New job - how much grief would you take?
- Thread starter britboy4321
- Start date
Did you not find any of this out in the interview? What questions did you ask? Did they lie when the answered?
Get out now, the job is a joke, the company is a joke. Get back to contracting.
Soldato
Pretty normal if your company is within the "IT" genre.
Probably between 2 to 4, sometimes but rarely, much more. I'm on holiday this week but, due to factors outside my control, I need to work Wednesday to get something ready for a sales demo next week.
Can't really remember the last time I delibrately did not answer (or call back) my boss.
I wish my boss took the work I do that seriously.
Tell them to take a hike? That's pretty outrageous.
Being allowed to work from home is a privilege you need to earn. I think this is reasonable. You can start shoehorning it in a bit more often. Those out of hours appointments for instance. If you can start proving that you can deliver the goods on those then they might trust you to work from home during normal hours.
I'm employee 0001 but currently have no key to our office. I gave mine away to the new guy that started a couple months ago. Still not got a new one sorted out for myself yet. Most mornings I have to pester the receptionist for the master key. Shrug. I would be a bit fobbed off in your position though.
File this under office banter TBH.
you need solutions
youre in a stage where you need to stay in and so youll bend over and take it
so ive got a solution for your number 8
dont buy the doughnuts.
wait for someone to say something
then get up
with a smile ofcourse - always keep it smiling and pretend its fun
altho - remain assertive - not to the point where it gets you angry - but remain your position on this
and say
look
how about this
we play a game
whoever loses gets the dough
this will put people off
however theres always one
toss a coin
not even best of threes
just say one coin toss
heads you win tails you lose
it would be a good idea to get a double sided coin for future
in the meantime
play the game
you lose
go get it
say better luck for ya tomorrow
dont stick around for comments though
just get it
you need to put a kink in their silly little ideas....this is one way of going about it
if there are more of you up for a game
then play a simple game of picking names out of a hat
if initially they fuss about it
keep smiling
sit down
and carry on
and just say
you either play or you dont
start thinking about your actions in your head
but dont think about outcomes
just think about how you..will come across
the rest will play out
most likely
most people will think of you as a **** for doing this
tough to them
its the way you are unfortunately
youre in a stage where you need to stay in and so youll bend over and take it
so ive got a solution for your number 8
dont buy the doughnuts.
wait for someone to say something
then get up
with a smile ofcourse - always keep it smiling and pretend its fun
altho - remain assertive - not to the point where it gets you angry - but remain your position on this
and say
look
how about this
we play a game
whoever loses gets the dough
this will put people off
however theres always one
toss a coin
not even best of threes
just say one coin toss
heads you win tails you lose
it would be a good idea to get a double sided coin for future
in the meantime
play the game
you lose
go get it
say better luck for ya tomorrow
dont stick around for comments though
just get it
you need to put a kink in their silly little ideas....this is one way of going about it
if there are more of you up for a game
then play a simple game of picking names out of a hat
if initially they fuss about it
keep smiling
sit down
and carry on
and just say
you either play or you dont
start thinking about your actions in your head
but dont think about outcomes
just think about how you..will come across
the rest will play out
most likely
most people will think of you as a **** for doing this
tough to them
its the way you are unfortunately
1) It is unwritten but expected you give your company some 'free hours' for, I'd describe it, some kind of hopeful tool for career progression, or maybe a bonus that is not guaranteed, or 'because everyone else does' or 'it's the company way'. Your reaction? Smile happily as you watch 7pm click over on the company clock again?
If i was paid a lot or got bonus etc then i would do free hours
2) How many free hours do you give a week on average?
0 - I work on semi flexi time. I will help out if needed but in return i want to build up time and/or extra money and take extra days off
3) If your boss phoned you at 11:30pm tonight to ask a 5 minute easy tech question, would you think 'no problem', think 'problem' but answer him, or see the caller ID and think 'screw that' and not pick up?
id be in bed, not pick up
4) If your boss on 4:30pm Tuesday said 'tomorrow let's get a headstart into this problem by meeting up at 7:00am and cracking on in' - and you will not be paid or get anything in leiu (you're normally in at 9am), is is a happy 'yes', a resentful 'yes', or a 'nope, see you at 9am unless you're paying/time in leiu'? This happens about once a month?
