A Case Of The Mondays: Vent Your Work Spleen Here

[chocolatine]

4 hours ago, MargeGunderson said:

Ugh, I really hate that. I’m not in IT but have “information” in my title. I get the same type of emails, usually about data analytics. I delete them all.

 

51 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

I get similar emails to my company email address (which isn't on LinkedIn). I report them as spam and delete them.

I ignore/delete them as well, but it just irks me that people think my job gives me the leisure time to have 20-minute chats with them.

41 minutes ago, Jane Tuesday said:

I've thought about changing mine to, "I don't have any authority to buy anything or hire anyone."

They'll still message you and try to get you to introduce them to a decision maker.

[emma675]

I'm in Communications for my company and because I support our tech and ops group, I'm in a special kind of spam hell where I get not only ones for IT but also emails for almost every other kind of service you can imagine. Some people think emailing a Comms person will magically get them connected to anyone they are looking for. I had one guy send me an email every day for over a month; I didn't send it to spam because it became a game, I wanted to see how long he would go and how much his offers would change (I eventually ended it when he hit 75 emails and his offer was an Amazon gift card <we aren't allowed to accept vendor gifts>).

[magicdog]

Had a good giggle at the office.  

Whenever we go on our breaks we have to notify everyone via email.  Typically, We'll say something like, "Going on break [name of co-worker] will be on duty".

Sometimes I like to vary things up, si I decided to type, "Gone fishin'!  [co-worker] is on duty."

Then I receive a response:

[Magicdog] be all:

<iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/tIk1NLkHzKYBboNhnO" width="480" height="270" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/natgeochannel-wicked-tuna-tIk1NLkHzKYBboNhnO">via GIPHY</a></p>

I enjoyed that!

Edited August 28, 2021 by magicdog

[Sweedish Fish]

I don't know what to say about this.  I am a draftsman. I have been working for the US Army as a contractor for about a year. (remote)  I feel so guilty because I have no work most of the time. And get paid.  Maybe things will pick up.

[chocolatine]

9 hours ago, magicdog said:

Had a good giggle at the office.  

Whenever we go on our breaks we have to notify everyone via email.  Typically, We'll say something like, "Going on break [name of co-worker] will be on duty".

Sometimes I like to vary things up, si I decided to type, "Gone fishin'!  [co-worker] is on duty."

I don't have to notify people of my break, but I do write courtesy emails notifying my team and other people with whom I work closely when I'm to go on vacation. I've also payed around with different subject lines for this type of email. My favorite is "down for scheduled maintenance" since I work in tech.

1 hour ago, Sweedish Fish said:

I don't know what to say about this.  I am a draftsman. I have been working for the US Army as a contractor for about a year. (remote)  I feel so guilty because I have no work most of the time. And get paid.  Maybe things will pick up.

Are you the kind of draftsman who makes technical drawings, or one who drafts legal documents? (My father does the former, so I'm curious.)

[Sweedish Fish]

13 hours ago, chocolatine said:

I don't have to notify people of my break, but I do write courtesy emails notifying my team and other people with whom I work closely when I'm to go on vacation. I've also payed around with different subject lines for this type of email. My favorite is "down for scheduled maintenance" since I work in tech.

Are you the kind of draftsman who makes technical drawings, or one who drafts legal documents? (My father does the former, so I'm curious.)

13 hours ago, chocolatine said:

I don't have to notify people of my break, but I do write courtesy emails notifying my team and other people with whom I work closely when I'm to go on vacation. I've also payed around with different subject lines for this type of email. My favorite is "down for scheduled maintenance" since I work in tech.

Are you the kind of draftsman who makes technical drawings, or one who drafts legal documents? (My father does the former, so I'm curious.)

Technical Drawings.  Thanks for asking.  I work with 3D modeling.

[chocolatine]

2 hours ago, Sweedish Fish said:

Technical Drawings.  Thanks for asking.  I work with 3D modeling.

My father does technical drawings as well, but only 2D. Yesterday we had a long conversation about collision checking. 😀

[Moose135]

4 hours ago, Sweedish Fish said:

Technical Drawings.  Thanks for asking.  I work with 3D modeling.

My GF is a draftsperson for a structural engineering firm - she's worked for a few different ones over the past 25 years. She mostly uses Revit now, but occasionally still needs to use AutoSad...

