Job thread

[Chimpy]

Have fun with that. I remember the hassle my old boss at the library here went through getting them up and running on Polaris when they split their catalog off from the system-wide one.

[Sky]

So I never got a follow-up on that job position. It also did not go to the #2 guy who could've swapped out his nameplate and started without (much) training. Went to a guy from downstate who was a branch director there but more recently worked less than a year at a library that hasn't been open the entire time he worked there (COVID+construction). Note the position is administrative, but it's a small shop, so it's a hard skills IT position first. So we're bracing for the period between now and the time they realize he doesn't have the hard skills to get things done, because it's going to suck for 43 libraries.

The best part, I didn't even get the announcement to system employees about the new hire. I've been asking them for 21 years to create an IT mailing list for the handful of us in the system (as well as their own internal IT staff). And yet none of us are on any email lists, so we never get system-level announcements. Had to ask a coworker to forward the announcement to me  But this is normal, the expected level of unprofessionalism (and another reason it would've been difficult for me there, I'm used to a high level of professionalism, institutionally we tend to punch far above our weight).

Now I wonder if I'll get a call when this dude inevitably washes out. My guess is he burns the #2 guy out, and the position becomes almost un-fillable by a serious candidate and we end up with years of clowns talking the talk but not walking the walk. Hopefully they kill that ILS merger project until at least one of the libraries has a competent IT director. My money is on the project being pushed through (historically speaking, this is the way).

[Samwise]

I've been a manager for (checks watch) three months now following a battlefield promotion in March, and so far more than anything it's given me a strong appreciation for how much easier my job was when I didn't have to think about as many things at once.  Curious if anyone else's tried out the manager track and then noped out to do something more relaxing.  I'm gonna give it at least three more months but I'm already daydreaming about going back to tech support (which is the last time that I remember being able to just stop thinking about work at the end of the day -- more than ten years ago now).

[Khaldun]

I got a good look at the upper ranks of administrative leadership, got a few headhunter calls at my point of greatest exposure to it, thought about it, applied for one position, rethought it the more I saw of what was actually involved in any senior leadership position. The one position I applied for I'm endlessly thankful for not getting past the second round, because the guy who got it was immediately embroiled in an unholy shitshow that led to lawsuits, etc. So I think I'm happy just settling back down into being a senior member of the rank-and-file.

I think the temptation, besides better pay, is just wanting to be "in the room where it happens"--you think to yourself, "surely I would know not to do X". But the more you can see what's inside that room, the more you see how limited the leeway the people who are ostensibly in charge of things actually have. Most workplaces are built to just keep going no matter what anybody involved does.

[Abagadro]

General Counsel, Master Control, Inc.

Wonder if I should apply.

[Hammond]

I've been a manager for (checks watch) three months now following a battlefield promotion in March, and so far more than anything it's given me a strong appreciation for how much easier my job was when I didn't have to think about as many things at once.  Curious if anyone else's tried out the manager track and then noped out to do something more relaxing.  I'm gonna give it at least three more months but I'm already daydreaming about going back to tech support (which is the last time that I remember being able to just stop thinking about work at the end of the day -- more than ten years ago now).

I was going down the manager track for a few years with a promotion into a manager over a small call center that covered tech support for a small telco. The actual work wasn't that bad I just got tired of the people working for me and the issues they would bring to me. When I moved companies and became a fulltime sysadmin again I was far happier and worked a lot less hours. I don't want to go back to being a manager again.

[Rasix]

Management here involves a level of deception and dishonesty that I'm not comfortable with. Also, I can't deal with peoples' issues. I listen to the crap my wife has to deal with in her managerial position and it makes me incredibly uncomfortable.

Sure, it's an easier way to get more money and get easier band increases, but no thanks.

Now, let me get back to banging my head against a mountain of shit that doesn't work and even if it did, doesn't have the required hardware to actually test it. WOOO HOO. OCP is fucking voodoo.

