A Case Of The Mondays: Vent Your Work Spleen Here

[magicdog]

9 hours ago, partofme said:

I won’t have health insurance after the end of this month, and I have prescriptions I need for my thyroid and for migraines and I don’t want to have to get Cobra.

I totally understand this. I have found options which can be used if you can't get prescription meds.  One is called Good RX - which makes drugs affordable even without insurance.  I used it for a prescription my insurance wouldn't pay for.

I also recommend natural alternatives.  I go to this site a lot and have found viable health solutions there.

[Yeah No]

10 hours ago, partofme said:

So it seems like since 2014 New York State doesn’t allow you to receive severance and unemployment benefits at the same time if the amount of the severance is more than the unemployment would be.  So I don’t think I can apply for a while?  I hope I’ll get a new job long before my severance runs out because I won’t have health insurance after the end of this month, and I have prescriptions I need for my thyroid and for migraines and I don’t want to have to get Cobra.  I have some former coworkers who have been nice and trying to help me with job leads, so I’m trying to be hopeful that networking will work and I’ll get something soon, but I don’t have a great history with applying for jobs and actually getting interviews so it worries me but I’m trying to stay positive for now and hoping something good will come out of this.  

Yes, it's the same in CT, that's why you need to find out when you should apply for UI benefits.  You might be able to apply now (or soon) to begin at a specific date in the future, computed based on how many weeks of severance you were given.  It's complicated and you will need the help of the UI office in the state where you apply for benefits.  In my case I was assigned a UI person that helped me through the process.  You absolutely need to find out about this now because there are rules about when you have to apply for UI benefits.  You don't know now whether or not you will get a job before your severance period runs out so it's better to be safe than sorry.  If you have an application in the works and then get a job you can just cancel it.

Also, I have heard from friends that there is a way to extend Cobra, although I didn't do that because my husband had health insurance with his company so I went on that.

[Wiendish Fitch]

I'm now wondering if I should take online classes to earn my bachelor's degree. On one hand, I sort of don't want to, because I'm concerned about the expense. On the other hand, I fear that having my bachelor's is the only way to look like a more attractive hire for full time.

[Cloud9Shopper]

I have a similar concern about my master’s. It would cost a substantial amount of money, but at the same time, it would be worth it if it helped me make a career change to something with better job and opportunity prospects. And I can’t exactly get an accountant job (the field I’m looking at) with only Udemy and YouTube courses like some other skills you self-teach. Bookkeeping or accounts payable, yeah that’s different. 

That said, the alternative is the path I’m on, which is going nowhere. It feels like a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. 

 

[Bookish Jen]

I'm still at the temp job I got last fall, and it's going splendidly. I've gotten great feedback from my boss and coworkers. One of my coworkers thinks I'm going to get hired on permanently in the spring or summer. I sure hope so.

We did have a weird incident at work last Monday. We brought on another temp. She didn't even last a week and a half. The week she started she seemed to be catching on really quickly and we thought she'd be a good addition to the team. Well, last Monday morning, my boss caught her lying her head down on her desk. My boss asked her if she was feeling okay, but this temp was being really evasive and weird. Was she sick or what? Then this temp picked up her knapsack and walked out, no explanation, nothing offered. She did leave a few of her personal effects at her desk including a water bottle, which was lying on the floor underneath her desk. I picked it up and gave it to my boss. She opened it and took a whiff. Then she asked me to take a whiff. We both smelled alcohol. My boss contacted HR and told her this temp is not welcomed back. She also contacted the temp agency. The temp agency sacked her. 

[BlueSkies]

16 hours ago, partofme said:

So it seems like since 2014 New York State doesn’t allow you to receive severance and unemployment benefits at the same time if the amount of the severance is more than the unemployment would be.  So I don’t think I can apply for a while?  I hope I’ll get a new job long before my severance runs out because I won’t have health insurance after the end of this month, and I have prescriptions I need for my thyroid and for migraines and I don’t want to have to get Cobra.  I have some former coworkers who have been nice and trying to help me with job leads, so I’m trying to be hopeful that networking will work and I’ll get something soon, but I don’t have a great history with applying for jobs and actually getting interviews so it worries me but I’m trying to stay positive for now and hoping something good will come out of this.  

I gave you a hashtag on that temp/part time work position for a reason.

 

Over 10 years ago I found myself laid off as well and looking for new work.  Then I came across this job.  I feel it was a good short term fit but the company and industry I'm in now I'm increasingly not liking over the long haul.

 

I'm even thinking about the temp or part time work route myself now for this year.  

[BlueSkies]

10 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

I'm now wondering if I should take online classes to earn my bachelor's degree. On one hand, I sort of don't want to, because I'm concerned about the expense. On the other hand, I fear that having my bachelor's is the only way to look like a more attractive hire for full time.

 

7 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I have a similar concern about my master’s. It would cost a substantial amount of money, but at the same time, it would be worth it if it helped me make a career change to something with better job and opportunity prospects. And I can’t exactly get an accountant job (the field I’m looking at) with only Udemy and YouTube courses like some other skills you self-teach. Bookkeeping or accounts payable, yeah that’s different. 

That said, the alternative is the path I’m on, which is going nowhere. It feels like a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. 

 

 

Trying actually not to get political here but I've heard one of the benefits of The Affordable Care Act is healthcare is now more accessible and affordable.

 

My point being if you only work part time or what not going back to school it might not cost you an arm and leg for healthcare.

