Category: Work

About a month ago my boss bore the brunt of anger from the CEO over the fact that "50% of our faxes are not being received."  Aside from the fact that I'm tempted to ask why our business is still dependent on technology from the last century, I think the powers that be overreacted completely to a situation that was only marginally under I.T.'s control.  (How exactly are we responsible for ensuring that paper faxes are delivered to the intended recipient after they're spit out of the machines?) There were a lot of other, smaller incidents preceding this, so I guess it was the proverbial straw.

Within days of the beating, (while there were no physical bruises, he really did look like a dog who'd been savaged by a rolled up newspaper) he resigned his position as I.T. Director. This was devastating, not only because I truly liked working with the guy and looked up to him, but also because he had a hell of a lot more knowledge about what went on "behind the wall" (a phrase the I.T. Director at my last job used a lot) than I ever could hope for. But none of us in the department were too worried; he was going to stay with the firm, "in another capacity."

Well that changed today. He's officially leaving as of the end of the month. This follows on the heels of one of our application analysts quitting earlier this week. We were a small shop to begin with, and this is going to seriously cripple the department. In a meeting today, the COO said she expected all of us who remain (a grand total of 3) to take up the slack and "take on additional responsibilities" until a suitable replacement can be hired.

Yeah, we know how that works, doesn't it?  We somehow manage to keep the spice flowing, and all of a sudden they realize they don't need to hire any replacements.

Before you know it, Alexander finds himself as I.T. Director at the same pay he was making as a desktop tech. WHAT A SAVINGS!

Yeah, that's not going to happen.

I have no interest in his job—even if they tripled my current salary—and yet it's obvious that I'm being pushed in that direction.

I am a desktop tech, not a systems administrator. Not an I.T. Manager. I like what I do. I know what I do, and frankly just keeping up with the changes occurring in that aspect of technology is hard enough without having to now know and understand (to the point of being able to fill in when they're out) what the the other members of the department do.

As usual, management is clueless about tech works. Clueless.

So, my resume was updated and reactivated on Monster and Dice right after I got out of the meeting, and tonight I'll be hitting all the other job sites I utilized last summer.  Almost immediately after finishing on those two initial sites I started getting emails from recruiters. I have a meeting scheduled tomorrow with one of the bigger recruiting firms (I'm taking a sick day) and have followed up with another who claimed I'd be a perfect fit for a position they have coming available in about two to three weeks.

Having been through this all before, I can only say, "We'll see…"

I take some consolation in knowing that when I originally moved to San Francisco the first job I had there didn't work out either—but led me to a place I where I stayed for the next 8 years. The same thing happened when I moved back to Phoenix in 2002.

Fingers crossed.

…at being recognized at work for simply doing my job.

This tells me two things: people like how I do my job, and that I've obviously replaced some real losers.

Last Thursday one of the claims processors was having an issue that was obvious from the get-go that it was not going to be a quick fix. She had an older machine that was loaded with one of my predecessor's images, so based on previous experience trying to troubleshoot one of those messes, I told her that instead of wasting time trying to find the underlaying cause of her problem on her current machine it would be easier for everyone involved if I just swapped it out with a clean build. She was fine with that, so I told her it would be about half an hour and I'd return with the replacement.

"I'm not going to lose anything, am I?"

"No," I said.  "I'm not [insert name of previous tech]."

Immediately her face lit up and she said, "Oh, thank GOD."

(This is not the first time I've heard that.)

I got her existing machine back up and running well enough that she could perform her basic job functions and then went back to my desk and fired up one of my already-imaged spares, created her profile, and then transferred all her data and settings behind the scenes.  There were a few minor glitches after I delivered the new box, but I got them sorted.  She was missing a couple personal mail folders that hadn't been stored in the normal locations, some font-specific settings that needed to be recreated in Procomm (yes, we're still using Procomm), and some shared mailboxes had to be reconnected, but she was patient with me while I made things right, and I was more than happy to help her get everything back up and running to her satisfaction.

Hey, it's my job, right? I just try to give these folks the kind of service I would want to receive from I.T. if I was in their shoes—and not simply because I would like to get hired on at the place. Apparently that kind of attitude is uncommon in my field.

