report you updates to avoid any possible problem. <S> You are there from a few weeks and likely you might not have a full and clear picture of the project. <S> However, your experience and feeling are of big value and you could be helpful in avoiding a potential disaster. <S> You now think that the project will be late, but you should also be prone to change opinion as things unfold, given the overall situation. <S> The key here is monitoring . <S> See what happens, collect evidence that can go in both ways and present them to management. <S> Change idea if necessary. <S> As a general note, you should bring strong opinions only if backed with strong evidence. <S> You don't have the latter, so don't bring the former. <S> The strength of your message to the management should be proportional to the data you got.
| If you identify the areas where you expect items are going to slip and call it out ahead of time, timelines and expectations can be adjusted early. Talk your concerns through with them before anything else.
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Position offered and title to be used is different I am being offered a position as AWS Developer. I am expected to lead in this position. My Offer letter only mentioned role as "AWS Software Developer" It's a public company (not a start-up) . I have received a response that reads: For the official title for this role, it is AWS Software Developer. That being said, we would let you use “Lead” as part of your working title, on your resume, etc. Does that sound right? They say it has to do with how the company structures designations and titles. <Q> In my organization, there is only one title of "Software Developer" Whether you be the team lead managing 12ish people or be a year out of university, every developer on my team just has the title of Software Developer. <S> Seen a couple other organizations like that as well. <S> People amend it for their LinkedIn profiles as desired. <S> I don't see a major problem. <A> Does that sound right? <S> They say it has to do with how the company structures designations and titles. <S> It's not all that unusual. <S> I worked for a startup company where everyone had the title of "Software Engineer". <S> That included Lead Developers and all other Developers. <S> It also included all QAers, and everyone else in the R&D team. <S> Made no sense to me, but was apparently the idea of a new head of HR. <S> That said, I never used Software Engineer on my resume. <S> I used the title that I was offered and that most matched the role I actually held. <S> It was never a problem for my career. <A> Matthew and Joe both make great points: it's not unusual and I'll echo that I've had the same experience. <S> I'd still like to add two things to the discussion. <S> First, to many, titles telegraph status and responsibility to members inside and outside the organization; it's quite reasonable that you care about it. <S> Second, the "bookkeeping purposes" Tymoteusz refers to is also quite normal. <S> Often job titles are standardized across an organization for simplicity and compliance reasons. <S> If you were concerned about starting at a lower rung, I wouldn't worry about that either. <S> Those who are likely to have the biggest impact on your career advancement are your bosses (and maybe colleagues if you do 360-style reviews). <S> Those people will know what you do. <S> Of course, this assumes you will also actually do the lead things you want and expect.
| The good news is your employer has explicitly said you can use "Lead" in both your working title (with colleagues/email signature) and on your resume (outside the company).
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Missed meeting - acknowledge in an e-mail, or ignore? Since COVID and work-from-home, I have had some trouble with keeping meetings straight. Up until today, I had one meeting I was a bit late for (entirely my fault) and one small one that I missed (due to admittedly confusing scheduling, so my supervisor took the blame). Due to the second one, I made sure to put it in my Outlook calendar with a 15-minute notification, which has never failed. However, of course, today it failed. And I missed the meeting. Luckily these meetings have been literally less than 5 minutes and have had no substance thus far. But it was still a bad look. I didn't realize I missed it until about an hour and a half later due to being absorbed in other work. (Tracing through source code...absorbing stuff.) I e-mailed my supervisor, explained what happened (one sentence), explained what I had done as a result (added the event to two other calendars in the hopes that one will come through), and apologized for "making things hard when they are already difficult enough." I think what I did was the morally right thing to do: take responsibility, acknowledge how my mistake/irresponsibility hurt others, and show that I am taking steps to improve. But I'm wondering if, from a professional standpoint, I just drew more attention to my mistake and made myself look worse. What would you guys have recommended I do in this situation? <Q> Any good manager should be glad to have an employee who will own up to their mistakes and make the necessary adjustments to prevent them from happening again. <A> What would you guys have recommended I do in this situation? <S> Exactly what you did. <S> It's the moral and the professional thing to do - chances are someone <S> at least almost certainly noticed you weren't there, and the more meetings you miss (accidentally or otherwise), the more likely it is that your supervisor is specifically looking out for you attending. <S> I didn't realize I missed it until about an hour and a half later due to being absorbed in other work. <S> (Tracing through source code... <S> absorbing stuff.) <S> It happens, it's one of those things. <S> However, if you become a serial offender, people will understandably start to get hacked off. <S> I went through a phase of missing meetings due to being absorbed in other work a while back, and as a result I made sure to set an alarm on my phone 2 minutes before every meeting for a while. <S> This was enough time that I could find the relevant meeting, join promptly and wait for others - but wasn't enough time that I could "just finish this one last thing" and then only realise an hour later. <A> I think it's unprofessional when you just pretend the meeting never happend. <S> The meeting has been set up to inform the participants of something. <S> So at the very least you need to ask what you missed to at least one person that was in the meeting. <S> If you think you need to add something to this information (like you would if you were in that meeting), then it would be proffesional to email you colleges. <S> "Im sorry <S> I missed yesterdays meeting, but person A just informed my about this and that, <S> and I would like to add so and so. <S> " <S> If you done all this, then everything will turn out the same as if you had been at the meeting.
| While it is possible that you drew more attention to your mistake ( the manager may not have been aware that you missed the meeting ), your communication to the manager is the most professional thing that you could have done.