 

I mean just saying 

[Cloud9Shopper]

Taking a little bit of a break from job hunting for the time being and decided to redo my master resume using an AI tool. I was resistant to such things but thought hey why not. It made my resume look pretty good, better than what I was coming up with while writing it on my own. Would love to test it out on the job search again once I figure out where I’m going. Hopefully I at least get some interview calls.

Now, if only I knew where I was going and what I was looking for. My problem is that I can’t seem to pick a path and be confident in it. I wanted to go marketing since I’ve never been able to stop thinking about wanting to work in it, then I decided I should do accounting because there are better job prospects and salaries, but I keep thinking about doing marketing and doing the one thing that’s always been on my mind before I even thought of going into accounting. I guess I have to make the choice between what’s the most practical and what would make me happiest. 

 

[BlueSkies]

This movie is 25 years old now.  one of my favorites

 

 

[isalicat]

On 2/19/2024 at 12:44 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

guess I have to make the choice between what’s the most practical and what would make me happiest. 

You won't interview well for a position that you really, really don't want (but are just applying for because you think you need the job...).

On the other hand, there are an awful lot of people with degrees in marketing out of work right now - its one of the more disposable positions in any firm that is not growing. In my experience people that are successful in marketing have extremely outgoing and creative personalities and "fall into" marketing as a career because of that. You might want to circle back around to assessing your actual strengths as a person (not from a job point of view, but what you have proved yourself best at in life) and then look for a job that reflects those, rather than the other way around. Just a suggestion...

[PRgal]

On 2/19/2024 at 3:44 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

Taking a little bit of a break from job hunting for the time being and decided to redo my master resume using an AI tool. I was resistant to such things but thought hey why not. It made my resume look pretty good, better than what I was coming up with while writing it on my own. Would love to test it out on the job search again once I figure out where I’m going. Hopefully I at least get some interview calls.

Now, if only I knew where I was going and what I was looking for. My problem is that I can’t seem to pick a path and be confident in it. I wanted to go marketing since I’ve never been able to stop thinking about wanting to work in it, then I decided I should do accounting because there are better job prospects and salaries, but I keep thinking about doing marketing and doing the one thing that’s always been on my mind before I even thought of going into accounting. I guess I have to make the choice between what’s the most practical and what would make me happiest. 

 

What are you best at?  What do you have professional qualifications to do?  Have you thought of freelancing? 

[Cloud9Shopper]

22 minutes ago, PRgal said:

What are you best at?  What do you have professional qualifications to do?  Have you thought of freelancing? 

I don’t think I’d want to freelance full time but I’m not opposed to picking up occasional freelance work for extra money. I have a freelance editing project coming up that will give me about six weeks worth of work that I can do in the evenings and on weekends. 

I don’t have any special qualifications or anything which is what I think is hurting me. I just wish I could stop feeling lost and find a good gig already. I mean, I’m good at managing calendars, I have strong written communication and editing skills, I’ve been told I show good judgment and attention to detail…but guess what? Thousands of other people are also good at those things. I get good quality ratings and customer feedback at my current job but I have no desire to make customer service my long-term path. 

[BlueSkies]

A lot of times Friday doesn’t exactly feel like a Friday.  It’s one of my busiest days of the week in terms of work.

 

Then what I get a reprieve but get to do it all over again 1st thing Monday morning.

 

 

Uggh it feels like this company wants every ounce of blood out of me.  I know I know everyone can feel like that but this thread is entitled vent your spleen.  

[Yeah No]

On 2/22/2024 at 6:49 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

I don’t think I’d want to freelance full time but I’m not opposed to picking up occasional freelance work for extra money. I have a freelance editing project coming up that will give me about six weeks worth of work that I can do in the evenings and on weekends. 

I don’t have any special qualifications or anything which is what I think is hurting me. I just wish I could stop feeling lost and find a good gig already. I mean, I’m good at managing calendars, I have strong written communication and editing skills, I’ve been told I show good judgment and attention to detail…but guess what? Thousands of other people are also good at those things. I get good quality ratings and customer feedback at my current job but I have no desire to make customer service my long-term path. 

Sorry to respond so late to this.  When I see what you've written above I think "Executive Assistant".  Now I know that's a catch-all phrase that some people see as insulting if someone suggests it, but I had to get over that myself because thanks to my skill set, which is similar to yours, I made a great high level EA in the corporate world working for C-suite Exec. VP's.  And even though thousands of people are good at those things there are thousands of jobs like that available and it's easy to go from temp. to perm. in those.  You can prove yourself on the job and get hired.  That worked for me twice.  

The fortunate thing is that today there is much less stigma attached to those jobs and the pay and benefits are excellent at good companies.  You might have to start at mid-level but if you prove yourself there is a good chance of advancement either at the same company or moving up gradually at different companies.

One bit of advice I have is pick the field you want to work in carefully because you may be "typecast" in it.  I actually started in a big accounting firm, then moved to the IT dept. of a health insurance company, then two product companies, so I was able to move around.  

Anyway, that's my advice du jour.

[Cloud9Shopper]

2 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Sorry to respond so late to this.  When I see what you've written above I think "Executive Assistant".  Now I know that's a catch-all phrase that some people see as insulting if someone suggests it, but I had to get over that myself because thanks to my skill set, which is similar to yours, I made a great high level EA in the corporate world working for C-suite Exec. VP's.  And even though thousands of people are good at those things there are thousands of jobs like that available and it's easy to go from temp. to perm. in those.  You can prove yourself on the job and get hired.  That worked for me twice.  

