Fired?

[nageov3t]

alright, so I think I might be getting fired this week...

a few months ago, the powers that be instituted a policy that no one is to mess with unix servers (on the software side) except for unix tech support. the other night, I kinda forgot that the policy was changed. I went in, restarted a few services on a unix server, and ended up totally fvcking it over (don't know how, exactly, since the unix shell told me that the commands I entered couldn't be found, but the client wrote an e-mail demanding a pound of flesh, and the CTO is on a rampage about it).

I've known people who've done much worse and walked away from it with only a write-up and a black mark in their file (ex: reformatting a server when the client only wanted a soft reinstall), but I seem to be in a position where firing me would not only satisfy the client and the CTO, but firing me would also make a great example to ensure that no one ever violates the policy again.

so my concern is this... if I get fired (and I can live with that), how do you play it down when you're interviewing with new potential employers? I don't want to come right out and say that I fvcked up, because there goes any chance I have of getting a job, but I also don't want to sit there and blame it on everything in the world but myself (for starters, it would make me look weak and like someone who avoids responsibility, and also, it really was 100% my fault).

 

[slickcat]

If it really was your fault than make sure to tell your future employer the whole story. They will respect you more for being honest with them and make sure to let them know that it is a lesson learned and there is no danger of it being repeated.

 

[lobadobadingdong]

Originally posted by: slickcat
If it really was your fault than make sure to tell your future employer the whole story. They will respect you more for being honest with them and make sure to let them know that it is a lesson learned and there is no danger of it being repeated.

agreed

 

[lancestorm]

I would worry about your current job. You are not gone yet. I would openly talk to management about the situation, say what happened and be completely honest. I don't think you are entirely responsible because they should have some control on the users and their access in the system. If you are honest, completely & honestly sorry (and show it), and show a care for making sure this doesn't happen again... what more could they say? Take responsibility and hope they see your professionalism in dealing with the problem.

 

[Czar]

take responsibility and be honest

 

[nageov3t]

Originally posted by: lancestorm
I would worry about your current job. You are not gone yet. I would openly talk to management about the situation, say what happened and be completely honest. I don't think you are entirely responsible because they should have some control on the users and their access in the system. If you are honest, completely & honestly sorry (and show it), and show a care for making sure this doesn't happen again... what more could they say? Take responsibility and hope they see your professionalism in dealing with the problem.

yeah, that all went down yesterday. they called me up on my day off and asked me to come in. I basically told them that there's no excuse I can offer up, and I'm not going to waste their time by trying to make one up (though if I really wanted to, I could have an IM conversation doctored up in under 10 minutes that would show someone in unix support telling me to do it didn't say that to the bosses, though).

given the choice, I don't think that my bosses would fire me, but if the CTO tells them to, there's not much any of us can do about it.

right now, I'm just sitting at home waiting for the other shoe to drop. I'm hoping they'll call me this morning, so I can at least get some sleep, but I might have to wait until I go back to work on Wednesday.

and to make matters worse, they just hired my best friend on my recomendation. he starts work on Thursday... boy that'll be awkward if he ends up having to replace me.

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: loki8481
alright, so I think I might be getting fired this week...

a few months ago, the powers that be instituted a policy that no one is to mess with unix servers (on the software side) except for unix tech support. the other night, I kinda forgot that the policy was changed. I went in, restarted a few services on a unix server, and ended up totally fvcking it over (don't know how, exactly, since the unix shell told me that the commands I entered couldn't be found, but the client wrote an e-mail demanding a pound of flesh, and the CTO is on a rampage about it).

Now you see why they would create such a policy.

 

[dman]

Did they state in the 'under no circumstances' note that the penalty would be job termination?

Perhaps, before the other shoe drops, you can go back to your management and offer to lead a change mangement presentation to the various software folks and explain why this policy was implemented.

You might also look into restricting access to folks so that non-authorized folks have less chance of farking things up.

