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Topic: Job thread (Read 1000251 times)
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HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42629
the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring
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I was certainly on-edge when the buyout was announced, not least because our former CEO couched it as a "merger or partnership" in the announcement party and only later when I spoke to the heads of the holding company did I get someone explicitly saying it was a buyout. I was mostly surprised because not 2 months ago, they'd given me a pretty decent raise, the first actual raise I'd been given in forever that wasn't just a COL adjustment or a "restore me back to the level I was when you cut my pay instead of laying me off" thing. So I thought these guys had earned a little trust, not least because they had been more transparent and forthcoming in the 10 months since they'd bought the company than my former CEO was in a fucking decade.
The severance is decent I guess, I'm not really in a place to judge that - the only other time I got laid off, I didn't get severance. I'm fighting with them now to change it so that they explicitly state on the severance package that they waived a non-compete I signed in 2009 - I'm probably being dickish just because I'm so pissed. The non-compete has a waiver clause in case I get laid off for economic reasons or restructuring of staff and they've said it explicitly applies to this case. I just want that in writing.
YAY FOR VULTURE CAPITALISM. Fucking holding companies in their earhole.
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Reg
Terracotta Army
Posts: 5271
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I'm not sure how things work in the States but up here I'd consult a lawyer before signing anything. My sister-in-law got a payout twice as big as any of her colleagues because her lawyer knew when she was being ripped off.
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Paelos
Contributor
Posts: 27075
Error 404: Title not found.
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I was certainly on-edge when the buyout was announced, not least because our former CEO couched it as a "merger or partnership" in the announcement party and only later when I spoke to the heads of the holding company did I get someone explicitly saying it was a buyout. I was mostly surprised because not 2 months ago, they'd given me a pretty decent raise, the first actual raise I'd been given in forever that wasn't just a COL adjustment or a "restore me back to the level I was when you cut my pay instead of laying me off" thing. So I thought these guys had earned a little trust, not least because they had been more transparent and forthcoming in the 10 months since they'd bought the company than my former CEO was in a fucking decade.
The severance is decent I guess, I'm not really in a place to judge that - the only other time I got laid off, I didn't get severance. I'm fighting with them now to change it so that they explicitly state on the severance package that they waived a non-compete I signed in 2009 - I'm probably being dickish just because I'm so pissed. The non-compete has a waiver clause in case I get laid off for economic reasons or restructuring of staff and they've said it explicitly applies to this case. I just want that in writing.
YAY FOR VULTURE CAPITALISM. Fucking holding companies in their earhole.
Sounds like a private equity style deal. The company bought yours for one of two reasons. One, they saw what you did as competition they wanted to eliminate through acquisition. Two, they saw your company as having unrealized value that could be unlocked by cutting overhead and turning it around for possible sale in the open market, or mined for the intellectual property rather than the staff, which they already had cheaper elsewhere. Sorry to hear about it, but I think you'll find that this market is very wide-open for decent labor. I would make sure you hear people out if you're getting several interviews because you're holding a lot of advantage right now. There's no reason to jump at the first thing if you have severance.
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CPA, CFO, Sports Fan, Game when I have the time
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Salamok
Terracotta Army
Posts: 2803
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So the guvment approved a contract extension for my team but somehow didn't have the budget to pay for it. Unless some 11th hour funding happens looks like we may all be cut in January, time to see how good my company is at placing me on another project. I just needed this gig to last another year and a half ;(
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Strazos
Greetings from the Slave Coast
Posts: 15542
The World's Worst Game: Curry or Covid
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A bit late, but looks like I'll be moving to New Delhi next summer for my next assignment.
Plus - looks like I'll still be able to play ice hockey, though perhaps not on a full-size rink. But hey - better than zero hockey.
Minus - I might suffocate on the "air."
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Fear the Backstab! "Plato said the virtuous man is at all times ready for a grammar snake attack." - we are lesion "Hell is other people." -Sartre
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Rasix
Moderator
Posts: 15024
I am the harbinger of your doom!
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You sure know how to pick them.
BIG NEWS! We're finally ditching Lotus Sametime at work. Hopefully Notes is right around the corner. Fucking demon spawn programs.
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-Rasix
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Chimpy
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10619
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Did IBM sell Lotus yet?
