A Case Of The Mondays: Vent Your Work Spleen Here

[theredhead77]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

Although, while I don't remember who it is, but I believe there's someone here on this forum who was actually told their thank-you note is what pushed them into the number one slot.

That might have been me. After I was hired at my previous company (2015) my new boss told me that his boss (area President) was so impressed that I wrote a handwritten note and mailed it in a timely manner that it tipped the scales in my favor when deciding between me and another equally qualified candidate. Both my boss and his boss kept the notes, too. I recognized the cards in a stack on their respective desks a few months after I started.

Pre-COVID, I sent handwritten notes to every person I interviewed with in person (but this was before remote/hybrid/virtual interviews). In this round of interviews, I did the same thing, but via email, and in the rare circumstances I didn't have a contact email (or received a bounce-back for whatever reason) I sent the recruiter a note and asked them to pass it forward.

3 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I remember asking for advice from the people here, and @theredhead77 was especially helpful.

Awww. Thank you :) 

[Cloud9Shopper]

I don’t know if I agree with the following up thing either. Yeah I have had mixed results with it but it has gotten me an updated timeline or an explanation of a delay I may not have gotten otherwise. 

I only use interview follow-ups for jobs that are top choices for me, though. I don’t send them after a phone screen, or after an application, or an interview that left me feeling lukewarm or worse about the employer.

There is a lot of bad job search advice out there so I try to be careful about what I listen to, albeit it’s not always easy. Before I killed my Reddit, I saw so many people say that the employer doesn’t want you if you don’t get an offer within 1-2 days after your final interview. Yeah, that’s not at all realistic or correct in a lot of professional jobs. I can’t remember the last time I had an offer within 24-48 hours. In two of my past jobs, one of the offers did come within three days, but I waited almost three weeks at another employer to get the offer. 

Now I am going to bed and sweating because I didn’t send thank you notes after my last interview. 😬

[SuprSuprElevated]

7 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

or an interview that left me feeling lukewarm or worse about the employer.

Bear in mind that the interviewer/hiring manager may not always work for the firm you were lukwarm about. One day, that same person may be the decider for a job you really want. 😉

[Cloud9Shopper]

I mean, it’s not as if I wrote to the hiring manager of the job I wasn’t crazy about to bash their offer or tell them I’d never want to work there, or that they/the company suck. I turned it down politely, and if they move to a company in the future where I end up applying and were that offended I turned down an offer from them in the past, I’d think that was a them problem and not an issue with me. 

I’m not seeing what I did wrong here by declining that offer or not feeling a good match with their present employer and why it should hurt my future if I run into them again. 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Cloud9Shopper

[emma675]

I mean, why wouldn't you write a thank note after interviewing for a job you want? It doesn't take much time at all (especially if you've done the prep work for the interview), it could potentially set you apart from other candidates, and at the very least, even if the person just deletes or tosses it away quickly, you've left a good impression of yourself going forward. I don't really agree with that Huff Post article that they can't make a big difference. 

Edited August 30, 2023 by emma675

[Cloud9Shopper]

At the end of the day there are very few universal truths or rules in job hunting, IMO. I got moved to the second round of interviews with this job quickly, as in, I was told they would get back to me next week and then they reached out to me two hours later to get my availability for the second round. I had not sent a thank you note in those two hours, so clearly they weren’t that bothered or weren’t considering that in their decision. I also didn’t get a chance to send a thank you after the second round but was still invited to meet the team for the final round. 

Everything is too dependent by industry and even by specific employer these days to say “if you don’t do this thing every employer ever will take you out of the running” unless it’s something blatantly unprofessional. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

Well. I’m putting my side of the debate to bed for now, since the hiring manager for the job is on vacation and I got an auto-reply to my follow up. 

I’ll try again in a week or two if she doesn’t respond to me first. 

[Bookish Jen]

1 hour ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Well. I’m putting my side of the debate to bed for now, since the hiring manager for the job is on vacation and I got an auto-reply to my follow up. 

