A Case Of The Mondays: Vent Your Work Spleen Here

[MargeGunderson]

I submitted a job application last night and just got an email from the HR coordinator to discuss! I know it’s just an initial screening, but I’m happy to see that I met their minimum requirements. It would be a step up in title (to Associate Director) but it’s a smaller organization and a new program. It looks like it could be an interesting opportunity but who knows? Doesn’t hurt to try, though.

Edited September 8, 2020 by MargeGunderson

[MargeGunderson]

I had a brief call with the HR recruiter yesterday that I though was just so-so. He only asked me 3 questions, 2 of which were basically the same thing, and one was to clarify something on much resume. It wasn’t even half an hour so I wasn’t expecting anything. To my surprise, I got an email late today to set up a meeting with the hiring manger. I will definitely have to prepare better for this one!

[emma675]

Congrats, that's great!

[isalicat]

20 hours ago, MargeGunderson said:

I had a brief call with the HR recruiter yesterday that I though was just so-so. He only asked me 3 questions, 2 of which were basically the same thing, and one was to clarify something on much resume. It wasn’t even half an hour so I wasn’t expecting anything. To my surprise, I got an email late today to set up a meeting with the hiring manger. I will definitely have to prepare better for this one!

This is typical in my experience (I was a technical recruiter for 40 years, recently retired). HR is just calling to basically ascertain if you are human, frankly - its a bit of a formality and just serves to screen out *really* inappropriate people (like the type that immediately ask stuff about how much vacation they will get and when they can expect their first raise).

When you speak to the hiring manager have a few pithy phrases ready about how you can be an amazing new asset to their team/company and be specific - use examples of your prior accomplishments that are directly relevant to the job for which you are applying. Have at least two questions ready about the job/company that shows you did a little research in advance. Good luck!

Edited September 12, 2020 by isalicat

[MargeGunderson]

Had a really good call with the hiring manager today. We hit it off and had a great conversation. He didn’t ask me any typical interview questions, which was a nice change from “tell me about a time when you dealt with a difficult client/missed a deadline, etc. He also was candid in his answers to my questions. One concern I have is the about the hours; the company is based in China so he was upfront about having calls in the (late) evening on the regular. I’m less concerned about that than the overall work life balance. I’m definitely still interested.

[theredhead77]

Sounds promising @MargeGunderson! Don't forget your thank you note!

 

Sounds promising @MargeGunderson! Don't forget your thank you note!

What are the next steps?

[MargeGunderson]

I have several half hour meetings with various members of the team/stakeholders next week, maybe 7 in total? 3 of them are at night to accommodate other time zones. I guess I know what I’ll be doing this weekend!

[MargeGunderson]

3 hours of interviews down, 1 more to go tonight, and a half hour tomorrow. It’s gone well so far, really well with 2 of the interviewers and fine with 2 of them. I’d forgotten how tiring interviews are. I haven’t heard anything unexpected, but will need to clarify expectations in terms of hours. I’m not opposed to 60 hours a week on occasion, but I don’t want it to be the norm. 

[Bastet]

3 minutes ago, MargeGunderson said:

I haven’t heard anything unexpected, but will need to clarify expectations in terms of hours. I’m not opposed to 60 hours a week on occasion, but I don’t want it to be the norm. 

Given where the company is based, you're wise to hone in on whether the work-life balance you require will be provided.  I hope it works out, because it sounds like everything else is a good fit.

[magicdog]

Well a lot happens when one takes a few days off....

I come back into work after completely disconnecting only to find out corporate came by and fired a bunch of co-workers - mostly anchors from one of our fluff shows (entertainment reporting) and a night side anchor.  Apparently times are tough and after forcing everyone on salary (management to corporate CEO) to take a pay cut and 4 day work weeks, and running a pseudo infomercial about the product du jour, it still wasn't enough cost cutting. 

I just hope I'm not in their sights.  I'm just 2 years away from retiring (even though the money isn't that huge) and I'd hate for them to take nasty advantage.