If not, I think you are stuck on Notes/Domino for a while yet :D
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'Reality' is the only word in the language that should always be used in quotes.
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Rasix
Moderator
Posts: 15024
I am the harbinger of your doom!
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People have built mission critical databases in Lotus Notes. Recently too. Morons.
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-Rasix
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Cyrrex
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10603
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Lotus Notes is still a thing? Lol. A bit late, but looks like I'll be moving to New Delhi next summer for my next assignment.
Plus - looks like I'll still be able to play ice hockey, though perhaps not on a full-size rink. But hey - better than zero hockey.
Minus - I might suffocate on the "air."
When do you get to start going to cool places? Jesus H. Christ, man.
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"...maybe if you cleaned the piss out of the sunny d bottles under your desks and returned em, you could upgrade you vid cards, fucken lusers.." - Grunk
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Yegolev
Moderator
Posts: 24440
2/10 WOULD NOT INGEST
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Notes has, in fact, been sold but is still heavily used. I have a video screen with a recruiter from Calendly today and I'm going to see what face she makes when I tell her I use Notes.
I logged into my job-hunting email inbox today for the first time in literal years, only to find Google has been hounding me. But who the fuck wants to live in Sunnyvale? Sounds awful.
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Why am I homeless? Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question. They called it The Prayer, its answer was law Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
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01101010
Terracotta Army
Posts: 12003
You call it an accident. I call it justice.
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I logged into my job-hunting email inbox today for the first time in literal years, only to find Google has been hounding me. But who the fuck wants to live in Sunnyvale? Sounds awful.
I read that as Sunnydale and immediately pictured the Hellmouth. I have started the job search in earnest now as the wife is getting anxious about her job since there is talk of getting rid of the division she is working for through her job agency. She wants me to be the point person to get a job first and she can find something around the area I am working. So basically, I find a job, we move and then she finds a job. Biting the bullet and cobbling a resume together was stressful given my blue collar roots - I come from a very keep your head down and accept what is given to you culture. Starting to break out of that, but it is not easy. Oddly, I found writing my cover letters to be easier than the resume for some reason. Thankfully the wife has a ton of experience with resume workshops and revising other people's resumes so it hasn't been a complete slog. Now to see what shake out.
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Does any one know where the love of God goes...When the waves turn the minutes to hours? -G. Lightfoot
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Teleku
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10510
https://i.imgur.com/mcj5kz7.png
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Notes has, in fact, been sold but is still heavily used. I have a video screen with a recruiter from Calendly today and I'm going to see what face she makes when I tell her I use Notes.
I logged into my job-hunting email inbox today for the first time in literal years, only to find Google has been hounding me. But who the fuck wants to live in Sunnyvale? Sounds awful.
Oh don't worry, you almost certainly wouldn't be able to afford living there. While it's certainly not a place I'd particularly like to move to, I am pretty certain it's nicer than any spot in the entire state of Klanrally Georgia.
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"My great-grandfather did not travel across four thousand miles of the Atlantic Ocean to see this nation overrun by immigrants. He did it because he killed a man back in Ireland. That's the rumor." -Stephen Colbert
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Cyrrex
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10603
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Oh that's right, isn't Yeg from aroundabouts Atlanta? That is easily the shittiest city I have ever been in. And I have been in Athens (Greece).
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"...maybe if you cleaned the piss out of the sunny d bottles under your desks and returned em, you could upgrade you vid cards, fucken lusers.." - Grunk
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NowhereMan
Terracotta Army
Posts: 7353
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Well I have heard back from about 1/3 of the places I've applied to (almost all rejections) but I've had a couple of first round interviews now with some more scheduled next week. One turned me down because they felt I was overqualified and were worried whether I'd stay long. Weirdly the other one sounds more junior (definitely lower pay) but they're pretty keen. The job does sound like it will have wider exposure to different areas of project management and working with clients in different industries though so might be a better long term base. I've got an interview with a civil service department next week as well, again a higher salary but with the downsides of working in a government department generally alongside all the Brexit bullshit (specifically I'd be working in export finance). The one that's keen has been a bit opaque in terms of salary bands though and Glassdoor hasn't been much help since the range listed for the same roles goes from about £18k to £47k reported.