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Hired for one role, but upon starting I am expected to take on leadership/planning of a different team instead - is there a way to fix this? I was in talks with a company to get hired in a devops role. They mentioned they don't have that role yet but would be interested to establish it, I would be a good candidate, since I have many years of experience in that role. Eventually got hired by hiring manager A, then met also briefly her boss vice president B. After the usual onboarding, I was invited in several meetings of the engineering related teams to get to know people etc. In a meeting of the QA team, which I was told to work also closely with since they of course also have a stake in deployments, the host of the meeting mentioned, "here is our new hire, Y, which will take over what I have been doing for this QA team, and in the next few weeks we do a handover." News to me. My hiring manager A was already nowhere to be seen by this time, a few days after onboarding, she was busy with projects unrelated to my devops work and only had time for quick catchups. I got later informed from a 3rd party that the expectation from vice president B is that I will take over QA, take care of organising their day-to-day work etc. since this QA team recently came under her reign and needs leadership. This was confirmed in writing by B as I asked about it. My hiring manager A mentioned that this shouldn't concern me too much, just work out a plan how I do it, then vice president B will be happy and I have enough time to take care of stuff I was actually hired for. Fast forward, I worked with the team a bit, helped them where I can with my skills but lacking domain knowledge, talk to the people in the team, etc. Otherwise I can't imagine creating a plan for people I don't even know what they do. Not even a month after my first day I had a one on one with vice president B, I wanted to take the chance to mention that I was initially expecting a somewhat different job and wanted to know what the background was of this change. I mentioned that I can take care of the new role it if that's what's needed, just I have some concerns about how well I can perform in a role I have no experience with. This was not well received, I was seen as somewhat ungrateful that I don't take this chance straight away. It was also mentioned that leading the team of 8 should be kind of a side-job in the coming few weeks, so that I can finally get started with devops work which has according to the VP high priority. I was told to finally produce a proper plan of what I want to do with the team and organise their roadmap for the next 0.5 - 1 year within the next couple of days, otherwise it would be difficult to justify my role to the business. Now, I feel like I'm already one leg out of the door. Is there a way to fix the situation? I like the place generally and also can see to take the different role, it's just that I will make mistakes there and the VP already looks like he would get rid of me rather sooner than later even before I started. Also if I can't raise honest concerns with a manager, then I can see this situation happening over and over again where I get pressured for asking troublesome questions. Also it's concerning that my initial job is still expected of me and I'm supposed to bring this under one hat without any senior manager supporting me for this. Hiring manager A is kind of nowhere to be seen anymore. <Q> Before trying to get out of the QA organization task, you need to consider whether management has good alternatives. <S> If you cannot suggest a better alternative, go for it. <S> Try to make the QA people your allies. <S> It is to their advantage to have a realistic plan, so ask for their advice. <S> If you don't know what they do, ask them. <S> If you neither suggest an alternative nor do it yourself <S> you risk being seen as too inflexible. <A> You ask <S> Is there a way to fix the situation? <S> What do you want to do? <S> Managing a team (QA or otherwise) is a very different role from e.g. a dev ops specialist. <S> At the risk of over-simplifying, there are likely 2 ways to "fix" this: crush the new role or find a new job. <S> Based on "ungrateful" it may be the case that everyone else in the org sees this as a promotion (as others have suggested). <S> From the question it seems like maybe you don't. <S> For context, this is fairly uncommon and a vote of confidence in you as new hire. <S> It's also hard evidence of a communications gap and possibly worse, depending on how QA is perceived in the organization. <S> Regardless, an appropriate tone/approach might include some or all of: Thank you for trusting me to take on this role <S> Is there anyone who can mentor me on the QA domain? <S> Resources? <S> Is there anyone who can mentor me on managing? <S> Resources? <S> (if needed) Looking forward to this! <S> (only if true) <S> Will do my best (only if true) <S> It's OK to want to do this new role. <S> If you do then digging in and doing your level best is a great approach. <S> Ask for help, mentors, etc. and invest in growing yourself in this way. <S> It's OK to not want to do this new role. <S> If you don't it's probably time to start looking for your next role/company. <S> There's not enough context here to understand realistic options within this company. <S> However, taking it all as written why would you want to stay there? <S> Your manager is shaping up to be weak at best, possibly untrustworthy. <S> Their manager seems entirely self-focused, another bad sign. <S> What exactly is good here? <S> This brings us to question #2: <S> What happened? <S> Are you purely a victim of circumstance/mislead (intentionally or otherwise)? <S> Were there any hints (in retrospect) you missed during interviews? <S> It may be helpful to reflect on this to avoid a repeat. <S> I hope this works out one way or another. <S> We're rooting for you. <A> I am working in a devops position as well. <S> Devops is a very "broad" field and can be understood very differently according to where you work. <S> From what you mentions (you helping people out, leading the team to change, doing other things on the side, they haven't had a devops role before you), it seems to me that they misunderstood what devops mean. <S> It isn't the first time I hear about that kind of story. <S> I would try to contact someone (the person who hired you? <S> Your manager?) <S> to re-articulate what your goals were. <S> There might have been a misunderstanding somewhere.
| If there is someone available, not fully engaged in other tasks, who would be better suited than you, you can say "I think Joe would do this better".
