Careerchat IV

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

5 minutes ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

Paid based on a 40 hour week, scheduled for 50 as a matter of course, average around 60...that's the glamorous life I led before Covid...that managent was always expected to put in 5 ten hour days, yet not get paid for that...I never understood it.  

Try working, on a good day, 8am to 8pm, seven days a week on a monthly salary of $2,500. 

[Starkess]

16 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

I’ve never had a job remotely like that.  I wouldn’t be able to stand it.  If I get any kind of free time at work I start concocting some other project to try.  It’s not some Protestant compulsion to work virtuously, I just get restless/curious/experimental if I have even a few minutes of time to think, and then I have to develop it out to see if it’ll work.

My problem is maintaining some discipline to step back and end the work day, and give my brain something else to noodle on.  You need different inputs to vary your thought patterns. This evening for example, I did some crosswords, read some chapters of a novel, watched some coaching videos on chess, read some history and theory of jazz (I never knew who David Brubeck was, despite knowing several of his pieces, nor recognized the beat in his most famous album as an offshoot of a Turkish time signature, e.g. in Golden Brown), switched over to reading some good explorations of balance sheet recessions and whether Japan handled theirs poorly or about as well as they could have under the circumstances, then I read a couple of philosophy blogs,... I just need something interesting all the time.  I’m a dopamine junkie.  But it generates a diverse mix of thoughts and analogies for ideas at work.

Oh I absolutely hated it too. It was so bad for my mental health. I think I wrote up a resignation letter within my second week of work, but somehow I gritted my teeth and made it through 2.5 years. It was being so bored with that job that led me to take a 55% pay cut to go back to school and get my PhD. I'm much happier now!

@Chataya de Fleury, yeah rocking the boat was not appreciated. In this case not due to my gender, I think, but rather the nature of the work. It was a consulting firm and they were billing a client for my time, so having me admit that my time was not being used well at all would have reduced the firm's profits. After the first time I asked my boss if there was more work I could do and got an evasive answer I realized it was futile and quit trying.

ETA: Nowadays, now that my output is not billable hours, my schedule is much more flexible. I haven't worked 40 hour weeks since my first year of grad school. I feel guilty, sometimes, but if I'm making good enough progress in 20-30 hours a week, then who really cares? Productivity shouldn't be measured in time!

[Liffguard]

3 hours ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

Paid based on a 40 hour week, scheduled for 50 as a matter of course, average around 60...that's the glamorous life I led before Covid...that managent was always expected to put in 5 ten hour days, yet not get paid for that...I never understood it.  

 

3 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Try working, on a good day, 8am to 8pm, seven days a week on a monthly salary of $2,500. 

Guess I just get to keep using this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT1mGoLDRbc

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

29 minutes ago, Liffguard said:

 

Guess I just get to keep using this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT1mGoLDRbc

The deadpan "Luxury" will get me every time.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, Chataya de Fleury said:

Lol - yes, I’ve done those hours, but for MUCH better pay  I have fond memories of the final net pay for two weeks in the amount of $11,250 back in August 2013, on top of my regular two week’s salary.

God, that was good money, not like there’s really anything such as bad money, lol. 

I bought my kid a real bedroom set from Ethan Allen and had all the windows in the house replaced.

Those were also the days I’d take the kid for a random weekend in Barcelona, first class on Delta, because he was learning Spanish.

I am now a senior cat, basically my goal in life is to sit next to the fireplace and earn the most money for the least amount of work I can put in  Pay off the kid’s college loans, maybe buy up in another five years on a REALLY nice house, find a pool boy.

Although with this IPO heating up again, I’m likely going to have to work a hell of a lot more for a good bit, and earn my keep :/ I still get paid decently, tho  $80k in bonus is coming up if Santa is good.

Perhaps I went into the wrong field. 

[BigFatCoward]

13 hours ago, Chataya de Fleury said:

 

Although with this IPO heating up again, I’m likely going to have to work a hell of a lot more for a good bit, and earn my keep :/ I still get paid decently, tho  $80k in bonus is coming up if Santa is good.

My wife's best friend was due a comparable bonus,  and was fobbed off with peanuts because of 'covid'. Shes taking advice but doesn't expect to see it. 

[Datepalm]

I finally got a bunch of cybersecurity, system access, etc, stuff sorted with the Very Big Organization I do occasional consulting gigs for as like a an oddball side hustle and, a, discovered I've had an email address with them for 18 months that I've not known about and has 1300 unread emails, and b, that I had 105 work days in 2020 and they paid me more than the university that is my nominal employer/funder does.

Given the state of the general academic market, and that I've never been all that sure I want to go into it anyway, I figured it was time to think through what I'm doing there and reached out to one of my managers about having a quick job prospects/tips/goals/what? call. These kinds of calls are not my strong suit, but we'll see.

I'm thinking of relocating back to Nairobi soonish for work/research since we'll be remote at least until Fall 2021 (including summer) so I might as well as long as I can do it in a COVID-responsible manner, but that's also a place the Very Big Organization has offices and maybe I should figure out things like...can I work from there once they open? Does it make sense to go spend some time in VB Org's main headquarter city, where I've only been once and apparently have building access? Are there resources and connections that might be useful? How do I move from doing this sort of  technical piecemeal analysis work I've been on so far and get more into the big picture policy work? Do I want to angle for a full job there, and if so, how?

Live in the moment, eh.

[A True Kaniggit]

How wrong is it to buy the love of the IT department with candy under the guise of a Christmas gift?

Not too wrong right?

Doesn’t matter. Those are the people you want on your side. 

[BigFatCoward]

A significant minority of my staff hate me. I just cant let incompetence and laziness go.