[HaemishM]

Management in most places is just a bullshit job, full of bullshit tasks that increasingly take competent people and force them to do shit that has nothing to do with their core competence. There are good managers. I wouldn't want the responsibility most of them have, because they have to deal with people and bullshit that are nowhere near as satisfying as doing the actual work they have to delegate.

[Rasix]

Is there some sort of rule that every network admin has to be a crusty, unlikeable twat? Yeesh.

[Trippy]

Yes.

[HaemishM]

Yes.

Now, let's not forget that most network admins have to deal with users barely able to turn their computer on, much less understand not to double click on that attachment which will literally destroy their multi-million dollar network while everyone below and above them on the org chart screams at them to fix it.

But yes.

[Rasix]

I want to punt this dude into outer space. What a miserable bastard. Worst thing is that I'm relaying messages between him and the lab guy in Raleigh. It's like passing messages inbetween two parents going through a divorce.

CAN'T YOU ASSHOLES JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER?

[Chimpy]

Is there some sort of rule that every network admin has to be a crusty, unlikeable twat? Yeesh.

This job would be great if it wasn't for the fucking customers.

[Rasix]

 

Anyhow, this dude basically failed into this position. He used to be a tester on my team , who famously said in a meeting, "I'm not going to be doing any coding or scripting" when we were discussing ways to configure replication setups while the product GUI wasn't ready for it. I though he was "resourced" way back when and a few years ago he pops back up in this position. His sister and brother both also work here in different areas.

[Khaldun]

I had a friend who got an academic position in a small five-person department where the first day she showed up there was a department meeting and she was informed that of the five people, one had decided in August to leave for another academic position, one had just been promoted to academic administration and was not really going to be involved in department business, and the two remaining people were a couple from a non-English speaking European nation who had been married when she interviewed for the position in the spring but had gotten divorced in late summer. They refused to speak to one another directly and would pass notes in fairly poor-quality written English to my friend that she was to read aloud any time either of them had an opinion about a departmental decision. Every once in a while they'd get pissed enough at each other that they'd start yelling and swearing at each other in their first language, which my friend did not speak, and then they'd go back to note passing. They also informed her--speaking to her--that neither one of them would be teaching anything but small tutorials for the coming year and that the department's entire introductory curriculum would be passed to her. This was allowed because they were co-PIs on a big research grant that the university really wanted to be renewed in three years because the overhead percentage was very generous.

That's a pretty good working description of hell--people who say "I don't do this or that or this" and yet seem to be completely protected AND who actually make you do extra work because they won't communicate or work with others.

[01101010]

I had a friend who got an academic position in a small five-person department where the first day she showed up there was a department meeting and she was informed that of the five people, one had decided in August to leave for another academic position, one had just been promoted to academic administration and was not really going to be involved in department business, and the two remaining people were a couple from a non-English speaking European nation who had been married when she interviewed for the position in the spring but had gotten divorced in late summer. They refused to speak to one another directly and would pass notes in fairly poor-quality written English to my friend that she was to read aloud any time either of them had an opinion about a departmental decision. Every once in a while they'd get pissed enough at each other that they'd start yelling and swearing at each other in their first language, which my friend did not speak, and then they'd go back to note passing. They also informed her--speaking to her--that neither one of them would be teaching anything but small tutorials for the coming year and that the department's entire introductory curriculum would be passed to her. This was allowed because they were co-PIs on a big research grant that the university really wanted to be renewed in three years because the overhead percentage was very generous.

That's a pretty good working description of hell--people who say "I don't do this or that or this" and yet seem to be completely protected AND who actually make you do extra work because they won't communicate or work with others.

I am very familiar with this. Part of why I discontinued even though I was ABD. Do not regret doing that either.

[Khaldun]

The great thing is that she's found a way to worm through the cracks to a much better situation. But yeah, fuck it. Businesses and government have some similar situations; one of the basic problems that we haven't solved as a species is building organizations at scale that can do big fucking things for lots of people that don't have this kind of fucking bullshit raining down on people who just want to do their jobs with some basic competence.