The fortunate thing is that today there is much less stigma attached to those jobs and the pay and benefits are excellent at good companies.  You might have to start at mid-level but if you prove yourself there is a good chance of advancement either at the same company or moving up gradually at different companies.

One bit of advice I have is pick the field you want to work in carefully because you may be "typecast" in it.  I actually started in a big accounting firm, then moved to the IT dept. of a health insurance company, then two product companies, so I was able to move around.  

Anyway, that's my advice du jour.

I did enjoy the administrative jobs I had! When I was an assistant/receptionist at a law firm there were demanding clients at times, but it was also nice to get to know the regular clients and talk to them, and I got to do some light bookkeeping and a lot of the calendaring. I am submitting for another admin assistant job today. 

I’m hoping March is a better month for me on the market. I didn’t have one interview in February which is really depressing when you think about it. I’ve interviewed fairly consistently for a while so it was jarring to have nothing come my way last month. I changed up my resume and added some more metrics where I could (I do have one job that can’t be quantified) so I’m hoping that brings better results. I’m just so tired of how impossible this market is and hope it eases soon.

[BlueSkies]

This is a post I think can fit in several threads under Everything Else but since it involves LinkedIn I’ll put it here.

 

 

I extended an invitation to someone I remember from middle school.  He was always a real smart and athletic kid.  It sounds kind of cliche but he’s the type that would seem to succeed in whatever he chose in life.  Hell, someone I could even learn stuff from.

 

On a nice note he excepted the invite from me all these years later.  But then I messaged him if he liked his job and if he thought his education helped him and I never heard back from him.

 

 

I mean I understand that to some degree him not responding and don’t really hold it against him.  I mean yeah I’m randomly hitting him up all these years later.  But still it would have been nice kind of thing.  

Edited March 4 by BlueSkies

[Yeah No]

On 3/3/2024 at 6:59 PM, BlueSkies said:

On a nice note he excepted the invite from me all these years later.  But then I messaged him if he liked his job and if he thought his education helped him and I never heard back from him.

I mean I understand that to some degree him not responding and don’t really hold it against him.  I mean yeah I’m randomly hitting him up all these years later.  But still it would have been nice kind of thing.  

That happens a lot on Linkedin.  I've messaged people there that definitely would respond to me that never do.  When I contact them a different way they respond.  Most of them are too busy or not inclined to check their messages and don't have it flagged to send them a heads up via email or other method that they got one.  So take heart it's probably not intentional.

[Cloud9Shopper]

Still job searching, and still no calls for interviews in this first full week of March. I’m now on the fourth version of my resume, and to be truthful, I’m about at my limit. I find it hard to believe that absolutely no one wants to interview me with my skills and experience and that I truly have no value to any potential employer. I don’t get how customer service at my current employer is the only thing I am qualified to do after years of hard work to get out of those jobs and prove my skills otherwise. 

If I don’t get interviews this month I will probably pay for a review and redo because I have asked a few people I know for help, but the invites aren’t coming and I refuse to settle for customer service long term. I found someone on LinkedIn who has an affordable price so I may just pony up the money (it’s less than $300).

If I still have not gotten an offer, or at least interviews, in another month or two, I’m going all in on this career change and going back to school. It may be a tough market but people are getting interviews and offers and I’m still not among them. 

 

 

[stewedsquash]

If I were in your situation I would probably reach out to, off the top of my head, @isalicat @Bookish Jen,  in dm and pick their brains for specific advice on resume/ job hunt/temp jobs that lead to more opportunities. It wouldn’t have to give away an identity. 

I get your frustration. You have valid feelings over your struggles. 
 

And a place like here to write it all out, vent wise/musings, is useful to help clear your brain clutter.

 

Edited March 7 by stewedsquash
spelling

[Cloud9Shopper]

I am not wiling to take temp work. I need to stick with searching for full time jobs with benefits. If I were unemployed or about to lose my job, I would look into temp work, but it’s not something I’m willing to do right now. 

[ginger90]

2 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

temp jobs that lead to more opportunities.

I agree. One of my daughters started in HR that way and now has a very impressive salary and loves where she’s working. 

[BlueSkies]

Monday and Fridays are actually my worst days in terms of work load.

 

Even though it’s Friday I usually don’t like the day because I’m wrapping everything up for the week.  And by Friday I move slower in general being tired from the work week.  

[Cloud9Shopper]

By Friday afternoon I am checked out and trying not to fall asleep at my desk. 

[BlueSkies]

On 3/2/2024 at 11:35 AM, Yeah No said:

Sorry to respond so late to this.  When I see what you've written above I think "Executive Assistant".  Now I know that's a catch-all phrase that some people see as insulting if someone suggests it, but I had to get over that myself because thanks to my skill set, which is similar to yours, I made a great high level EA in the corporate world working for C-suite Exec. VP's.  And even though thousands of people are good at those things there are thousands of jobs like that available and it's easy to go from temp. to perm. in those.  You can prove yourself on the job and get hired.  That worked for me twice.  

The fortunate thing is that today there is much less stigma attached to those jobs and the pay and benefits are excellent at good companies.  You might have to start at mid-level but if you prove yourself there is a good chance of advancement either at the same company or moving up gradually at different companies.

One bit of advice I have is pick the field you want to work in carefully because you may be "typecast" in it.  I actually started in a big accounting firm, then moved to the IT dept. of a health insurance company, then two product companies, so I was able to move around.  

Anyway, that's my advice du jour.

Job titles can definitely be misleading and underrated or overrated imo.  

 

I mean for example not to demean this position at all but being a vice president in a bank is a lot more common today than it was 30 years ago.  

