Conversations with my boss…

My boss and another co-worker of mine were looking for me late yesterday afternoon (after 4:30pm).  Needless to say, I wasn’t around and today I’m getting the third degree… 

Via email…

Boss:  Were you in the office yesterday afternoon?  Co-worker and I were trying to reach you.  I also didn’t see you on Instant Messenger. 

Me:  yes, i was here

Boss:  Then why couldn’t we reach you?  You’re also not in Instant Messenger.  It was quite an ordeal and we needed your help.

Me:  Sorry, that you couldn’t reach me.  I keep forgetting to log on to Instant Messenger.  I’m on now. 

Now, via Instant Messenger…

Boss (08:59:51): I’m still really feeling unsure about yesterday afternoon. If you were still there, where were you that we couldn’t reach you for an hour?

Me (09:00:46): Boss, I don’t know what to tell you

Me (09:01:02): i;m in and out of my cube all day long

Me (09:01:22): i feel bad that you couldn’t get a hold of me

Me (09:01:42): is there anything that i can help you with now???

Boss (09:01:43): you never responded to co-worker’s email either, did you? I didn’t get copied if you did

Me (09:06:00): no i didn’t respond to it

Boss (09:07:29): well, why?

Me (09:09:04): because i didn’t see it until this morning

Boss (09:09:15): why?

Me (09:11:14): unfortunately, i just didn’t see it until this morning

Me (09:12:02): and i spoke to co-worker and she said it was cared for

Boss (09:15:59): I guess you’re missing the point

Boss (09:25:04): You support me, as well as report to me. I needed you yesterday on a quick-turnaround to Big Boss #1 and Big Boss #2. I did the work myself because we couldnt’ reach you. What would you suggest for future so this doesn’t occur again?

Me (09:34:33): Boss, I don’t know what you want me to tell you? This is a total fluke. I am usually at my desk all day long, because I don’t want to give people a reason to talk. All I can say is that I’ll try to be more available than I already am.

This is working in a corporate environment sucks!!  This was technically not my work to do, it was my co-workers work and because she wasn’t around I am scrutinized!!!  I hate this fucking job!!!

Seven Years of Bad Luck…

Today marks the 7th Anniversary here at my job!!  Good Gravy!!!  I can’t believe that I’ve been in hell for 7 years!!  Ohhh man!!  So, today my boss graciously is letting me leave at 3pm a whole 2 hours early!!  Then today I am also receiving an extra week of vacation.  Yip Yip Yippee!  Good times…somewhere along the way I must have broken a mirror!

Sneaky Bastardos…

A very interesting fact just came my way.  A friend of mine who works at the same company I do is a supervisor in another department.  Apparently, my friend and his colleague’s have been given VPN rights to snoop on their sub-ordinate’s computers.  How does this work, you ask?  HA!  I’ll tell you…

All the supervisors have the IP address to every computer their sub-ordinate’s are working on.  They have a program where the supervisor enters the IP address and boom they’re looking at your computer screen.  You won’t notice a thing, only a slight blink of your computer screen.

When my friend tried it out the other day, they (his peers and himself) surveyed 6 employees computers.  Of the 6 employees monitored, only 1 of the employees was doing actual work.  Others were on web site’s and etc…  Hell, they could be blogging about the state of their work situations! 

I guess I really need to invest in the iPhone to keep my blogging and web activity up! 

Happy Earth Day…and other such musings

It’s April 22.  Happy Freakin’ Earth Day!! 

Second note of business.  Work.  Not going so great these days.  Plan B plans are going slow!! 

Tomorrow is a dreaded day for yours truly.  I have been summoned to the suburb of Hoffman Estates by my boss for a meeting.  This is NEVER good.  I KNOW it’s not going to be good for me.  I have been told in such terms that I am going to be put on a performance plan.  Not good at all!!  It’s kind of like a probation, for 90 days, I am going to be put under an even heavier microscope.  Within said 90 days, if I mess up in any way, I can be fired!!  No questions asked!!  UGH!!  What makes matters worse is that I think they “the leadership people” are going to move me to Hoffman Estates, which is not good either!!  It is sooo not a commutable distance for me.  It’s like 50 miles one-way in heavy traffic everyday.  Also, with gas prices at almost $4 a gallon, there is no way I could afford to make the drive.  The train is much much cheaper!!! 