[EighteenTwelve]

Today I finally figured out what the problem is with the most exhausting person I have ever had to work with at this job.  She's completely politically tone deaf (office politics, not US politics).  She's burning bridges left and right because she only thinks about asking for what she wants, not how to ask for it.  So since July 1 she's annoyed the Dean, HR, at least one faculty member at another school in the university, my boss, and me, that I know of.  She's probably also annoyed her department head, because she keeps telling me that the department head isn't answering her emails.  It's only Monday and I'm exhausted because I have emails from her on six different subjects.

Edited September 13, 2021 by EighteenTwelve
Cat stepped on keyboard and posted mid-sentence

[theredhead77]

I still have a job but I am looking for a new opportunity. I forgot how exhausting and demoralizing job hunting can be. I also realized that my current job title is not an accurate description for that title. When I compare what I do to other positions with my title I am woefully underqualified for any of them.

[chocolatine]

1 hour ago, theredhead77 said:

I still have a job but I am looking for a new opportunity. I forgot how exhausting and demoralizing job hunting can be. I also realized that my current job title is not an accurate description for that title. When I compare what I do to other positions with my title I am woefully underqualified for any of them.

Try applying for jobs whose titles are a level or two below your current one (e.g. if your current title is director, apply for manager jobs) and if asked why tell them you're looking "to work with a smaller team" or "do more hands-on work" or something else that makes it sound like taking a title demotion is a strategic decision.

Edited September 14, 2021 by chocolatine

[magicdog]

I and the other editors get an email from our supervisor about using the same video over and over again for covid/vaccine stories.  They wanted us to "do better".  Excuse me, but have you considered telling the producers to take it easy on the "7 ways from Sunday covid stories"??  Everyday, we're reporting on Covid or the vaccine at least 2-3 times per hour.  The video used is "file".  Sometimes local, often it's from CNN or FOX.  They tend to send the same old video.  Even in recent packages!!  We can only edit what we have access to!  If you want different, then shoot it yourself!  We are expected to in some cases to stretch the video to a full minute and that means sometimes having to loop the video (repeat previously viewed shots).    

Here's a thought management:  DO BETTER!

[Scout Finch]

On 9/18/2021 at 6:29 AM, magicdog said:

I and the other editors get an email from our supervisor about using the same video over and over again for covid/vaccine stories.  They wanted us to "do better".  Excuse me, but have you considered telling the producers to take it easy on the "7 ways from Sunday covid stories"??  Everyday, we're reporting on Covid or the vaccine at least 2-3 times per hour.  The video used is "file".  Sometimes local, often it's from CNN or FOX.  They tend to send the same old video.  Even in recent packages!!  We can only edit what we have access to!  If you want different, then shoot it yourself!  We are expected to in some cases to stretch the video to a full minute and that means sometimes having to loop the video (repeat previously viewed shots).    

Here's a thought management:  DO BETTER!

Let me guess: Vaccine vials moving around on conveyor belts in the factory. A syringe drawing the vaccine out of the vial. Someone(s) getting injected. 😀

[theredhead77]

As someone who gets queasy around needles and when seeing needles, I would greatly appreciate it if the news would stop showing people being injected.

[GHScorpiosRule]

13 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

As someone who gets queasy around needles and when seeing needles, I would greatly appreciate it if the news would stop showing people being injected.

[Moose135]

27 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

As someone who gets queasy around needles and when seeing needles, I would greatly appreciate it if the news would stop showing people being injected.

GF and I said that when the vaccines started rolling out earlier this year. In the first 10 minutes of the news broadcast, they must have shown 27 people getting shots. You don't need to do that - we all know what it looks like to get a shot!

[magicdog]

9 hours ago, Scout Finch said:

Someone(s) getting injected.

Don't worry!  We're not allowed to show people actually getting the needle inserted.  One caller complained after 15 years of no issues and that stopped.

[theredhead77]

6 hours ago, magicdog said:

Don't worry!  We're not allowed to show people actually getting the needle inserted.  One caller complained after 15 years of no issues and that stopped.

Well shit, if that is all it takes I should start calling my local stations.

[bilgistic]

I have to get this off my chest and have no one else with whom to talk about it right now.

I scheduled a call this morning with my boss's boss (because he would be the decision maker--he's the controller, and is also about my age, just for perspective) to discuss my compensation, specifically how it is too low in regards to the bevy of responsibilities I've taken on since my last SIXTY CENTS PER HOUR raise in January (which didn't come with any kind of review). I work for an investment management company, not Taco Bell.

