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Sunday, December 03, 2006

OT: Work Update

As mentioned in my previous post, I thought that Thursday was my last day of work at my former company. I was confused as to what my last day of work was supposed to be. My written layoff notice clearly stated that the termination was effective Dec. 1/06. I don't know about you, but I interpret that to mean that my last day was Nov 30/06.
However, it also stated that I would be paid thru Dec 1/06 ".... for services rendered." My (former) boss was saying that this means my last day was supposed to be Dec 1/06, but nowhere does the layoff notice state explicitly what my last day was. Anyways, to make a long story short, my former boss phoned and emailed me asking me to come in to work, and I wound up going in for work for 3 hours on Friday, as a compromise. Just in case there are any of readers out there who are in a position to layoff employees, please, PLEASE state the last day of work in the layoff notice !!! In fact, just contact me, and I will make some good suggestions to you on how to layoff someone (as my experience was a very good example of how NOT to layoff an employee).

At the same time, on Friday, I had a job interview (which was the other reason why I only worked 3 hours at my former company). Over the years, I have learned to use job interviews not only as an opportunity to showcase my knowledge and skills to my potential employer, but also to learn more about, and evaluate the work environment, in which I would be working, and the poeple with whom I would be working, should I get the job offer. At this company, the first thing I noticed when I stepped into their office was how small it was. I would describe the physical work environment as a compressed cube farm! The cubicles were literally big enough to contain a chair, table, and PC, and that was it. Seriously, if you were overweight, you would find it difficult to squeeze into such a small cubicle.
The next thing I noticed was that the majority of the people who interviewed me had a very poor command of the English language, as indicated by their heavy accents and broken English. And they proceeded to give me a C++ test, when nowhere in my resume did I indicate that I was an expert in C++ !
So, I could already imagine a typical day working there. First I would go into that compressed fishbowl of an office, and make my way to the cubbyhole that they interpret as my cubicle. Then I would spend the majority of the day figuring out how to use very, very basic English to explain to these employees how they misinterpreted my words. This would be on top of trying to learn C++ completely on my own (since I would not understand the employees explanations of how their programs work).
Given all of the above, it becomes easy to come to the conclusion that this is not be best environment where I could thrive and show my best. I am actually hoping that they do not offer me a job, because then there is no potential dilemma to resolve.




2 comments:

Trading Goddess said...

Caught between a rock and a hard place.

A wise man once said "This too shall pass".

Relax. Take a deep breath.

I was in a very similar situation, and it is amazing to look back on that time. The future is not as glum as a lot of people think it is when they are under duress.

If you don't mind, I would like to suggest that you write down every monthly bill and expense that you have.

Do some DD on the bottom line of if you can "afford" to trade for a living. If not, get a job (whatever it is!) and trade the hell out of your off-time. Do not take chances and make desperate trades. Clear headedness is essential when investing/trading for a living.

Lastly, please think about this...

If you could get paid NOT to work, what would you be doing and what would you enjoy doing?

Good luck! :)

Phileo said...

Hi TradingGoddess,

Thanks for the advice. I actually feel positive about my current situation, although I'm not sure how long I will stay that way. I will contemplate what you've said here, and let it simmer at the back of my head until I have some clarity.