I’ll try again in a week or two if she doesn’t respond to me first. 

Sending you positive vibes.

[theredhead77]

I meant to share this last night - this is the general format of TY note I sent. I did not create it and modify it depending on who I am writing to (phone screener, recruiter, hiring manager, coworker, director, etc...) but I wasn't kidding when I said I sent one to everyone I met with.

Dear [name],
Thank you for taking the time to speak with me about the [position] at [company]. I enjoyed learning more about [something they shared about the role] and [something they shared about the company] and [something about their background, if applicable].

I believe my experience in [applicable experience] sets me up to help [company] achieve its business goals.

[Company] support of [something that aligns with your personal values - usually found on their D&I page] aligns with what I am looking for in my next company.

Thank you again for your time. I look forward to hearing from you (or the recruiter) and taking the next steps in the interview process with [company].
Sincerely,

TRH

Edited August 31, 2023 by theredhead77

[Bookish Jen]

Okay, it's been over a week, and I have yet to hear back from the temp agency. I know I didn't get the temp job, but I still wish somebody would have called me to confirm. I'm probably going to call the agency next week after the Labor Day holiday, and talk to my usual recruiter. I can usually rely on him.

[BlueSkies]

Someone at work asked me if I did something in a meeting today which I know I didn’t.  I still said yes anyway.  I mean I would look pretty dumb saying no, I don’t know, or I’ve been busy.  
 

I figure it’s not ultimately that a big deal and if confronted I would just reiterate I’m sorry I thought I did kind of thing 

[theredhead77]

1 hour ago, Bookish Jen said:

Okay, it's been over a week, and I have yet to hear back from the temp agency. I know I didn't get the temp job, but I still wish somebody would have called me to confirm. I'm probably going to call the agency next week after the Labor Day holiday, and talk to my usual recruiter. I can usually rely on him.

It's always frustrating when you don't get feedback. I hope you hear from your usual recruiter next week!

[BlueSkies]

Ironically this is more a case of the Fridays than Mondays:

 

Today went well up until the end.  I saw a co worker then we started talking about baseball a little.  idk why perhaps because I'm not much a small talker the whole conversation left me feeling a little sour.

 

Then as I'm leaving today a manager sees me doing something I'm not supposed to technically be doing but everyone does mostly anyway.  So she singles me out and confronts me on it.  It caught me like way off guard and I didnt have an answer.  Sigh.  The irony is I am one of the few people who tries to follow this rule.

 

My feeling is though this manager was trying to project on me.  But yeah I drove home with a sour taste in my mouth 

Edited September 2, 2023 by BlueSkies

[BlueSkies]

Someone else I know called somebody their minion at work.

 

That felt like kinda an insult? 

[isalicat]

21 hours ago, BlueSkies said:

Someone else I know called somebody their minion at work.

 

That felt like kinda an insult? 

Depends how it was said, to whom, and who was present for the conversation, right? It could be said affectionately, jokingly, disparagingly, etc. etc. Its rarely just the word, its the context, right? In my opinion, we all need to be a little less sensitive and give people the benefit of the doubt whenever possible.

[BlueSkies]

13 minutes ago, isalicat said:

Depends how it was said, to whom, and who was present for the conversation, right? It could be said affectionately, jokingly, disparagingly, etc. etc. Its rarely just the word, its the context, right? In my opinion, we all need to be a little less sensitive and give people the benefit of the doubt whenever possible.

I get what you’re saying but my first instinct was this 🙄.

 

I myself wouldn’t enjoy somebody thinking of me as their minion or being described like that.

 

Guess I’m not a fan of the word 

[theredhead77]

37 minutes ago, isalicat said:

Depends how it was said, to whom, and who was present for the conversation, right? It could be said affectionately, jokingly, disparagingly, etc. etc. Its rarely just the word, its the context, right? In my opinion, we all need to be a little less sensitive and give people the benefit of the doubt whenever possible.

This was me and my coworkers at my past job.