[Yeah No]

On 3/7/2024 at 12:40 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

I am not wiling to take temp work. I need to stick with searching for full time jobs with benefits. If I were unemployed or about to lose my job, I would look into temp work, but it’s not something I’m willing to do right now. 

I was under financial pressure so I had to give in to temping but it was the best thing in retrospect.  I'm glad I did because I got two great jobs that way that I know I never would have gotten if I just went on interviews for a permanent position.  That wasn't working for me so eventually I had to realize that I had to do something different. 

In some careers it's actually more common to get a job on a temp-to-perm basis than the traditional way.  I honestly think that some of the best jobs are only listed on a temp. to perm. basis so you'd never find them if you look for permanent positions only.   I think a lot of employers want to try before they buy.  Hey, that's OK because then you get to do that too.

The good thing about temping is that most of the positions are labeled as either strict temping with no possibility of becoming permanent, temping with maybe a possibility of becoming permanent, and temping with a definite possibility of becoming permanent.  You get to decide which one you want.  In the latter category they are usually very motivated to hire someone permanently so they're more likely to see you positively and more likely to make you permanent.  Also, a lot of temp. agencies offer benefits now.  And just because you're temping doesn't mean you can't also be interviewing for permanent positions.  And even better, if you don't like the temp. position you have, the agency will find you something else.

Come to think of it, I have not known of many instances where temps. in temp. to perm. positions were not hired permanently (and I saw a lot in 30+ years).  You really have to be bad to be let go.  The woman before me in one position was tolerated for almost a year and I couldn't believe they put up with her that long.  She would disappear for days and not call in, lose documents, have personal phone arguments on work time, etc.  Like I said above, they are usually very motivated to hire permanently when they advertise the job on that basis and you have to be really bad not to get the job.

Just more to think about.  🙂

Edited March 11 by Yeah No

[Cloud9Shopper]

Finally got a couple of hits this week. Had a phone interview yesterday and am waiting to hear back to see if the hiring manager wants to meet me. Then I scheduled another phone screen for Thursday. The job I interviewed for yesterday is remote, and the interview I have on Thursday is for a hybrid role (three days in office, two days at home). The hybrid role would have a long-ish commute (40-45 minutes each way), but I’ve always been willing to take hybrid or on-site if the job and salary are right. Remote is just way too competitive, and I am starting to hit my customer service rep expiration date. I’d take a 40-minute drive in exchange for hopefully more autonomy at work and career growth. 

I’m not opposed to staying at my current job for the time being, but if I’m still a customer service rep by next year (after I’ve been at the company two years), I’ll be taking another look at my job search and deciding where I can relax my criteria to make it easier. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

Made it to the second round of one job that I had a phone screen for on Tuesday. The second round is Monday so I’m planning to go get my hair cut and nails done over the weekend. I need my hair done but my stylist couldn’t get me in for three weeks so I’m going to one of those walk-in places just to get a couple inches off and have it cleaned up. Gotta look nice even for a virtual meeting and a haircut would help my confidence.

My phone screen yesterday for a different job was kind of disappointing. The recruiter called 40 minutes late. I don’t mind giving a 5-15 minute grace but….yeah. The job was hybrid which I would have been fine with since it was three days in office and two at home. But of course, I found out it pays less than my current position. I’m not willing to take a pay cut (especially when my gas costs and clothing costs are going to increase because the office is 40-45 minutes away and I am sure they expect you to dress up), so I told the recruiter my current pay. He said he would see if the hiring team would be able to match my current pay if the job were offered to me, but it doesn’t seem hopeful because they have an internal equity policy about salary where they may not be able to start me higher than the rate they’ve set. If they can match it and want me to go to the next stage, though, I’d proceed. If it doesn’t work out, I won’t be upset. Sorry. I’m not going to take a lower hourly wage and commute on top of that when gas is nearly $4 an hour. If I could get an onsite role that matched my current salary or increased it, different story. 

[BlueSkies]

There's one manager in the company I work for that is still annoying (if not more so) from beyond.  I directly reported to him for a little bit now he's retired but the company still uses him from time to time for consulting type of work.

 

Speaking with him is usually annoying on many levels.  He always wants to know what is going on (which I mean I guess is fair) but it just comes off way way more nosey to me in his approach.  

[Cloud9Shopper]

What would you do if you were interviewing with a company and saw they had bad Glassdoor ratings? 

I have a second round job interview tomorrow for a job that is more in line with my career goals. (So, not a call center rep. It is a customer service trainer, so much closer to my goal to work in learning and development or HR.) I was excited about the job when I applied for it and after the phone screen, but today I went to Glassdoor to get the job description (since it was taken down from the company website but I Googled the company name and the name of the position to find it) and saw the company has a 2.7 rating. Out of 230 ratings. ☹️ Since I was excited about the job I was really bummed to see that this is apparently a terrible place to work and you should run away and management has no idea what they’re doing, plus there have been layoffs. 

If you saw this, would you still want to go to the interview? I thought about cancelling when I saw the rating but realize that might be a bit reactionary and I should probably look at the reviews to see what teams the employees were on, what they were complaining about, etc. and listen for red flags in the interview. I really don’t know if I actually want to cancel since the job sounds like a potentially good fit and would get me out of the call center but I also am hesitant knowing their reviews are overall so bad and part of me thinks that many unhappy people can’t be wrong. (Although my current employer, for what it’s worth, has a 3.3 rating on Glassdoor so it’s not as if we have all glowing reviews from happy employees either.) 