I researched the market rate for my job and duties, and I should be making $4 to $6 more per hour than I am now. I am contracted through a placement agency, as are all the non-executives in the company. I have been "permanent" with the company since February 2021 (no longer a temp/employment reconsidered every three months). I have been with the company since June 2020.

I explained all the ways I've added value (in some instances, literal monetary value) and the significant responsibilities I've taken on, including doing the lion's share of training my new coworker. My boss is a total shitbag and only trained my coworker for two days. The task has completely fallen on me and while I was trepidatious at first (and acknowledged that to boss's boss), I have since relished the chance to take on the responsibility to develop management and mentoring skills--not that I'm (or any manager is) actually given any management training.

I solicited specific feedback from my new coworker yesterday, and she had nothing but good things to say about my training. I asked her what I could improve upon/what else she needed from me, while saying she wouldn't hurt my feelings if she had corrections. She said I've been giving her what she needed. I've tried to keep our communication candid and friendly. I think we work together well, and I tell her often what a good job she's doing and how fast she's caught on to the difficult and memory-dependent tasks. We are ultimately peers; I'm only senior to her by a year-ish. I don't think I'm better than her. We support each other.

I've worked really hard at being kind and open and willing to help wherever possible, both for my coworker and in my own general employee development. I know I've been toxic in the past, having worn my frustrations of working in deeply unhealthy environments. Our boss is completely hostile, narcissistic and a micromanager. My coworker specifically mentioned that she appreciates that I don't make a big deal about mistakes (unlike our boss); I just provide the steps to correct it going forward and maintain perspective. A misfiled email isn't a reason for being torn a new asshole. It's a mistake, and we're all human and allowed to make them.

Not having been an "employee" (yet...not) last year, I was unaware the company has an internal annual review process in December. My boss's boss asked me to "be patient" and wait for that time. He's asked me to "be patient" once before, when I asked to be given the same work-from-home allowance as the rest of the company (which finally, FINALLY happened...in hybrid form...my coworker and I have to trade off days in the office, while again, most employees don't ever have to come in). I can't help but feel that "be patient" is condescending, but maybe that's my workplace trauma speaking. I couldn't have known that there's an internal review process because no one told me, and that's a significant problem at this company--little to no proactivity. I don't know things until I find them out, usually after I've made a mistake. So I felt like an ass, but also, why shouldn't above-average performance be rewarded? Why do I have to "be patient" to be rewarded for taking on more and more responsibility?

The wildest thing about this is that after my former partner left in July, another manager suggested I should ask for a raise because people in the company were afraid I was leaving as well. I did both my and my former partner's job for six weeks while they dragged their feet on hiring someone...from an agency...in a pandemic...when literally tens of thousands of people are out of work.

So...they think I'm looking for another job (which I am) and now I've asked for a raise...but they put me off for three more months? Am I taking crazy pills?

Edited September 25, 2021 by bilgistic

[Spartan Girl]

Well, today my label maker jammed. Broke a nail trying to get it out, so I resorted to Teams to see if there was anyone in the office building that could help me. Managed to find a person to video chat with to walk me through it but she wound up coming over from her home to help me in person—I felt really guilty about it afterward since she seldom comes out and has an son who is high risk, and she’s very careful (wore masks and gloves and dumped them when she got back home). It turned out my label maker was broken but she gave me one from her old cubicle. When she left I tried to print one out and it didn’t work. I ran yelling after her but she was already gone…thankfully I only realized after that I just needed to reset it on my computer.

So that was a fun afternoon—NOT. I did thank her profusely for her help. While we are both vaccinated, I’m trying not to be paranoid that she got exposed for helping me.

[tiftgirl]

32 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Well, today my label maker jammed. Broke a nail trying to get it out, so I resorted to Teams to see if there was anyone in the office building that could help me. Managed to find a person to video chat with to walk me through it but she wound up coming over from her home to help me in person—I felt really guilty about it afterward since she seldom comes out and has an son who is high risk, and she’s very careful (wore masks and gloves and dumped them when she got back home). It turned out my label maker was broken but she gave me one from her old cubicle. When she left I tried to print one out and it didn’t work. I ran yelling after her but she was already gone…thankfully I only realized after that I just needed to reset it on my computer.