I've got a load of applications into management consultancies as well but have only heard back from a couple. From what I've heard it's a very long process in terms of getting back to you and outside hires are a long shot so I guess I'll just leave those in the background and concentrate on one of these upcoming ones.
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"Look at my car. Do you think that was bought with the earnest love of geeks?" - HaemishM
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Paelos
Contributor
Posts: 27075
Error 404: Title not found.
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Oh that's right, isn't Yeg from aroundabouts Atlanta? That is easily the shittiest city I have ever been in. And I have been in Athens (Greece).
My guess is you haven't seen most other southern cities then. Atlanta is a shining jewel compared to Birmingham, Shreveport, Jackson, or Columbia.
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CPA, CFO, Sports Fan, Game when I have the time
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01101010
Terracotta Army
Posts: 12003
You call it an accident. I call it justice.
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Oh that's right, isn't Yeg from aroundabouts Atlanta? That is easily the shittiest city I have ever been in. And I have been in Athens (Greece).
My guess is you haven't seen most other southern cities then. Atlanta is a shining jewel compared to Birmingham, Shreveport, Jackson, or Columbia. I concur. I rather liked Atlanta. And if my wife gets her way, we might end up there. She really wants to work for NCR down there.
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Does any one know where the love of God goes...When the waves turn the minutes to hours? -G. Lightfoot
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rattran
Moderator
Posts: 4257
Unreasonable
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Atlanta traffic beats out all of those in level of badness. Though Charlotte can now give Atlanta a run for it's money in fucked-up traffic. Though everyone in Charlotte seems hiring, desperate for employees. My guess is you haven't seen most other southern cities then. Atlanta is a shining jewel compared to Birmingham, Shreveport, Jackson, or Columbia.
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HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42629
the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring
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Oh that's right, isn't Yeg from aroundabouts Atlanta? That is easily the shittiest city I have ever been in. And I have been in Athens (Greece).
My guess is you haven't seen most other southern cities then. Atlanta is a shining jewel compared to Birmingham, Shreveport, Jackson, or Columbia. Hey now, Jackson is a fine little shithole, and I'd prefer to live here over Atlanta despite the utter fucking disaster that are our roads. Not that anyone in Jackson drives any better than the psychos in Atlanta either but... man, I really fucking hate Atlanta.
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Cyrrex
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10603
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I meant ‘cities of a certain size’, and none of those others are on my mental list. Have been to Shreveport and a bunch of shitholes back when I was stationed at Fort Polk.
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"...maybe if you cleaned the piss out of the sunny d bottles under your desks and returned em, you could upgrade you vid cards, fucken lusers.." - Grunk
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Paelos
Contributor
Posts: 27075
Error 404: Title not found.
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I meant ‘cities of a certain size’, and none of those others are on my mental list. Have been to Shreveport and a bunch of shitholes back when I was stationed at Fort Polk.
I'd argue Atlanta is better than Houston, Philly, Tampa, Orlando, Detroit, Cleveland, and those ilk. It's certainly not better than NYC, LA, Chicago, Boston, and that ilk.
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CPA, CFO, Sports Fan, Game when I have the time
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Paelos
Contributor
Posts: 27075
Error 404: Title not found.
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Hey now, Jackson is a fine little shithole, and I'd prefer to live here over Atlanta despite the utter fucking disaster that are our roads. Not that anyone in Jackson drives any better than the psychos in Atlanta either but... man, I really fucking hate Atlanta.
I mean, don't yall still have one of the highest murder rates in the country too? Just move to Atlanta, geez.
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CPA, CFO, Sports Fan, Game when I have the time
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HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42629
the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring
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Hey now, Jackson is a fine little shithole, and I'd prefer to live here over Atlanta despite the utter fucking disaster that are our roads. Not that anyone in Jackson drives any better than the psychos in Atlanta either but... man, I really fucking hate Atlanta.
I mean, don't yall still have one of the highest murder rates in the country too? Just move to Atlanta, geez. I'm not sure, it wouldn't surprise me. Of course, I think a bigger problem is people getting swallowed up in potholes and water mains breaking.
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01101010
Terracotta Army
Posts: 12003
You call it an accident. I call it justice.