[Cloud9Shopper]

Me when I’m waiting to hear back from the job I really want and fighting the temptation not to check my email every 15 minutes (and yes I am staying busy by applying for other roles, looking for programs to go back to school and improve my skills):

[Bookish Jen]

12 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Me when I’m waiting to hear back from the job I really want and fighting the temptation not to check my email every 15 minutes (and yes I am staying busy by applying for other roles, looking for programs to go back to school and improve my skills):

Im rooting for you.

[Cloud9Shopper]

I am very frustrated and not seeking advice at this moment. I did not get the job and all I want to do is vent.

I am angry because two of my references were called and I was told the conversations went well. One reference had a full voice mail and he did not respond when I alerted him to it, so I did provide a backup phone number for him and an alternative reference if needed. At this point, I don’t think this is a matter of the wrong clothes, asking bad questions of my interviewers, or otherwise being blatantly rude and unprofessional to them. Otherwise why ask for my references? If they weren’t sure of hiring me, maybe hold off until all interviews are done? 

Also, for the record, in past job hunts when I got offers contingent on a reference check, I never lost an offer as a result of the check. In fact, sometimes the HR rep or reference checker would say something like oh I talked to Mary or Jane and they loved you; they had such nice things to say! So to all of a sudden not be getting offers after my references are checked (and there were no red flags in the conversation) is really concerning. When it happened the first time I thought it was an anomaly and they actually checked references for all the finalists, and I possibly had a less strong reference on the list. So I removed that person for this job.  

The only thing I can think of is that either they went backdoor and called someone not on my reference list (it turns out someone in the department knew people at a job I was fired from four years back for not meeting a PIP) or maybe a last-minute internal candidate or someone with more connections emerged. Or I did something wrong in the final team interview that turned them off. Or sadly, someone who is agreeing to be my reference is not proving reliable when I need them to be and costing me an offer. 

I’m so tired of being led on and losing out in such late stages. 

[Cloud9Shopper]

I ended up talking to one of my references last night, as she has been in recruiting/talent acquisition for a large part of her career, and I sent her my resume and we talked about what might be going wrong on my job hunt. She said when the hiring manager called she gave me a positive reference but that the hiring manager said the VP of the department was concerned about some of the moves on my resume and my job history and they were trying to sell him on me, but at the end of the day, he was too stuck on my history and I guess they couldn’t convince him. So at least the problem wasn’t with the two references they called. (I am not going to use my third reference again and will find someone else for my list, as his voice mail was full when they tried to call him and he did not bother to reply to me when I let him know. He’s a nice person and we get along, but maybe not reliable enough to be a reference.) 

As far as my job history, my old boss made it clear what happened when we worked together was not my fault, as I was not laid off for performance reasons. One other job on my resume was seasonal and indicated as such (it was with a sports team, so seasonal hiring is common with teams). The other job I had been at for close to two years, and I also had one three-year stay. I’ve only been at my current job for six months but told my reference I am seeking to leave because of it being a call center role and not something I want to do long-term (not to mention I fear that I will get pigeonholed into customer service roles and never be able to escape). She said that’s understandable and didn’t seem to think I needed to do a whole lot different with my search or my interviews. She just said the market is really competitive and she knows people who aren’t even getting interviews, etc.

I honestly can’t believe the hiring manager called my references if they thought the job history was such a problem though. The VP, for the record, is the only interviewer I’ve had to date who wanted to know my work history prior to 2016, which is as far as my resume goes back since I graduated in 2008 and struggled for a while to get a professional job. I guess maybe he is just more…traditional? It’s not as if I have been fired for getting violent with coworkers or stealing corporate money or something outrageous. One job I was fired from for not meeting a PIP but that was four years ago…

And I’m so sick of being told “comparison is the thief of joy.” Of course I am going to compare myself to others when lots of people are still getting hired and they are getting into dream organizations, getting pay increases and are told how much they’re valued. I think comparing yourself and trying to figure out what others are doing right so you can be like that too is normal. Why is it bad to stack myself up against other people who have careers and great jobs and salaries and try to emulate them? I don’t see why it’s hand waved away as just me needing to be happier? I mean sorry but I’m sure no one else is getting their references called and still not being offered the job even though the references say great things. And I wish my mom wouldn’t try to insist that I shouldn’t job search. Right. So the alternative is to not job hunt, do nothing to improve myself, and the next thing I know, three years have gone by and I’m still working in a call center and no other type of job will hire me. Not an option. 