So that was a fun afternoon—NOT. I did thank her profusely for her help. While we are both vaccinated, I’m trying not to be paranoid that she got exposed for helping me.

That was very kind of her!

[ratgirlagogo]

On 9/23/2021 at 4:29 PM, Scout Finch said:

Let me guess: Vaccine vials moving around on conveyor belts in the factory. A syringe drawing the vaccine out of the vial. Someone(s) getting injected. 😀

On NY1 (Spectrum) here in NYC, the Covid reel always included Elmhurst Hospital footage of two gurneys with covered bodies and (my favorite!) a guy behind a curtain with one bare foot and another with a sock halfway hanging off.  The Sock/Foot of Covid!

They still use this reel sometimes.  My other favorite NY1 reel is the Consumer Confidence reel, which shows people shopping in what I suppose is actually some kind of small clothing boutique, but looks like a goddamned Goodwill.  This is several years old.  Too stupid.

[magicdog]

8 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

On NY1 (Spectrum) here in NYC, the Covid reel always included Elmhurst Hospital footage of two gurneys with covered bodies and (my favorite!) a guy behind a curtain with one bare foot and another with a sock halfway hanging off.  The Sock/Foot of Covid!

They still use this reel sometimes.  My other favorite NY1 reel is the Consumer Confidence reel, which shows people shopping in what I suppose is actually some kind of small clothing boutique, but looks like a goddamned Goodwill.  This is several years old.  Too stupid.

I know those videos!!  Much of our file video is years old, we can only deal with what FOX or CNN sends us (or what we shoot locally).  That's why I had so much flack from my News Director over pre-covid video (people not wearing masks, etc.).  They didn't want to know there was a world before covid!  They've backed off a bit and now make allowances if I burn "FILE" into the video.

 

 

[bilgistic]

From the "Am I crazy or...?" files:

Our office manager sent me a FedEx invoice to process for payment. We own ~100 properties and a gazillion tracts to which a shipment could be billed.

One shipment had been billed to an incorrect tract number that had three digits instead of four. I sent it back to her and asked her to "please double check to see what the correct tract number is. Thanks!" She replied that this was the number that the paralegal (who works on land sales) gave her, and I should ask her.

Lady, you've been working for this company A LOT longer than I have, and you KNOW it's not a correct tract number because it's the wrong amount of digits. It's YOUR job to make sure the invoice is correct before you send it to me. MY job is to verify all the info is correct before I send it for payment after entering it in our log and getting approval. She does this lazy "you should ask so and so" with every incorrect invoice. COME ON!

Edited November 4, 2021 by bilgistic

[MargeGunderson]

I just need to vent about an interaction at work that has seriously irritated me. A senior executive (very senior) took me to task about something. It wasn’t something that I did wrong, but something that he didn’t like (but was approved by other executives). He wrote me two fairly condescending emails and was really just a jerk about it. He’s really railing against a broader issue that he clearly has problems with, and apparently decided to take it out on me. My manager escalated it to two other senior executives, so they wouldn’t be caught off guard if the jerk says something to them about it. 

My manager has been really nice about it - he called the guy an asshole, which is very unlike him! I know I’m am not in any way in trouble for this, but it’s still upsetting (he was really a dick, and unnecessarily so). 99% of people I work with are lovely, but somehow it only takes one to completely ruin the week for me. 

Edited November 8, 2021 by MargeGunderson

[magicdog]

I had a doozy of an interaction that made me wonder which side of the looking glass I was on:

Usually Producer "M" worked on stacking the 5 and 6am shows (chooses stories and helps write scripts).  He was off this particular day so Producer, "K" was filling in.  K has been one of the weak links in the proverbial chain but we usually can handle it.  Often she producers later hours of the show.  She tends to be slower than the rest (despite working for nearly a year at this) and often makes last minute changes because the show is too light (not enough stories in it) or missing valuable information (source video, etc.).  I noticed the 5 am show was only half stacked and partially written - and it was nearing 4:30!  I alerted the producers via WEBEX (an instant messaging system).  Many times I don't know who's in charge of what (I may know who's producing a show but everyone tends to collaborate) and the WEBEX was set on the AM producers and editors setting.  This means only myself, my edit partner and those producing the AM show would see it.  That limits it to about 6 people total.  

After I sent the message, K  replies, "Seriously?" I replied, "Seriously.".  Was she not aware of how her show looked like so late in the hour???

