The Careers/Jobs thread

[Dr_Pangloss]

Non-technical people in those roles do not work in my experience, they often have no clue what they're talking about and fail to grasp basic issues and headwinds. Every now and then you get a technical person who wants to do more 'project management' and make that transition, and that seems to work best, but those people are quite rare.

[Tegis]

2 hours ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

but those people are quite rare

And you lose a good tech/dev. It's a tricky appointment indeed

[chrisp65]

On 28/09/2018 at 14:32, Davkaus said:

I've been working as the team lead for a few months, and I'm weighing up asking for a demotion. Dealing with other people is a ballache. It's not even line management, but just putting up with people's bullshit and trying to herd a team of software developers in to doing their job without throwing tantrums is just making me miserable. It was a reasonable pay rise, but I think I'll be happier just focusing on my own work. 

Anyone else took a step back away from the greasy pole up to manglement? 

Is there any way you could get the job 'tweeked'?

I've sort of had a similar situation where I felt I'd been promoted to that point where they find the post you can't quite do, and that's where you then stay.

From a technical background, I started having to work on resourcing and invicing and tendering and all manner of other things I'd think were awesome, had I wanted a job in administration. So I explained that whilst there was a lot to do, it was basically thousands of straightforward admin tasks. So I got those bits transferred to admin.. 

I think everyone is happier. I'm happier and they aren't paying me millions to fill in spreadsheets.

Have a think about how you'd ideally see the role, and pitch it to whoever makes the decision.

[Dodgyknees]

I'm seriously thinking of moving to / near Birmingham.

What are the job prospects like up there? I work in communications / PR / journalism and all that jazz. Happy to take a role which isn't senior to get there quicker.

Any tips? Any good job websites? 

[Seat68]

A little irritated with a shirker of a test manager, first of all he sends me a load of requirements and tells me to script off those, no problem, I am a pro, piss easy, I make a start, a couple of hours later he sends an entirely different set of requirements and says script off those. OK, thats irritating, I carry on until towards the end of the day when he sends a third set. ****.

Further to that he then says he just wanted me to review the requirements as he wants me to script based on the delivered environment. 

Now I am not backward here, I am happy to ask people what the **** they are playing at and have zero issues with difficult conversations, but last time I answered this guy back he hauled me into a side office.

[chrisp65]

1 hour ago, Seat68 said:

A little irritated with a shirker of a test manager, first of all he sends me a load of requirements and tells me to script off those, no problem, I am a pro, piss easy, I make a start, a couple of hours later he sends an entirely different set of requirements and says script off those. OK, thats irritating, I carry on until towards the end of the day when he sends a third set. ****.

Further to that he then says he just wanted me to review the requirements as he wants me to script based on the delivered environment. 

Now I am not backward here, I am happy to ask people what the **** they are playing at and have zero issues with difficult conversations, but last time I answered this guy back he hauled me into a side office.

[Seat68]

3 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

That seems like the best option.

[AlwaysAVFC]

I handed my notice in today. Took on the role in September last year and by February i knew I'd made a mistake. The end of May I had 2 weeks off with anxiety which had got pretty bad.

I went back and made sure I cut my load down but being short-staffed continuously and having unreliable ones too, this was impossible at times. Too many extra days and hours and getting nothing for it. I've been close to saying sod it and walking out a few times and have been miserable for a while.

No idea where my career is going but got a job with Royal Mail. Don't know what money I'll be bringing in either but quite looking forward to it. Felt my health both physical and mental, getting worse. Getting out and about will be a refreshing change.

[A'Villan]

On 27/09/2018 at 04:26, Mandy Lifeboats said:

A retired friend is going for a job as Santa at the local shopping centre. He doesn't need the cash. I think he's just a weirdo who will probably be on a register some day.

Anyway...............

He knows the interviewer asks the question :

What would you say to a child who asked for his dead mother to come back for Christmas?

Wow..............

Anyone got any ideas?

My suggestion was to say "Yep. It's guaranteed" as you will never see them again. Apparently that wasn't helpful. 

 

Creative thinking challenges, role play competitions, pressure aptitude tests, teamwork capability exercises are some of the different ways I've encountered the employer trying to filter down or gain some insight on the potential candidates that are a bit different from your standard interview procedure.

