CUBE LIFE! Office Etiquette

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Thu May 18, 2023 11:19 am

Spoke to my old college roommate yesterday. He worked for KeyBank for 30 years and is a vice president. Yesterday he got three weeks notice that his entire department of 40 people is being eliminated, including him. Complete surprise. Boom. It’s a hard world.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Mon May 22, 2023 5:56 pm

I gotta say, after several interviews, I'm very much over the "what makes you a great leader" question because the real answer is "the people who think I am should be the ones you ask that question" as opposed to the word salad involving "followership," "integrity," "professionalism," and any other SAT buzzword you can conjure.

Problem is you sound like an egotistical asshole if you say the former.

DaveInSeattle · Post by **DaveInSeattle** » Fri May 26, 2023 4:28 pm

What kind of monster schedules an hour long meeting for 3:30pm on the friday before a long weekend?

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sat May 27, 2023 1:53 am

DaveInSeattle wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 4:28 pm What kind of monster schedules an hour long meeting for 3:30pm on the friday before a long weekend?

Military commanders. They love that shit. They'll even schedule it at 4/4:30 sometimes.

DaveInSeattle · Post by **DaveInSeattle** » Sat May 27, 2023 11:41 am

Johnnie wrote: ↑Sat May 27, 2023 1:53 am
DaveInSeattle wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 4:28 pm What kind of monster schedules an hour long meeting for 3:30pm on the friday before a long weekend?
Military commanders. They love that shit. They'll even schedule it at 4/4:30 sometimes.

The guy who scheduled it was sitting next to me, so I gave him shit about it. He cut it short after about 15 minutes, and was very apologetic.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sat May 27, 2023 5:02 pm

DaveInSeattle wrote: ↑Sat May 27, 2023 11:41 am
Johnnie wrote: ↑Sat May 27, 2023 1:53 am
DaveInSeattle wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 4:28 pm What kind of monster schedules an hour long meeting for 3:30pm on the friday before a long weekend?
Military commanders. They love that shit. They'll even schedule it at 4/4:30 sometimes.
The guy who scheduled it was sitting next to me, so I gave him shit about it. He cut it short after about 15 minutes, and was very apologetic.

Hallelujah. I'm glad he came to his senses.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Tue May 30, 2023 1:20 pm

They're putting in a to-go Fat Tuesday in the mall across the street from the office. Will make the afternoons more enjoyable!

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Tue May 30, 2023 2:34 pm

I applied to an entry level job with the title of "Logistics and Planning Specialist" at Raytheon yesterday. My military job was a Logistics Planner, so that seems promising with my resumé, right?

Nope. Just got the email that I was not selected to go forward in the hiring process.

That is the fastest I've ever been denied for a job by them.

Also, I still haven't heard back about the the GS job yet. The interview went ok, but I'm prior enlisted and my interviewers were current or former officers and they tend to take care of their own. So that's still up in the air. But I'm not holding my breath.

I just hate everything about this process right now.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Tue May 30, 2023 3:16 pm

I don’t envy you, Johnnie. I went through it after my employer got acquired and I know it can be discouraging. Keep your chin up and keep plugging away.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Tue May 30, 2023 3:43 pm

As you may recall from the Washington DC thread I started, my daughter may be getting a job with a federal agency, there. But, hoo boy, is she learning about the crushingly slow pace of government hiring processes.

After multiple interviews with multiple people, she got the informal heads up that it was going through. But… then they had to check all her references - all good. Then, they had to do background checks. All good. None of that happened quickly. Then, her prospective boss clued her that they would have to jump through hoops with HR to get her the money that would be acceptable. She was briefed that she would get an offer with a low-ball salary grade. But… she could then make her case and negotiate for a higher grade and some moving expenses/signing bonus (although not called that). The prospective boss coached her on how to make that happen with HR. So, yesterday she finally received the formal offer and the stage is now set for negotiations. She has never been one to toot her own horn so this is difficult for her. I hope HR sees it the way she wants/needs them to.