Eventually the show got filled in and I went on with editing.  Towards the end of my shift I get a visit from the Executive Producer (M-2) who says that I should have messaged only her because I embarrassed K about her goof.  I told her the show was not ready (why, I didn't know, that's for K to answer) and that I needed to put the word out to those working on it.  It's nothing the entire station could see.  She told me I made K cry!  

I expected further flak from my supervisor but for a change, I hear nothing.  Most likely because I was right and K was screwing up and then "has a sad" when exposed for said screwup! 

There's no crying in AM news!!  If you get a sad because you can't handle your job, then maybe it's time to find another line of work!   I have more to cry over than she does, but I keep myself grounded and keep it professional.

[Jane Tuesday]

3 minutes ago, magicdog said:

I noticed the 5 am show was only half stacked and partially written - and it was nearing 4:30!

As someone who worked in news production for nine years, eight of them as a Director, I feel your pain.  Sometimes your posts make me nostalgic - those years were some of the best in my life - but posts like this remind me how frequently it really, really sucked.  LOL

[bilgistic]

This is what kills me about "collaboration": the person performing the critical last steps or packaging everything has to alert the whole world when other people haven't done their parts and is made to look like an asshole for pointing it out. And because of "collaboration", people can pretend like they "didn't know" who was supposed to do what.

[Cloud9Shopper]

Career changer checking in here. I’m hoping to switch to instructional design and design online learning for adults. I originally wanted to stay in something in the communications sphere since journalism didn’t pan out for me (a whole other long story), but I had some exposure to instructional design work in my current job and found it to be a better bet for opportunity. So I’m currently in an online certificate program and will be halfway done soon enough.

I am just exhausted some weeks from keeping up with full-time work and school, and a successful transition will require a good amount of work. This is one of those fields where a portfolio is expected so I’m planning to spend my school break overhauling my resume and working with the free trials of a couple of software programs in the field to build some mock courses I can use in my portfolio.

I would ideally like to be promoted in my current company but they only promote people twice a year so it will definitely depend on right place, right time stuff in addition to my performance. My boss thinks I’m doing a good job on the team and said well if you get another offer let us know and we’ll do what we can to try and keep you. I just kind of smiled and nodded but I wanted to be like “If I got another offer it’s because you didn’t do enough to try and keep me.” (I’ll be real; I’m not getting headhunted on LinkedIn or anything.) 

Also, with the general job market being what it is and this being a competitive field (lots of teachers, which I am not, want in as well) I fully expect to have a long job search. It feels good to be making the change and taking steps, but it’s also very daunting to think of the competition and how far I still have to go. 

[MargeGunderson]

Following up on my post from last week about the rude and unprofessional email I got from a senior executive. So, the support that I have received from my manager and senior executives has been amazing. Honestly, to the point of being a little overwhelming - I mean it was just a mean email and nothing personally insulting. I’m just a middle manager who got my ass handed to me in an email read by a handful of people! My manager called me on a Monday to see how I was doing (fine, I was over it). Today I was in the office, the head of the department sat down to talk to me about it, as did another person who works closely with the jerk. Both apologized for him, said it was out of line and not okay, that I didn’t do anything wrong, had their full support, and I’m doing a great job, etc. And then another executive IM’ed the same, saying, adding that the jerk was not living up to the standards of the company. I will admit that I got a little teary (at my desk, where no one could see me).  I really did not expect the extent of the reactions, much less hearing that it will be handled. I’m going to remember how my executives handled this far more than the original email. (But he’s still a big jerk.)

[magicdog]

6 hours ago, MargeGunderson said:

I’m just a middle manager who got my ass handed to me in an email read by a handful of people! My manager called me on a Monday to see how I was doing (fine, I was over it). Today I was in the office, the head of the department sat down to talk to me about it, as did another person who works closely with the jerk. Both apologized for him, said it was out of line and not okay, that I didn’t do anything wrong, had their full support, and I’m doing a great job, etc. And then another executive IM’ed the same, saying, adding that the jerk was not living up to the standards of the company. I will admit that I got a little teary (at my desk, where no one could see me).  I really did not expect the extent of the reactions, much less hearing that it will be handled. I’m going to remember how my executives handled this far more than the original email. (But he’s still a big jerk.)

That's good and all but when is the jerk going to apologize personally to you and when is this jerk going to get fired for his bad behavior?  Or get the company sued (hint, hint)?