It’s a disappointment so I’m not really sure what the best outcome/decision would be. 

[Browncoat]

You should at least go to the interview. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

5 hours ago, Browncoat said:

You should at least go to the interview. 

Yes. I think I will still go. Sometimes I’m just not sure how much stock to put in Glassdoor reviews. I feel like some reviews could be applied to any company on the planet, plus you have to wonder which ones are fake/HR manufactured or real. I think the best thing to do is keep my ears open for anything that seems like a red flag. I had an interview for a paralegal job in January and got ghosted, but then I know they said in the interview that even a paralegal could be expected to talk to clients after hours…and looking back I was kind of relieved I didn’t get that job if clients could call me at night when I wasn’t even the lawyer. 

I looked up the person who’s interviewing me tomorrow and she’s been with the company for three years, so clearly not everyone thinks it’s the worst job in the world. 

Edited March 17 by Cloud9Shopper

[Yeah No]

9 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

What would you do if you were interviewing with a company and saw they had bad Glassdoor ratings? 

I have a second round job interview tomorrow for a job that is more in line with my career goals. (So, not a call center rep. It is a customer service trainer, so much closer to my goal to work in learning and development or HR.) I was excited about the job when I applied for it and after the phone screen, but today I went to Glassdoor to get the job description (since it was taken down from the company website but I Googled the company name and the name of the position to find it) and saw the company has a 2.7 rating. Out of 230 ratings. ☹️ Since I was excited about the job I was really bummed to see that this is apparently a terrible place to work and you should run away and management has no idea what they’re doing, plus there have been layoffs. 

If you saw this, would you still want to go to the interview? I thought about cancelling when I saw the rating but realize that might be a bit reactionary and I should probably look at the reviews to see what teams the employees were on, what they were complaining about, etc. and listen for red flags in the interview. I really don’t know if I actually want to cancel since the job sounds like a potentially good fit and would get me out of the call center but I also am hesitant knowing their reviews are overall so bad and part of me thinks that many unhappy people can’t be wrong. (Although my current employer, for what it’s worth, has a 3.3 rating on Glassdoor so it’s not as if we have all glowing reviews from happy employees either.) 

It’s a disappointment so I’m not really sure what the best outcome/decision would be. 

I would still go on the interview.  I find I trust reviews less these days.  Sometimes I find that they attract more people with a gripe than satisfied people.  And the scores can vary a lot from site to site even with lots of reviews.  Even 300 reviews is not a lot in the scheme of things.  But I'd also trust my gut at the interview.  And if everyone is complaining about the same things in their reviews I'd take it under consideration.  Sometimes what they're complaining about is nothing that would bother me.  But if they're complaining about things I know would be deal breakers for me I'd probably listen to it more, although I would still go on the interview and make up my mind based on that.

Good luck! 

[Cloud9Shopper]

Well. I did go on the interview. I feel like based on some of the questions they were asking and the scope of the role (I would be their first ever trainer and their current training is a bit of a hodgepodge so they asked me for a 30/60/90 plan, so I did my best to answer the question but I feel like my response was not that impressive) that I might be underqualified. I mostly only have experience from a certificate program I did in 2022 (which I realize isn’t real experience although it did teach me training principles and how to design and evaluate training) and at my current job running some trainings. I have experience editing training content but wasn’t learner-facing in that position.

They still have some interviews to do this week so I will know next week if I made the next round. If I don’t, I won’t be too disappointed since it seems like they want someone more experienced. At the same time, who knows? Maybe I will have impressed them since I don’t know what the rest of the candidate pool looks like. 

My plan remains the same: I still want out of the call center but will only leave for the right opportunity. As my current company is a good place to work for and I would be happy to stay if I could get out of customer service, I am still keeping my eye open for eventual options there but also still searching externally. 

[Jeeves]

This isn't a current situation by any means. It happened about 10 years ago, but it's such a "horrible boss" story that it's burned into my memory. Which TBH has plenty of holes where it should have stored important stuff, but that's another subject. 

So, back then I was a few years retired from my so-called career and from full time permanent jobs. But I was not old and creaky, and did various temporary and/or part time work, both for the income and TBH to get out of the house and have something to do. I'd wanted to get away from my profession, just to try something totally different. And through some neighbors I connected with a local office of a national temp agency. For them, we worked as on-site staff for conventions. Usually in our convention center, sometimes in hotels. I did that for a few years. The pay was minimum wage or sometimes a little better (at least our local minimum wage is higher than the federal rate), the hours could be challenging, and some of the jobs could be IMO physically challenging (there were 'security' jobs where you stood on your feet the whole shift, checking badges for admission to expo areas, etc.). But it could be interesting at the check-in desks where I usually worked, and I didn't do the security jobs (for one thing you needed to get a City license for that which cost $100). Many of my co-workers were also retirees. For some of them, I could tell, the pay was more important/necessary, than for others. 

In December one year, the company announced there would be a special holiday meeting one morning at their downtown office. I went. They served us cheap refreshments straight out of the Safeway packages. The head of our City's tourism office was there, who was at least entertaining and interesting, and brought us some goodies like comp tickets to a museum, while exhorting us to take every opportunity while working, to talk up our fabulous city to the conference attendees. Sure, Jan.

The next year, when December rolled around, I was working a full time temporary office job for that agency, not doing conventions. I got a mass email from the company to employees who did the convention jobs, about a MANDATORY "holiday party" and meeting on a weekday at their downtown office. And it would be: POT LUCK. Seriously, these employees, who were mainly retirement age and working temp jobs at minimum wage, were instructed to RSVP and to state what food they were bringing to the "party." 