The poor girl is completely stressed out. Because on top of the job process, her boyfriend is being a bit of a dick. He’s generally a nice guy and has always treated her well. But he’s a homebody who’s never left home much, and doesn’t appear to have much ambition. He’s never used the degree he got and works at a job with no real future. They live together and I’m pretty sure she pays more than her share. He got petulant about my daughter looking at career options and when this one progressed he said if she moved they were done. When she called that bluff he eventually changed course completely and said he would follow her. But by that time she was pissed off and said, “No, don’t come. Because, if you hate it there, you’ll resent me for it.” Luckily for me, my wife handles the vast majority of personal drama with her. I just try to be supportive.

Fun fun fun.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Tue May 30, 2023 4:03 pm

sancarlos wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 3:43 pmHe got petulant about my daughter looking at career options and when this one progressed he said if she moved they were done. When she called that bluff he eventually changed course completely and said he would follow her. But by that time she was pissed off and said, “No, don’t come. Because, if you hate it there, you’ll resent me for it.” Luckily for me, my wife handles the vast majority of personal drama with her. I just try to be supportive.

Sounds like your daughter did a nice job handling it on her own.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Tue May 30, 2023 4:44 pm

sancarlos wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 3:43 pm As you may recall from the Washington DC thread I started, my daughter may be getting a job with a federal agency, there. But, hoo boy, is she learning about the crushingly slow pace of government hiring processes.

After multiple interviews with multiple people, she got the informal heads up that it was going through. But… then they had to check all her references - all good. Then, they had to do background checks. All good. None of that happened quickly. Then, her prospective boss clued her that they would have to jump through hoops with HR to get her the money that would be acceptable. She was briefed that she would get an offer with a low-ball salary grade. But… she could then make her case and negotiate for a higher grade and some moving expenses/signing bonus (although not called that). The prospective boss coached her on how to make that happen with HR. So, yesterday she finally received the formal offer and the stage is now set for negotiations. She has never been one to toot her own horn so this is difficult for her. I hope HR sees it the way she wants/needs them to.

The poor girl is completely stressed out. Because on top of the job process, her boyfriend is being a bit of a dick. He’s generally a nice guy and has always treated her well. But he’s a homebody who’s never left home much, and doesn’t appear to have much ambition. He’s never used the degree he got and works at a job with no real future. They live together and I’m pretty sure she pays more than her share. He got petulant about my daughter looking at career options and when this one progressed he said if she moved they were done. When she called that bluff he eventually changed course completely and said he would follow her. But by that time she was pissed off and said, “No, don’t come. Because, if you hate it there, you’ll resent me for it.” Luckily for me, my wife handles the vast majority of personal drama with her. I just try to be supportive.

Fun fun fun.

Beer(s) on me when you visit DC

EnochRoot · Post by **EnochRoot** » Tue May 30, 2023 5:08 pm

DSafetyGuy wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 4:03 pm
sancarlos wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 3:43 pmHe got petulant about my daughter looking at career options and when this one progressed he said if she moved they were done. When she called that bluff he eventually changed course completely and said he would follow her. But by that time she was pissed off and said, “No, don’t come. Because, if you hate it there, you’ll resent me for it.” Luckily for me, my wife handles the vast majority of personal drama with her. I just try to be supportive.
Sounds like your daughter did a nice job handling it on her own.

Hell yeah she did.

The kid's scared. Probably always been a homebody. Now it's upon him to imagine a 5 year career plan in the DC region.

If he really wants to stay with her, that is.

What's his degree in?

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Tue May 30, 2023 5:20 pm

EnochRoot wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 5:08 pm What's his degree in?

He was a Data Science major. He graduated a couple years ago, but never pursued a job in anything related to that field. He is kind of an office manager at a small law firm. He’s basically a nice kid. But I think he lacks confidence and initiative.

EnochRoot · Post by **EnochRoot** » Tue May 30, 2023 5:42 pm

sancarlos wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 5:20 pm
EnochRoot wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 5:08 pm What's his degree in?
He was a Data Science major. He graduated a couple years ago, but never pursued a job in anything related to that field. He is kind of an office manager at a small law firm. He’s basically a nice kid. But I think he lacks confidence and initiative.