[lamaros]

I'm enjoying work right now; finished the MBA, more work responsibility, lots of exposure across interesting areas. I fear one day I'll wake up and decide I don't want to do this anymore and have a world that doesn't care or understand or value my experience and won't let me do anything other than what I've been doing in life so far - especially because of the whole family business thing. But I think jumping into something else now when I'm mostly enjoying what I'm doing, just to diversify my career experience for a hypothetical future where I want more options.. probably fairly stupid.

[Hawkbit]

I've gotten some really neat jobsites over the past year all across downtown Seattle. I'm currently working on the data cabling for a new Seattle Aquarium rehabilitation building. All metal has to be stainless steel or hot dipped galvanized, and all cabling and boxes have to be weatherproof due to the salt water environment in the air. Pretty neat blueprints; tanks for sharks, rays, corals, emergency tanks, etc.. The plumbers are fucking crazy on this site.

[01101010]

I've gotten some really neat jobsites over the past year all across downtown Seattle. I'm currently working on the data cabling for a new Seattle Aquarium rehabilitation building. All metal has to be stainless steel or hot dipped galvanized, and all cabling and boxes have to be weatherproof due to the salt water environment in the air. Pretty neat blueprints; tanks for sharks, rays, corals, emergency tanks, etc.. The plumbers are fucking crazy on this site.

I can only imagine. I went to a few behind the scenes tours of the Pittsburgh aquarium and I am always drawn to the piping and everything that has to go into that all while taking into consideration the damaging effects of salt water. Fascinating.

[Samwise]

I've been a manager for (checks watch) three months now following a battlefield promotion in March, and so far more than anything it's given me a strong appreciation for how much easier my job was when I didn't have to think about as many things at once.  Curious if anyone else's tried out the manager track and then noped out to do something more relaxing.  I'm gonna give it at least three more months but I'm already daydreaming about going back to tech support (which is the last time that I remember being able to just stop thinking about work at the end of the day -- more than ten years ago now).

Update: have spent a good chunk of this weekend thinking about how best to tell my boss that we need to start training up a new manager to take my place when I run screaming into the woods never to be seen again.     I think I have about a month left in me at this point.

[Teleku]

I hear dropbox has a vacancy!

[Samwise]

I might just take a sabbatical for uh

ever

[Velorath]

I've been a manager for (checks watch) three months now following a battlefield promotion in March, and so far more than anything it's given me a strong appreciation for how much easier my job was when I didn't have to think about as many things at once.  Curious if anyone else's tried out the manager track and then noped out to do something more relaxing.  I'm gonna give it at least three more months but I'm already daydreaming about going back to tech support (which is the last time that I remember being able to just stop thinking about work at the end of the day -- more than ten years ago now).

Update: have spent a good chunk of this weekend thinking about how best to tell my boss that we need to start training up a new manager to take my place when I run screaming into the woods never to be seen again.     I think I have about a month left in me at this point.

My work was very different than yours of course, but yeah being management sucks. Even just being one step under the guy in charge was infinitely more relaxing. Doing the movie theater thing, there was constant pressure to move up the chain. My path went from projectionist to assistant manager, to Senior Assistant, to Theater Manager, to General Manager at a small location, then to a bigger one, then to running two theaters at once, and finally to taking over that last one and having to reopen it (twice) after the lockdowns. Granted, this also occurred as the company hemorrhaged good staff/managers over the years because they didn't pay competitive wages for an expensive area to live in. They actually payed GM's surprisingly well but that kind of pay disparity meant that I was frequently one of the few people at each location actually motivated to work hard.

All that is to say that yeah, if you decide to say "fuck it" and go do something else instead, I get it. The work/life balance of management, and not being able to shut your mind off fully from the job when you aren't working generally isn't worth the extra money.