[KittyMom4]

My office has one admin position that they can't keep filled. It's been a revolving door since the Admin who worked here 30+ years retired about 6 years ago. Three admins have been hired and either left the position for another or were transferred due to not being able to do the job. The position is currently, and for the foreseeable future, vacant.

When the retired admin left 6 years ago she hadn't done any purging of her files in the 20+ years she held that particular position, she also left behind drawers and cupboards full of office supplies, seasonal decorations and just a bunch of junk she'd accumulated. I was recently tasked with going through and tossing or rehoming all of it, which isn't hard, but it is time-consuming and it does peeve me that there are no protocols in place about purging on a regular basis. For the last week I have weeded through paperwork so outdated it was produced using typewriter, going through binders of personnel profiles for people who have been gone from this company for over 15 years and shredding p&l reports that were printed on the old style green & white striped punch-fed paper.

Also, the amount of staples, paper clips, tape, binder clips, notepads and file folders that were there would supply a small business for 10 years. What a waste, since most paper files are no longer necessary thanks to computer chips and the Cloud.  Hopefully I can find other departments who are in need so it doesn't go to waste. 

 

[magicdog]

Producer K is up to her usual ineptitude today.  I chose not to mention it lest she cry again!

There was a story in the beginning hours of the show talking about the VGK losing their game to The Carolina Hurricanes.  The person who wrote that story left instructions to focus on one particular goal and to loop it.  I did as instructed.

By the time K's hour cam up, she carried over the story and the video ID number so the exact video played.  My partner and I get a message that the same play was looed over and over again and if we could edit to script!  If this ding dong had bothered to view the video, told us she was rewriting the script and issued a new video ID number, we wouldn't have had a problem.  Still the weakest link, but I can't say goodbye!

We also had a surprise kitten story.  Seems last night someone left a box of them on our doorstep - no mommy in sight.  They're OK, thankfully and the local shelter is taking careof them until they get a foster for them.

[Cloud9Shopper]

Had to record a one-way video interview the other day. Some companies do this thing where they send you a link and show you questions on the screen and then you record an answer. Anyway, I got rejected. :( Twenty-five apps so far, two interviews (both rejected) and many more automated rejections. Changing careers sucks sometimes, but especially now with so many people looking for opportunities. 

[SuprSuprElevated]

51 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Had to record a one-way video interview the other day. Some companies do this thing where they send you a link and show you questions on the screen and then you record an answer. Anyway, I got rejected. :( Twenty-five apps so far, two interviews (both rejected) and many more automated rejections. Changing careers sucks sometimes, but especially now with so many people looking for opportunities. 

I know it's hard, but try not to view them as 'rejections'.  There are a handful of things in life that happen because a better fit awaits; jobs are one of those things.  Consider it as one more wrong before you get to right.  You're closer than you were!

[theredhead77]

5 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Had to record a one-way video interview the other day. Some companies do this thing where they send you a link and show you questions on the screen and then you record an answer. Anyway, I got rejected. :( Twenty-five apps so far, two interviews (both rejected) and many more automated rejections. Changing careers sucks sometimes, but especially now with so many people looking for opportunities. 

I've been keeping my job search adventures offline but it does suck. I would suggest reading the Recruiting Hell forum on Reddit. There's a lot to weed through but there are some good suggestions including companies you should just say "no" to out the gate, like ones that do the one-way video questions, which are super problematic, ones that have you take an assessment before you even talk to a person, and ones that are trying to get free work out of you. 

 

I learned about a website that will screen your resume to see if it will make it through the various applicant tracking systems. There are few out there. The one Reddit suggested is https://www.jobscan.co/ (I haven't tried it, don't vouch for or endorse it) and I Googled website that reviews resume for ats and got a few other websites as results.

Edited November 19, 2021 by theredhead77
Formatting

[magicdog]

Here we go again...

I get a visit from my supervisor asking me about requested videos from FOX.  

A little backstory:  All newsrooms have access to videos from their parent affiliate (NBC,CBS, ABC, et al) and usually an alternate like CNN (aka News Source).  Producers pick national and regional stories from the video they offer.  In some cases video can be ordered if it's not automatically available.  Usually the parent company offers it for free (or used to) and others will charge for it.