 

[nageov3t]

restricting access would be complicated at best.

we're not dealing with inter-company servers, we're dealing with client servers... when I'm on monitoring duty, my job is to deal with whatever issues I can deal with myself, and escalate everything else to the appropriate departments. before escalating something up to Unix support, I log into the server to make sure that the password works. if the password doesn't work, we just send the client an e-mail.

on the fated night in question, tech support was really busy. I though it was a simple enough issue, and I'd minimize downtime if I just took care of the issue myself, rather than waiting 45 minutes for the unix peeps to do it.

 

[nageov3t]

***update***

yay! I didn't get fired. just a write up in my file and a couple months of probation.

apparently, the CTO did tell my bosses to fire me, but they stood up for me. so yay for having great bosses

 

[azazyel]

what does probation mean for you, no TV?

 

[Hammer]

Originally posted by: loki8481
***update***

yay! I didn't get fired. just a write up in my file and a couple months of probation.

apparently, the CTO did tell my bosses to fire me, but they stood up for me. so yay for having great bosses

yay! now go restart a few services to celebrate!

 

[tomstevens26]

Originally posted by: azazyel
what does probation mean for you, no TV?

At my company (where I don't think they ever write anyone up!) being on probation means you no longer get your quarterly bonus. So for me, that would really blow! But, it is better than being fired. No bonus is better than job hunting.

Tom

 

[Argo]

Wow, I've never seen anybody get fired for an honest mistake. Now if you've been screwing up multiple times - that's a different story.

 

[Mandos]

Lucky you! Congrats on having good bosses man!

 

[slycat]

let me tell u ...my first 3 days on a new job, i formatted my CEO's laptop where he does
ALL his work with company documents...and survived. Apparently he did not understand
- " ..so its ready to be formatted and everything reinstalled?..all important stuff saved?"
He thought by 'saved', yes they were saved in the laptop.

still my fault since he was the CEO.

 

[dxkj]

Originally posted by: slycat
let me tell u ...my first 3 days on a new job, i formatted my CEO's laptop where he does
ALL his work with company documents...and survived. Apparently he did not understand
- " ..so its ready to be formatted and everything reinstalled?..all important stuff saved?"
He thought by 'saved', yes they were saved in the laptop.

still my fault since he was the CEO.

lol, good thing he didnt fire you, he was the dumbass

 

[LordThing]

Originally posted by: slycat
let me tell u ...my first 3 days on a new job, i formatted my CEO's laptop where he does
ALL his work with company documents...and survived. Apparently he did not understand
- " ..so its ready to be formatted and everything reinstalled?..all important stuff saved?"
He thought by 'saved', yes they were saved in the laptop.

still my fault since he was the CEO.

Ghost Backups are your friend.

 

[oniq]

You got some great bosses, remember this in the future..

 

[Krazy4Real]

You should take your bosses out to lunch to say thank you.

 

[Balt]

Originally posted by: Krazy4Real
You should take your bosses out to lunch to say thank you.

Or at the very least a nice letter in which you promise to help them paint their house.

 

[imported_Strang]

Originally posted by: LordThing

Originally posted by: slycat
let me tell u ...my first 3 days on a new job, i formatted my CEO's laptop where he does
ALL his work with company documents...and survived. Apparently he did not understand
- " ..so its ready to be formatted and everything reinstalled?..all important stuff saved?"
He thought by 'saved', yes they were saved in the laptop.

still my fault since he was the CEO.

Ghost Backups are your friend.

Yep, I ghost almost every computer that I'm doing any serious work on (or sending out for service) and keep it on my image server for "two weeks" (which translates into 6 months or whenever I need extra HD space).

 

[nageov3t]

Originally posted by: azazyel
what does probation mean for you, no TV?

probation = if I screw up again, I'll be fired

 

[Kelemvor]

I did that a while ago. One of the Higher up HR people needed to have their laptop reimaged. Normally we pop in a spare drive, image that, then transfer their files over from their actual drive. Problem was I forgot to put the spare drive in before I did the reimage and I wiped out everything.

We were able to get a lot back via a data restore company...

But nothing bad happened because we blamed it on the SMS update pushes we get because our SMS team has no idea what the hell they are doing and they crash systems all the time.

 

[m2kewl]

how did you not check with the whole IT group before you did something.

i'd of have sent mail to my group and get approval...just to cover my arse!