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  • #1

    Somebody explain this to me...

    Fair warning:

    A little BG: I work as the office geek/tech support dude for a small accounting firm. I explicitly chose to work there to avoid the megacorp "being treated as a number" syndrome. My boss has been stacking some serious straws on my back as of late. A prior issue with some of his more questionable practices way back in aught six or so led to him, more than once, uttering the words "EK, I don't PAY you to think!"...Wait...Main (read: only inhouse) IT guy...printer exorcist...web dude...installer and trainer...lead tech support for two applications that we sell; and Junior-only-because-the-seniors-have-been-doing-it-for-20-years tech on the other app...and you don't want me to THINK?!


    EK - moi
    OM - office manager; accountant whose primary role is Admin and managerial
    DB - da boss
    JA - junior accountant/eventually a CPA


    Hours have been dropping since April or so, for pretty much everybody but the boss's GF...who is with him on vacation (the boss is out of town this week and next)

    My hours dropped in April, from about 38/wk to under 15 (meaning one day in the ofc (if I'm lucky) to try and do Admin and a week's worth of website updates and other Tasks, plus hourly credit for billable time charged)...And here's the kicker....Not only did this happen on less than 24 hours' notice, BM mentioned it in the same breath where he let me know that he and his GF were taking a 2-week vacation to tour Germany. Which he's doing now. All the while, lamenting their lack of available cash money...

    I had an interesting convo with OM today when I stopped by work (not scheduled, I just had personal stuff to do that I needed network access for). The boss was tying to implement a program whereby one of his Junior Accountants would be coming in and spending more time in the office, doing admin duties and such...problem is, while she's really nice and a good accountant, she SUCKS at Admin. JA doesn't even answer phones not sent her way (which is a primary qualification for Admin in our office)...

    The thing is, hours given to JA would be IN LIEU OF OM's Admin time...and Admin is the bulk of what OM does. OM's hours have already dropped from 40 to under 30.

    This whole thing wound up opening up a whole new can of beans (*urp* had some of those for dinner ) -- OM and BM had their weekly meeting, which changed from a 30-min review to 2.5 hours, including her threatening to walk out over this ... She also made sure to mention how she had noticed how badly *I* got ed over in the process (see below)....BM's response to that was something along the lines of how he "couldn't afford to lose EK" (one other person can do sites, but he's an accountant who is new to it, he mainly just does minor edits, no formal ASP training of which I am aware)...Well, that and $3.50 will buy me a cup of coffee, and it begs the question of why he's been treating me like dirt for ages even BEFORE he slashed the schedules >_<

    ((Also, as the icing: He's been in breach of my contract for awhile now with regards to my paycheck (but I'm not dumb enough to leave before I have something new...been trying since last YEAR to get a better job), and has violated Labor Laws with regards to me as well...I called our state Dept of Labor, eventually got to some humans who played "Pass The Buck" with me and sent me to the local office...who passed me right back to HQ...etc....I also need to find a contract lawyer who will work on a ...I believe the word is Contingency Basis? i.e., where they don't get paid until and ulkess I win?))
    "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
    "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
    "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
    "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
    "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
    "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
    Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
    "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Dear,

    Start hunting. Now. You say you've been looking, but....how hard? Right now, with 15 hours per week allocated, you have roughly 25 left to do job hunting.
    FIRST TO DO: File for UNDEREMPLOYMENT. If you're working 10 hours per week but are available for 40+ and nobody's using you for the extra 30, YOU QUALIFY.
    Trust me. I did it.

    1. Linked in
    2. Facebook (CLEAN BASIC PAGE WITH NO BS ON IT)
    3. State job search websites
    4. USA OPM job search website
    5. Get resume tuned up (I'll help, I'm IT myself)
    6. Start chatting to recruiters
    7. Craigslist
    8. go to the next MS get together (google for it now, there's stuff happening in Sept/Oct) and NETWORK!!!
    9. Job fairs
    10. look at your local university

    you could do so much. SOOO much.
    But you cannot burn the bridge with this job, even if it's tempting as hell. Do not walk out.

    Get the underemployment to boost your income. FS if needed. You need the nutrition and gas money to fly outta this coop.

    Once you get the new job, choose 1. Let Asshole boss go to hell on his own. Or...2. Fight the mofo and let him have it legally with both barrels.

    If you choose 2, remember you will have an uphill battle that will add stress. It's up to you.