FOX used to provide video ordered for free, but when they upgraded their computer systems (aka Extreme Reach) they began charging FOX affiliates $25 per video.  It's been this way for a few year now.  I always tell producers that is a video they want for a story is not available in our own archives, I can order it but warn them that it will cost money to do so.

Now the bill comes and my supervisor wants to know why my name is next to so many video orders.  I explained that's because the videos were ordered for specific stories and we didn't have video in our own archives to use.  I wouldn't have ordered them if I hadn't checked what was available to us for free first.  He wanted me to lay off since the new bosses want to cut corners save money and this seems like the best way.  I explained that it was no secret that the videos cost money but they were used with specific purposed based on what the producers wanted.  I even said it to producers if they wanted me to order something.  He said I would need to clear it with a manager (ie. him) from now on.  

Now, my station has only been a news station since about 1997.  For a long time, there weren't even people at the news desk on weekends.  Many times we had no archive video of many national or local events because no one was around to film them.  Even our entertainment show (think TMZ on half the budget) often didn't use file video for stories, but still images!!!  We didn't even have file video of Dennis Rodman for a story we were running about him recently!!      

Because we're a  morning show, the news programming is going to be different than what you see in the evening.  It's a 5 hour show and lots of fluff stories (how cheese is good for you, how chocolate can kill you, how phones can ruin your life, how Celebrity X feels about some event that happened recently, etc. ).  Of course most producers take their cues from social media and whatever their friends send them through e-mail about something or other.  Typically, video is used because it's better than staring at an anchor or a simple still photo.  That's where file video comes in.  I can just imagine doing all these stories and throwing up some rights free photo from now on.  

I still think I'm on the wrong side of the looking glass.  When is the normal side coming back??

Edited November 20, 2021 by magicdog

[Moose135]

3 hours ago, magicdog said:

how chocolate can kill you

Fake news!

[bilgistic]

@magicdog, that kind of nitpicky shit is another Thing I Will Never Understand about managers and companies. We get you want to save money. But where are you SPENDING money?

As an unrelated example, I have been working on a project creating audit reports. They take a few hours each to create in specialized software, and we have several funds for which I have to create reports. There's an internal (coughmadeupcough) deadline. I need X amount of time to do this work. My doing it is much faster and more exact than anyone else doing it.

My manager, who is only my manager over the accounts payable work and not the financial reporting work, is VERY chintzy about overtime. I had to have it out with her and my other "boss" (manager over financial reporting) about needing overtime to finish the work. Long story longer, I didn't finish the project because they didn't approve enough overtime for me to finish. I have to finish next week. The accountants are waiting on me to finish so they can do their part.

Only one other person in the company is lower paid than me, and it's my new coworker/partner. The company pays less than $40 an hour to my employment agency when I work overtime.

Meanwhile, we retain a law firm with several attorneys who work on our land sale closings. One of those attorneys bills at...

$1,050 an hour.

[magicdog]

6 hours ago, bilgistic said:

We get you want to save money. But where are you SPENDING money?

Seems to come down to penny wise and dollar foolish!

If you can imagine how many times I've seen my station spend a ton of money to consultants and what they said we should change our sets to the latest trends, you'd know where a lot of money went over the years!   Not to mention our anchors and weather people making 6 figure salaries while most of my co-workers live in dumps in lousy neighborhoods for $10-$15 an hour.

[magicdog]

Two things bugged me today:

1) It's Bitcheroo's birthday today!  Naturally, she has it plastered all over the morning show's birthday wishes segment (you know, the one meant for our VIEWERS).  They even had the nerve to speak of her "charming laugh"!  Trust me, it's not a laugh, it's a cackle!  It can be heard even from my edit bay!  That's how we know she's around!

2) Today happens to be the anniversary of an important historical event, and it wasn't mentioned once!!

[Cloud9Shopper]

Decided to put my job search on hold for the week. I need a week off from job hunting and professional development after finishing my school quarter over the weekend, and I figured that taking a holiday week off from it won’t really hurt me in the grand scheme. I’ll pick it back up next week! (I got an A in one of my classes and am fully anticipating an A in the other one barring I don’t completely bomb the final project.) 

I am still very bored at Full-Time Job though. Projects are taking forever to start up, and unfortunately my role is such where I have to wait for people above me to get things done/move their part along before I can do my thing. I can’t just create my own work/projects and end up stuck with a lot of busy work while I wait. (We run in cycles with certain projects set for certain cycles.) I survive by sneaking in time to watch videos about my chosen field and moving slowly on busy work so I don’t get bored too fast. This is part of the reason I’m looking for another job, though. Hard to learn when there is never anything to do. 