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Does any one know where the love of God goes...When the waves turn the minutes to hours? -G. Lightfoot
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Strazos
Greetings from the Slave Coast
Posts: 15542
The World's Worst Game: Curry or Covid
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A bit late, but looks like I'll be moving to New Delhi next summer for my next assignment.
Plus - looks like I'll still be able to play ice hockey, though perhaps not on a full-size rink. But hey - better than zero hockey.
Minus - I might suffocate on the "air."
When do you get to start going to cool places? Jesus H. Christ, man. [/quote] Glib answer: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Real answer: No one really asked, but you're getting it anyway. Putting aside that "cool places" can be a bit subjective, I'm guessing...after I finish my tour in India in 2023...maybe? It will depend on if/when I get promoted, what's available, what makes sense for my career, and whether there's a language requirement and if there's a possibility to add in the language time. Normally folks get a "cool place" one of their first two tours through a function called "equity" - if the first post is posh, you're going somewhere tough the second time. But if your first is tough, you get closer to first pick for your second tour. My first tour was DC, which has no equity, so pickings were a bit slim for my second tour (though I did bid on Tokyo). However, after your first two tours, there's no more formal equity - it's just a function of where you can convince the bureaucracy to send you. I was newly-promoted coming out of my second, so I was basically a newbie mid-level officer, and it behooved me to pick up a bit of Spanish, so...Monterrey ended up being the best of a lot of not-fantastic options. And then Egypt (because I wanted to) and DC again (because I needed to, for my own sake). There's also a slight surplus of officers at my level, so onward positions in nice places is extremely competitive. For comparison's sake, I believe Teleku's specialty has a significant deficit, with a lot of boomers looking to retire soon - it's basically a buyer's market, and with greatly different variables at play. He doesn't have to worry about language requirements, but I won't speak too much for him since I'm not terribly versed in how assignments work for him. He can respond if he likes. I'd argue Atlanta is better than Houston, Philly, Tampa, Orlando, Detroit, Cleveland, and those ilk. It's certainly not better than NYC, LA, Chicago, Boston, and that ilk.
At minimum, ATL is not better than Philadelphia, though may be better than Boston. I can't speak to Houston, but I'd grant you Tampa and Cleveland. And it's 100% better than Orlando (which is not a real city to me), and probably edges Detroit. Atlanta does have decent food, though, and it's not expensive like DC. I think I'm just generally predisposed against southern cities, since they often don't have much of a urban core. For instance, I've been to Greensboro, and was told it was a city, but I couldn't find it.
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Fear the Backstab! "Plato said the virtuous man is at all times ready for a grammar snake attack." - we are lesion "Hell is other people." -Sartre
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Yegolev
Moderator
Posts: 24440
2/10 WOULD NOT INGEST
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Oh that's right, isn't Yeg from aroundabouts Atlanta? That is easily the shittiest city I have ever been in.
Never been to the aptly-named Pittsburgh, I see.
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Why am I homeless? Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question. They called it The Prayer, its answer was law Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
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Yegolev
Moderator
Posts: 24440
2/10 WOULD NOT INGEST
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NCR does have that fancy new building in Midtown.
I've gotten a couple job emails about companies hiring their first SRE so they can operationalize their application. If you like angry adventures, I bet you can get $150k out of it.
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Why am I homeless? Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question. They called it The Prayer, its answer was law Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
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Cyrrex
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10603
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Oh that's right, isn't Yeg from aroundabouts Atlanta? That is easily the shittiest city I have ever been in.
Never been to the aptly-named Pittsburgh, I see. No, but I did once drive past Buffalo, and I think my memory has been trying to block it. I do seem to recall thinking they could use it for the next Fallout game, as-is.
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"...maybe if you cleaned the piss out of the sunny d bottles under your desks and returned em, you could upgrade you vid cards, fucken lusers.." - Grunk
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Draegan
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10043
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I hate Philidelphia.
Buffalo is barely a city.
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01101010
Terracotta Army
Posts: 12003
You call it an accident. I call it justice.
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I hate Philidelphia.
Buffalo is barely a city.