So the company was telling them to pay either transit fare or downtown M-F daytime parking rates, to attend a MANDATORY event which would be UNPAID and to which they were REQUIRED TO BRING FOOD. 

I was appalled. I immediately replied, sorry, I'm working at X company for you that day and can't attend. But I continued to think about it and what I could or should say or do, if anything.

Apparently somebody brought the company up short. Two days later I got another mass email from the company. They were SO sorry for any misunderstandings about the holiday "party." They had only intended for everyone to get together for a good time. Of course nobody would be required to bring food, and yada yada. I can't remember if they also dropped the "mandatory" part. Because AFAIK under labor laws, if you require an employee to attend a meeting, they should be paid for that. 

I eventually quit doing anything for that agency. Went back into the field I'd worked in for decades (better money, for one thing), for temp and project work. But I still remember some of the really nice people I worked with on those convention jobs, and as you can see I still can get steamed up at the agency's arrogance and greed over that mandatory potluck. 

If you read this whole novella, thanks for sticking around. Hope this rant isn't off topic, but it's good to vent sometimes.

 

Edited March 22 by Jeeves

[ginger90]

29 minutes ago, Jeeves said:

it's good to vent sometimes.

It certainly is!

[SoMuchTV]

Sorry, I meant to put this in the chit chat thread. I’ll go ahead and leave it here, but copy it there as well. 
—-
If you’re getting to this thread some way other than navigating through the main forum, you might not have seen this poll:

It’s polling whether we want the Pet Peeves and Chit Chat threads combined. I voted for keeping them separate, but if there were a way to add comments, I’d add, with a little bit of leniency if we stray a bit. 

Edited March 22 by SoMuchTV
Wrong thread!

[RealHousewife]

On 3/17/2024 at 4:33 PM, Cloud9Shopper said:

Yes. I think I will still go. Sometimes I’m just not sure how much stock to put in Glassdoor reviews. I feel like some reviews could be applied to any company on the planet, plus you have to wonder which ones are fake/HR manufactured or real. I think the best thing to do is keep my ears open for anything that seems like a red flag. I had an interview for a paralegal job in January and got ghosted, but then I know they said in the interview that even a paralegal could be expected to talk to clients after hours…and looking back I was kind of relieved I didn’t get that job if clients could call me at night when I wasn’t even the lawyer. 

I looked up the person who’s interviewing me tomorrow and she’s been with the company for three years, so clearly not everyone thinks it’s the worst job in the world. 

Exactly. I've heard there are companies with high ratings where there are a lot of bogus reviews. If a company is big enough, you might check places like Reddit. 

I absolutely would google any company that might be my future employer, but I still try to keep an open mind.  

Your experience will often depend on the section you work, your direct supervisor, work ethic, just being a good fit, etc. There are often good and bad places to be in any given organization. The Glassdoor reviews that get into specific jobs and pros and cons are pretty useful. 

I'm not sure how many of you remember me venting about harassment at my last job, but I will begin a new one soon. I'm really excited and also like that I will be working with a lot more women. The environment will feel safer for me. 

[supposebly]

2 minutes ago, RealHousewife said:

I'm not sure how many of you remember me venting about harassment at my last job, but I will begin a new one soon. I'm really excited and also like that I will be working with a lot more women. The environment will feel safer for me.

I do remember your creepy colleague. Congratulations!

[GHScorpiosRule]

21 minutes ago, RealHousewife said:

I'm not sure how many of you remember me venting about harassment at my last job, but I will begin a new one soon. I'm really excited and also like that I will be working with a lot more women. The environment will feel safer for me.

I also remember. Not to be a Debbie Downer, but women can also be bullies. As I have experienced in my career, who made my life an absolute HELL. And most recently when I had that trial last summer.

But wishing you the best of luck. Honestly.

[RealHousewife]

2 hours ago, supposebly said:

I do remember your creepy colleague. Congratulations!

Thank you! I'm really excited. I will make more money here too. 

2 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I also remember. Not to be a Debbie Downer, but women can also be bullies. As I have experienced in my career, who made my life an absolute HELL. And most recently when I had that trial last summer.

But wishing you the best of luck. Honestly.

Oh I know women aren't necessarily lovely! I've definitely experienced bad and good with both men and women. You always hear that women are drama though and that men are oh so nice and laidback, and that just hasn't been my personal experience. I truly believe there is good and bad with all genders, but men are the ones who have made me personally most uncomfortable. It will feel nice not being outnumbered by them.

I'm so sorry you also recently went through hell as well. I hope things are going better for you now. 

I appreciate that, thank you. 

[Anela]

8 minutes ago, RealHousewife said:

Thank you! I'm really excited. I will make more money here too. 

Oh I know women aren't necessarily lovely! I've definitely experienced bad and good with both men and women. You always hear that women are drama though and that men are oh so nice and laidback, and that just hasn't been my personal experience. I truly believe there is good and bad with all genders, but men are the ones who have made me personally most uncomfortable. It will feel nice not being outnumbered by them.

I'm so sorry you also recently went through hell as well. I hope things are going better for you now. 

I appreciate that, thank you. 

That paste worked. I wonder why some don’t.  A YouTube link didn’t work for me, in another thread. 

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, RealHousewife said:

I'm really excited and also like that I will be working with a lot more women.