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I feel Interview day went badly, what could I do to get more chances? Context: I applied to a company and I have real passion and interest to join this company. I am interested in their mission, in the industry, in the position, and I feel myself I am capable of doing a great job. I do prefer companies that follow my passions compared to others (even big ones), and I am aware there are just few of them that are like so. This company is also unique in its own flavour, which makes it my dream company.This position is a management position in Engineering.I interviewed yesterday and I finished a whole day of interviews, comprehending 4 stages, 3 behavioural and 1 technical presentation.I'm scared of a possible No from the company, and I would like that is in my power to proactively increase my chance with real interest. Previous interview:previous days I interviewed with the Hiring Manager. The interviews was fine and I was moved to the following one, where I focused on multiple behavioural interviews. Stages of this interview: 1st interview, tech + presentation: I feel it was great, we were both satisfied with questions and answers 2nd interview, behavioural product focus: I feel it was ok and I could shine in different aspects, whereas others may have been mediocre/good, I'd say 10% shine, 30% mediocre, 40% good, 20% very good 3rd interview, behavioural personal focus: I am very discouraged by my performance in this interview. The person was dead-serious and deep-dived strongly on my answers. I've been asked 3 main questions, the 1st was mainly left 50% unresponded, as I started with a story that the interviewer stopped as being unfitting, asked other questions regarding it, I tried to juggle the situation, but finally, he moved to the next one. The 2nd question was regarding what weakness recently my manager noticed that we're working on and how. This question really hit me strongly, as my manager is the main reason of me changing job, and because I am aware that it is fair to never share any negative fact regarding your current company and manager. I simply do not feel in peace with me to do so. Getting back to the point, my current relationship with my manager is close to none, we do not speak, and when we do it is about status updates. My manager was put as a senior manager of a technical field that she did not grow experience with, and so could not help at all in my technical development. Long story short, I do not have much or any personal sharing with my manager as during our chats we do not talk about it or my improvement. Getting back to the interviewer's questions, at this point, I feel unsafe to say that I am uncomfortable with my manager and that I am not receiving feedback or coaching, and so I thought about responding with something my previous manager mentioned to me and I recognise as a personal weakness: being overly critical with myself. This opened a vortex that spiraled in deep-dived questions that I feel I answered poorly at best. With stops and silence. After this question, I got back on track with my usual energy and happiness, and I could progress greatly with the last half of the interview stage. I feel 60% of this interview went poorly (I would rate myself 2/10), but I feel I could also demonstrate strong care, emotional intelligence and critical thinking in the remaining part for a 10-15%, the rest was acceptable. 4th interview came up soon after 3rd, I was vividly sad about how I performed in the 3rd interview, but I feel I could half cope with it by showing a good face and progressing fairly well. I would say this was a 50% good, 20% acceptable, 30% mediocre interview. Overall, I interviewed with many companies and, from collecting feedback, I don't tend to draw many red flags, but I tend to fail the interview for nervousness, lack of confidence (I'm also not a native speaker), but nothing very big such as arrogance or serial dishonesty. Whereas I have been rated high in my performance plan by my previous managers in my daily and strategical problem-solving skills, I know that I tend to not shine at all when explaining my key results in interviews. I thought about the following actions or options to take in the close future, but I would appreciate your thoughts on them: Add key interviewer(s) to Linkedin, sending a simple thank you for the great experience Add key interviewer of 3rd interview to Linkedin, sending a letter of my deep interest and passion and to understand nervousness made me derail from my usual problem-solving attitude and perseverance in getting the best Send email to recruiter, with email to send to all my interviewer with thanks, to ask me further questions that I'd be greatly happy to answer any doubts they may have Send email to recuirter, with email to only Hiring Manager, saying sincerely how I felt and that I feel in the 3rd interview I could have done better, maybe asking for a second chance Send email to recruiter, to ask for a second chance for the 3rd interview or a larger pack, explaining impact caused by nervousness, and high interest in the company. I would highly appreciate also learning how better these situations could be handled if my options aren't suitable.Is it reasonable to ask for a second chance (even if I haven't received a feedback yet?) All in all I'd dream to work for this company and I would like to be proactive in helping to raise my chances, before I'd receive a possible reject. Also, all in all, I feel I'll get a reject if I do not do anything, based on my experience. This is my first post in Workplace, and if you feel I should have followed a different approach or supplied more/less information, please do let me know, I'd be happy to correct the trajectory and ask the question in a way that works for the portal and for my own will to get good answers. Current state: No response received yet, I interviewed Yesterday. Geographical info: The position is in London, UK, some interviewers are from the States, and specifically, the person that deep-dived in the 3rd interview is from the States. Many thanks to everybody in advance <Q> You gave it your best shot. <S> You'll either get the job offer or you won't. <S> That "thank you note on a stationary" thing they taught in high school isn't as appropriate or useful as it used to be. <S> Most of the other ideas you have about asking for another chance will not be a good look. <S> A few things you can do while waiting: 1) Continue on with "plan B" with your career search and keep looking for more interview opportunities elsewhere. <S> No point in waiting by the phone. <S> 2) Reflect on your interview experience. <S> You are correct that you should not speak negatively of your current situation in an interview, but you do need to have positive stories to tell about accomplishments and relationship with your manager. <S> Work on the stories around conflict resolution, self-awareness, ingesting feedback. <S> These are questions that come up in many interview situations. <S> 3) Share your interview experience and answers with a trusted colleague in your job sector. <S> They will probably give you better advice on what you might have said wrong than this site can. <S> 4) Email the recruiter on Monday with a short note saying you appreciated the interview day and are looking forward to hearing back. <S> Don't do any more than that. <S> You get the job - then great. <S> You'll know you're a good fit from the depth and scrutiny applied in the interview. <A> My manager was put as a senior manager of a technical field that she did not grow experience with, and so could not help at all in my technical development <S> You seem to misunderstand the role of your manager. <S> Your manager doesn't need to have any experience in the technical field <S> she's managing at all. <S> You are paid to be the specialist in your technical field. <S> Your manager is paid for managing you and your colleagues and for having and setting up the big picture. <S> It doesn't mean she can't develop you technically. <S> If you feel you need development, ask for it. <S> Be proactive. <S> You say you are applying for jobs as a manager - if you get one, you will be expected to be proactive and drive developments instead of waiting for others to take initiative. <S> Following up can make or break your application. <S> I'm actually convinced that I got my current job because of my individualized, sensible follow-up after a not-so-good interview. <S> But it needs to be done the right way - the individualized way appropriate for the context. <S> We can't know what you should include. <S> A generic thank-you note won't cut it in most cases. <S> Also, the more people the interview was with, <S> the smaller the chance that a follow-up will change anything cause tailoring your message to 4+ people's expectations is difficult. <A> Doing the following will maximize your chances: <S> Keep it short. <S> People are busy, they don't want to read a novel. <S> They shouldn't have to scroll or spend more than a minute reading it. <S> Focus on the positives. <S> You can't fix anything you did poorly on at this point. <S> Remind them how you did well and why they should want you. <S> Proofread, proofread, proofread. <S> You don't want any spelling or grammar mistakes or unclear writing. <S> Get someone else to help you if you need to. <S> A poorly written note can cost you a job offer. <S> In your case, I'd focus on your passion for this specific company, a short description of your most relevant skills and experience, and maybe a mention that your references can attest to those skills. <S> The person who hired me at my current job five years ago told me he did so because of the thank <S> you note I wrote, <S> so it does sometimes work. <S> Give it a try!
| You don't get the job - thank the recruiter one more time and leave off with "please consider me for other openings in the future." A thank you note may or may not help, but if you write it well, it can't hurt. You need to try to understand what your interviewer(s) expected and answer to that.