He's no longer interested in data science? Cuz there's a whole world out there for him but he needs to get into a good master's program (there are many in the DC metro area).

eta - if he's found a passion for working with a law firm, there might be an applied data analytics program that partners with area law firms for those looking into data science in the legal world.

That is, if he can still get his nerd on.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Tue May 30, 2023 6:53 pm

Tbh, he’s not my concern right now.

EnochRoot · Post by **EnochRoot** » Tue May 30, 2023 7:20 pm

sancarlos wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 6:53 pm Tbh, he’s not my concern right now.

Yeah, I was flipping a burger on my stove a little while ago thinking, "that guy isn't going to interfere like that"

DaveInSeattle · Post by **DaveInSeattle** » Fri Jun 02, 2023 2:01 pm

Heard from our IT guys a few days ago that my company is dropping their Zoom license at the end of June, since it costs ~200K a year, and going to all Teams since we already have Microsoft licenses.

Just curious if anyone else is going that way.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Fri Jun 02, 2023 2:13 pm

sancarlos wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 6:53 pm Tbh, he’s not my concern right now.

This made me LOL.

I followed a girl to Dallas (after I got comfy shitting around her aka Barnes & Noble got onto me) and that was a big concern of hers. When I threw it in her face during a drunken argument a couple months later, she diffused the situation by going "that's one! you get two more comments like that and that's it!"

Post by **Shirley** » Fri Jun 02, 2023 2:21 pm

DaveInSeattle wrote: ↑Fri Jun 02, 2023 2:01 pm Heard from our IT guys a few days ago that my company is dropping their Zoom license at the end of June, since it costs ~200K a year, and going to all Teams since we already have Microsoft licenses.

Just curious if anyone else is going that way.

We made that change about 2 years ago. Mostly not a big deal. A lot of our devs hate Teams though, so we still have some meetings in Zoom. A few folks have licenses, but we also use some free ones. I find the two mostly interchangeable. The one advantage that Teams has is you don't lose comments after the meeting is over, which comes in handy.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Fri Jun 02, 2023 3:01 pm

If you have to work in Teams enough, its a pain in the ass to have meetings in Zoom. You'll adjust quick enough.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Fri Jun 02, 2023 3:25 pm

mister d wrote: ↑Fri Jun 02, 2023 3:01 pm If you have to work in Teams enough, its a pain in the ass to have meetings in Zoom. You'll adjust quick enough.

I second this comment. Previous job was all teams, we were initially forbidden from using Zoom at all, but eventually allowed to attend a Zoom meeting a client set up, but forbidden to host due to safety concerns. Our IT Security guy felt Zoom is a major hacking risk. We use Teams heavily for IM and document sharing, group project work etc... I host meetings in Teams, maybe half my internal meetings are Zoom, basically employee preference. And one asshole insists on hosting meetings on WebEx for some reason. Never had any issues with Teams, but I don't use any fancy bells or whistles. Including a survey is as crazy as I get.

Post by **Shirley** » Mon Jun 05, 2023 1:48 pm

I hate using Teams for anything other than meetings. Loathe it. That's pretty much the universal opinion at my company. Slack is so much better. I don't see a huge gap between Teams and Zooms though. (WebEx on the other hand ... that sucks. Google Hangouts is even worse.)

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Mon Jun 05, 2023 2:31 pm

We've had this chat before, so my only "new" observation is that I think folks (like me) that think Teams is just fine might think differently if they'd tried out Slack? Maybe?

Because I have zero issues with Teams and I find Zoom a little clunky and I also don't know how well Zoom does with document/file sharing. That has been a game changer for us (Comms department that was still relying on clunky shared drive file sharing to work through the editing process.)

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Mon Jun 05, 2023 2:36 pm

I don't know what Teams looks like if I don't have a Teams license, so maybe that's why people who don't have one hate it the way I hate Zoom/Webex. Trying to use those through the web is awful, especially if I'm coming from another meeting because it takes like 2 minutes to log-in.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Mon Jun 05, 2023 3:25 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Mon Jun 05, 2023 2:31 pm We've had this chat before, so my only "new" observation is that I think folks (like me) that think Teams is just fine might think differently if they'd tried out Slack? Maybe?