Anyhow,  on Friday I received an email from that particular user.  It was copied to her boss, my boss, the head of HR and the COO:

My name is: [user's name]

I would like to recognize: Alexander for the following: Teamwork and Promoting a Positive Workplace

Alexander displayed this in the following manner:

I needed a new computer and Alexander was so nice and patient with me in getting everything set up just how I had it on my old computer. He wanted to make sure I was happy and settled and was also very gracious and helpful with all my questions!

This isn't the first time I've received praise from the people I support. I routinely received accolades at my last job for what I viewed as simply doing my job, and have received several emails at my current position from upper management over the past couple months telling me what a great job I'm doing and how everyone in the company is delighted with my dedication, but this was different.  This was also a nomination for very public internal recognition and award program.

About a half hour after I received the email, I got a call from my boss and the head of HR to tell me that the opening for my permanent position was (finally) going to be posted this coming Monday. That was great news!

Yeah, I'll have to go through the motions and formally apply, but that's only because rules preclude them from just hiring me outright; something I find odd, considering getting hired on directly without the company first posting the position is exactly how it's worked at every other job where I've transitioned from a contract worker to permanent employee. Whatever. It's still good. Benefits start immediately (no waiting period) so I'll be permanently employed and have health insurance again by January 1st.

It was a rough day. I had to deliver and set up some PCs in our Colorado Springs office.  I don't mind the COS office or going there; it's actually being in Colorado Springs that I hate. I always feel like I need to shower—in bleach—after spending any time there. It seems every car is plastered with little Jeebus fish or American flags or more commonly, both. The gay hate group Focus on the Family is based there. The Christianist indoctrination facility, more commonly known as the Air Force Academy, is located there. Constitution Avenue is a major thoroughfare.  In short, the whole "God-Country-Family" thing hangs in the air like a poison fog to this little freedom-lovin atheist homo (who actually has read the Constitution, no doubt unlike 99% of the people who live there).

It only took me until around 1 pm to get my work done, so after I said my goodbyes to the office manager and had her verify that everything was set up to her satisfaction, I decided to head out in search of lunch before returning to Denver.  I was in the mood for some Jack-in-the-Box tacos and knew there had to be a JIB somewhere in this overweight fast-food-on-every-corner town.  A quick Google search confirmed that and I set off.

On the way there, I encountered a big white 4×4 driven by an old man who was obviously functioning on only two or three brain cells.  He had a "CAIN 2012" sticker plastered on the rear window of the cab (along with with the usual jeebus fish and american flags on the bumper). Seriously? Herman Cain? The wannabe Groper-in-Chief? I only wish I had a voice that would carry far enough for me to yell out my window and ask the douchebag how he would feel if it was his daughter's skirt Cain were reaching under. As expected, when the light changed, he took off pedal-to-the-metal. Three brain cells and a small penis! It was a twofer!

But back to lunch, Ben and I have had terrible luck at the three JIBs in Denver. Service is abysmally slow (even when there's no one else in the restaurant!), orders are delivered missing items, and the people who work there just don't seem to give a damn about any of it.  I'm not sure I'd be any different if I were in that position, but c'mon people. If corporate gets enough complaints about a store you aren't going to be working at all. And encountering the same attitude at three different stores?  (Believe me, we've let Jack know how awful our experience has been.) For that reason I wasn't holding out much hope COS would be any different.

I was pleasantly surprised. It was like a JIB in Phoenix. I placed my order and the food was ready (and hot, which is also unusual) within only a few minutes.

Fighting a burgeoning headache that started earlier that morning, I arrived back at our main office at 3 pm, giving me only an hour to get caught up on whatever tasks had been accumulating in my Inbox during the day. Thankfully it had been a pretty quiet in my absence.

Right before I left for the day, Ben texted and asked if I wanted to meet him at the Starbucks on Colorado on my way home. I texted back yes, but by the time I got there the day had just overwhelmed me and I asked if we could just go home instead. He said that was fine; he wasn't making much headway on his paper anyway.

After a truly unremarkable dinner at the neighborhood Heidi's where I was asked, "Do you want that hot pastrami hot or cold?" (SERIOUSLY) we walked back home and I popped a couple Advil hoping that would finally kill the headache. Since it was Friday night (yay!) I had every intention of remaining awake and getting caught up on what was stored in the TIVO. Instead, I was sound asleep on the sofa minutes later. I think I woke up around 7:30 and sleepily told Ben I was going to bed. I was out the minute my head hit the pillow and slept for the next twelve hours…

 

…because you may get it!