Happy yes, however my boss wouldnt want to come in at 7 without building time up for himself. He would do the same for me
5) Newsletter: Christmas party cost is not gonna be borne by the company as times are hard. Cost instead is to be divided between employees whether you bother attending or not. It's at some posh country house thing so expect to be at least £100 out of pocket, even if you're not going (as it's 'fairest'?!?!?!!). What are you going to do? This instruction comes right from the chief exec ...?
Go but try and get my moneys worth
6) 'Geoff, John, Gary and Haley can all work from home. You Britboy can not. Yes I know you're doing identical work to them. You can't. I will not explain why you can't (seems to be some kind of thing that is given if you are personal mates with the boss and I haven't earnt this yet). Enjoy not having to travel in tomorrow everyone but Britboy'. What should be my reaction? What would yours be? Become the bosses' next best friend?
Depends how long i had been at the company. If its a few years then id be annoyed, if i had been there a few weeks/months then thats fair enough
7) We've not got enough 'keycards' for the security door as they cost money. So you, the new bloke, have to knock on the door to get in. You may have to wait up to 5-10 minutes for someone to open the door especially if everyone close to it is in meetings. You are expected at your desk by 9am, not banging on the door by 9am or you're considered late, so get up earlier.
This would annoy me. Maybe try and get one copied
8) 'A tradition we've got going on .. the new guy buys a big box of doughnuts for everyone. britters you're the new guy .. Go on then son, jog on ... get at least 40 alright?'
Do it. If the next new guy doesnt have to then they are dicks.
...
If this is your actual job then i would not be going in tomorrow. Get signing on and be happy with your £550 a month for doing sweet FA and not putting up with all the above crap
If i was paid a lot or got bonus etc then i would do free hours
2) How many free hours do you give a week on average?
0 - I work on semi flexi time. I will help out if needed but in return i want to build up time and/or extra money and take extra days off
3) If your boss phoned you at 11:30pm tonight to ask a 5 minute easy tech question, would you think 'no problem', think 'problem' but answer him, or see the caller ID and think 'screw that' and not pick up?
id be in bed, not pick up
4) If your boss on 4:30pm Tuesday said 'tomorrow let's get a headstart into this problem by meeting up at 7:00am and cracking on in' - and you will not be paid or get anything in leiu (you're normally in at 9am), is is a happy 'yes', a resentful 'yes', or a 'nope, see you at 9am unless you're paying/time in leiu'? This happens about once a month?
Happy yes, however my boss wouldnt want to come in at 7 without building time up for himself. He would do the same for me
5) Newsletter: Christmas party cost is not gonna be borne by the company as times are hard. Cost instead is to be divided between employees whether you bother attending or not. It's at some posh country house thing so expect to be at least £100 out of pocket, even if you're not going (as it's 'fairest'?!?!?!!). What are you going to do? This instruction comes right from the chief exec ...?
Go but try and get my moneys worth
6) 'Geoff, John, Gary and Haley can all work from home. You Britboy can not. Yes I know you're doing identical work to them. You can't. I will not explain why you can't (seems to be some kind of thing that is given if you are personal mates with the boss and I haven't earnt this yet). Enjoy not having to travel in tomorrow everyone but Britboy'. What should be my reaction? What would yours be? Become the bosses' next best friend?
Depends how long i had been at the company. If its a few years then id be annoyed, if i had been there a few weeks/months then thats fair enough
7) We've not got enough 'keycards' for the security door as they cost money. So you, the new bloke, have to knock on the door to get in. You may have to wait up to 5-10 minutes for someone to open the door especially if everyone close to it is in meetings. You are expected at your desk by 9am, not banging on the door by 9am or you're considered late, so get up earlier.
This would annoy me. Maybe try and get one copied
8) 'A tradition we've got going on .. the new guy buys a big box of doughnuts for everyone. britters you're the new guy .. Go on then son, jog on ... get at least 40 alright?'
Do it. If the next new guy doesnt have to then they are dicks.
...
If this is your actual job then i would not be going in tomorrow. Get signing on and be happy with your £550 a month for doing sweet FA and not putting up with all the above crap
1) Depends on the nature of the work and whether it is considered standard operating procedure. I don't mind making an extra effort to get something special done, or pushing for a few weeks to meet a new client's expectations etc.