Because I have zero issues with Teams and I find Zoom a little clunky and I also don't know how well Zoom does with document/file sharing. That has been a game changer for us (Comms department that was still relying on clunky shared drive file sharing to work through the editing process.)

I've never used Slack, so maybe I just don't realize that Teams sucks in comparison. And to Giff's point, I've only used Teams through a license, so maybe the web version is much worse?

DaveInSeattle · Post by **DaveInSeattle** » Mon Jul 03, 2023 4:25 pm

I was on PTO all last week (sailing at a week long regatta up in Anacortes...we did really well! Finished second in a very competitive J-105 class) and when I came to work today my ID didn't work to get me into the building.

I stood there thinking "Did I get fired while I was on vacation"?

Turns out my badge had expired for some reason, and I had to have security reset it.

rass · Post by **rass** » Mon Jul 03, 2023 4:59 pm

Phew?

elflaco2 · Post by **elflaco2** » Tue Jul 04, 2023 6:25 pm

back at work after two weeks parental (have more, but here we are)... working part time for three weeks (including one week driving down to leave the boy at duke while we party it up at myrtle with the two babies)
got a call from a recruiter... had a nice chat.. spoke $.. i threw out a big number.. next thing i get an hour with a ceo. good chat, got along, see things similarly. although he spoke more than 50% of the time... so there's that.. he's looking for someone to take over ops so he can do his thing.. same industry i'm in - basically a competitor (albeit quite small compared to us).. its intriguing.. and the $ would be life changing.. but its at least a 3 hour rt commute.. guy said he needs someone there.. on site.. all the time.. maybe i do the commute for a year then see what happens.. his co is growing, talking equity... could be long term.. but i don't want to stay in the NE for the long term, we're thinkin south (no, not texas or fla) and no way we're moving to long islan, one of the few places where i'd spend more for a smaller place.. . going to go onsite thurs.. have a face to face.. i'm 90% not going to say yes i'm sure.. and of course he could say thanks but no thanks.. am i an asshole but going through the interview? maybe even getting the offer and still saying no?
been a while since i've been in this position.
its good to be wanted.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Tue Jul 04, 2023 6:29 pm

It’s a good exercise and it’s ok to say no. Congrats on it, though!

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Tue Jul 04, 2023 7:06 pm

It’s always worth going through the process if it’s a great opportunity. Worst case, you feel better about where you are at.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Wed Jul 05, 2023 2:48 pm

I have a dark mind sometimes, so I can think of a lot of worse cases for this scenario.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Thu Jul 06, 2023 4:16 pm

elflaco2 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 6:25 pm back at work after two weeks parental (have more, but here we are)... working part time for three weeks (including one week driving down to leave the boy at duke while we party it up at myrtle with the two babies)
got a call from a recruiter... had a nice chat.. spoke $.. i threw out a big number.. next thing i get an hour with a ceo. good chat, got along, see things similarly. although he spoke more than 50% of the time... so there's that.. he's looking for someone to take over ops so he can do his thing.. same industry i'm in - basically a competitor (albeit quite small compared to us).. its intriguing.. and the $ would be life changing.. but its at least a 3 hour rt commute.. guy said he needs someone there.. on site.. all the time.. maybe i do the commute for a year then see what happens.. his co is growing, talking equity... could be long term.. but i don't want to stay in the NE for the long term, we're thinkin south (no, not texas or fla) and no way we're moving to long islan, one of the few places where i'd spend more for a smaller place.. . going to go onsite thurs.. have a face to face.. i'm 90% not going to say yes i'm sure.. and of course he could say thanks but no thanks.. am i an asshole but going through the interview? maybe even getting the offer and still saying no?
been a while since i've been in this position.
its good to be wanted.

I think it's good practice. I don't know what I'd do if I had to interview for another job after 18 years of only interviewing for internal upward moves.