I like my new job.  It reminds me a lot of the health plan where I worked for the last two years.  The environment is very similar, although about a third smaller. Ironically, my duties here however, will be much expanded from what I'd been doing in Phoenix.

In addition to the usual desktop stuff, I'm also assisting the one very overworked I.T. manager with systems support.  I'm in a little over my head here, but he understands this and is more than willing to do a little hand holding until I get up to speed. The systems side of things is also something I wanted to get into, but in nearly every company I've worked for there has been very definite dividing line between systems and desktop. But not here.

There's no help desk; trouble calls come in by email and phone.  There was a long list of outstanding issues when I arrived this morning, and by mid-afternoon they'd all been resolved.  My supervisor was thrilled. He asked me more than once if I felt overwhelmed or if any of the calls had left me scratching my head.  I told him not at all. (Apparently the guy who I replaced not only lacked customer service skills, he was technically inept.)

There's also no imaging solution in place, even though they're licensed for Norton Ghost. That's something he wants to rectify and I'm more than happy to get it set up.

It's also a reasonable commute, located in the Denver Tech Center, about 8 miles southwest of where we're staying; exactly where I had hoped to be working.

If things continue like they are, I fully expect that this 30-60 day contract will turn into something much more. There is a lot of work to be done, the I.T. Manager is open to new ways of doing things, and I have several solutions for issues I noted just today that I gained over the last 7 years that would work great here.

Did I mention I can wear jeans?

I did not get the job at Arapahoe County like I was hoping for. "They decided to go in a different direction."

I have the experience. I have the knowledge. Am I coming across as complete dolt in the interviews?

Thankfully I have one more definite interview lined up this week, as well as having two potentials in the mix.  Of those two, one sounds like it might be a perfect match, even better than the county job.  Still, I'm disappointed that I wasn't chosen for that one.

 

I had a good interview yesterday afternoon. It was with a new agency I hadn't previously worked with.  They're submitting me for a support position with a healthcare provider that doesn't require any direct hospital work.  It's pretty much exactly what I was hoping for, and while the pay rate is below my desired minimum, it's a 3-month contract-to-hire gig that will undoubtedly pay more if I'm hired on as an employee.  This put me in kind of an up mood, because not only does it sound like a job I'd like, it's only about a 20 minute commute from anywhere Ben and I could conceivably settle.

The recruiter also told me she'd gotten glowing recommendations from my two past supervisors. This was not unexpected, but it was still nice to have it confirmed.

They're going to try and get me in front of the client for an interview the first of next week.

I also got a call from a recruiter in New York regarding a 3-4 month contract position working through an outsourcing company to image and roll out new PCs "for a military client." I asked if it required a security clearance, and was told no. That sounded kind of odd, but I'm not in a position now where I can just automatically dismiss things out of hand. I'm meeting with a representative from the outsourcing company (that looks completely legitimate but doesn't have an office in Denver) at a Starbucks Monday afternoon.  If I had not personally witnessed several job interviews taking place in that venue since arriving in Denver I would've though it very odd, but now…not so much. Maybe it's a Colorado thing?

But of course, I'm still hoping to hear on Monday from the recruiter who's been on vacation this past week regarding my interview from a week ago. That's the place I really want to work.

Very, very anxious.

One of two good job leads I had has dried up.  I spoke to the recruiter today and she said, "Oh, they've decided to put this on hold." Well gee, thanks for letting me know.

I'm still waiting to hear about the second.  I had what I consider to be a good interview last Friday, and the manager I met with told me that she was expecting to make a decision by Tuesday (today).  I just called the recruiter I'd been working with on this opportunity, only to discover SHE'S ON VACATION THE REST OF THE WEEK.  I asked to be connected with the Account Manger for this gig, and got her voicemail.  I left a message asking that she call me back.

So far this morning I've spoken with all the recruiters I've been working with, and none of them have anything else right now…except one.  It's a six month contract at significantly less money than I was making even five years ago, but at this point, if I don't hear anything about this other job by the end of the week I'm going to tell him to go ahead and submit me.

I have to get back to work.

I find myself wishing that Ben and I had planned financially for this move about six months earlier than we did. While I'm not down to my last penny, the balance in my checking account has fallen below my comfort level and my anxiety level is rising with each passing day. Thankfully Ben has one more student loan disbursement coming, and he officially starts teaching in about a week, so there will be money coming in, but until I get a job, we're stuck in a hotel that reeks of pot and patchouli and everything we own remains in storage.