Then today, I'm asked to download video of the Patriots coach (because he looked really rough during his last presser) and the producer never bothered to notice the clip was 14 minutes long!  Some systems might be able to process it in a split second, but not mine!  I politely explained it was a no-go and why.  Yet stuff like this keeps happening. 

Was kept on my toes all morning because there was a shooting at the Aria and we had to do some last minute interviews via phone with witnesses.  I have casino contacts who tell me they are scared to work on the Strip now due to the recent influx of scummy visitors.  Strip hotels that used to have room rates  from $300/night to $500+/night are offering rooms for $17/night!  It's ridiculous!  There have been fights at nice establishments like the Wynn and Encore (search YT for vids) and I'm told money laundering is going on frequently!  Apparently these people are bringing bricks of money to the casino cage, exchange them for chips, then cash out.  Gangbanger types have been making the Vegas experience a nightmare!    

Should I mention the people who bring their own 6-packs of beer with them to the lounges?    

[bilgistic]

My job is going to be ending by the end of the year. Initially, it was going to be the end of November, but then the other contractor and I were told that the company wanted to keep us on longer term. That, however, would likely require transitioning us to a sister company and off the contracting firm the company pays. We didn't hear anything more about that for about three weeks until today's news. It seems the main company just doesn't have enough work for us. They'd like to replace some folks in the sister company with us, but that won't happen.

I'm seriously bummed because I definitely don't have anything else lined up, don't want to job hunt again in a pandemic nor work near other humans, and still have scars from the 1.5-year-long search for this job!

I'm going to contact all the agencies again and look for another work-from-home opportunity. DAMN IT ALL.

Edited September 24, 2020 by bilgistic

[MargeGunderson]

On to the last round of interviews, this time with the VP of IT and the Chief Legal Counsel. And, I have only 5 days until my month long sabbatical! They will be five long days, but I am so looking forward to no work for a month. I originally had bigger plans than doing nothing, but since travel is out of the question it’s staying home, baking, and napping with my cats.

[Quof]

Update.  I have been unemployed for 5 weeks (since they paid me out my 4.5 weeks of owed vacation, I like to think I have only been unemployed for 2 days).

Monday I have an interview.  For the job I held for almost a decade before moving to my last company.  The person who replaced me is leaving, so the job coincidentally opened up at just the right time. Fate?   There were things I didn't like in that organization, but I understand there have been a number of changes for the better, and having worked for a hosebeast in recent years, any annoyances at the old company look like Disney World in comparison.

I feel like some of my old skills may be a little rusty, so I'm brushing up on those.  And wondering what to say when asked why I left my last job and whether they can call for a reference.

[theredhead77]

2 hours ago, Quof said:

And wondering what to say when asked why I left my last job and whether they can call for a reference.

Given the pandemic may not ask for too many details. Keep it vague and positive and depending on the state, your old job may only be able to say that you did work there from X until y and confirm your salary. They'll be talking to HR, not your old boss, or at least they should be.

[magicdog]

9 hours ago, Quof said:

I feel like some of my old skills may be a little rusty, so I'm brushing up on those.  And wondering what to say when asked why I left my last job and whether they can call for a reference.

Just say something along the lines of you were looking for a new challenge and the new job opportunity seemed like a good fit at this point in your career,  NEVER badmouth a previous employer - even if it is the reason you left. 

If they ask you what do you think is your biggest flaw, use something positive like, "I do tend to push myself too hard", or "I'm a perfectionist - I like doing things right the first time."

Regarding the reference:  the previous employer can only confirm (by US law) the dates you worked at the job and legally can't say anything else (good or bad).  I lost out on a job because a spiteful bitch spoke out of turn to a prospective employer but I didn't know any better at the time to take legal action.  Considering it was for a cashiering job (I was a college student at the time), it might not have been worth the legal effort anyway.  I usually don't allow for calls from a prospective employer made to a place I'm currently employed for that reason.

Quote

They'll be talking to HR, not your old boss, or at least they should be.

Should being the operative word.  As I mentioned above, they spoke to a supervisor who had a spite streak a mile long.  Don't be surprised if they choose to connect to the supervisor mentioned on your application. 