So, anyway, here I am, with a huge pit in my stomach, dreading tomorrow.  Oh well, I shall survive!!

Plan B

As I wrote in an earlier blog, my company is laying off thousands of employees.  I believe the final figure will be about 1.5% of the workforce, but when you work at a company with about a total of 306,000 employees, it’s a lot of people.  That’s the back story.  The front story is this…

On Thursday, we had a departmental meeting where my boss’s boss announced that she was leaving the company, she also announced that one of my boss’s peers is also leaving the company.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I am so happy these people are leaving!!!  Waste of space if you ask me!!!  However, I can read the writing on the wall.  When leadership starts vacating it’s time to get your shit together and look for greener pastures.

This is where “Plan B” comes in to play.  It’s been my experience that large corporate environments are NOT for me!!!  But the question is, how do I avoid working in a corporate environment, when I NEED the salary and benefits?  Well, Part 1 of “Plan B” is make my house work for me.  How do you do that, you ask?  Well, my house is configured in such a way that I can rent a portion of it out.  The rental portion would include a private entrance, bedroom, bathroom and large living area.  There is no kitchen, however the rent includes all the utilities, electricity, water, gas, cable and internet.  I think that it’s a pretty good deal!

I put up an add on Craigslist and Myspace.  I’ve gotten a few responses, and today I was supposed to have a showing with Meaghan M at 9 am.  Well, Meaghan never showed.  But we shall press on.

Once, I have Part 1 of “Plan B” in place I can work on Part 2 of “Plan B”, which I believe will be quitting my good for nothing job and doing something like being a barrista at the Starbuck or something.

Dropping the Axe…

Today, the company I work for, is “dropping the axe” on thousands of employees.  I mean thousands!!  People are receiving 60 day notice of termination letters.  Which means, that they have 60 days to find another job within the company or at the end of 60 days they have to leave.  Of course with severance.  Which, byt the way, ain’t so hot.  A person that has been with the company 7 years, for example, only gets 24% of their base pay as severance.  So, a person who, say, makes $50,000, will only get $12,000.  That $12,000 gets paid monthly for the next year.  I think you can do the match on that. 

As far as I’m concerned, I think I’ll be ok.  Our department is contractor heavy, and contractors would go before an employee.  My boss has asked if anyone has any interest in leaving, if I had money, then I would go in a heartbeat, and lay on the beaches of Europe.  Dare I dream!!  

Gotta Love Work!!!

For as much as I bitch about my job, some days I just have really really good days, and yesterday was one of them!! If you didn’t know it by now, I work for a really huge company in the HR department. Yeah, yeah, I know, I don’t have the persona for it, blah blah blah… Well, yesterday was one of the funnest days at work I had in a very very long time!! I went to a job fair at a local university and had the best time. I really love getting out there and talking to people, it was really fun! If you’ve never been to a job fair before let me paint the picture…

Imagine a gymnasium full of rows of tables, one table inches from the next. Like a big maze!! Prospective candidates go from one table to the next. Each table is assigned to a company and the company brings signage, and info packets and goodies to give away. We give away pens, notebooks and backpacks with our company logo on them. Other comapnies had candy, highlighters etc..You get the drift!

So we got there and set up our table, we were situated between the 2 rudest companies! The company to our right, was some financial company and they had 1 lady there. This woman could not have been more disinterested in what was going on. She was on her Blackberry the whole time and when people would come up and talk to her, she wouldn’t even put the phone down. Don’t take my word for it, I TOOK PICTURES!!!! ah ha!! The job fair ended at 3pm, she left at 1pm. I should send these pictures to her company!! What a disgrace!!