"That was quick!"
"What do you mean that was quick?"
"It was quick! In and out, just like that! In and out!"
"Piss off and fix me some coffee, will ya!"
—Interchange between Christine Painter (Julie Walters) and Rose (Victoria Hardcastle) in Terry Jones' 1987 film Personal Services

After a month-long vacation period of unemployment, I finally landed a job yesterday.  It happened in the blink of an eye.  I got a call from a recruiter whom I'd not heard from previously who had an urgent need for a desktop tech in a healthcare company.

Ugh. Not my first choice.

Even so, I met with the guy, and while I had some strong misgivings about returning to a hospital environment, the fact that the balance in my bank accounts were starting to cause some concern overrode it, I agreed to let him submit me for consideration.  Even I had to admit that on paper I was a perfect match for what they were looking for, so it came as no big surprise when he called back late yesterday afternoon to tell me that I had been hired without so much as an interview.  Finally, a light at the end of the tunnel!

This morning I was at the agreed-upon location at the agreed-upon time, but the account rep was nowhere to be seen and was not answering his cell.  Thankfully the email I received also included contact info for the I.T. Manager I'd be working for.  I called him, and he said he was unable to come down to the lobby to meet me; he would send one of the techs to get me set up with an access badge.

That was the first warning sign. The manager, whom the recruiter said I needed specifically to dress for ("wear a tie"), didn't even have time to come down to meet me.  I can't imagine my previous director ever acting so callously toward a new member of his team, even if he was only a contractor.

The tech (whom I wasn't even going to be working with) came down and escorted me through the labyrinthine maze to the underground materials management office, where I watched with no small amount of amusement while my badge was prepared.  Apparently the woman who made the badges had some moderate OCD going on, because every time her Outlook dinged, she stopped what she was working on to check on the incoming mail. "Squirrel!"

Second warning sign: instead of being taken upstairs to perhaps then meet the supervisor, I was immediately wisked out of the building to an adjacent facility where the deployment team that I was to be a part of was working.

Third warning sign: after being introduced to the project lead and the two techs, one of the techs immediately started ragging on the customers as well as management in regards to the project they were working on.

Now I'll be the first to admit that I've ragged about my previous job on many, many occasions—as long-time readers of this blog will attest.  But never in all those posts did I name the company or call out anyone specifically.  How did this guy know that I wouldn't immediately run back to the supervisor and report his toxic negativity?

There wasn't a lot I could do other than physically hook up PCs and do a bit of work on the patch panels as I did not yet have system account set up, but that was fine. (Not surprising considering the rapidity with which all this happened; I hadn't even completed the necessary hiring paperwork at the agency.)

But as the morning progressed, I became more and more despondent. That hospital smell, the prima-donna attitude of the nurses and doctors… I felt like I'd taken a huge step backward in my career, and I started contemplating my options. The angel on my right shoulder said, "Stay the week and see how it goes. It might get better." The devil on my left said, "Cut your losses and get the hell out of here now." Or maybe their roles were reversed.  I can never tell.

All I know is that practically from the get-go, this assignment just didn't "feel" right, and I was having flashbacks of a gig I did at St. Mary's Hospital in San Francisco about fifteen years ago. Then, as now, there was a reason they were willing to pay substantially more than similar jobs, and it wasn't because they were being generous.  It should've been the big red warning sign that tipped me off before I even got started.

I had hoped that a break for lunch would help clear my thoughts.  Instead, whoever it was on the left kept screaming: "Get the hell out of this place NOW."

I returned from lunch and called the lead tech, asking where she and the others were working. "Oh, I'm in the basement, but I have to go to a meeting in about two minutes. Call Matt (Mr. Negative) and find out where he wants you." She gave me his number and hung up.  I called Matt and got the "The number you have dialed is not in service," message.  I hung up and called the lead back.  It went immediately to her voice mail.

This was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.  I'd had enough. This was not the place for me, even on a short-term basis.

As I was walking back to my car, I called up the recruiter and told him I was terminating my as-yet-unsigned contract.  (Yeah, I still hadn't received the paperwork that was supposed to have been emailed to me by start of business today; yet another issue.)  I explained the situation and that I was leaving and would not be returning.