Edited September 30, 2020 by magicdog

[Bastet]

14 hours ago, magicdog said:

If they ask you what do you think is your biggest flaw, use something positive like, "I do tend to push myself too hard", or "I'm a perfectionist - I like doing things right the first time."

I recommend against this; it's obnoxious, even if it's true.  It's not an "I'll never hire anyone who says X" situation by any means, but applicants do dig a hole with a "flaw" that's just sucking up - my biggest flaw is how hard I work.

Everyone has flaws, so pick one that's negative but not a deal-breaker and give a concrete example of what you've done to improve in that area so it's a flaw, yeah, but not an actual problem for your employer or co-workers.

Edited September 30, 2020 by Bastet

[ABay]

Flaw: "Sometimes I forget to replace the filter in the break room coffee pot when I've had the last cup". You'd have to preface that with "Before COVID..."

Or "I did once make popcorn in the break room microwave."

Edited September 30, 2020 by ABay

[MargeGunderson]

Wish me luck, heading in to the final 3 interviews for the new job in 5 minutes. 

My biggest weakness is not delegating enough, which I know is something my manager would say (it’s hard when you are one of two on a team) but I also think she would say I’m getting better at it. I had a huge project over the last 2 years that helped me get real comfortable with it.

ETA: thanks everyone! All done, and I think everything went very well. I’m now going to try not to think about any of it for the next several days.

Edited October 1, 2020 by MargeGunderson

[magicdog]

On 9/29/2020 at 10:20 PM, Bastet said:

I recommend against this; it's obnoxious, even if it's true.  It's not an "I'll never hire anyone who says X" situation by any means, but applicants do dig a whole with a "flaw" that's just sucking up - my biggest flaw is how hard I work.

Everyone has flaws, so pick one that's negative but not a deal-breaker and give a concrete example of what you've done to improve in that area so it's a flaw, yeah, but not an actual problem for your employer or co-workers.

I always thought it was to show I was earnest.  Besides, I hate it when interviewers ask stupid questions (the kind where you get the feeling they're toying with you and not asking relevant questions about your abilities).    

Meanwhile, I'm really getting fed up with these stupid video rules!  It's one thing to censor video for bad language, blood, bodies and body parts (AM news still has to be chipper!) but it's getting harder to edit when you can't use file video just because people aren't masked up!  Even if the video comes from FOX or CNN, I have to remind the producer we can't use it!  At best sometimes I just use exteriors of the building or sign but then I end up recycling the video several times and then management (who never edited a thing in his life!) gets on my back for that!  You can't have it both ways!  One or the other has to give unless you shoot it yourself!  When we're discussing school, we have recycled the video so darn much, it's infuriating!  Then the producers have to stack a show with SEVERAL stories that end up requiring the same video!  

On the plus side, I got a kudo for a suggestion on one story;  This place is offering pumpkin spiced turkey this month, and the producer decided to add it to today's show.  It won't be offered nationwide, but the script didn't mention if it would be available locally.  I took the time to look it up and turns out it won't be, and suggested to alter the script to mention it won't be available at our local stores but if you really wanted to try it, try driving to Texas.  He thought it was brilliant!  

I think ahead - because I just know that we'd probably get a ton of calls asking where they could find it!

Almost forgot:  Good luck @MargeGunderson!

 

Edited October 2, 2020 by magicdog

[MargeGunderson]

Pending some details, it looks like I have a new job! One of the possible complications was that I wanted to start in early January but they wanted me to start sooner. However the person who will be my manger called me to tell me it would be fine if I started in January, and he understood why I needed the extra time (I’m on sabbatical this month, plus if I’m employed by my current company through the end of this year I will still get my bonus.). I think we will dicker a bit about salary (my ask was on the high side, but not unreasonable, per the HR recruiter)  but benefits look good and the initial equity offering (ie stock) is crazy high (vests at 25% a year, full vest at 4 years). There will also be travel (at some point) to CA and China! 