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How to give backend developers some limelight? Recognition is one of the main topics discussed after employees surveys in our organization. One of the points raised in a recent survey is, developers want to get more chances to be seen and recognized by others outside the team. It was cited that project managers get the chance to present the delivery of cool stuff in All-hands meetings (where senior managers are present) and usually given the credits (at least in public) for all the hardwork done by the technical experts. Wether the developers are after promotions or not, I believe it is a fair demand to get an equal chance to hear a praise from senior management. As a manager myself (first level), I try to do my part. However, as part of big organization, being recognized by senior management is a motivational factor (I have been there myself), and it is a ticket to the next career move We raised this point to our senior managers multiple times. There has been a positive change. In the last All-hands meeting, one developer demoed a web application. However, the challenge I am facing now is the following: Most of my team work is about building APIs. We build some web applications with frontend. But that is once or twice a year. APIs are too technical for our senior managers and they would not be interested in them. I recently had discussion with my manager. He suggested a good idea to demo the application which uses the APIs. Which is great, except these application built by other teams and usually come few months or sometimes a year after the APIs are delivered. My question, how to help backend developers show their work to senior managers (who are not technical) Note: I know there are multiple ways to motivate developers. My question is about the specific factor of recognition <Q> Modern API and backend developers <S> do have the tools to showcase their efforts. <S> API documentation apps like Swagger ( demo ) and Redoc ( demo ) are, IMO, the bare minimum required for a handover of an API to another team The many popular operational dashboards can be used to display realtime stats via Grafana or whatever. <S> If you're not tracking stats, then you can't demonstrate that your team has improved them <S> Stats can be hooked into an ELK stack or whatever you use. <S> and that's leaving aside the more elaborate plays, like running up an internal hackathon to showcase some new APIs or make a public-facing third-party developer hub with fake data. <S> tldr; people like graphs and web sites, so use them <A> I simply expect people to do their job. <S> And the more they make, the more I expect them to do their job. <S> I expect senior management to do their jobs. <S> I expect them to know that their web sites don't just work but that there is someone with lots of brains that makes it work. <S> And that you don't notice them because they are doing their job well. <S> (That's one thing that Microsoft got completely wrong during their destructive phase under Ballmer). <S> Doing work for the sole purpose of having something to show to senior managers is frankly pointless. <S> Have a talk with your senior manager and put the onus on him. <A> What will the technology you've built enable? <S> That's the focus of their job, that's what they'll give credit for. <S> The technical details are important, but they're the focus of your job, not that of senior management. <S> A demo of the API conveys plenty of detail that's relevant to you, but nothing relevant to them <S> that you can't simply tell them - <S> it has this feature, it's reliable, <S> it's fast, etc. <S> When presenting, focus only on what business value the tech you've built unlocks. <S> Talk about what it'll enable to be built months and years into the future, and why that matters. <S> Importantly, just because it's not a tech demo, doesn't mean engineers shouldn't be the ones to do it - they built it, and can absolutely be the ones to articulate the business value and take credit for that. <S> A final note, the fact that the concrete business value takes months to arrive isn't actually a problem. <S> Again, frame it for the audience. <S> Senior management are quite used to the model of doing something today, but only realising its value in several quarters' time. <S> Far from being a problem, projecting months ahead is very much speaking their language! <A> This question reminds me about an old advertisement on tv. <S> Can't remember what it was for, but the ad itself I remember. <S> (I suppose that makes it a bad ad? <S> But still a good example). <S> The ad shows an overly happy engineer running around the company, showing everyone he comes across a nickel and shouting "We now save a nickel on every transaction !" <S> He just gets confused looks from everyone that he tells this to, and everyone seems to think he's just a weird engineer come out of his cave being proud of some weird technical achievement. <S> It's not until the end of the ad, that he tells a few higher-ups this and they also seem annoyed, until one of them looks at the others and mentions " <S> But, we make over one million transactions per day..." <S> So if you build APIs and you get the chance to show them to upper management, be that last guy. <S> Don't talk about what you did . <S> Talk about what the things you did mean to the company. <S> You didn't save a nickel on each transaction. <S> You saved the company $50.000 per day. <S> You didn't enable secure logins over the internet, you fixed the last hurdle towards securing Giant Bank Corp as a customer. <S> You didn't expose some images to the web, you allowed customers to preview your products and thus raised sales by 15%. <S> The technology we build means something to others in the company. <S> Focus on that meaning. <S> (You really should do this even from before you build it, of course, but it's extra important when dealing with staff who don't care about technical details)
| The solution here is to present the team's work in the senior managers' language: business value .
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If there was no ownership clause in my contract, do I own my work or is it company property? Some introduction to preface: I do web design/development for a small company in Missouri. My employment contract has no language regarding who owns the work I do internally, nothing about intellectual property, and no non-compete (very irresponsible, if you ask me...). The other designer (who had an identical contract) just left for another job, and she cleaned out her files, took every template she made for website proposals, even downloaded and erased the custom WordPress theme we use off our company servers. Can my company press her to obtain that property back, legally? Or does she own it? Is there such a thing as implied ownership if she never signed anything? A couple things to consider: these items were created using company equipment (a company-provided Mac and Adobe software licensed by the company), and were created on paid company time for use within the scope of company projects. She wants to take the templates, replace logos and names, and use them in her portfolio and possibly at her new job. Anyone have any knowledge on this, or legislation/text for me to go research? <Q> Can my company press her to obtain that property back, legally? <S> Or does she own it? <S> Is there such a thing as implied ownership if she never signed anything? <S> You mentioned Missouri which is a state where unless there was some prior agreement between your company and this employee, the company owns the rights to the intellectual property. <S> It would be up to your company's lawyers to pursue any legal avenue to prevent the former employee from using this property or to force them to pay for any damages incurred (i.e. deleting data from the company's servers that cannot be recovered). <S> If your IT department performs regular backups, they should have no issue recovering the lost data. <A> I suggest your company gets a lawyer, who will take every single penny that she owns. <S> What she has done falls most likely under computer hacking laws (she may have had access to the computers in question, but intentional destruction clearly exceeds her access rights), which would be criminal, <S> and of course she is responsible for any damage caused. <A> It's worth noting that, whether or not what she did is a criminal offense <S> , she can certainly be legally pressed in civil court - namely, that anyone can sue anyone else. <S> And making matters worse, while you're entitled to a free public defender in criminal cases <S> , that's not the case in civil court. <S> You're generally either paying someone or self-representing (a horrible idea.) <S> Imagine <S> you're in the shoes of your company's upper management. <S> You talk with legal, and let's say for arguments sake that legal tells you, "Actually she didn't break any laws. <S> " <S> ... you now have two choices: <S> Carry on, and hire people to create from scratch what she deleted Press forward in a legal battle anyways , knowing full well theex-employee probably doesn't have a huge amount of money to affordattorney fees - with the idea of settling out-of-court for the returnof the files she deleted (and possibly minimal damages). <S> Which would you go with? <S> Especially if you (in upper management) are nursing a grudge with what this ex-employee did. <S> (And that's if it's clear-cut that no terms were violated. <S> If she's legally culpable, or even if it's merely murky , you can darned well <S> bet the company's going to pursue legal action.)