Congratulations.  I've been lucky throughout both my careers to work with a lot more women than men.  (I don't have a problem working with men, I just like working with women more, so it's nice that it has turned out that way for me.)  I know that coming off the harassment you suffered at your last job, simply walking in and not being outnumbered by men is going to feel more comfortable for you, making you better able to concentrate on adjusting to the new job when you don't automatically feel like you have to be on guard in the same way you were forced to be at your last job.  Good luck.

Edited March 23 by Bastet

[Annber03]

Yeah, every job I've had has been largely full of women, too (if not completely full of women). I've never had a man for a boss. Ever. 

Good luck on the new job, @RealHousewife!

[Yeah No]

This is interesting.  I've actually had more male bosses than female.  I've had some horrible female bosses.  Judging from the way the other women I worked with felt about them, I was far from alone.  I think it depends on the field and the basis upon which you work with women that makes the difference.  Women in high positions in the corporate world are no piece of cake to work for in general.  I more often found myself better able to get a fair shake from male bosses than female ones.  Of course there were a couple of male bosses that were awful too but they were the exceptions.  And I was no stranger to sexual harassment either.  But despite that the female bosses were by far the worst and after a couple of bad experiences I actively avoided jobs with them. 

In my last job the really nice male boss I had for a few years left and a woman took his place.  She was a raging malignant narcissist that almost gave me a nervous breakdown and an ulcer.  In less than a year literally half the department left under her (at least 12 people!) and I regularly had to counsel people in tears in the supply closet on a daily basis - and that included men!  As her assistant I became the "lightening rod" for her abuse.  When I complained to HR about her they were sympathetic and clued me in that she would probably be transferring soon to a Midwest office.  Fortunately it happened only a couple of months later or I might have had to leave.

I would love to say that my experiences were the exception, but after working for over 35 years I saw enough from the sidelines with other people's work situations to know that this kind of experience was by far not unique to me.  One of my best female friends who I met through my last job and we both had similar experiences with female bosses over the years.  Her last boss at our company was yet another example.  

I don't doubt that this may not be typical in other types of businesses or organizations, although the other "most horrible female boss" I ever had was in the field of Education at a university counseling program.  My long time BFF worked for decades at a university and had similar experiences with female bosses.  

I have known a few women that preferred to work with women but they were the exceptions and all I can say is "God bless" because despite wanting to work with female bosses they never seemed to like me no matter what I did.

[Cloud9Shopper]

Two of my worst bosses ever were women. One was the wife of the owner of a law firm I worked for (small firm) and it seemed like after a while she started to prefer the firm’s intern who was related to the old receptionist and was harsher on my work. Although I had a good female boss in my old job too. My supervisor now is a male, and he’s great. For a call center supervisor he is pretty hands off and laid back if you’re doing a good job and he doesn’t have to discuss a lot of issues with you. 

I have an interview on Wednesday at the college that rejected me for a job several months ago, but this time, the interview is in a different department (marketing and communications). One of the people on the hiring committee posted the role on LinkedIn and I reached out to her and we had a brief chat about the job but I didn’t expect to get picked for an interview. So at least I won’t be going in as a total stranger to her. 

I’m feeling a bit bummed because my old seasonal job did not hire me back. I don’t know why. I’m wondering if they either thought I was too far away from them (a 45 minute drive) or misunderstood my availability. It’s with a baseball team and I said I am free on weekends and holidays the majority of the time, although one interviewer did seem to think I said I wasn’t available on weekends ever and I had to clarify that at the job fair. My old boss (who is no longer with the team, unfortunately) seemed to like me. There has been a lot of turnover since I worked there so I only know maybe less than five people in the front office now. 

I am not going to ask for feedback or anything though. It’s a $10 an hour seasonal job where the “interviews” are five minutes long. I’ll save my feedback requests for the career-level jobs and just find a different way to make extra money. I’ve lost interest in local sports anyway even as a hobby/fan because of the costs and what you get for the experience anymore. 

Edited March 24 by Cloud9Shopper

[Yeah No]

18 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Two of my worst bosses ever were women. One was the wife of the owner of a law firm I worked for (small firm) and it seemed like after a while she started to prefer the firm’s intern who was related to the old receptionist and was harsher on my work. Although I had a good female boss in my old job too. My supervisor now is a male, and he’s great. For a call center supervisor he is pretty hands off and laid back if you’re doing a good job and he doesn’t have to discuss a lot of issues with you. 

I have an interview on Wednesday at the college that rejected me for a job several months ago, but this time, the interview is in a different department (marketing and communications). One of the people on the hiring committee posted the role on LinkedIn and I reached out to her and we had a brief chat about the job but I didn’t expect to get picked for an interview. So at least I won’t be going in as a total stranger to her. 

 

Congrats on the interview, I hope you get it!  I would have loved to go back to work at a university but somehow it never happened for me.  After working in the business world for so long I think I got typecast.  I also just didn't hit the right situation for me.  I recently looked at a former coworker's Linkedin page and found that she is now working at a university I interviewed with in 2019 in a different department.  I wish that opening was available when I was looking as it would have been more to my liking.  In my case it doesn't help that I was at least 10 years younger than most of the people that interviewed me.  I know that age had a lot to do with me not hitting it right at that time.  That former coworker is over 15 years my junior.  I tried to mask my age creatively on my resume and I do look younger, but today that's not enough.  They have their ways of knowing how old you really are.

That horrible female boss I had at a university was when I had just gotten out of grad. school and got a position as a counselor in a federally funded counseling program for disadvantaged students.  It was a small department and I was the only counselor.  I should have known something was wrong when the head of the program was so enamored of me she acted like I was the greatest thing ever to walk through her door.  She told me she chose my resume out of 700 that had been sent to the Chronicle of Higher Education based on having gone to her alma mater. 