Edited October 6, 2020 by MargeGunderson

[magicdog]

I was feeling worried this week.  We received an email that a “suspicious character “ was hanging in the station parking lot and if we felt unsafe, to call for an escort inside.  I’d been scouting the property from my car upon arrival and so far nothing.

i ran into my supervisor who reiterated the warning.  I asked if there was a specific description of the person (age, color, etc.) but he couldn’t tell me.  I ran into the unarmed overnight security guard who told me the suspect was a little old man, Asian, who had brought a chair and sat outside the security fence during the afternoon.  He seemed confused and didn’t appear to want to cause anyone trouble.  I think police were called just to help him get home.

Thankfully, no one else has been seen on property that didn’t belong there (except Bitcheroo maybe!  Ha ha!).

As if we don’t have enough to be worried about!

[theredhead77]

On 10/6/2020 at 4:41 PM, MargeGunderson said:

Pending some details, it looks like I have a new job! One of the possible complications was that I wanted to start in early January but they wanted me to start sooner. However the person who will be my manger called me to tell me it would be fine if I started in January, and he understood why I needed the extra time (I’m on sabbatical this month, plus if I’m employed by my current company through the end of this year I will still get my bonus.). I think we will dicker a bit about salary (my ask was on the high side, but not unreasonable, per the HR recruiter)  but benefits look good and the initial equity offering (ie stock) is crazy high (vests at 25% a year, full vest at 4 years). There will also be travel (at some point) to CA and China! 

Yahoo!!!!

@magicdog not at work but our HOA community manager sent out a similar vague email about suspicious people in our community. No details, no nothing. I get not giving a description of someone to prevent profiling or vigilantism but when I emailed her for more info she said it was people crawling under the gate or hanging out at the gate waiting for someone to drive in. Uh, yea. That's suspicious. Why not say that?

Edited October 9, 2020 by theredhead77

[SuprSuprElevated]

2 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

Yahoo!!!!

@magicdog not at work but our HOA community manager sent out a similar vague email about suspicious people in our community. No details, no nothing. I get not giving a description of someone to prevent profiling or vigilantism but when I emailed her for more info she said it was people crawling under the gate or hanging out at the gate waiting for someone to drive in. Uh, yea. That's suspicious. Why not say that?

Bigger question - In 2020, with the prevalence of both security cameras and cell phones welded to folks' hands, how is it that there isn't footage or stills of these suspicious folks?

[magicdog]

2 hours ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

Bigger question - In 2020, with the prevalence of both security cameras and cell phones welded to folks' hands, how is it that there isn't footage or stills of these suspicious folks?

Good question!  Especially since I work at a TV station with photogs available at the ready!  There are cameras and a security gate which open with a card key.

I work for idiots!

[bilgistic]

6 hours ago, magicdog said:

I work for idiots!

Don't we all, my friend. Don't we all.

[MargeGunderson]

I got the verbal offer today, and I accepted! To my surprise, they agreed to the salary I requested, which was actually more than I thought I would get. I don’t start until Jan. 4. I will not be telling my manager until I return from sabbatical. 
 

Thanks for letting me talk about it here. I can’t tell many people in “real life” and my husband has been listening to me go on about it for the last month.

[AgentRXS]

Congrats @MargeGunderson!🥳

[theredhead77]

6 minutes ago, MargeGunderson said:

I got the verbal offer today, and I accepted! To my surprise, they agreed to the salary I requested, which was actually more than I thought I would get. I don’t start until Jan. 4. I will not be telling my manager until I return from sabbatical. 
 

Thanks for letting me talk about it here. I can’t tell many people in “real life” and my husband has been listening to me go on about it for the last month.

Wonderful news!!! Congratulations and enjoy your sabbatical!

[emma675]

Congratulations!! Enjoy your sabbatical, I'm super jealous. 

[Quof]

Congrats, @MARGEGUNDERSON!

Since this seems to be the time to share good news...... 

On 9/29/2020 at 4:23 PM, Quof said:

Monday I have an interview.  For the job I held for almost a decade before moving to my last company

I start on the 26th.

Edited October 9, 2020 by Quof

[Annber03]

Congrats to both of you, @MargeGunderson and @Quof :)! 

[MargeGunderson]

@Quof, that’s awesome!