| Your company owns the copyright on everything she wrote as part of her employment, so we start with copyright infringement.
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How do I explain to my boss that being the best at my job is "going above and beyond" I previously started a conversation with my boss about a promotion and pay raises (becoming a team lead that we need). From my perspective I am the best on our team doing the work of 2-3 other team members. I have stepped up and taken responsibility's off my managers plate. I've built tools and processes that make the entire team better. When talking to him today he expressed disappoinment that I haven't gone more "above and beyond". He used examples of when he first joined such as working 10 hours extra consistently or programming tools for the company in his off time. He is very happy with my work but considers everything I have done to be part of the job I was hired to do. Am I right to have the perspective that being the absolute best at my job is above and beyond? If so, how can I explain/ defend that what I have done is above and beyond, or at least that what I've done qualifies me for the promotion and raise. <Q> On the other hand, a good boss will try to keep good people, and a pay rise is a very good motivation - no pay rise is "above and beyond" bad motivation for you to stay. <S> So either your boss genuinely feels that you don't deserve a raise (and since you feel you do, you should be able to find a better job elsewhere), or it is a misguided attempt of your boss to save some money (in which cause you must find a better job elsewhere). <S> Look for something better, without telling anyone. <S> Once you've signed a contract, you give your notice and then you leave. <S> How your boss reacts to this doesn't really matter except to satisfy your curiosity. <S> If he suddenly offers more money then (a) you absolutely don't accept it, and (b) you now know that you were played <S> and he just tried to save money at your expense. <S> Which means your decision to leave was absolutely correct. <A> I am not sure that any of this is relevant Pay is a function of market demand and <S> I speak of pay broadly, whether it be in prestige, power, or money. <S> You can get into convoluted arguments trying to explain your worth to your boss or you can just go grab an alternative evaluation of your worth from the open market and present him with that. <S> If you have no particularly special attachment to this company, you might be better off doing the job search bit first so you can determine what your salary should be. <S> An alternative job offer states in concrete terms what your worth is. <A> 2 things: <S> Do you have an agreed set of targets with your boss to meet before your appraisal? <S> If the targets don't quantify what is considered 'above and beyond' then it would be worth setting some time aside with your boss to do that. <S> If there are similar roles out there, start documenting what you are doing above and beyond. <S> Not only will this help you build a case for your promotion, this will be good material for the cv if you do choose to apply elsewhere. <S> Also, in my opinion, I don't agree with the bell curve approach of colleagues setting the bar for everyone else. <S> For all we know you could be working half the time as your boss and still being productive. <A> I am the best on our team <S> and I haven't gone more "above and beyond" <S> The two statements are not mutually exclusive. <S> Being the best in your team evaluates you compared to your colleagues. <S> Going "above and beyond" is relative more to what the boss wants. <S> "Silly" example: one can be the best child in the kinder garden. <S> But that does not make one suitable to be a car driver. <S> The professional solution <S> : talk to your manager and don't talk about what is behind you. <S> Ask him what are his expectations. <S> Decide on S.M.A.R.T. objectives. <S> Make a plan, what to achieve and when. <S> Only when things are decided clearly and measurable , claims can be made objectively. <S> Otherwise, it is your feelings against your boss's feelings. <A> I'm gonna take another approach than the other: <S> Working overtime and "going above and beyond" (basically, working on holiday, not paid overtime, etc) are not things that should make you better at your work. <S> I'm not saying "just leave" <S> but you should have a talk with that person to understand why that person think that kind of practice is "acceptable". <A> I agree with those who ask if you have a specific set of targets or goals for your position. <S> Anything you've done in addition to those targets and goals is "above and beyond". <S> That being stated, there are still too many bosses out there that think they must see your body in the chair or anything you do doesn't exist. <S> In my experience, most overtime is done by people who didn't or couldn't get their work done in the time allotted. <S> If, however, you are meeting your targets and goals (getting the job done), start tracking the other things that you do that improve your, the company's, and other's work and environment. <S> i.e. Assisted Employee <S> x with abc - Saved company time/$ by implementing new ZYX, weekend computer work alleviating the problem of blah blah. <S> You get the picture. <S> I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes with solutions to ongoing problems. <S> While I don't put that specifically in a log, I present the idea and log what I came up with, how to implement, and did it work. <S> If not, how can I make it work? <S> Make sure your boss knows what your efforts and contributions are and do not think he <S> /she should "notice".
| Talk about what lays ahead. You can't force your boss to increase your pay, and your boss can't force you to stay with the company.