Edited September 6, 2023 by Cloud9Shopper

[isalicat]

9 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I mean sorry but I’m sure no one else is getting their references called and still not being offered the job even though the references say great things

Just to assure you that this is not true, and never has been from my perspective of spending 38 years in the employment world. As a technical recruiter, I had lots of first rate candidates who went through several rounds of interviews, had their (excellent) references called and did not get a job offer. It probably won't make you feel any better but its not just you.

As I think I may have posted previously, getting rid of someone that has been hired and on-boarded and doesn't work out is more difficult in our litigious society than not hiring them to begin with. So any "red flags", like a job history that shows a lot of jumping around from the get-go, is often used as a reason to proceed with another candidate, particularly in the executive suite where they are extremely risk adverse.

If I may be direct with you, if I received a resume that indicated someone got their degree in 2008 but their work history did not start until 2016 (and the resume did not account for those eight years), I would be immediately suspicious of what else is missing and probably never interview the person to begin with.

[GHScorpiosRule]

12 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I mean sorry but I’m sure no one else is getting their references called and still not being offered the job even though the references say great things.

 

2 hours ago, isalicat said:

Just to assure you that this is not true, and never has been from my perspective of spending 38 years in the employment world

I agree as it happened to me. I went through three rounds of interviews; got an offer; was on tenterhooks while my references were checked. And after I accepted, instead of an offer letter, the offer was rescinded. Why? Because one of my former job’s work experience couldn’t be confirmed as that firm “dumps” work after 10 years, and my time there was within that period.

To say I was upset is putting it very very mildly. I called my former firm to find out if there was ANY way to confirm to the potential new employer that I DID do the work and the outcome. There wasn’t.

Just bringing this up to let you know, that it does happen. I’m sorry this offer didn’t come through for you. It might not make you feel better, but I hope reading this won’t keep you down. 

Edited September 7, 2023 by GHScorpiosRule

[Cloud9Shopper]

I am still kind of upset, but to be honest, the job history thing threw me because out of all the interviews I’ve had the last year or two, I haven’t had any other interviewers question my missing job history from 2008 to when my resume started. We mostly talked about and focused on my recent and relevant experience. I would have never thought that a hiring manager would feel suspicious and concerned in 2023 that I didn’t include the five-month call center stint I had in 2008 or the six-month TV advertising sales admin gig I had in 2009. (Laid off from the first, let go from the other.) The woman who interviewed me for this job didn’t ask about the missing portion of my resume; she said the VP was going to ask but she specifically didn’t seem to care.

I do have a job that I was at for nearly five years from 2010-2015 but as I move further away from that tenure I don’t use it on my resume as much. 

Anyway, it is what it is. I got an email today for another interview and it’s scheduled for Friday. Maybe this one will work out…I keep getting so close but can’t seal the deal. At this point, it’s time to move on and focus on that. 

Edited September 7, 2023 by Cloud9Shopper

[theredhead77]

4 hours ago, isalicat said:

if I received a resume that indicated someone got their degree in 2008

I've always been told to leave the date of your degree, job experience older than 10 years (especially if it's irrelevant) and anything that can 'age' you off your resume. In your experience, is that good or bad advice?

[isalicat]

1 hour ago, theredhead77 said:

I've always been told to leave the date of your degree, job experience older than 10 years (especially if it's irrelevant) and anything that can 'age' you off your resume. In your experience, is that good or bad advice?