[Quof]

Thanks!  I had great plans to accomplish things while unemployed - exercise every day, read for pleasure and professional growth, lots of household projects.....  I did bubkis.  Now that I have 2 more weeks, secure in the knowledge that I have work lined up, I may accomplish something. Or I may just sleep in everyday.    

[Browncoat]

Congrats @MargeGunderson and @Quof!

[theredhead77]

Congratulations! So nice to have some good news this year!

[MargeGunderson]

27 minutes ago, Quof said:

Thanks!  I had great plans to accomplish things while unemployed - exercise every day, read for pleasure and professional growth, lots of household projects.....  I did bubkis.  Now that I have 2 more weeks, secure in the knowledge that I have work lined up, I may accomplish something. Or I may just sleep in everyday.    

My vote is for sleep. It’s always for sleep.

[AgentRXS]

Congrats @Quof!  I say enjoy your much needed rest. You deserve it!

[magicdog]

Big congrats @MargeGunderson and @Quof!!

[supposebly]

16 hours ago, MargeGunderson said:

I got the verbal offer today, and I accepted! To my surprise, they agreed to the salary I requested, which was actually more than I thought I would get. I don’t start until Jan. 4. I will not be telling my manager until I return from sabbatical. 
 

Congratulations! That was a LOT of interviews!

[magicdog]

Who should stop into the office to surprise me but the HR director (aka, "Big Mouth" in honor of the squealing she does to  management)!

She sees me in the hallway on the way back from the bathroom and proceeded to tell me I should have my visor lower because my mouth was "exposed".  Then she proceeded to tell me how dangerous the virus is and how so many of her friends were hospitalized for it.

Not to be disrespectful to those of you with loved ones who got sick, but i had trouble believing her story.  It reminded me of that kid who is so dire of convincing you of something that they exaggerate details to ridiculous levels.

To wit:

Her: You shouldn't fool around with viruses!  Just in the last 3 months I had 6 friends/family members hospitalized for it!

Me: Really?

Her: Not only that but one was so sick, he's just relearning how to walk and talk again!  Then there's the family back east, they got it so much worse you know!!  They're buried in a mass grave!

Me: [inner monologue] I have a hunch you're lying to me and wouldn't believe anything you say unless you're hooked up to a lie detector and pass it to my satisfaction.

Me: [actual dialogue] Oh, sorry to hear that.

Her: Put down your visor!  Your mouth is exposed!  

Me: [inner monologue]:  I don't see a white coat on your shoulders.  Before March of this year, you didn't give a damn when I was legitimately ill one time all year and gave me grief for being out of work for 5 days!  You also didn't give a damn whenever half the staff routinely caught something that was "going around" and sidelined most of the office long before covid became a thing.     The only reason I'm lowering the visor in your presence is because you're looking for something to snitch to Bitcheroo about if I ignore you.  Lowering my visor changes nothing especially since you have me filling a check-in form every damn morning confirming that I'm not sick or have been near anyone who is!

 

I also noticed some new MMJs (Multi Media Journalists) were hired along with a new EP (Executive Producer).  Let's see how long they last before you know who drives them off for thinking.

 

[bilgistic]

My current assignment with the investment firm is ending "in December". The company won't give my co-contractor and I a firm date or even ballpark time of the month—the 1st is a lot different from the 31st! There's "not enough work" to keep us on, but they have their employees routinely working overtime.

It's just poor management—they won't delegate work and/or let us do work that we are capable of doing but they will not relinquish because of weird "ownership" issues, as if we haven't signed an NDA.

They are paying a third-party word processing service to do their quarterly reports when I could have built them from scratch—with far fewer, if any, errors. I've seen reports this screwed up before because plenty of people don't know the capabilities of Word or how to use it...but these reports are about the worst I've ever seen. We were literally hired to do the reports as part of our duties and after the clusterfuck last quarter when the staff accountants would barely let us do the work and kept screwing up our efforts, they went back to the third-party service for third quarter. It's just a mess.

So both my "partner"/co-contractor and I are looking for other jobs since we don't know when this is ending and our work is slow most days. I finally had a response from an agency and interviewed today (virtually) for another remote contract position. It's only a guaranteed three months, which is a huge bummer, but is in ecommerce/marketing for a shoe company, which is kind of exciting. It would be a new field and experience for me, but using my technical skills and aptitude. The interviewer emailed me some additional questions this evening, so I'm still in the running. I would really love for it to work out and have it extend indefinitely.