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I earn less than my subordinates I started at my current company 2 months ago. I'm managing a team. I receive very good feedback. Today I discovered that some of my subordinates are paid much more than I am - around 20% more. (I don't know about the rest, I just got info about two of them). They don't manage people and their responsibility is much, much more limited than mine. When something is not working, I'm called. They aren't. When they go home after 8-9 h of work, I still have a few before me, otherwise I would never manage the workload. They have more work experience than I do but our responsibilities are simply incomparable. The salary I'm now making is exactly the salary I asked for during the recruitment process, but I now feel dramatically underpaid. Even more so, because I didn't expect to work such crazy hours for the salary I quoted during my recruitment. My goal is to stay at this job, which I really like, but also get a fair salary. What should I do? Is it accepted that some managers get less than their subordinates or is this something strange? The linked question is not from a manager comparing their salary to their subordinate's salaries. I do think it plays a role, since I'm expected to know more than my team members and to manage them. There's a clear hierarchy involved. I wouldn't feel the same about being "underpaid" compared to my peers or almost peers. <Q> The salary I'm now making is exactly the salary I asked for during the recruitment process <S> This is the key point here. <S> Either you asked too little or their internal formula (if any), decided this is the right salary for you. <S> What should I do? <S> Either ways, you cannot do much at this point. <S> Is it accepted that some managers get less than their subordinates or is this something strange? <S> Accepted and happens all the time. <S> So not strange at all. <A> My goal is to stay at this job, which I really like, but also get a fair salary. <S> What should I do? <S> You asked for a salary for your position when you joined the company and you received exactly what you asked for. <S> If you did not think that it was a fair salary <S> then you should have either presented a counter offer or declined the position. <S> If you want to stay at this job then focus on your work and try to complete on your tasks within the allotted deadlines. <S> Do not worry about what other employees, especially employees at a different position that yourself, are earning. <S> Otherwise, the alternative is to be promoted to a different position or look for another company to work for that will pay you what you feel you deserve. <A> It definitely does happen. <S> But it should happen in a way in which it "makes sense". <S> Like in large engineering companies, you have a "management track" and an "individual contributor" track, as well as certain career levels, which essentially say how good of an engineer the company thinks you are (massive simplification here). <S> Compensation is based on these levels. <S> But it's not uncommon to have higher-level ICs report to lower-level managers, and acting as team leads or persons responsible for some tricky technical problems. <S> If that's the case you'll see this sort of inversion and it makes sense, because the influence and responsability of the higher-level ICs is much higher than their manager's. <S> OTOH, if that's not the case, and you're seeing "noise" you might perhaps have some recourse. <S> But no company is going to like to hear "You need to pay me more 2 months after being hired because I found out (perhaps not up to code) that a report makes more than me".
| If you want to earn more money at your current position, you will need to demonstrate to your boss how your work and responsibilities brings added value to the company to justify increasing your salary.
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Should I mention in my elevator speech, that I will be let go due to loss of contract? I am in the unfortunate situation that our main customer has cancelled their agreement with us, effective from 1st January 2021. This means I will be without a job from that date. Naturally, I have already started applying for positions. Where I live (Denmark) it is standard for most job interviews that you will be asked to do an elevator speech for a few minutes where you present a short explanation on what has led you to this point in your career. One of the things you are expected to tell, is why you have applied for this position. This leads me to my question: should I tell them that I am applying because I will lose my job in half a year due to the contract expiring, or if it is better to say something generic like "I seek new challenges in my professional career"?. <Q> One reason to tell them that you will lose your job in 6 months, is to let them know that you are serious about finding a new employer. <S> They know that not everybody who applies and interviews will actually be ready to switch companies. <S> Those people go through the process to gain practice, to keep their skills sharp, to see what other companies will offer them. <S> If you were to tell me that you will need a new job in six months, I would wonder if you can and will leave earlier. <S> If you can't leave before December, then you might not be a candidate <S> If I know that I must fill the position by September. <S> Be prepared to let them know if you have any commitments to the old company, including a required notice period. <S> You use generic phrases like "I am seeking new challenges in my professional career", if you don't have a reason you want to be specific about. <S> But you do have a reason, and that reason isn't your fault. <A> Your contract ending isn't a reason for you to apply to that position, it's a reason to leave your current one. <S> Does their mission intrigue you? <S> Have you heard good things about the working environment? <S> Do you agree with the company's values? <S> Does the type of work you'd be doing there match your passions? <S> Think of it this way <S> : imagine someone asks you out on a date, and you ask them why they want to date you. <S> Suppose they respond with, "oh, I broke up with my last significant other <S> so now I need a new one. <S> " It's off-putting and didn't answer your question about why they were interested in you . <S> The company is interested in the same thing: what attracted you to them? <S> Give them a reason that shows you and them are a good fit. <A> Why wouldn't "...and my current contract will be concluding in Dec 2020, so I will be available to start 2 Jan 2021" be sufficient? <S> Contracts end. <S> When the work is done, people get new jobs. <S> Unless there's more to the story the OP hasn't shared, this doesn't seem like an issue to dwell on. <A> If your contract ends December 2020, that means two things: One, you are serious looking for a job. <S> Two, you are not in a week position where you have to take anything that is offered. <S> So all in all, this is a strong position for you and something that is worth mentioning. <S> "My contract ends in four weeks time" on the other hand would mean that you are in a vulnerable position, and some people would try to exploit that. <S> So that would be something you might not mention.
| It's fine to mention that, but you should also give a reason for why you are applying to that particular place.
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Should I answer responses to goodbye email I wrote a formal good-bye email after quitting my job. I received some answers via Slack which lead to small talks, which is fine. However, some answer with their good-byes in the email thread. Is it rude if I do not answer them ? Example of responses: Thank you XXX and good luck on your future projects. Thank you and hope to see you again during XXX event. <Q> Is it rude if I do not answer them? <S> No, it's not rude, you have already said goodbye, the rest is implied. <A> If their response is a generic "Thank you XXX and good luck on your future projects. <S> " there is no need to respond. <S> If you used the company email system or company resources like slack, then it is assumed that you had logged out and lost the ability to participate right after you sent the goodbye email. <A> It is not rude <S> but I t would be better if you replied to them as confirmation you received their wishes it will be nice but in separate email or separate slack message.
| If it is long, or detailed, or in someway it would be viewed as requiring a response, take the response out of the email chain, and respond to that person alone.