Agreed. Philly is one of the worst cities I have been to on multiple occasions. Wife and I just got back from a weekend at Niagara Falls. Drove thru Buffalo and barely noticed it. On topic, I got a hit on one of my applications I put in last week. Strangely, they want me to fill out what looks to be the interviewer questionnaire. It is set up like a performance eval with a bunch of topics and a box to write down reactions. It's a little off-putting and screams they don't have the interview staff to actually do that work so they are pushing it off on the candidates. I am not sure why they just didn't include it on the application on their website if that was the case. I'm not enthusiastic about this one, but it is in Colorado which is a spot I'd like to end up...
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Does any one know where the love of God goes...When the waves turn the minutes to hours? -G. Lightfoot
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Yegolev
Moderator
Posts: 24440
2/10 WOULD NOT INGEST
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They seem desperate and overworked. Ask for a lot of money.
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Why am I homeless? Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question. They called it The Prayer, its answer was law Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
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Teleku
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10510
https://i.imgur.com/mcj5kz7.png
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For comparison's sake, I believe Teleku's specialty has a significant deficit, with a lot of boomers looking to retire soon - it's basically a buyer's market, and with greatly different variables at play. He doesn't have to worry about language requirements, but I won't speak too much for him since I'm not terribly versed in how assignments work for him. He can respond if he likes.
Yeah, pretty much. Because of Tillerson not hiring anybody (and the department hiring below attrition for my job since I joined), on this last bid assignment cycle there were 25 positions globally at my grade that could not be filled for lack of physical people to put in them. On top of that, positions for diplomats can involve a lot of politics on who gets it, where as I just need to convince management at a post to pick me over others. And finally, unless you are trying to get promoted and go up the ranks fast (I am not), I don't need to take strategic bids back to DC or a stretch job to a higher grade in a shithole (like you do). I'm good enough I know I'll eventually get promoted. So all that means I'm fairly certain Russia will have been the worst shithole I will ever have served in my entire career. People tell me Sri Lanka is pretty cool though. Will probably do a trip there sometime next year. Can hope up to Dehli to say hello as well!
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"My great-grandfather did not travel across four thousand miles of the Atlantic Ocean to see this nation overrun by immigrants. He did it because he killed a man back in Ireland. That's the rumor." -Stephen Colbert
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Bungee
Terracotta Army
Posts: 897
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So it's evaluation season and I'm thinking hard about asking for a raise. How does one go about such a talk? Should I even ask? I've had on average a 7% YoY salary increase over the last 5+ years with one bigger bump (12%) due to a promotion. Adjusted for inflation I got about 5% YoY. The thing is that this is my first job out of Uni where I started as a Junior so the starting salary was just that. I'm in Machine Learning/AI R&D so I know that demand for people in that area has grown significantly over the last years. I'm currently in the "I like my job, I get paid decently but I would probably make more somewhere else" line of thinking where I also just have no idea how true that is. I've had some semi-serious interest by various (major) companies on LinkedIn but I never got as far as talking money as I stopped when they brought up I'd have to move for the job. It's a US company I'm working for so also any increases would obviously go through our "People" department there...
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Freedom is the raid target. -tazelbain
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Trippy
Administrator
Posts: 23619
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NowhereMan
Terracotta Army
Posts: 7353
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The other obvious one is spend a bit of time applying and see if companies are happy to interview you, if you can go through the interview process and get an offer. If they need you to travel for a physical interview that might be a bit much so maybe get them to give you a serious salary band. That way of doing thing is definitely more work but you've got data to take to any raise discussions and 'X company has offered me 20% more than you're paying' is the kind of thing that will get a manager scrambling and HR likely to approve things if they want to keep you.
Also since demand is growing so quickly in that area there's a very good chance people newly coming out are getting higher salaries relative to you because companies are now recruiting for a lot more positions. Even if you like the company, it sounds like you're in a solid position with actual, honest to god salary raises YoY, there's still a good chance you're underpaid for what you could be getting somewhere else. It's also quite possible your managers have no idea whether or not that's the case and they're probably not working to see if that's proactively.
Basically check Glassdoor, etc. as suggested. If you're getting below that for your geography, the strongest play you would have is actually validating it by getting an offer from someone else.
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"Look at my car. Do you think that was bought with the earnest love of geeks?" - HaemishM
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Salamok
Terracotta Army
Posts: 2803
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Every raise you get is based upon what you currently make., easiest way to break this chain is to switch employers.
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