[emma675]

I'm in the final rounds of interviews for three different companies (yes, the timing of all of this is a little wild, lol). I heard back from one company today,  that was probably my second choice, that they are going with another candidate. It's a bummer but probably for the best as it wasn't that much more than I'm making now, but I would have had manager responsibilities. 

But here's the weird thing, when the recruiter called to tell me that they went with someone else, he asked if I'd like to hear feedback on why they didn't go with me. I have never in my life had that happen when I didn't get a job. Is that a new thing? I told him no, I was good, and wished them luck with the new candidate, but I was so flustered and caught off guard. 

Edited November 25, 2021 by emma675d

[Moose135]

I've had a couple of recruiters do that, including one or two in the past month. More so if you are working through an agency, as they are probably looking to place you somewhere, and if there is feedback that can help that process, they want to pass it along.

[emma675]

I guess that makes sense, or maybe if the job was an entry level type of job where a person might not have interviewed much and it would help to hear feedback. But the recruiter worked at the company and I'm more senior level in my field (and this is a senior level position so entry level applicants wouldn't have made it past submitting a resume), so it surprised me. My immediate thought was "you want me to listen to you detail the reasons they rejected me? Hell, no." Luckily I didn't say that, lol.

[SuprSuprElevated]

I would actually find it refreshing to learn why I hadn't been selected, as I've always lamented the lack of feedback in those situations.  I'm left to my imagination, which is almost always worse than the actual reasons, I suspect.

Put me in the 'yes, I want to know' column.

Edited November 25, 2021 by SuprSuprElevated

[Bastet]

Yeah, I was honestly a little taken aback by the idea of not wanting that feedback.  The reason could be something beyond your control, something that shouldn't have been counted as a negative, etc. but it could also be something you hadn't been aware of and something that correcting before the next interview could be beneficial.  Few employers are even willing to give that feedback when asked, let alone offer it, to the dismay of some job-hunting friends; they'd leap at the chance to know.  I'd take it, too, in that situation.

[magicdog]

Had to work today but it wasn't too bad.  Thanks to a morning football game airing right after, our show was cut down to 3 1/2 hours.  We got permission to leave at 8am!  

Meanwhile Bitcheroo sends an email telling us there's still time to make a hand turkey!

Seriously?  I feel like I'm in 3rd grade!  Even before she left, HR was doing stuff like this - straight out of elementary school, like famous women of US history, or big hearts (for Valentine's Day) etc. and encouraging us to draw pictures to staple to a board on the wall.  I've heard other people mention this at their workplaces as well.

[GHScorpiosRule]

6 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Yeah, I was honestly a little taken aback by the idea of not wanting that feedback.  The reason could be something beyond your control, something that shouldn't have been counted as a negative, etc. but it could also be something you hadn't been aware of and something that correcting before the next interview could be beneficial.  Few employers are even willing to give that feedback when asked, let alone offer it, to the dismay of some job-hunting friends; they'd leap at the chance to know.  I'd take it, too, in that situation.

Yes, I agree with @Bastet and @SuprSuprElevated. I know when I was applying and applying when job hunting, I was informed of the feedback. And as Bastet said, one was because I had little experience in the area, even though one of the paralegals interviewing me had NO experience when she was hired. But, while they really wanted me(I was informed I interviewed really well and they loved how I marketed myself for the position), they needed someone with more experience in appellate law. I had three interviews, the final with the team I would be working with.  I’ll admit, I gloated and snerked when I heard the person they went with, didn’t display any excitement for the position and left less than a year after being hired. Because I had wanted to work at this firm for YEARS, and I thought I would finally get my dream job, it was thisclose.

Another place decided, again, after the rounds of interviews, at the last minute to hire internally.

Everyone here who was around back then was so supportive as I constantly posted here and asked for good vibes and luck.

Also, if the reasons were something I could work on so the next time it would bring me closer, I think it’s a good thing.

[emma675]

Well, then I'm the outlier because I don't want to hear why a company didn't want me, lol. If I'm not going to be working with them, I don't want to hear all the reasons why they didn't think I was good enough. For me, that would undermine my confidence while I'm in the final rounds of other interviews.