I finally got a new laptop today after about five years and my productivity is about to go way up. It's unbelievable how less frustrating it is to work on a computer that can connect to VPN in 7 seconds and I don't see a blue circle every 15 seconds when trying to use Outlook.

elflaco2 · Post by **elflaco2** » Tue Jul 11, 2023 8:35 am

Giff wrote: ↑Thu Jul 06, 2023 4:16 pm
elflaco2 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 04, 2023 6:25 pm back at work after two weeks parental (have more, but here we are)... working part time for three weeks (including one week driving down to leave the boy at duke while we party it up at myrtle with the two babies)
got a call from a recruiter... had a nice chat.. spoke $.. i threw out a big number.. next thing i get an hour with a ceo. good chat, got along, see things similarly. although he spoke more than 50% of the time... so there's that.. he's looking for someone to take over ops so he can do his thing.. same industry i'm in - basically a competitor (albeit quite small compared to us).. its intriguing.. and the $ would be life changing.. but its at least a 3 hour rt commute.. guy said he needs someone there.. on site.. all the time.. maybe i do the commute for a year then see what happens.. his co is growing, talking equity... could be long term.. but i don't want to stay in the NE for the long term, we're thinkin south (no, not texas or fla) and no way we're moving to long islan, one of the few places where i'd spend more for a smaller place.. . going to go onsite thurs.. have a face to face.. i'm 90% not going to say yes i'm sure.. and of course he could say thanks but no thanks.. am i an asshole but going through the interview? maybe even getting the offer and still saying no?
been a while since i've been in this position.
its good to be wanted.
I think it's good practice. I don't know what I'd do if I had to interview for another job after 18 years of only interviewing for internal upward moves.

I finally got a new laptop today after about five years and my productivity is about to go way up. It's unbelievable how less frustrating it is to work on a computer that can connect to VPN in 7 seconds and I don't see a blue circle every 15 seconds when trying to use Outlook.

i'm waiting for my replacement laptop...

i had the interview.. was asked to do a personality assessment... on paper. kind of weird for a guy/company who claims to be all about technology and speed. told him i am not a fan of such tests. regardless, we spoke nearly 90 minutes after i asked one question, he asked one qustion and that was the whole time.. on two answers.
nice chat. good connection. he brought up the commute for me as a red flag -- i agreed and said i wouldn't commute for long.. thus making this a life changing move.. he didn't blink.
he's out next week as am i - agreed to speak at beginning of week of 24th.. if assessment is good, he'll make a good offer.
we'll see - it will have to be an amazing offer. but maybe the assessment isn't good.
whatever. it was a good experience.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Tue Jul 11, 2023 8:37 am

Glad you went through with it. Curious to hear the result!

And I will say, it's been the smoothest laptop transition ever. I was dreading it because it's always a disaster, but not this time.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Tue Jul 11, 2023 9:24 am

elflaco2 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 11, 2023 8:35 ami had the interview.. was asked to do a personality assessment... on paper. kind of weird for a guy/company who claims to be all about technology and speed. told him i am not a fan of such tests. regardless, we spoke nearly 90 minutes after i asked one question, he asked one qustion and that was the whole time.. on two answers.
nice chat. good connection. he brought up the commute for me as a red flag -- i agreed and said i wouldn't commute for long.. thus making this a life changing move.. he didn't blink.
he's out next week as am i - agreed to speak at beginning of week of 24th.. if assessment is good, he'll make a good offer.
we'll see - it will have to be an amazing offer. but maybe the assessment isn't good.
whatever. it was a good experience.

Guessing relocation expenses won't be in that offer.

Post by **Shirley** » Tue Jul 25, 2023 11:25 am

I gave my 2-week notice today. I'm gonna go work for my former manager at her new company. It's smaller, but the pay's pretty close (had to take a small cut) and hopefully I can get out from some of the bullshit I've been dealing with at the current job. Feels pretty good (but also bittersweet, because I like nearly everyone I work with).

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Tue Jul 25, 2023 11:28 am

Nice, Shirley! Good luck with the new job.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Tue Jul 25, 2023 1:43 pm

Good luck, Rerun!

Johnny Carwash · Post by **Johnny Carwash** » Tue Jul 25, 2023 1:44 pm

Congratulations, Shirley!