My experience is all in the technology sector, so I am not absolutely sure this applies across all kinds of employment, but if the date was not on the degree and the resume only went back 10 years, the general consensus was that the person submitting the resume was probably over 50 years old and was trying to conceal their age. The tech world is *very* agist, with lots of 30 something new managers who were frankly scared of managing people twenty or more years old than they, so yes, when a person over 50 got laid off or was actively looking for whatever reason, this sort of advice was given to them so they could "get their foot in the door" (get that first interview, anyways) before it became apparent that they were "old". So the whole thing backfired, because all the headhunters and HR people knew the applicants were being told by the outplacement agencies to leave their dates off, and assumed therefore that any resume coming through without the dates and work history from college graduation on was an older person looking for that "last job" before retirement. And even if it worked, and the over 50 person managed to get that first interview, that was generally their last interview...

There is no winning this one, unfortunately. So my advice to my candidates was to just be forthright and trust in their credentials and experience and network like crazy. Once LinkedIn and all those other sites started up, and the dumbest HR person learned to search online for info on a prospective interviewee, it became even more important to not dissimulate as a disconnect between your resume and what can be easily found out about you is the death knell for a successful job search.

[Bookish Jen]

I talked to one of my recruiters, and she told me about an assignment that will require some of my editing and proofing skills. It's a long-term assignment, and the pay is really good. My recruiter is trying to work out a time for me to interview this Monday. If I don't hear anything by the end of the day, I'm going to call her tomorrow, and hopefully she'll call back.

Edited September 7, 2023 by Bookish Jen

[oliviabenson]

6 hours ago, Bookish Jen said:

I talked to one of my recruiters, and she told me about an assignment that will require some of my editing and proofing skills. It's a long-term assignment, and the pay is really good. My recruiter is trying to work out a time for me to interview this Monday. If I don't hear anything by the end of the day, I'm going to call her tomorrow, and hopefully she'll call back.

Good luck 

[Cloud9Shopper]

I had another interview today and I’m not sure how it went. Once I got going it went fine but I ended up being four minutes late because Microsoft Teams would not let me sign in on the computer and I had to call in to the interview. I can assure I left time ahead of the interview to get on Teams and join but it would not work at all. I did apologize to my interviewer but I am not expecting a second interview after that hiccup. I know being late for an interview is a no-go/not acceptable. And the majority of the time I am on time (and my video meetings usually launch with little issue)! I know that doesn’t excuse the lateness today, but it sucks that this happened at the worst possible time. 

I feel like I just need a break from the hunt for a little bit. The pressure and the competition of the market as it is is starting to get to me. I tend to be very hard on myself and I know in this market you cannot afford any little mistake because hiring managers are so picky. I am sure my competition will include candidates who were not late and did not have tech issues. And since the only offer I did get would have required a pay cut and signing up for a longish commute, maybe I should just take more time to make myself a more desirable candidate. (I’m not opposed to in-person work but the way gas prices are I couldn’t take a job that paid less and would increase my gas budget; that’s absurd.) 

[theredhead77]

People who don't look at schedules and book meetings when required people are blocked out. I'm a huge fan of "tentative" and propose new time with "I'm actually blocked at the original time, everyone shows free, here" as the note.

At the very least, reach out to people if your meeting is urgent to let them know you have no choice but to book over other meetings.

[SuprSuprElevated]

On 9/7/2023 at 2:03 PM, Bookish Jen said:

I talked to one of my recruiters, and she told me about an assignment that will require some of my editing and proofing skills. It's a long-term assignment, and the pay is really good. My recruiter is trying to work out a time for me to interview this Monday. If I don't hear anything by the end of the day, I'm going to call her tomorrow, and hopefully she'll call back.

Good luck! 🤞

[Bookish Jen]

Well, it looks like I have a phone interview this upcoming Monday at 3:00pm.

[Browncoat]

1 hour ago, Bookish Jen said:

Well, it looks like I have a phone interview this upcoming Monday at 3:00pm.

Good luck!

[Moose135]

On 9/8/2023 at 3:56 PM, theredhead77 said:

People who don't look at schedules and book meetings when required people are blocked out.