    But for now, focus on getting the new job, this one is f-ing ridiculous. You don't need this shit.

    Cutenoob
    In my heart, in my soul, I'm a woman for rock & roll.
    She's as fast as slugs on barbituates.

    Comment

    • #3
      Quoth Cutenoob View Post
      FIRST TO DO: File for UNDEREMPLOYMENT.

      4. USA OPM job search website

      you could do so much. SOOO much.
      But you cannot burn the bridge with this job, even if it's tempting as hell. Do not walk out.

      Once you get the new job, choose 1. Let Asshole boss go to hell on his own. Or...2. Fight the mofo and let him have it legally with both barrels.

      But for now, focus on getting the new job, this one is f-ing ridiculous. You don't need this shit.

      Cutenoob
      Agreed ^_^

      I'll have to check -- full Unemployment here maxes out at $285 a week or so, and my gross is higher than that (gross gets deducted from any UE payments), so that's a no-go. Will check into Under-E. I had not heard of that before (and naturally the guys at the Labor offices never mentioned it)

      I applied for Food Stamps but was turned down. I make ever-so-slightly too much in Gross to qualify (even tho my NET is under that amount). Which sucks.

      LinkedIn -- been on it for ages

      FB - have a personal one, I can always set up a business one (I have an LLC that I have registered but I have yet to DO much with, as I just did it a month ago; working on SBA loans...even struggling with the issues that invariably accompany self-employment is better than this)

      Sites - working on that, including usajobs.gov and others. Need to spread out to some others as well

      CL - has been a bust so far as far as writing to posters there. Many have been scammers; those who weren't don't write back. I presume you meant doing my own ads there?

      Will check job fairs and the other things you mentioned.

      I've been applying at consulting, accounting firms, hospital IT (have a friend at one who was helping me as a ref; but their HR people didn't really care); working on an app for teaching at a local tech school (their Pres was in my HS class, but he's not in charge of hiring). My most serious job hunts have all met with rejections along the lines of "not enough experience in this specific field" before it ever reached the interview stage (note - not total lack of EXP, just a matter of needing to grind out another level/year or two in field ___). Well, that would be why I mention that, 'if they'll train me on whatever, I'll learn it" in the cover letter.

      Speaking of MS -- they had their freakin' WORLDWIDE conference right here in town recently -- I wanted to go that soooo badly... but I could not afford the entrance fee (around a grand), for obvious reasons. (My general location is no secret on these boards, I just don't get more specific than "the NOLA area"). I used to go to their local free stuff before the big K...I'll check and see what they've re-started, if any. They stopped after the storm for a bit, again, for obvious reasons.

      Legal: planning to hit him with both barrels once I have a new job or 2. I've even been talking to retail stores to use as a second job type of thing. I'll even go back to GameStore if that's what I gotta do.

      "Walking out" requires 30 days' notice, tho, by my contract >_< I have no intention of putting in notice until I have something new IN WRITING and ready to rock

      #4: en Englais, por favor. Link if you please?

      Resume: I'll PM it to you tonight. I would appreciate any help with it you (or any others) can offer ^_^

      My IT EXP can be summed up as : AS in CIS (plus BA in English), olde-schoole ASP6/ some c++6/vb6/database creation, self-taught windows stuff/troubleshooting/building going back to 1990, plus 4 years of the stuff I mentioned in the first post
      Last edited by EricKei; 08-15-2009, 04:43 PM.
      "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
      "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
      "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
      "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
      "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
      "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
      Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
      "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

      Comment

      • #4
        #4: en Englais, por favor. Link if you please?
        That's the USA jobs website.

        http://usajobs.opm.gov/

        OPM: office of personnel management.
        Ornery Pissant Managers?
        Old People Migrate?

        Craigslist...check the tech support and system admin links too. Also...if you freelance, check the Computer Gigs link at bottom of page. You might be able to get a few bux for cheap and do some work, building your own customer base.

        Good luck

        Cutenoob
        In my heart, in my soul, I'm a woman for rock & roll.
        She's as fast as slugs on barbituates.

        Comment

        • #5
          Ahh - yes, USA Jobs is one of the places I'm already signed up with.

          Thanks!

          Resume sent to PM...in 3 parts due to the character limit
          "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
          "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
          "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
          "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
          "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
          "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
          Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
          "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

          Comment

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