The last 3 that I've raised performance issues with, immediately went off with stress, which I think tells you all you need to know about them. 

[A True Kaniggit]

16 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

A significant minority of my staff hate me. I just cant let incompetence and laziness go.

The last 3 that I've raised performance issues with, immediately went off with stress, which I think tells you all you need to know about them. 

I feel you. A decent worker is a rare gem.

I hope your department at least has programs to reward/recognize those who go above and beyond.

 

 

[A True Kaniggit]

Hmmmmm....!

What do ya’ll think. Should a “My Favorite Job Yet” discussion be held here, or does it deserve it’s own thread?

[kiko]

Own thread

[A True Kaniggit]

16 minutes ago, kiko said:

Own thread

Yeah, you’re right. I’ll make it in a few weeks. 

[QuietColours]

12 hours ago, A True Kaniggit said:

How wrong is it to buy the love of the IT department with candy under the guise of a Christmas gift?

Not too wrong right?

Doesn’t matter. Those are the people you want on your side. 

As the IT person, I can confidently say there is nothing wrong with this at all.

[MercenaryChef]

On 12/19/2020 at 1:20 AM, BigFatCoward said:

A significant minority of my staff hate me. I just cant let incompetence and laziness go.

The last 3 that I've raised performance issues with, immediately went off with stress, which I think tells you all you need to know about them. 

if your staff doesn't hate you then you aren't pushing them hard enough. 

i am in a strange position at my job where i am actually in charge but someone else gets to pretend they are. all the team prefers my leadership, organization, attention to detail, work ethic and desire to improve. 

and to make it more perplexing during a meeting after a very bad and difficult service last night the owner revealed i am actually higher paid than my 'boss.' 

these really are bizarre times in all ways. 

[A wilding]

1 hour ago, MercenaryChef said:

and to make it more perplexing during a meeting after a very bad and difficult service last night the owner revealed i am actually higher paid than my 'boss.' 

Presumably that is because you have skills that this "boss" does not have, and because they could not do your job. It does not seems too strange to me, I have had technical IT jobs where I have known or been pretty confident that I was getting paid more than my non technical manager.

[Iskaral Pust]

I received a huge gift basket from the recruiter who helped place me at my current firm.  Since I didn’t get one last year when I had just made the move, I assume he just got a huge payout as I completed a full year with the firm.  I don’t know if that was further enhanced by my excellent performance rating too.

Good for him.  I’m happy I made the move and it worked out well so far.  I’m not sure he really deserves a commission based on my comp but he probably had lots of effort elsewhere that went unpaid so it all evens out.

[Iskaral Pust]

1 hour ago, Chataya de Fleury said:

If he was retained search, which it most likely was at your salary level, it’s typically a 30% commission of your expected salary (this is negotiated beforehand, so your actual final comp and your performance rating don’t factor in) but only if you stick around 1 year. 

Contingent search recruiters typically charge 20% of the negotiated final salary and give a 90 day or 6 month guarantee. Usually 90 days unless you know the recruiter really well. I’ve got some who will give me a 6 month guarantee on candidates that I hire from them.

It’s a lot like being a Realtor...you can show someone a lot of houses and invest a lot of time, but you may not make a sale. So, yes, their rates are reflective of that. Retained search is ALL about connections and contingent search is mostly about volume.

If he got 30% then he should have bought me a lot more than a gift basket.

[Guy Kilmore]

So career question.  I just started a new position that I have some interest in, but more importantly, it develops skills in certain areas that I don't have any, making me much more employable for other opportunities in my field.  (I can get into detail if needed.)  The organization I am with is nice.  The people I work with are nice.  It is a bit of a drive, but my wife and I discussed moving.  I did just leave a position I was at for 11 years, so it is weird to be at the "new guy" level again with it's own anxieties.  

Anyways, a place that I was interested in working at (within the community I live) was in a hiring freeze for an indeterminate length of time.  It is suddenly....not.  A friend that works there let me know of four positions that are becoming available in the coming week or so.  They are things that I very much want to do and I have direct experience with (11 years, plus around 6 of indirect experience).  I feel bad potentially bailing on a job I just got.  I am also worried how that would look to the future employer.  (My previous employment history is me spending around 3 years in a position before the aforementioned 11 years.  I think I should look fairly stable.)

So, in essence, just seeing what people's opinions are of making that quick switch and how to navigate addressing that quick switch to the new employer.  (Because the job I am with is a unionized job throughout the state, I think they will know about it, so I might not just be able to skip past it.  I will have to check a little bit.)

[Guy Kilmore]

49 minutes ago, Chataya de Fleury said:

@Guy Kilmore - in the accounting world, which is quite sensitive to job changes, I’d say you just need to have a good reason, and the reason is good enough of “I had my heart set on working for X for many years, and so when the opportunity presented itself, I couldn’t say no.”

This was, in fact, the reason I gave to my former consulting firm for my resignation when Big Tree Capital came calling. 

Thank you, that is good to know.  I mean, I know my work history demonstrates that.  I spent 11 years doing mental health case management in Hennepin County with a Non profit contracted with Hennepin County for these services.  The job that is coming up is doing Mental Health Case Management with Hennepin County, so that statement would ring true.  One of the reasons I left was there was nowhere to grow inside of the nonprofit and I was hoping by diversifying my skill set it would make me look more attractive to Hennepin County.  (I am working for a different county, but all counties use a system called SSIS, I was hoping to develop specific skills and maybe in a year or two transfer to a position in Hennepin County, then work towards the actual position I wanted.)

I can highlight that sentiment in my interest letter.