I've complained when someone scheduled a meeting when I was already booked, and they said, "That was the only time everyone was free."  If you bothered to look at my calendar, you would have seen that wasn't the case. It probably was the time most convenient to them.

[Bookish Jen]

Okay, the phone interview went splendidly, and now they are trying to schedule a virtual interview with the whole team either later this week or early next week. 

ETA: I have virtual interview via Microsoft Teams with the department heads this Thursday. I got some feedback about my initial phone interview yesterday from my recruiter. The guy who interviewed appreciated my research on the company and what I learned, but I was told I was too quiet. Hmm, I'm not a rah, rah cheerleader type, and maybe due to it being Monday, dreary outside, and the 22nd anniversary of 9/11 I just wasn't as perky as I could be. Still, they seemed impressed, and hopefully I'll perk up by Thursday.

Edited September 12, 2023 by Bookish Jen

[Cloud9Shopper]

Unless the job is for a cheerleader ;) or something front facing, I hope you don’t have to worry about the “too quiet” part too much.

Anyway, I got a second interview with the employer I interviewed with on Friday. (That was the interview I had the tech issues and was all stressed about being a few minutes late.) I’m glad the person who did the first interview was able to look past the tech problems and move me forward in the process. And I guess in hindsight I panicked about nothing but given how competitive the market is, I still feel like I understood why I freaked out. Here’s hoping for a smoother tech experience in round two! 

[theredhead77]

8 hours ago, Bookish Jen said:

The guy who interviewed appreciated my research on the company and what I learned, but I was told I was too quiet. Hmm, I'm not a rah, rah cheerleader type, and maybe due to it being Monday, dreary outside, and the 22nd anniversary of 9/11 I just wasn't as perky as I could be.

Congratulations! "Too quiet" is so vague. It could be anything from the volume didn't come through on their end (if it was virtual) and you were literally too quiet, to not asking enough questions, to a culture fit (peppiness / talkativeness).  I'm sure you'll do great on your next one!



 

[SuprSuprElevated]

[SweetieDarling]

2 hours ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

My sister once worked at a place that had a few "I feel too good to come to work" days as well as sick days

[JTMacc99]

Kind of in the same ballpark as feeling too good to go to work, I'm finding that occasionally it's super helpful to work a remote-work day into my schedule.

Where I'm at, the office workers in most departments are set up to have 3 days in office and 2 days remote. Others have fewer remote days, and others are 1 week in, three weeks remote. My role is defined in the policy as "We expect JTMacc99 to be in the office every day." Not officially written but as enforced, my role and my peers are are totally okay to work from home when necessary. 

So I'll do remote when I have things like somebody coming to the house to do work, or if I have to run somebody to a doctor's appointment after school, or other reasons where I'll simply get more work done by being at home than I would in the office.

I'll also occasionally just decide that I'm going to work from home today just to give myself a break from commuting, and to bang out a bunch of independent work that is harder to accomplish in office.

It's amazing how much a single day working from home can recharge one's battery.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, SweetieDarling said:

My sister once worked at a place that had a few "I feel too good to come to work" days as well as sick days

That's cool.  I remember back during my first office job calling my boss from a pay phone (ask your parents, kids) to say the weather is perfect, I had a delicious lunch in the park, and I just cannot come back to the office.  She was totally fine with it.

[Bookish Jen]

I had my face to face virtual interview earlier today, and I think it went fairly well. I'll probably find out next week if I got the position next week at the earliest.

[BlueSkies]

On 9/12/2023 at 1:12 PM, Bookish Jen said:

Okay, the phone interview went splendidly, and now they are trying to schedule a virtual interview with the whole team either later this week or early next week. 

ETA: I have virtual interview via Microsoft Teams with the department heads this Thursday. I got some feedback about my initial phone interview yesterday from my recruiter. The guy who interviewed appreciated my research on the company and what I learned, but I was told I was too quiet. Hmm, I'm not a rah, rah cheerleader type, and maybe due to it being Monday, dreary outside, and the 22nd anniversary of 9/11 I just wasn't as perky as I could be. Still, they seemed impressed, and hopefully I'll perk up by Thursday.