2) At the moment not too many as I'm new, but in my previous company it was anywhere between 15 and 70.
3) I have been phoned at all hours of the day, including once being put directly on speaker-phone in a room full of people at 3 AM, and asked a series of questions by some very stressed people about one of our systems. It has never bothered me. I will always answer.
4) I am always happy to get together early to get a head-start. I like the atmosphere that is created by teams really working hard.
5) This would be a problem with me. I think this is completely untenable. The Christmas party is not some kind of mandatory event that you are proportionally compensated for to afford. I would simply refuse to pay for this on the grounds of it's totally unreasonable. You have the law on your side if necessary.
6) This annoys me too. If I work as well as or better than everyone else, I expect to be rewarded as well as or better than everyone else.
7) This is a bit silly. I'd probably just pay for a key card assuming they're not a fortune.
8) Lol, sure, not a problem.
2) At the moment not too many as I'm new, but in my previous company it was anywhere between 15 and 70.
3) I have been phoned at all hours of the day, including once being put directly on speaker-phone in a room full of people at 3 AM, and asked a series of questions by some very stressed people about one of our systems. It has never bothered me. I will always answer.
4) I am always happy to get together early to get a head-start. I like the atmosphere that is created by teams really working hard.
5) This would be a problem with me. I think this is completely untenable. The Christmas party is not some kind of mandatory event that you are proportionally compensated for to afford. I would simply refuse to pay for this on the grounds of it's totally unreasonable. You have the law on your side if necessary.
6) This annoys me too. If I work as well as or better than everyone else, I expect to be rewarded as well as or better than everyone else.
7) This is a bit silly. I'd probably just pay for a key card assuming they're not a fortune.
8) Lol, sure, not a problem.
What is your job?
BB x
BB x
Soldato
No, if this is a regular occurance then it smacks of poor time management or resourcing issues; either of which should be addressed. My contract says I work X hours/week then I expect to be compenstated for any time over that (unless I am working that extra time for my own convenience ... see 2 below).
Between 2.5hrs and 5hrs .... normally the former. But that is due to it being easier for me to get into the office very early than at a later time in the morning. I am not paid extra for that time but it is timesheeted and I can draw against it as flex time.
My Boss is unlikely to call me but some co-workers could quite possibly do so and have done so. I am not oncall but can get escalations.
I will pick up, if it wakes me, but the call will fall into one of the following; genuine quick technical question - no problem, more in depth technical question which regards time to sort out - gets answered + expert callout overtime claim, stupid question which the asker should know or can't be bothered to find out themselves (unfortunately does happen) - will get answered but I will be claiming expert callout overtime and they will be explaining to my management why they called me.
My Boss would say that but only because my usual start time is 07:00 (and his is ~07:15)
... Simply no. Unless it is in my contract that I have to attend/pay then I am not going to pay to not attend an optional event.
Sounds reasonable. You are new, he doesn't know you are not going to just sit on the sofa all day in your underpants scratching yourself. If you are in your probational period I think this is perfrectly reasonable. I know whole teams where working from home has been cracked down on and limited due to the few abusing it.
You should be in and ready to work/working by your latest start time. If you arrive at 9am then you won't be by the time you've booted your computer, logged in, got a coffee etc. Not enough keycards ... seen it happen many times, even in big companies, get a few phone numbers of people in your area, including your Boss, so if no ones answering a knock then you can call them and get them to let you in. But I'd say you should be in try to get in 15mins before your start time at a minimum.
No indication if this is one off or a regular thing. One off, suck it up to break the ice. Regular thing ... not acceptable unless you are earning enough to make the cost of 40 doughnuts inconsequential to you ... do it once but not after that.
Soldato
Are you Angus Higgins with a new 'system'?
As for the OP, I give no more than I'm contracted to, I simply wouldn't in my current job. There's little reward and no hope for worthwhile progression by slogging one's guts out for the company. They're riding you TBH.
1) It is unwritten but expected you give your company some 'free hours' for, I'd describe it, some kind of hopeful tool for career progression, or maybe a bonus that is not guaranteed, or 'because everyone else does' or 'it's the company way'. Your reaction? Smile happily as you watch 7pm click over on the company clock again?