I don't think I've ever come across one like you've mentioned, so sensitive and yet it confronts what's probably going to be your worst case scenario that you would encounter in the Santa job. Besides perhaps cracking a stiffy if indeed your friend is some weirdo to be on a register some day. Or, maybe some kid who upon receiving their gift pulls off your beard just to show how smart they are and you can't control yourself and kick them in the arse and curse them (true story, I was old enough to know it was a facade and young enough to have to take my turn receiving something from him, so I thought I'd amuse myself). As far as I'm concerned that's got to be the toughest it's going to get.

I think your suggestion of "Yep, it's guaranteed" would possibly be the best answer you could give the interviewer if you were showing your ability to serve your own immediate wants and feelings. I'm not entirely sure how serious to take your post but I assume most of it is in jest or lighthearted. Poor kid won't know what to think. There's some facade of a benevolent gift donator being pushed down their throat whilst trying to come to terms with the loss of a parent. Then someone throws a bit more bullshit their way by guaranteeing something which the child only will conceptualise as possible because of the trust it places in its seniors, only to learn that trust was misplaced.

Personally I don't believe that kids need to be fed fantasy in order to enhance the well-being of their childhood, they have imagination in abundance already and society might be less concerned with telling tales to protect the innocence of childhood as it might be providing a smoother transition for those children as they come to be adolescents and eventually adults.

Back to your question of "what would you say to this child?" and I have to wonder if your friends knowledge of the question to be asked is some inside information or intended for him to have some thinking time before answering. I'm not sure how many people would have the grace, kindness and presence of mind to be able to muster a response of worth in the moment and on the spot. Good on the employer for thinking of those who could probably use a little extra consideration though.

[lapal_fan]

13 hours ago, A'Villan said:

Creative thinking challenges, role play competitions, pressure aptitude tests, teamwork capability exercises are some of the different ways I've encountered the employer trying to filter down or gain some insight on the potential candidates that are a bit different from your standard interview procedure.

I don't think I've ever come across one like you've mentioned, so sensitive and yet it confronts what's probably going to be your worst case scenario that you would encounter in the Santa job. Besides perhaps cracking a stiffy if indeed your friend is some weirdo to be on a register some day. Or, maybe some kid who upon receiving their gift pulls off your beard just to show how smart they are and you can't control yourself and kick them in the arse and curse them (true story, I was old enough to know it was a facade and young enough to have to take my turn receiving something from him, so I thought I'd amuse myself). As far as I'm concerned that's got to be the toughest it's going to get.

I think your suggestion of "Yep, it's guaranteed" would possibly be the best answer you could give the interviewer if you were showing your ability to serve your own immediate wants and feelings. I'm not entirely sure how serious to take your post but I assume most of it is in jest or lighthearted. Poor kid won't know what to think. There's some facade of a benevolent gift donator being pushed down their throat whilst trying to come to terms with the loss of a parent. Then someone throws a bit more bullshit their way by guaranteeing something which the child only will conceptualise as possible because of the trust it places in its seniors, only to learn that trust was misplaced.

Personally I don't believe that kids need to be fed fantasy in order to enhance the well-being of their childhood, they have imagination in abundance already and society might be less concerned with telling tales to protect the innocence of childhood as it might be providing a smoother transition for those children as they come to be adolescents and eventually adults.

Back to your question of "what would you say to this child?" and I have to wonder if your friends knowledge of the question to be asked is some inside information or intended for him to have some thinking time before answering. I'm not sure how many people would have the grace, kindness and presence of mind to be able to muster a response of worth in the moment and on the spot. Good on the employer for thinking of those who could probably use a little extra consideration though.

D'you know @A'Villan, I don't think I've ever got to the end of one of your posts, because by the forth or fifth word, I'm bored. 

And it's not even because the post is boring (I dunno actually, 4 words isn't much to go on), it's because I understand only about 5% of the words you use. 

It's absolutely incredible and I love you for it.  

One question I've always wanted to ask you though, is your name Alan?  Because it would be so perfect. If it's not, I'm sure VT could have a whip-round to get it changed. 

[StefanAVFC]

15 hours ago, AlwaysAVFC said:

I handed my notice in today. Took on the role in September last year and by February i knew I'd made a mistake. The end of May I had 2 weeks off with anxiety which had got pretty bad.