[Samwise]

The work/life balance of management, and not being able to shut your mind off fully from the job when you aren't working generally isn't worth the extra money.

There was supposed to be extra money?   

(There was, but it was in the form of a retention bonus if I made it six months, not a permanent salary increase.)

[Velorath]

In that case yeah, deploy the emergency slide, grab a couple beers, and slide out.

[Rendakor]

I have a second, virtual interview tonight for a pretty big career move. I'm not really qualified, and told them as much, but it doesn't seem like anything I couldn't handle with a bit of training. Pay is more than double what I make, but no paid benefits whatsoever. Still works out to a good chunk of extra money, and it will certainly look better on a resume than my current job. Even if having to buy my own health insurance sucks, I can ride it out for a year or two and use it to move somewhere else. The only other big downside is I'm going from a 7m commute to a 30-45m commute, which means I probably have to buy a new vehicle sooner rather than later.

[Khaldun]

Decisions would be a lot easier if we all had health care no matter what our jobs were...

[01101010]

Decisions would be a lot easier if we all had health care no matter what our jobs were...

Man I hope that is the next domino to start falling. Wage increases are a nice starting talking point - keep that momentum up

[schild]

Decisions would be a lot easier if we all had health care no matter what our jobs were...

health care is the thing

my life right now is ONLY a little complex because of healthcare, I've bent over backwards to absolutely take the system for a jaunt around the block and it's not fun

[schild]

I have a second, virtual interview tonight for a pretty big career move. I'm not really qualified, and told them as much, but it doesn't seem like anything I couldn't handle with a bit of training. Pay is more than double what I make, but no paid benefits whatsoever. Still works out to a good chunk of extra money, and it will certainly look better on a resume than my current job. Even if having to buy my own health insurance sucks, I can ride it out for a year or two and use it to move somewhere else. The only other big downside is I'm going from a 7m commute to a 30-45m commute, which means I probably have to buy a new vehicle sooner rather than later.

just saw this

don't do it, benefits are too good, obamacare is a nightmare

[Rendakor]

Well the specific thing I heard was that they offer healthcare, they just don't contribute to it. But also I'm at a dead end job and haven't gotten a raise since 2018 (and that was a $1/hour raise). This might get me out of the bottom 3 f13 members ranked by annual income!

Second interview went really well, and it sounded like it was already a done deal going into it assuming I didn't cock it up.

[slog]

Well the specific thing I heard was that they offer healthcare, they just don't contribute to it. But also I'm at a dead end job and haven't gotten a raise since 2018 (and that was a $1/hour raise). This might get me out of the bottom 3 f13 members ranked by annual income!

Second interview went really well, and it sounded like it was already a done deal going into it assuming I didn't cock it up.

If I follow correctly, the job offers health insurance and you have to pay 100% of the cost?  That's not the end of the world.  For a single person, I would expect to pay about $500 a month with a $5000 deductible.  It should also comes with an HSA.

[Cyrrex]

Samwise's situation has me considering some stuff as well.  I am getting head-hunted for a manager level position, but not really sure I want to deal with that mess.  I already make pretty good money in a fairly low-stress and super flexible job.  Also a good company, but there are some warning signs being triggered that have me thinking things are about to go to absolute shit in our department.  Mulling over just how much more money it would take to pull me out of this situation.

[Rendakor]

Well the specific thing I heard was that they offer healthcare, they just don't contribute to it. But also I'm at a dead end job and haven't gotten a raise since 2018 (and that was a $1/hour raise). This might get me out of the bottom 3 f13 members ranked by annual income!

Second interview went really well, and it sounded like it was already a done deal going into it assuming I didn't cock it up.

If I follow correctly, the job offers health insurance and you have to pay 100% of the cost?  That's not the end of the world.  For a single person, I would expect to pay about $500 a month with a $5000 deductible.  It should also comes with an HSA.

That is correct, and I'm hoping to get the exact details once I have a firm offer in hand. My wife covers herself and the kids, so yea I just need to worry about myself.