I'd do this if I enjoyed the job and had a promise or inkling it'd be worthwhile career wise.
2) How many free hours do you give a week on average?
None at all.
3) If your boss phoned you at 11:30pm tonight to ask a 5 minute easy tech question, would you think 'no problem', think 'problem' but answer him, or see the caller ID and think 'screw that' and not pick up?
He wouldn't dare, however, I'd be a bit peeved at that kind of hour.
4) If your boss on 4:30pm Tuesday said 'tomorrow let's get a headstart into this problem by meeting up at 7:00am and cracking on in' - and you will not be paid or get anything in leiu (you're normally in at 9am), is is a happy 'yes', a resentful 'yes', or a 'nope, see you at 9am unless you're paying/time in leiu'? This happens about once a month?
This really depends on the company's attitude TBH. If they show appreciation for extra commitment, be that through appraisal or other means, then maybe it'd be not so bad. If they get uncomfortably arsey if you don't do it, then I'd find it hard to swallow and speak to someone who cares (if there is anyone).
5) Newsletter: Christmas party cost is not gonna be borne by the company as times are hard. Cost instead is to be divided between employees whether you bother attending or not. It's at some posh country house thing so expect to be at least £100 out of pocket, even if you're not going (as it's 'fairest'?!?!?!!). What are you going to do? This instruction comes right from the chief exec ...?
They can very well jog on TBH.
6) 'Geoff, John, Gary and Haley can all work from home. You Britboy can not. Yes I know you're doing identical work to them. You can't. I will not explain why you can't (seems to be some kind of thing that is given if you are personal mates with the boss and I haven't earnt this yet). Enjoy not having to travel in tomorrow everyone but Britboy'. What should be my reaction? What would yours be? Become the bosses' next best friend?
I'd not be to fussed at this TBH. Maybe getting to work with the boss and getting to know him/her will improve your personal relationship, and help you address other issues you've mentioned here with them.
7) We've not got enough 'keycards' for the security door as they cost money. So you, the new bloke, have to knock on the door to get in. You may have to wait up to 5-10 minutes for someone to open the door especially if everyone close to it is in meetings. You are expected at your desk by 9am, not banging on the door by 9am or you're considered late, so get up earlier.
This would really upset me TBH. Persist in asking for a key, perhaps from someone who lift-shares with another (i.e. they have a key card each, why can't you have one of theirs?).
8) 'A tradition we've got going on .. the new guy buys a big box of doughnuts for everyone. britters you're the new guy .. Go on then son, jog on ... get at least 40 alright?'
Fine by me. I'd get in some nice biscuits also. Don't want to look like a miserable sod in front of your peers really.
Soldato
whos angus higgins?
its how to play the system with a system of your own
its a method of getting out of it
obviously it isnt bringing him any joy
that is how you communicate with groups
its a way of getting things done
when you have loads of women in your life
youll understand
if you ever have loads of women in your life....
anyway
what people dont understand is
we have all been in jobs where we would not take any crap whatsoever
i was in a job like this - when i had no responsibilities whatsoever my attitude was like this
whether i was fired or not i wasnt bothered
any action taken i wasnt bothered
but when you have responsibility in your life
and you need to get permanent
sometimes an attitude cannot get you in the job you want to be in
sure, we dont take all crap
but some crap has to be accepted.
tic for tac
its how to play the system with a system of your own
its a method of getting out of it
obviously it isnt bringing him any joy
that is how you communicate with groups
its a way of getting things done
when you have loads of women in your life
youll understand
if you ever have loads of women in your life....
anyway
what people dont understand is
we have all been in jobs where we would not take any crap whatsoever
i was in a job like this - when i had no responsibilities whatsoever my attitude was like this
whether i was fired or not i wasnt bothered
any action taken i wasnt bothered
but when you have responsibility in your life
and you need to get permanent
sometimes an attitude cannot get you in the job you want to be in
sure, we dont take all crap
but some crap has to be accepted.
tic for tac
Soldato
Soldato
Haiku-ing to Members Market Access!! I've seen it all now 
Man of Honour
Gilly's response?!!
Gaijin!
(sorry Gaijin)
Just saw a 'G' and read something sensible..