The company to our left, well I don’t know how to describe them. They had 2 representatives there, a man and a woman. All they did was talk to each other, they barely talked to anyone else. They guy was snippy to me and I had to put him in his place real quick. I don’t know if the pair of them are screwing, but if they weren’t before yesterday, I can pretty much guarantee they are now!! The girl was wearing a suit, but the skirt was on the short side. To make matters worse, the skirt had a slit in front a good 3 inches long. Don’t believe me? Well, HA! I have more pics taken from my handy dandy phone!! Good thing we sat by the window and had plenty of natural light!!

Feedback…2.0..

Here is the email I sent to the recruiter….

Hi XXX,

I would like to thank you for taking the time to interview me. Although, I was not a match for what you are looking for, I was wondering if you could provide me with any feedback. I am always looking to improve myself and any information you provide will be extremely helpful.

Thanks and have a great day!

Here is her response…

Thank you for the follow up. There are a lot of factors that are taken into consideration, unfortunately I am unable to provide specifics regarding your process.

I wish you luck with your future endeavors.

Here is the automated email I received this morning provoking my blog…

Thank you for taking time to interview with us. We have given careful consideration to your experience and skills with regard to the position. We regret to inform you that we have decided to pursue other candidates.

Thank you for considering CDW as a prospective employer. We wish you success in your job search.

Best regards,
Recruiting Team

All I have to say is… FUCK YOU!!!! I am really pissed about this recruiter not being able to provide me with any specific feedback. I really went out of my way to go and interview for this job.

Seriously….WTF???

I think I’m in serious need of a paradigm shift! I have been on the hunt for a new job for quite some time now, I won’t tell you exactly how many months because the number depresses me, I think I’m just about out of steam! I just need to write and get this weight off my chest.

I have been on many interviews in the last months, most recently as yesterday. Each rejection notice is even more painful than the last. I don’t know why, most of the jobs I interview for I KNOW aren’t right for me, but I go on the interview anyway, for the practice. But at this point, I am just bewildered, I think I need a mental healh day from work. Here are the reasons I need a new job…

1. More Pay

That’s the only real reason I am trying to move on, it’s the only reason people move on to new jobs. Money is the motivating factor, plain and simple!!! Why is my quest proving to be so difficult? What can’t I catch a break? Am I “blowing” my interviews because I don’t really want to leave my low-paying position? Am I sub-consctiously afraid to leave my comfy little job? I’ll admit it, I have a very comfy job. I’m good at what I do, I can do the work in my sleep. My boss works out of another location, so I never see her, although, she does seem to find a way to annoy me on a daily basis. So that becomes another motivating factor for me to scidaddle, but the rejection is starting to get to me.

So, the latest interview I had, yesterday, is what really prompted to write this blog for you, my faithful reader. I had what I thought was a good interview. I met with 2 ladies, we talked about what I do and about what they do. blah blah blah The interview last like 45 minutes, not too long. When I got home that eveing, I had an email in my inbox from the recruiter leting me know that she enjoyed meeting me and that she would be in touch later this week to discuss “the next step.” Then, this morning, I got an automated email stating that they wanted to pursue other candidates…humpf…

I’ve emailed the recruiter and asked for feedback, but at this point I am too discouraged to care or even go on looking for another job!! I’ll follow up with the feedback…

What do you do…

Ok, my friend told me about a situation she is having at work, I was going back and forth whether or not I should blog about it, but I decided to go ahead, it’ll be a lesson for all of us. I never deny my public a chance to learn!!

My friend told me she found out that her boss wrote an unfavorable email about her to a co-worker. She doesn’t mind very much, people fuck up all the time, it was just her turn to fuck up. But the thing that really pisses her off is that her boss wrote this email to one of her co-workers, and to boot this co-worker is not even a full time employee, she’s a freakin’ contractor for the company. What to do…what to do???

Her boss is out on vacation, she will be back on Monday, she’ll have to take this up with her at that point in time…

At that time I will update of of you on the results…