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How to maximize my chances of getting an interview for a job application that only asks for a Resume? I'm applying for a job that I really want. I just applied online and the system only asked for my resume and some general questions. I believe that's because the firm uses some keyword tracking system to filter out applications. I want to maximize my chance to be selected. I have prepared a cover letter, and I am thinking about making a portfolio over the weekend to showcase achievements in my career. Would you suggest reaching out to HR or the hiring manager directly through email and send them my things? As this is not required, I don't know if doing this is appropriate. I don't have personal connections with the firm. I'm also not sure who the hiring manager is, but through LinkedIn search I identified a person that I believe is very likely to be the one. <Q> Would you suggest reaching out to HR or the hiring manager directly through email and send them my things? <S> As this is not required, I don't know if doing this is appropriate. <S> I don't have personal connections with the firm [...] <S> I'm also not sure who the hiring manager is, but through Linkedin search I identified a person that I believe is very likely to be the one. <S> I suggest you <S> don't do this, even more if you don't have the connections or contacts to write to. <S> Their hiring process is already established, and if they require Resume only they must have their reasons (perhaps, speculating, further on the process they may ask for more things). <S> If a candidate uploaded something else rather than their Resume it would raise flags on that candidate's reading comprehension and ability to follow instructions. <S> Trying to bypass that process and abruptly reaching out to the Hiring Manager/HR without them ever giving you their contact is surely not going to give a positive impression (how come LeonC found my email?!), nor would it be fair for the rest of the candidates and the impartiality of the hiring process. <S> I want to maximize my chance to be selected. <S> I have prepared a cover letter, and I am thinking about making a portfolio over the weekend to showcase achievements in my career. <S> Regardless of what suggested above, having a Cover letter and a portfolio to showcase your achievements is a good idea. <S> It would not harm you to have them ready in case you manage to pass to the next hiring step, or for other applications you may have in the present and future. <A> Often times, employees have access to hiring managers and internal recruiters representing those jobs. <S> Managers and recruiters love getting direct referrals. <S> It's far better a way to get good candidates than scanning for keywords in the dump of online submissions. <S> Obviously, you have to be diplomatic and sincere in a referral request. <S> You are basically asking this person to take time out of their busy day to do this lookup, write a referral recommendation, and forward your resume along. <S> So you should personally know the person you are asking to give that referral. <S> Don't ask random people on LinkedIn <S> you don't actually know <S> - it won't a be a good look. <A> While I generally agree with answer given by DarkCygnus that it's best to follow the process, I think it's important to point out that there are times when it makes sense to circumvent it. <S> It is especially true when the way you would be perceived through the process is very unlikely to land you the job. <S> Sometimes you are dead on arrival <S> and you know it. <S> And when that's the case, there is very little downside to going around the established process. <S> One example of that may be to write a heartfelt letter to the hiring manager. <S> It can be in form of email, or actual physical letter (unlike emails, those do not come with tempting delete/spam button) where you explain why you've decided to circumvent the process, why do you think you are the best and what value do you bring. <S> I certainly would not even try to hide what you are doing, everyone will know, so apologize for it, explain why and do your best to sell yourself. <S> While there is a chance that this will backfire and besides the "no" you may leave a lasting negative impression, from my personal experience <S> it's rare as long as the candidate is respectful and doesn't try to pretend that this isn't what it is (on personal digression <S> I've done this myself back in my young years, though I've vent further and simply sat at reception with CV in hand until someone from recruitment will see me). <S> This is certainly not something to do as "default" but rather a tool to keep just in case of an emergency. <A> Keyword soup A lot of applicant tracking systems do things using keywords, so one thing I do is add a single line of skills in regular font <S> (skills that a human would recognize) and then a size 1 font of synonyms for those skills just under it in beige (as the systems can screen out white font). <S> Skills: Java, JavaScript, React, Python, Django, Git, GitHub, Shell, C++, CSS, Selenium, C, Unity, Android, SQL, Spring, Swift <S> And then I have a continuing line just underneath in 1px beige which looks like this: <S> Web frameworks: Node.js, React, ReactJS, Django, Flask, PHP, Corda, Sovrin, Cloud Services: AWS, Google Cloud, GCP, S3, Amazon Web Services, Azure, CloudFront, App Services, RHEL, CentOS, Hardware: Arduino, Raspberry Pi, <S> Programming languages: <S> Java, C, C++, C/C++, HTML,HTML5, CS3, LESS, SCSS, JavaScript,Java Script, Kotlin, Databases: MariaDB, MySql, Postgres, PostgreSQL, <S> SQL General tools: Git, GitHub, Maven, Jenkins, GitLab, Misc: Electron, Docker, VS Code, Visual Studio, Intellij, PyCharm, Webstorm. <S> To make sure that I get all the synonyms which they may be using. <S> If they use the search and open the PDF, they are none the wiser. <S> If it turns out they are using a text extractor on the resume and just printing it to plaintext, it just looks like a long skills section.
| A great way to get your resume "on top of the stack" is to ask someone you know already working at the company to refer you.