Push comes to shove I have my limits as well and play the company game but I hate that you were told "you were too quiet".  Just seems a snarky comment imo.

 

At any rate good luck with the interview and their decision.  :) 

[BlueSkies]

All right so it’s been a pretty rough Monday.  My boss is getting on my last nerves today.  Enough so I want to start or pursue a job search again.  Years back I tried to job hunt.  Nothing came of it.  Then I went back to school to get my Associates in Accounting at night.  Even after getting the degree I still didn’t job search as it was during Covid and I was struggling with my own personal stuff if you will.

 

But I’m leaning toward this is the right time to job search again.  I come from the school of thought that you should never tell your boss if you are looking for another job.  My boss told me once she would hope I would be open about it if I was looking for another job.  She strikes me as someone who would take it very personally if I left.  While maybe that’s unfair I would still possibly need her as a reference so no to burn bridges.

 

Uggh the whole work situation has me feeling really down 

 

 

[Cloud9Shopper]

I am in the “don’t tell your boss your job searching” camp as well. Just too much playing with fire there.

Anyway I have a phone interview on Wednesday. The job sounds kind of borderline similar to my current one but appears to be more administrative/behind the scenes in nature. (Sorry for being vague, but I feel like my current job is kind of specific and I don’t want to say too much about my industry/customer base.) So I am going to ask exactly how much frontline customer contact is needed and see if I can go from there/am comfortable with what the recruiter says.   

[emma675]

4 hours ago, BlueSkies said:

I come from the school of thought that you should never tell your boss if you are looking for another job.  My boss told me once she would hope I would be open about it if I was looking for another job.  She strikes me as someone who would take it very personally if I left. 

Never ever tell your current boss/job you are searching for a new one. They would not hesitate to replace you if you weren't working out and you should treat then the same. Even at small businesses, your boss and coworkers are not your family (unless you work at your family's business, lol).

[Gramto6]

On 9/9/2023 at 9:24 AM, Bookish Jen said:

Well, it looks like I have a phone interview this upcoming Monday at 3:00pm.

I'll echo everyone else's "Good Luck!".

[BlueSkies]

1 hour ago, emma675 said:

Never ever tell your current boss/job you are searching for a new one. They would not hesitate to replace you if you weren't working out and you should treat then the same. Even at small businesses, your boss and coworkers are not your family (unless you work at your family's business, lol).

sometimes at work though in the fax I'll see employment verification for people who presently work at our place of employment.  

 

So that makes me wonder if companies can still check with your present employer on you.  

[Cloud9Shopper]

Random thought: does anyone else feel like they don’t have a career and just have jobs? 

I was thinking about this today, and maybe social media and talking to Internet strangers (where everyone is a high earner or a director of this or a VP of that department or a manager of this other thing) is skewing my perspective a little bit, but I feel like a failure in that I’ve never really had a straight career path. I thought I would finally get one in my old job, but then I got laid off and had to go back to a random job to pay the bills and I’m still looking for something more appropriate for my abilities and strengths. I’ve never gone from entry level job to mid level job to team lead (or whatever), etc. with big pay increases in every job. I mean I was making $13 an hour six years ago and now I’m at $25 but that’s still nothing compared to people getting huge increases every time they jump jobs.

I just feel like a minority when there are so many successful people in my family and among my friends who do have these careers, and I wonder if it’s even worth it at nearly age 40 to try. I am terrified of getting older at this point because so many career doors close to you and age discrimination starts. I have some other mental health problems associated with that, I’d imagine, but part of me wants to better myself and part of me wants to say “this is as good as it gets; enjoy getting interviews now before no one wants you in a few years.” 

[theredhead77]

10 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Random thought: does anyone else feel like they don’t have a career and just have jobs? 

I have a job. It happens to fall under the stereotypical "career" umbrella but to me it's a job and it's certainly not what I thought I'd be doing when I was in college.