I've loved working at home, despite this current company being a dumpster fire. My partner is amazing and has become a good friend. We work so well together and wish we could go somewhere else as a team.

Since everyone who posts here gets the job they're after, I had to post so I will get mine! I am seriously stressed out about not having a job "sometime in December", so y'all please send me luck that this job will come through and keep going indefinitely!

[supposebly]

Sending you all my best wishes, crossing fingers, and because I'm also German, we are squeezing our thumbs for good luck!

[SuprSuprElevated]

9 hours ago, bilgistic said:

My current assignment with the investment firm is ending "in December". The company won't give my co-contractor and I a firm date or even ballpark time of the month—the 1st is a lot different from the 31st! There's "not enough work" to keep us on, but they have their employees routinely working overtime.

It's just poor management—they won't delegate work and/or let us do work that we are capable of doing but they will not relinquish because of weird "ownership" issues, as if we haven't signed an NDA.

They are paying a third-party word processing service to do their quarterly reports when I could have built them from scratch—with far fewer, if any, errors. I've seen reports this screwed up before because plenty of people don't know the capabilities of Word or how to use it...but these reports are about the worst I've ever seen. We were literally hired to do the reports as part of our duties and after the clusterfuck last quarter when the staff accountants would barely let us do the work and kept screwing up our efforts, they went back to the third-party service for third quarter. It's just a mess.

So both my "partner"/co-contractor and I are looking for other jobs since we don't know when this is ending and our work is slow most days. I finally had a response from an agency and interviewed today (virtually) for another remote contract position. It's only a guaranteed three months, which is a huge bummer, but is in ecommerce/marketing for a shoe company, which is kind of exciting. It would be a new field and experience for me, but using my technical skills and aptitude. The interviewer emailed me some additional questions this evening, so I'm still in the running. I would really love for it to work out and have it extend indefinitely.

I've loved working at home, despite this current company being a dumpster fire. My partner is amazing and has become a good friend. We work so well together and wish we could go somewhere else as a team.

Since everyone who posts here gets the job they're after, I had to post so I will get mine! I am seriously stressed out about not having a job "sometime in December", so y'all please send me luck that this job will come through and keep going indefinitely!

Best wishes to you toward that end.  I'm sending my mojo your way~

[bilgistic]

I didn't get the job, and I had to email the recruiter today to find that out. She didn't bother to let me know about it. Recruiters are really doing the absolute least, and it makes zero sense to me. Recruiters get paid when they put people in jobs, right?? I can't imagine treating people who need work—in the middle of a pandemic, no less—with such disregard, but ain't that the good ol' American late-stage capitalistic way. Both my coworker and I are having the same experience. It's so depressing and dehumanizing.

And yet I talked to another recruiter today (referral from my coworker). This recruiter works at one of the firms I went to in March...and never heard from again. Ridiculous.

[SuprSuprElevated]

2 hours ago, bilgistic said:

I didn't get the job, and I had to email the recruiter today to find that out. She didn't bother to let me know about it. Recruiters are really doing the absolute least, and it makes zero sense to me. Recruiters get paid when they put people in jobs, right?? I can't imagine treating people who need work—in the middle of a pandemic, no less—with such disregard, but ain't that the good ol' American late-stage capitalistic way. Both my coworker and I are having the same experience. It's so depressing and dehumanizing.

And yet I talked to another recruiter today (referral from my coworker). This recruiter works at one of the firms I went to in March...and never heard from again. Ridiculous.

Sorry about the job.  I have limited experience with recruiters, but what I do have isn't positive.  Like you, no follow up, not feedback on interviews (they obvs don't want us contact the employer directly, so we have to rely on them).  It is indeed frustrating.  Hope it goes up from here for you.

[supposebly]

3 hours ago, bilgistic said:

I didn't get the job, and I had to email the recruiter today to find that out. She didn't bother to let me know about it.