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How to avoid terrible taste impacting career I often work in an open office which can be somewhat distracting. Many people at my office listen to music with headphones to help them drown out the background noise and improve their concentration. I am among those people. The problem is that my taste in music is... Well, imagine a parallel universe in which Sir Mix-A-Lot and Vanilla Ice are near the apex of musical culture. It's not even music so much as a telepathic assault on good taste delivered via sound. A portal to this universe exists in the depths of Spotify, and this tear in the fabric of reality should be sealed for the good of all human kind, but in the meantime, I shall listen at the edge of this abyss. To be clear, I am not talking about music that is hateful, just bad. Not just bad music, but bad for me, and arguably, bad for society. Children who are exposed to it probably go on to write JavaScript frameworks at the very bottom of npm dependency chains. Simply naming some of the "musicians" is probably a violation of the TOS of this site, let alone the names of the actual songs. I do not sing or hum along to these songs ever (mostly out of fear of summoning Lovecraftian horror), with the exception of some songs from 1989 that I only sing along to when working from home to make my wife laugh. Let's assume that I'm going to keep listening to it because I am totally addicted to it. It's like heroin, the first time you encounter it, you vomit, but then you're hooked. I realize that this path probably leads me to life as a concubine at a large cat rescue shelter, but hopefully I can delay that as long as possible. My question is:How can I best minimize the impacts of this upon my career? I already only listen via headphones. I never mention anything to my colleagues about it. I avoid skipping tracks or opening the UI at all when I know someone is looking at my screen. Still, someone could walk by, see the title of a track, look it up, and become irrevocably... changed. Given that I think I'm an at-will employee, I'm sure I could be terminated for "bad taste in music" but would this be grounds to deny an unemployment claim (let's say the jurisdiction is California)? Is there any possibility of having this classified as a coping mechanism for some kind of other problem (like lack of focus)? It would be very easy to convince anyone else that no one would voluntarily listen to any of it. Would that grant me any protections? <Q> Assuming this is a serious question (something which I am not sure about), you are not in high school anymore. <S> No sane person cares about your taste in music as long as they don't have to listen to it. <S> And no, don't try having your taste in music classify as a coping mechanism or psychological disorder. <S> That just makes you look weird, something you definitely don't want in an at will state. <A> Surely the playlist UI is customizable to a different language. <S> Surely there exists a written language that no one in your office can decipher. <S> Look around the office. <S> Are there any Japanese, Tamil, Farsi, Chinese, or Urdu speakers? <S> Switch the language of the playlist UI to one that matches the native tongue of no one in the office, and one where you can learn to distinguish between most words. <S> You don't even have to translate the titles; just roughly remember their general appearance. <S> Soon you will learn to skip the track with the word that looks like a penis, and repeat the track with two adjacent left squiggles. <S> Of course if one of the words really does look like a penis, you now have another problem... <A> Play your music using a personal device with earphones (MP3 player, phone, etc.) <S> so you don't need to worry about possible copyright issues by having your MP3s on company computers. <S> I remember hearing from a system admin talking about MP3s on the network back in my university days, and he said it was frowned upon because many of these files were illegal copies). <S> What you have on your personal device is no-one else's business but your own. <S> As long as your music played off your personal device does not impair your ability to do your job (i.e. volume not so loud, so you can still hear the office phone ring) there should not be a problem. <S> If it helps you stay "in the zone", then it is fine by me, and I can't think of any reasonable manager who would think otherwise.
| Whether you listen to classical music or some of the most far-fetched stuff imaginable, it does not matter to anyone as long as it doesn't affect your job.
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Is it worth continuing the search for my first job if there's the possibility I'd leave it in less than 6 months to study abroad? Biting the bullet, so I thought I'd ask here (first time). I feel like I'm quite the overthinker. I still want to get my first job, but I'm currently less than 6 months in on a potential flight to study abroad. "Potential", as it's unsure whether the scheduled flight will happen because of COVID-19. I have also been unemployed for more than a year since I graduated. However, I'm worried about how landing a first job only to leave it soon would look on my resume and career, especially with the long gap. So before I continue my search, I want to make an informed decision:How will securing a first job, only to leave it in less than 6 months to study abroad , impact my career? Will leaving it early make the job look like an unfortunate stain on my resume? I'm worried that the possibly short-term first job may leave a negative impression on me and I'm not sure if I should leave it off and risk making the preceding gap look bigger. I'm also worried that by waiting for the results and NOT continuing my search, it'll make my gap bigger AND waste those precious months of searching. I'm glad to hear that some companies would want to know why I would leave a job early, which is relieving, but I'm more concerned that 1 wrong move might mess with my employment chances on a greater scope. The last thing I'd want other than a longer gap is another gap. I've read in some websites that leaving a job early may result in negative consequences like blacklisting, damage to my rep and/or co-worker resentment, which may be a matter of consequence from the exit. I've also read some tales of people who left a job early and nothing really bad has happened to them and/or they got something good out of the old job. But that just makes me want to hear a general answer more. Heck, I don't even know how I'd act on an interview knowing that I might leave them early to study abroad lingering on the back of my mind. Some background: It's been close to a year that I've failed to secure a job (rejection letters and silence). It's taken a toll on my mental health (which has been made bad enough by college). At some point I had an epiphany of what I really wanted to do while I coped by being busy. I decided that I could try taking a sabbatical to study abroad, which has been a dream I re-realized. My extended family is highly supportive and encouraging of me and have the funds to help pay for it. I applied via a consultancy and it has been smooth sailing so far. As that went on I continued to look for a job to support myself and gain experience. Then COVID-19 happened, throwing a wrench into everything. I took a break from the search, slowed down on the applications and worked on finding ways to deal with my mental health. I also managed to improve my skills in a way I am proud and confident of, made better projects, reworked my resume and portfolio and improved my network. Now I believe I am more than capable to take on entry-level work. And that brings me to my current situation. TL;DR: I am not sure if I should continue my job search as I am less than 6 months into a scheduled flight to study abroad, because of several reasons like: whether the flight will happen at all (due to COVID-19), the possibility of the job becoming short-term, worrying about the future because of that, not knowing how to face an interview knowing I might leave the job early and having a year's worth of unemployment behind me. I want to know how bad of an impact it is to leave a first job early so I would know if it's worth a shot to press on. DISCLAIMER: Not sure about this, but I've considered the option of temp/contract jobs. I realized this just as I was about to post this question. However that gives me another issue to deal with. I have no idea how to approach this route. Like I said, I'm less than 6 months into what could be a flight abroad. I don't know what to look for. I don't know how this would impact my resume either. <Q> At best you find a job, even for a short while, at worst you have lost nothing. <S> I would be upfront with the person hiring, stating that you might be leaving to study. <S> This will probably diminish your chances of landing a job. <S> However, that should not be a deterrent. <S> Even if you do not find employment, the experience in looking for a job is valuable. <S> You will learn where and how to look and how different interview processes work. <S> If you are fortunate enough to find a job, great. <S> Even if you do leave, you might have found a place to come back to when you are finished studying abroad. <A> Never let the possibility of something get in the way of the here and now. <S> I've made that mistake plenty of times <S> and it never results in anything good. <A> Firstly well done for persevering in job-hunting. <S> You recognised it as having a negative effect on your mental health and you got it sorted. <S> I would look for both temporary/contract and a full-time position. <S> Any working experience is valuable when you start out. <S> Even if it is temporary work, and not exactly in your field. <S> You know that you have a long term plan you are working on. <S> I always ask about gaps in working history. <S> So you would be able to add to your work experience. <S> And if you do get interviews you get to practice for your future job after studying. <S> All the best!
| At the very minimum, you will find potential places of employment in the future. Since there is a possibility that you will not travel abroad, there is no reason not to continue the search.
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