Stupid (and now former) new employee

[FelixDeCat]

Give it some time man. If you show competence and willingness to work, you'll get pulled into more projects after a bit of time. Soon, you'll be in a position where things will need to be put onto the back burner.

I had seven engineering internships, and the lack of work as you're just starting out is normal. I've had two real engineering jobs; even coming in with a high-level degree, there's still a slow start until you get integrated into the system. My manager at my current job is not very proactive, so I spent a lot of my first months browsing the company Web site, directories, and reading stuff (journals and whatnot). At some point, I flat out asked for more work.

Now, I have more than I can handle. It's far better than too little.

Good for you.

Nearing the 17th year I said f it, quit & started my own business.

It failed.

 

[moshquerade]

Another department hired a guy out of college, civil engineering. Probably around $55K a year. A couple months later I get a note to remove him from the list of recipients for certain reports, which seemed odd. I asked the manager about it.

The guy was leaving work in the middle of the day for a couple hours a few days a week, but was careful to get back before the end of the day so he could be seen when others in the group started to go home for the day. Manager started to get suspicious so he asked the facility manager for the data on the guy's electronic badge use. That seemed to indicate what was going on, so the manager monitored the guy carefully for a week. Three days that week he snuck out around 1 and came back between 3:30 and 4.

The confrontation:
Manager: Bob, I need you to explain why you have been leaving work for hours in the middle of the work day.
Bob: I don't do that.
Manager: I want to know why.
Bob: Uh, you told me when I got hired that you have flex time.
Manager: That's true, and I explained exactly how that works. Do you think it meant you could work 30-35 hours a week and record that you worked 40?
Bob: No, I work 40 hours.
Manager: You were only here about 32 hours last week, and your time sheet shows 40 hours.
Bob: I work the rest of the hours at home.
Manager: Bob, you are fired.

So we'll never know what the guy was up to, but for someone right out of school to blow a good opportunity like that really shocks me. The guy's manager thinks the guy simply thought he could get away with it, and wasn't as clever as he thought he was.

Amazing he would do this... especially being his first job.

I say he was sneaking out and havin an affair. Lust, sex, the thrill of it all, made him not think clearly.

Then again, that's purely a rumor.

 

[D1gger]

Amazing he would do this... especially being his first job.

I say he was sneaking out and havin an affair. Lust, sex, the thrill of it all, made him not think clearly.

Then again, that's purely a rumor.

So Mosh, was Bob a good lay? :sneaky:

 

[96Firebird]

Mechanical Engineer/Project Manager for Naval Subcontractor ... my deadlines are typically measured in months or years and it's rare that I need to be in the office every day unless it's to answer customer phone calls. My email and phone calls are all forwarded to my phone so I am never out of touch. During the winters I can easily work from home if the weather sucks (Northeast winters can be a bitch here in Rochester). My work also often relies on input from coworkers and I tend to be ahead of them quite often, that gives me lots of free time. Summer months I am usually in the office around 7am and leave around 230p.

As long as my work gets done when it's supposed to be done and my customers can reach me, no one has a problem with my hours.

Rochester eh... Looking to hire?

 

[child of wonder]

As others have said, the number of hours a salaried employee works shouldn't matter so long as they're completing all tasks assigned to them and are available should something unexpected come up.

That's what I love about my job. One week I may work 50 hours and then 20 the next. I'm doing what's expected of me and more so my company doesn't care.

 

[moshquerade]

So Mosh, was Bob a good lay? :sneaky:

LOL!

not really, he seemed distracted.... something about work being on his mind. :awe:

 

[arcenite]

Yeah the dumb things he did was not telling anyone what was up and not working 40 hours.

He was probably going home to play WoW.

 

[Kelvrick]

I usually agree with the doing whatever work you have and that being that, but you should be on best behavior for at least a few months, a good year to get integrated into your team before pulling this shit.

 

[AreaCode707]

Once we hired a contract new recruiting assistant. She came in on time the first week, did her job well, and was pleasant. The second week she came in late, calling the first few days to explain she had a migraine. The fourth and fifth days she didn't notify us she was going to be late and the water started to heat up.