I'm sorry. You deserve to find a good job!

[isalicat]

17 hours ago, supposebly said:

I didn't get the job, and I had to email the recruiter today to find that out. She didn't bother to let me know about it.

Sorry that you had that experience - one of the main reasons I retired early last year from being a technical recruiter for 40 years is that my profession was rife with idjuts and people who were basically in it for a "fast buck" (or so they thought), and who could not take the time to display common human decency towards their candidates (the people looking for a new position). Although it is never fun to communicate bad news, I always let my candidates know if they did not get the job as blowing them off (besides being rude) would also guarantee that they would not want to work with you again and would tell their colleagues, etc., not to work with you....and that is not a recipe for longevity as a technical recruiter (to be clear, I was an independent person working entirely on commission, not an in-house wage slave evah). Unfortunately with the rise of social media more and more large companies are hiring people straight out of college, paying them minimal salaries by professional standards, and giving them far too many jobs to fill as rapidly as possible, about which they rarely know anything other than looking for "buzz words" on people's resumes or LinkedIn entries. Most of the hiring managers I worked with (admittedly almost entirely in STEM disciplines) hated everyone and anything associated with HR, so that kept me in business for a long time as the managers would just go around their in-house recruiters, find a candidate through me and then go to bat with the company to pay my fees....

In any case, I wish you good luck in finding a new position ASAP bilgistic! Be as proactive as possible in terms of reaching out to former co-workers and letting them know you are looking!

[GHScorpiosRule]

I feel your pain @bilgistic. I really don't know what's happened to this industry. This sort of unprofessionalism, indifference and a clear demonstration of how these recruiters really don't give a good  goddamn unless they're trying to poach you from wherever you are, has been going around for at least four years or so.

I think I lucked out with the two recruiters I had who kept me consistently working on temp jobs, while fighting aggressively on my behalf to get me a full time job for 10 years. But they've both left the field, and you all know what I went through to get to my present job.

It's all about quotas these days. And what peeves me to this day is, that the same people who didn't have the time of day for me when I was looking for work, any work, that would lead to something full-time, are now emailing ME, saying they have this "AMAZING CAREER OPPORTUNITY!" show up on their desk and thought of me. Yeah, right. Because I'm now fully employed and have stability, at a well known firm that I got on my own, you want to yank me? In the words of Cher from Clueless: AS IF!

I wish I had better words of encouragement. I'll just continue to send you virtual good juju vibes and fingers crossed that something good and permanent comes your way.

[Guest]

Just shut down the work computer.  Fifteen hour day today.

I hate the end of the year.  Everyone is doing a bunch of extra crap to have it out of the way before the Holidays.

I have so much to do before Friday that I don't think an 80 hr work week would get it all done and that's just the stuff that I deem important and ignoring the stuff that is other people's priorities and the stuff that hasn't happened yet.

It shouldn't be this way.  You shouldn't have to kill yourself to take a week off, especially when 40% of it is a Holiday. And its not really time off if you have to work double before and after or during it to try to keep from drowning.

I don't do this a lot because I know from experience that no matter what you do you'll never catch up.  But I have a bad mix of real deadlines and things that can't slide this time.

[blueray]

I just experienced an online interview for the first time. I'm looking to transfer to a different position in a different department of the same company. I of course signed in 10 minutes early only to watch as the clock pasts the time of the interview. I checked again to make sure everything was working on my end but I shortly determined it is. I then figured I'd give them 10 minutes to figure it out and if not call them. But they did come on toward the end of that timeframe. Hopefully that wasn't to long to wait that it looked bad, I just didn't want to appear annoying or something. Then they asked me the usual questions but it felt kind of in-personal due to it being over zoom.  And I know I struggled to answer one question and kind of talked in circles without actually saying anything lol. But other ones I think I did answer pretty good actually. Then they short of ended abruptly after about 15 minutes and didn't give me time to ask any questions (which I was prepared for as I thought of some while I was waiting for them to join). But it kind left me feeling cold. Has anyone else experienced this or have tips in case I have to do it again? I really hope things go back to normal soon so I can at least return to my current job (which I do like but is closed due to Covid).