I went back and made sure I cut my load down but being short-staffed continuously and having unreliable ones too, this was impossible at times. Too many extra days and hours and getting nothing for it. I've been close to saying sod it and walking out a few times and have been miserable for a while.

No idea where my career is going but got a job with Royal Mail. Don't know what money I'll be bringing in either but quite looking forward to it. Felt my health both physical and mental, getting worse. Getting out and about will be a refreshing change.

Be careful of @villarule123. He's shite at controlling his van.

[lapal_fan]

4 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said:

Be careful of @villarule123. He's shite at controlling his van.

BUT! Please DO ask him what he thought of the film, The Martian.

 

[A'Villan]

2 hours ago, lapal_fan said:

D'you know @A'Villan, I don't think I've ever got to the end of one of your posts, because by the forth or fifth word, I'm bored. 

And it's not even because the post is boring (I dunno actually, 4 words isn't much to go on), it's because I understand only about 5% of the words you use. 

It's absolutely incredible and I love you for it.  

One question I've always wanted to ask you though, is your name Alan?  Because it would be so perfect. If it's not, I'm sure VT could have a whip-round to get it changed. 

You're a bit of a legend when it suits you lapal_fan. It's usually four or five words in to one of your Off Topic posts and I'll be amused by your antics. Don't mind reading your posts on the footy either.

You're not missing out on much in my posts, if I understood them myself, I'd bet they are mostly just long winded and pretentious for the most part but I'm glad you see them from a positive.

No, my name is not Alan. I've never been much for formalities and I've been called much worse than Alan though so consider it official if you like. You can pocket the whip-round cash as remuneration for your comic efforts. "You got the bad aids"  doctors note was a classic. Probably the best welcome to off topic I could have hoped for.

Edited October 25, 2018 by A'Villan

[lapal_fan]

3 minutes ago, A'Villan said:

You're a bit of a legend when it suits you lapal_fan. It's usually four or five words in to one of your Off Topic posts and I'll be amused by your antics. Don't mind reading your posts on the footy either.

You're not missing out on much in my posts, if I understood them myself, I'd bet they are mostly just long winded and pretentious for the most part but I'm glad you see them from a positive.

No, my name is not Alan. I've never been much for formalities and I've been called much worse than Alan though so consider it official if you like. You can pocket the whip-round cash as remuneration for your comic efforts. "You got the bad aids"  doctors note was a classic. Probably the best welcome to off topic I could have hoped for.

  I'm glad my incredible, yet nasty bastard sense of humor isn't lost on you.  

As for the last bit, I'll try and reply how I think you would; 

Upon my mind transformation occurring strategies, in the cumulus nimbus area of my rectal capacity gaining software, I have occluded to many serpents within the mind bending missioners to which one would not like to be proffered, preferably.  Within it's very open source data and other confident committals of secular trusts and Shakespearean works, I come to the conclusions that both methodical, hypothetical, modular and almost linear lines have withdrawn the yellow hue of the smoking pistols of bearish/bullish sectors. 

But in my language, I'm saying "Don't remember that mate." 

[A'Villan]

1 hour ago, lapal_fan said:

  I'm glad my incredible, yet nasty bastard sense of humor isn't lost on you.  

As for the last bit, I'll try and reply how I think you would; 

Upon my mind transformation occurring strategies, in the cumulus nimbus area of my rectal capacity gaining software, I have occluded to many serpents within the mind bending missioners to which one would not like to be proffered, preferably.  Within it's very open source data and other confident committals of secular trusts and Shakespearean works, I come to the conclusions that both methodical, hypothetical, modular and almost linear lines have withdrawn the yellow hue of the smoking pistols of bearish/bullish sectors. 

But in my language, I'm saying "Don't remember that mate." 

hahaha ah sh**. Slightly embarrassing. Thankfully I don't speak like I write.

What left an impression on me is all in a days work for you perhaps.

If it were my handiwork it'd be framed and straight to the trophy cabinet.

I was complaining in the Things That Piss You off That Shouldn't thread about a specialist doctors handwriting not being readable because I had waited three months for the appointment for this doctor to handwrite his prescription that I couldn't even read.

You then posted an image of the message "you got the bad aids 2xparacetamol everyday" scribbled in ms paint.

Good times.

[lapal_fan]

1 minute ago, A'Villan said:

hahaha ah sh**. Slightly embarrassing. Thankfully I don't speak like I write.

What left an impression on me is all in a days work for you perhaps.

If it were my handiwork it'd be framed and straight to the trophy cabinet.

I was complaining in the Things That Piss You off That Shouldn't thread about a specialist doctors handwriting not being readable because I had waited three months for the appointment for this doctor to handwrite his prescription that I couldn't even read.

You then posted an image of the message "you got the bad aids 2xparacetamol everyday" scribbled in ms paint.

Good times.

hahahahah, yea that's sounds pretty funny.  Must have been me   

[A'Villan]

Shifting from full time to part time at uni so I can enjoy another season playing basketball in Australia's third tier.

At 28 years old, there's still opportunity for me as a player for another 5 or so years, and I intend on making up for lost time that I spent away from the game by learning from and working with the best. A friend of mine is moving up in the coaching world, recently running a clinic with Eric Gordon. We will start some training together in November and he's going to put me on to a group of guys all training for contracts in Europe. I have played in the same division as guys who have had trials with NBA teams as well as NBL players. A teammate of mine from two years back went for a 300k contract (which is big money for Australian basketball) at age 32. I have played against Corey 'Homicide' Williams and held my own, Homicide is an NBL MVP and toured with the Harlem Globetrotters for a year, earned the nickname 'Homicide' in the NYC streetball scene because he was so good. I'd like to go from being known as a 3pt specialist streetballer to making a greater contribution in the professional setting. Homicide didn't win the NBL MVP until he was 33 and I know guys who have made their debut at age 30. It's an exciting time for me in this regard. If I commit to the work, I have all the connections to play at a level greater than I thought possible when I was going through some issues and heartache.

I remember when I first started stepping back on to the court for the first time after a 5 year hiatus sometimes it would be at 4am by myself at the local park and I was so disheartened with where my life was at I couldn't even focus enough to hit a shot on target. This is the same person who at age 11 was the first selection to represent Victoria at Nationals and was playing for a representative club's Under 16 first team at age 13. I just didn't have the focus anymore. Thankfully I kept going back to the court and soon enough I was practicing with a professional shooting routine. I started out terribly but I was still committing to putting up the numbers, regardless of how bad my makes tally was. Eventually I got good enough to join a semi pro club and 3 years ago I joined a club in Australia's third tier. I was 6 makes from 8 takes in my last competitive fixture from 3pt line and in training and in streetball I generally shoot over 50% from 3pt but I'm yet to replicate that at club level outside of training routines.

My nickname in the streetball scene is 'shooter' because of the accuracy of my 3pt and long range 2pt game. I was having a discussion with my coach and he has outlined where he thinks my strengths and where my weaknesses are. Basically my asset is my shooting and that would make sense because it's the only aspect of my game where I actually committed to and maintained professional shooting routine. I'm really hoping the networks I have built and the workouts that will come from them can take my game up a notch.

I am also working at a mental health clinic. Volunteering as a youth mentor for at risk youth and with the homeless too. I have lived experience in all three areas and am studying youth work to go into that field. My ambition with basketball is more than just enjoying my prime years at the highest level possible, it's so I can share my story with others who are going through mental health issues or homelessness.

I also will be taking up a role as a basketball coach, doing school programs for students. Bit of extra income.

Lastly, coming to England end of next year for a wedding, I hear the English top tier for basketball is pretty average but who knows, a season with a club close enough to Birmingham to allow me to come to Villa Park would be pretty cool.

Edited October 25, 2018 by A'Villan

[HanoiVillan]

13 hours ago, A'Villan said:

I have played against Corey 'Homicide' Williams and held my own, Homicide is an NBL MVP and toured with the Harlem Globetrotters for a year, earned the nickname 'Homicide' in the NYC streetball scene because he was so good.

Ah, so that's his story, is it. 

[A'Villan]

On 26/10/2018 at 16:50, HanoiVillan said:

Ah, so that's his story, is it. 

You know of him?

Perhaps commenting on the irony of someone being nicknamed 'homicide' for being good?

I'm not sure.

[lapal_fan]

3 hours ago, A'Villan said:

You know of him?

Perhaps commenting on the irony of someone being nicknamed 'homicide' for being good?

I'm not sure.

I think shrop was making a humorous remark on that's what he would say he got his nickname from if he HAD killed someone and tried to get away with it.