The following Monday we were discussing her future at the company, but when she didn't show up on Tuesday and WE called HER, she flippantly said, "oh, I got a better job. I quit."

Rude and cheeky of her, but sometimes you make a bad hire, oh well. We shut off her badge and started manning her inbox.

The next day we get a phone call from someone asking for a manager on the fourth floor and we transfer it up. GUESS WHO PICKS UP THE PHONE?? She took a job with us, blew it off, and then took a job with the tax department. My coworker who was transferring the call was a little astounded and the chick's blithe answer was, "well, I make 45k here so whatever. Oh, and STOP answering my email!"

So she was still using her email account. My coworker did a little checking and found out that (A) she had told Tax that we knew she was job hunting, (B) they mainly hired her because they were on a short timeline and she already had accounts to everything, (C) she had led them to believe she'd worked with us for a long time.

Well, she was in HR and had a ton of access she wasn't allowed to have. Since she'd never formally informed ME, the person responsible for her accounts, that she was still here, I followed protocol to the letter and shut them all off.

We got a RANTING mad call from her pissed that she'd been locked in the parking garage when her badge was disabled, and that her emails were gone, etc. To which I answered, entirely surprised, "Well, you QUIT..."

I think Tax fired her about 6 weeks later.

 

[Need4Speed]

Rochester eh... Looking to hire?

The turnover is pretty low here. You have to be a major fuckup to mess this job up. I've only known two guys that got fired from here in the past 10yrs. One of them was playing wolfenstein all afternoon on company PC's rather than working. Granted, we've been known to have deatchmatches during lunch, but he was pushing the envelope and not getting his work done. He was a designer and typically had a full stack of things to do. I wasn't surprised when they sent him packing. The second guy was an ME and just wasn't a good fit. He had it in mind of how HE wanted things to go around here and had a hard time conforming to the system and processes. Nice enough guy, just not a very good fit. It's one thing to have your own vision and ideas, it's another to blatantly just not want to go along with how things go. I dread it when I see his name on any drawings or models. I know I'll be spending all afternoon trying to understand what he did and fixing it.

 

[Spikesoldier]

guess he forgot he wasnt working for the government.

 

[96Firebird]

The turnover is pretty low here. You have to be a major fuckup to mess this job up. I've only known two guys that got fired from here in the past 10yrs. One of them was playing wolfenstein all afternoon on company PC's rather than working. Granted, we've been known to have deatchmatches during lunch, but he was pushing the envelope and not getting his work done. He was a designer and typically had a full stack of things to do. I wasn't surprised when they sent him packing. The second guy was an ME and just wasn't a good fit. He had it in mind of how HE wanted things to go around here and had a hard time conforming to the system and processes. Nice enough guy, just not a very good fit. It's one thing to have your own vision and ideas, it's another to blatantly just not want to go along with how things go. I dread it when I see his name on any drawings or models. I know I'll be spending all afternoon trying to understand what he did and fixing it.

I see... If you don't mind me asking, what is the company? Always good to have local companies in mind in case I am ever looking for a job in the area again. PM works if you don't want it public...

 

[Wyndru]

That's amusing. I am curious if he was actually getting his work done, though.

That should really be the main consideration. I guess I'm lucky that my job is flexible. As long as I get my work done I can come and go as I please. Sometimes that means staying late, sometimes that means leaving at noon. Either way it's better than punching a clock and being worried that someone is watching over you.

 

[Vic Vega]

Another department hired a guy out of college, civil engineering. Probably around $55K a year. A couple months later I get a note to remove him from the list of recipients for certain reports, which seemed odd. I asked the manager about it.

The guy was leaving work in the middle of the day for a couple hours a few days a week, but was careful to get back before the end of the day so he could be seen when others in the group started to go home for the day. Manager started to get suspicious so he asked the facility manager for the data on the guy's electronic badge use. That seemed to indicate what was going on, so the manager monitored the guy carefully for a week. Three days that week he snuck out around 1 and came back between 3:30 and 4.