Needless to say, he was a little surprised.

My phone rang several times as I drove back home. (Sad that I'm starting to refer to the hotel as "home." Must be Stockholm Syndrome.)  I returned his calls about an hour later. This time he was not surprised so much as angry and demanding that I give him specific reasons why I couldn't continue on the contract.  Since I was the second guy in as many weeks that he'd sent over to this particular hospital who didn't work out, this was reflecting very badly on him.  I told him outright that maybe it wasn't the guys he was sending over, but the environment he was sending them into. "I have several guys over there who love it!" Yeah, several guys whose names he couldn't even recall. Real professional, this one.

And he wouldn't end the call, even after I admitted that it was probably my fault for accepting another job in healthcare when I shouldn't have.

What did I learn from this horrible day?  NO MORE HOSPITAL WORK…EVER.  If it comes down to it, I will sling Cappuccinos at Starbucks before I ever return to that environment.

Several years ago, when I was first transferred over to the health plan portion of the company I worked for, I resented it.  I'd been working at the hospital for five years and really enjoyed the fact that I'd whipped the technical environment and the expectations of my users into shape and that the workload was quite manageable. Plus, the health plan had a horrible reputation.

But after having been at the health plan only six months, I realized I did not miss the hospital environment one bit, and while I had a dozen or so users I would've gladly pushed off the roof, on the whole it was a much less stressful place to work.  As six months turned into two years and talk surfaced of reshuffling support staff among the facilities, I realized that if it meant going back to hospital work it would be the impetus that would finally force me to quit.

So we're no better or worse off than we were yesterday at this time.  I know Ben's a little disappointed that he may have to use his next student loan disbursement to keep a roof over our heads instead of buying a new toy he's been lusting after, but as he said, "your sanity is more important than any job."

And as if to tell me things are never as bad as they seem, I got a call from the headhunter who sent me to that disastrous interview telling me that I (duh!) did not make the cut. I told him I was surprised to be hearing from him considering how poorly I did at that interview.  "Don't worry," he said, "everyone has bad interviews and as long as you come away from them learning something, it's all good.  And by the way, we have quite a few openings coming up soon at [insert healthcare company name] if you're interested."  "I've been rethinking healthcare," I said. "Heathcare insurance, or healthcare corporate office support is fine, but NO hospitals!" He laughed and said he'd make a note of it, and just to be clear, the jobs coming available would actually be in the corporate office. No hospital work required.

Finally got an interview today.  It wasn't anything great; just a 30-day contract, but it would've been a little extra money coming in.

But it blew it.  Bad. Probably the worst performance of my career.  I knew beforehand it was going to be a technical interview, but I wasn't prepared for just how technical.  But then, how do you prepare for that when you haven't got a clue what the questions are going to be?

First off, the agency that sent me over didn't bother to forward the interviewer my resume, so I might as well have been someone who wandered in off the street. With no clue to my background or experience I think my inability to provide answers to some of the questions made me look just plain unqualified, and I hated that.

We got on just fine, and I think we'd have a good working relationship, but rapport alone will not get my foot in the door if someone has doubts about my technical ability.

Many of the questions were what I would consider more systems admin than desktop oriented.  While I know a bit about what goes on "behind the wall," as my former supervisor used to call it, a lot of the acronyms he asked about threw me for a loop…as did the question that asked what specific port numbers were used for.  Not once in all the years I've been working have I had to mess with ports as a desktop support tech.  Maybe I've been sheltered. Maybe the fact that in all the environments I've worked desktop has been solidly walled off from systems. Maybe these things are important to desktop techs in the environment he supports, but they haven't been a part of the ones I that I have.

For the record, I now know what the four most common are (IMAP, HTTP, HTTPS, and SMTP) so in the unlikely event I'm asked about them in future interviews I won't look like a complete idiot.

He liked a lot of the answers I gave, but when he said, "based on your earlier answers I won't waste time with these other questions," I knew I was pretty much sunk.

I will be seriously surprised if I get called back. What pissed me off the most was that as I was driving back to the hotel I was thinking about some of the questions I couldn't answer and thought, "Of course! I know what that is!" Duh.

Whatever. A major part of this assignment was just going to be breaking down equipment and moving it from one room to another.  I don't think I'm going to need to know port numbers to move and reassemble PCs.

Tomorrow is a new day, and with it will come new opportunities.