She was gushing and nice for the first week, then suddenly it all went downhill.  She started criticizing every little thing I did and telling me I had to do things that were frankly unethical, like go through the new student rolls and sign students up for the program without their knowledge or consent!  She forced me to go to the student dormitories to interview them when they hadn't even made an appointment for a session, and if I didn't do enough of it I had to sit through a daily "abuse session" where she listed all the things I was supposedly not doing right.

I was young, fresh out of grad. school and idealistic.  This was the LAST thing I thought would ever happen to me!  It sent me into a panic and near nervous breakdown.  My husband was so upset he went to the Dean to complain but the university acted like they had no power over this woman because she "technically worked for the government".  BULLSHIT.  He even went as far as to complain to NY State and the Federal gov't. about all the unethical things she was making me do.  You see, this program would lose its Federal funding if it didn't fulfill certain quotas in terms of enrollment and sessions.  And obviously it was in danger of losing that funding, hence the unethical stuff.

Well, the State and Federal gov't. heard my husband out but nothing happened.  I then found out that I was the 7th person in 5 years to hold that position. I found the evidence in the file cabinet in my office.  I ended up calling all of those people and got an earful from each of them!  It turns out I was her "next victim" and they all had the exact same experience!  All of them left the position after less than a year.  I managed to get all of them to meet with me at a restaurant where we had a very cathartic dinner together sharing our tales of woe.  They all thanked me and said it helped them get over what was a very traumatic experience.

Anyway I ended up quitting that job soon after.  As it turned out, I got unemployment insurance anyway because I had only worked there a few months so my former employer was the one to be paying it, and I knew and had a good relationship with the head of HR there, which helped.

We had a big recession that year (1991) so I ended up collecting UI benefits for an entire year thanks to double digit unemployment.  I was so traumatized by this experience I was just as happy not being required to interview for the first 6 months.  Plus we had just moved to CT so it was an adjustment.   It was after that that I ended up in the business world.  I got a job at Deloitte as an admin. where they taught me Windows 3.1 on the job.  I was very happy there for 4 years.  It was one of my better job experiences for sure.  I needed that.  I ended up staying in the business world after that.

Whoo, sorry I went on so long!  I share this stuff in case anyone is wondering if I brought my lack of success on myself in my career.  I can assure them I did not.  I had very shitty luck.  I hope you are far luckier than I was!

[PRgal]

I worked for a university's fundraising/advancement office for a bit (temporary position) and TBH, it's probably the only part of any school I'd ever work for.  Anything else, especially these days, would be completely hands-off for me (though I'm pretty sure even advancement would be horrid considering what's been happening) for certain reasons.  

[BlueSkies]

Very sad lately to know someone I grew up with as a kid died.  I hadn't known him since I was a kid but yeah it kind of looked like his entire life was spent doing shady/illegal activity.  

 

Which begs the question about working I have.  I mean most people on this thread seem like earnest hard working people even I don't always agree with the sentiments shared.  I have to wonder if how horrible work can be for a lot of people can really push them over the edge?  Or their kids per say.  Like no energy for anything else when the parent gets home.  

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, BlueSkies said:

Very sad lately to know someone I grew up with as a kid died.  I hadn't known him since I was a kid but yeah it kind of looked like his entire life was spent doing shady/illegal activity.  

 

Which begs the question about working I have.  I mean most people on this thread seem like earnest hard working people even I don't always agree with the sentiments shared.  I have to wonder if how horrible work can be for a lot of people can really push them over the edge?  Or their kids per say.  Like no energy for anything else when the parent gets home.  

I've had a few people I knew as a kid die, but I'm 65, although a couple of them died decades ago.

I think it depends on the job.  I've never had an easy work situation but it wasn't always so draining that I didn't have time or energy for anything when I got home.  Some stress is more destructive than others.  In one of my least happy job situations I was able to go to grad. school part time and even bike ride after work in the warm weather.  Of course I was much younger then!   I would say that it was only in those cases where I had those "horrible bosses" that I didn't have energy for anything else. 

Of course I never had children so I don't know what that's like.  Both of my parents worked full time after I was 9 and it was never easy for them either, especially when my mother also went to college at night, although I was already a teenager by that time.  I have to admire how they were able to give me the attention I needed back then.  I was an only child and pretty introverted so I didn't need tons of parental attention anyway.  They were of an older generation so they weren't as hands on 24/7 with me as parents are today, and I was a latch-key kid, although my grandma lived in our building and I went to her house after school.  Back then we used to say it "took a village" to raise a child.

Anyway, if a job is that horrible that you're completely depleted after the work day I'd definitely say it's time to change jobs.  A job is not worth your mental and physical health.  I learned that lesson late in life when I almost got an ulcer because of a horrible boss (see above for that story).  I also believe that situation was indirectly responsible for me losing my gallbladder.  I was so stressed out I wasn't paying enough attention to my diet and I gained weight.  I was already in my mid 50s at the time.  

Also, please don't take this the wrong way but this is one of my language pet peeves.  This is intended only its educational value - the phrase is "per se" not "per say".  Here's an explanation:

https://www.dictionary.com/e/per-say-or-per-se/

Also note that while I have my grammar/usage pet peeves I am no stranger to committing such mistakes myself.  As they say, "those that don't do teach"!  😉

[ebk57]

I retired - today was my last day.  I might be a little excited...