The confrontation:
Manager: Bob, I need you to explain why you have been leaving work for hours in the middle of the work day.
Bob: I don't do that.
Manager: I want to know why.
Bob: Uh, you told me when I got hired that you have flex time.
Manager: That's true, and I explained exactly how that works. Do you think it meant you could work 30-35 hours a week and record that you worked 40?
Bob: No, I work 40 hours.
Manager: You were only here about 32 hours last week, and your time sheet shows 40 hours.
Bob: I work the rest of the hours at home.
Manager: Bob, you are fired.

So we'll never know what the guy was up to, but for someone right out of school to blow a good opportunity like that really shocks me. The guy's manager thinks the guy simply thought he could get away with it, and wasn't as clever as he thought he was.

He thought he was entitled to the job and found out that he wasn't. Learning experience for him.

 

[vshah]

<snip>

Thumbs up, well done. People like that need to learn a lesson at some point in their lives.

 

[Vette73]

guess he forgot he wasnt working for the government.

Actually I work for the Fed Gov and AWOL is a easy one to fire someone for.
In fact the full MSPB board came out with a ruling this month showing how we can NOT use FMLA against someone but AWOL is a easy one and they let someone getting fired stand on that alone even though MGT messed up the first part of it.

 

[Imp]

My job is 10 up 30 down. After the 10th time checking around for shit to do, you get a bit tired of asking and start collecting the pay check. I actually took up a casual second job and went back to get my master's because I was so effing bored. But I show up for my 8 hours and make myself available for when there is shit.

 

[TecHNooB]

Once we hired a contract new recruiting assistant. She came in on time the first week, did her job well, and was pleasant. The second week she came in late, calling the first few days to explain she had a migraine. The fourth and fifth days she didn't notify us she was going to be late and the water started to heat up.

The following Monday we were discussing her future at the company, but when she didn't show up on Tuesday and WE called HER, she flippantly said, "oh, I got a better job. I quit."

Rude and cheeky of her, but sometimes you make a bad hire, oh well. We shut off her badge and started manning her inbox.

The next day we get a phone call from someone asking for a manager on the fourth floor and we transfer it up. GUESS WHO PICKS UP THE PHONE?? She took a job with us, blew it off, and then took a job with the tax department. My coworker who was transferring the call was a little astounded and the chick's blithe answer was, "well, I make 45k here so whatever. Oh, and STOP answering my email!"

So she was still using her email account. My coworker did a little checking and found out that (A) she had told Tax that we knew she was job hunting, (B) they mainly hired her because they were on a short timeline and she already had accounts to everything, (C) she had led them to believe she'd worked with us for a long time.

Well, she was in HR and had a ton of access she wasn't allowed to have. Since she'd never formally informed ME, the person responsible for her accounts, that she was still here, I followed protocol to the letter and shut them all off.

We got a RANTING mad call from her pissed that she'd been locked in the parking garage when her badge was disabled, and that her emails were gone, etc. To which I answered, entirely surprised, "Well, you QUIT..."

I think Tax fired her about 6 weeks later.

wowweee. some people :|

 

[angminas]

And it is certainly much better than his new salary of $0.

Nice line, and nice new avatar

 

[zinfamous]

lol $55k? He was probably selling dope to get some extra income

is this a serious post?

 

[kranky]

Once we hired a contract new recruiting assistant...

Whoa, AC707, that is a classic story.

 

[thegimp03]

Well, guess he learned his lesson.

 

[vshah]

I love Swissvale. And yes the cost of living in PGH is low, esp the housing market.

my fiancee is at upitt for md/phd...i'm probably moving back there in a year or so (went to CMU). Can't wait.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

The part that bothers me is the manager having to check with security to find out when he came and went. Does the manager really not know when his team members are not there? Does the manager really not know if work is being done?

 

[Zorander]

Once we hired a contract new recruiting assistant...

I love happy endings. :biggrin: