The Work Thread 2 - Get back to work!

[Zilnad]

Why does every office have an air con wanker?

[Qikz]

Did the interview, took a day off sick to do it. I think it went ok, but there's a few things I definitely could've done better. My mind went black and I forgot some of the things he said throughout parts of the interview, but in a job situation I'd have everything written down already in a ticket so it's stuff that wouldn't affect the job I was doing. The first 'problem' they gave me to fix no matter what suggestions I came up with it was never able to be fixed and the second one I ran out of time before fixing it after forgetting the brief mid way like an idiot lol.

Ah well if nothing comes of it it's an experience and I got a day off work so it's all good.

[Sprouty]

You definitely wont be the only one to forget the brief part way through Qikz! Fingers crossed for you, though as others have said, it's also valuable interview experience to learn from.

I was fortunate that my recent interviews have all been over Teams and I started the habit of writing down the questions as they asked them. Having an interview with all of your examples, prepared on screen in front of you is a dream.

[Qikz]

You definitely wont be the only one to forget the brief part way through Qikz! Fingers crossed for you, though as others have said, it's also valuable interview experience to learn from.

I was fortunate that my recent interviews have all been over Teams and I started the habit of writing down the questions as they asked them. Having an interview with all of your examples, prepared on screen in front of you is a dream.

I should've written it down honestly, but I was worried they'd count that as cheating or something lol

Whatever happens I have my current job and I'm not completely miserable so it's all ok. Things have been looking up recently at work so we're all good whatever happens. Even if I get an offer I might not leave unless it's obscenely better than what I'm on now, because the stress of a new job and the grass might not be greener and all that.

[Sprouty]

You definitely wont be the only one to forget the brief part way through Qikz! Fingers crossed for you, though as others have said, it's also valuable interview experience to learn from.

I was fortunate that my recent interviews have all been over Teams and I started the habit of writing down the questions as they asked them. Having an interview with all of your examples, prepared on screen in front of you is a dream.

I should've written it down honestly, but I was worried they'd count that as cheating or something lol

Whatever happens I have my current job and I'm not completely miserable so it's all ok. Things have been looking up recently at work so we're all good whatever happens. Even if I get an offer I might not leave unless it's obscenely better than what I'm on now, because the stress of a new job and the grass might not be greener and all that.

Good luck either way! Definitely don't move unless you are quite confident the opportunity is right for you, but if things fall in place, don't let being comfortable hold you back either.

In a face to face interview I would always take a notepad and pen with me (laptop for an internal role). Just ask if they are happy for you to take notes.

[Rocsteady]

Gl qikz.

I wouldn't even ask tbh, I'd just note anything relevant down.

2 and a half hours is mental for an interview imo.

Handing in my resignation tomorrow, finally, woop.

And aye the pay scales around the world are crazy - always find the US pays stacks more.

[Green Gecko]

Finally added normal, reasonable, "abbreviated basic terms of engagement" to my e-mail sig. I never wanted small print, I never wanted to explicitly exclude certain (usually insane) conditions of work. For coming on 8 years I've never done that because I felt it came off as tight, rude and overly onerous. Especially when it basically admits there are inherent limitations in what I can cope with given I have a disability that makes a good amount of (unreasonable I feel) expectations virtually impossible. But I finally understand why established businesses do do this. It's so they can actually survive instead of wasting their time.
Like, can I discuss this thing on the phone instead of reading the information I have been sent.
Can I come and have a sales meeting about some made up gooseberry fool that's never actually going to happen, because your time is free and you have nothing else going on, right? How about let's do that on a Saturday - I'm local, so I'll just swing by. No problem? (No! strawberry float off.)
But it has become a colossal waste of time every week explaining to the same people what I can't do, which is as much an impingement on the businesses resources, and a waste of those same resources explaining over and over things like, I am not a shop, please do not simply show up expecting same day service on a Saturday. Yes, please contact in advance of presuming anything that isn't explicitly stated in the service description. When I ask for print-ready artwork, and explain what that is, please send it or seek further clarification or services to render that thing. THEN we can print something. And so on.

Thanks for getting back in touch. Hope you feeling better now. I’ve read your response and happy with most things, however the turnaround time is quite long for me. I have the designs in high quality and would only just need dtg and screen printing in this case for about 10 T-shirts can you complete within 1-3days?

Everything is fine, except I want it within 72hrs for some reason. In my experience, this is pretty much NEVER true. What is your deadline? What are the specific circumstances in which that deadline arises? What happens if there is an unexpected delay I have no control over? What if I am hit by a bus? By being forthright with circumstances, I can only serve you better. So what is it?

Also, are you willing to pay a rush fee because you waited until the last minute to commission an artwork/print service?

I've repeatedly stated all over the place that I am booked usually 2 weeks, and hence my lead by default is 10 work days or I wouldn't be able to fulfil my commitments to anyone, never mind whoever just shows up.

"designs in high quality" - strawberry floating send them then. You have a tool that costs me £250 a month, you have been provided with a log-in, upload your PNG or JPG or whatever low res thing it is and position it where YOU want on the shirt - self serve, save all of this time on pointless back and forth. Tell me the sizes you need, in advance, then I can order them - not revise them later, return items to wholesale with a restocking fee and cost of return, or simply eat the money wasted on the wrong things.
But no, this never happens, and when designs are finally are sent, there is 99% of the time something fundamentally wrong with them that requires work and extends the deadline, but client never thought to consider that, because they're strawberry floating perfect, right? And the sizes will change, the colour will change, whatever the strawberry float it is, I can easily conclude: customer wants it as fast as possible, customer also has no idea what they want, which is a prerequisite to making that happen.

So you end up with 5 minutes to do this thing, by will of the client essentially sabotaging the possibility of that happening. I wish these people could evaporate before they get anywhere near my email address, but I get at least one or a few every week now. It's exhausting.

The guy is in such a rush, they can't even punctuate their desperate need for the fastest possible turnaround - despite writing to me a week ago and never informing of me of the need for a fast turnaround in the first instance - because that would be prudent and sensible, right?. Let's ask some basic questions, get a comprehensive answer to those questions, and then complain that it is going to be too slow, so btw can you do it now?

No, get your gooseberry fool together and go to a walk-in shop to get some shitty ass prints in 20 minutes on a laserjet/heatpress. Meanwhile, I can deliver on my existing commitments instead of repeating the same things.

That's what strawberry floats me off. The gooseberry fool clients eat the good client's time and I am less able to deliver on the promise of my services to reasonable, organised, upfront and generally good people.

Rant over.

[rinks]

go to a walk-in shop to get some shitty ass prints

I would have thought that the demand for such a niche product would make retail premises unviable.

[rinks]

Why does every office have an air con wanker?

Even mine does, and I work from home.

[Green Gecko]

go to a walk-in shop to get some shitty ass prints

I would have thought that the demand for such a niche product would make retail premises unviable.

Well they have vending machines in Japan.

Seriously though. Go use a vending machine for that thing.

Get it sorted out at the last minute by a machine, with a half arsed, fully automated result, and eat the cost of your own disorganised life. That's what you get.

strawberry float me I even have this graph now. strawberry floating graphs! I am designing graphs to explain the most basic principles of project management! strawberry floating hell.

Maybe I should have a qualifying question, on a single form, and not even an e-mail address:

Can you organise a piss up in a brewery? Yes, welcome to our business. No, strawberry float off already.



Hey, so you need this much time, and this much money, to equal this thing.

Oh but I don't want to provide that much time or money (it is you who should give up sleep, and work through the night), but can I get the thing anyway?

No. Why do so few people understand this?

[rinks]

You know what the problem is? Too many people unquestioningly believe that "the customer is always right". It's the worst fallacy ever inflicted on business.

[Green Gecko]

The customer is always right, unless they're wrong, in which case there's a fairly clever alternative.

Refer them. Just the same way a doctor can't treat a patient because they lack the time, resources or expertise, send them to a competitor. Let them have them. That is, quite often, a good deed; a professional solution to a problem that cannot be helped.

In return, the competitor sends me things they can't do, in good faith; it's up to me whether or not I take the client on. Tbh, it's a pretty good rendition of "win win, or no deal".

When customers solicit services, you do have a right to refuse, so long as you refuse in such a way that you are helping them towards some end. I do do that, I've learnt the hard way because appeasing what I call the most "expensive" customers (in terms of human cost, I always calculate human cost as well as time/money, it's basically the missing part of the puzzle in human/person-centred enterprise management) can have a HUGE destructive effect on the business operations, right down to liquidity but also health. If some arsehole of a customer decides to latch on like a strawberry floating limpet, you become overwhelmed with these, and can't help anyone. Then comes the guilt, the sense of inadequacy, the failure, the dread - and then I'm in no position to help even myself.

It may seem cautious, but seeing that a mile off for anyone working for themselves is so, so critical. If you don't help yourself, take care of yourhself, you can help nobody effectively. The same principle applies to all sorts of situations in which anybody depends on you. "Saying no" is also "say yes", and "saying yes" is also "saying no" to a million other things.

As someone who struggles to manage my priorities, wishing to help everyone, to fix everything, it's taken me the better part of my 20s to realise that is not possible and not even a good position to take.

[Oblomov Boblomov]

Going to be an hour late to work today because of the strikes. I could easily work from home with no impact on the business whatsoever, but they're stubbornly refusing to let us skip our office obligations (at least three days a week) so here we are .

[RetroCora]

Gl qikz.

I wouldn't even ask tbh, I'd just note anything relevant down.

2 and a half hours is mental for an interview imo.

Handing in my resignation tomorrow, finally, woop.

And aye the pay scales around the world are crazy - always find the US pays stacks more.

Yeah it's mad. I'm finding in my sector UK pay is reprehensible even compared to the States or other countries elsewhere. Cost of living obviously needs to be taken into account, but it's mad.

[poshrule_uk]

Going to be an hour late to work today because of the strikes. I could easily work from home with no impact on the business whatsoever, but they're stubbornly refusing to let us skip our office obligations (at least three days a week) so here we are .

My work are the same, had to go in yesterday for my weekly office day. How many people were there in. 2. That includes me.

Rest of the team are in Friday which I have booked of this week. I was fuming when I found out.

Also spoke to the owner of the building we are renting and he asked me how I like the office and going in.
I told him I prefer working from home and he responded with but yeah it's great to be in two days isn't it. Literally the opposite of what I said.

[Qikz]

Going to be an hour late to work today because of the strikes. I could easily work from home with no impact on the business whatsoever, but they're stubbornly refusing to let us skip our office obligations (at least three days a week) so here we are .

My work are the same, had to go in yesterday for my weekly office day. How many people were there in. 2. That includes me.

Rest of the team are in Friday which I have booked of this week. I was fuming when I found out.

Also spoke to the owner of the building we are renting and he asked me how I like the office and going in.
I told him I prefer working from home and he responded with but yeah it's great to be in two days isn't it. Literally the opposite of what I said.

He just likes your rent money. Landlord piece of gooseberry fool.

[poshrule_uk]

Going to be an hour late to work today because of the strikes. I could easily work from home with no impact on the business whatsoever, but they're stubbornly refusing to let us skip our office obligations (at least three days a week) so here we are .

My work are the same, had to go in yesterday for my weekly office day. How many people were there in. 2. That includes me.

Rest of the team are in Friday which I have booked of this week. I was fuming when I found out.

Also spoke to the owner of the building we are renting and he asked me how I like the office and going in.
I told him I prefer working from home and he responded with but yeah it's great to be in two days isn't it. Literally the opposite of what I said.

He just likes your rent money. Landlord piece of gooseberry fool.

Oh absolutely.

TBF one day a week I can deal with. Not happy about it but it's an improvement on 2019.

All the manager's at my work are against this to which is good it's just senior managers who want us in.

My fear is this is part of a plan to get us going in more and more Which I hope it's not.

[Tomous]

Going to be an hour late to work today because of the strikes. I could easily work from home with no impact on the business whatsoever, but they're stubbornly refusing to let us skip our office obligations (at least three days a week) so here we are .

My work are the same, had to go in yesterday for my weekly office day. How many people were there in. 2. That includes me.

Rest of the team are in Friday which I have booked of this week. I was fuming when I found out.

Also spoke to the owner of the building we are renting and he asked me how I like the office and going in.
I told him I prefer working from home and he responded with but yeah it's great to be in two days isn't it. Literally the opposite of what I said.

There's a man who's worried about his future income

[Green Gecko]

Gl qikz.

I wouldn't even ask tbh, I'd just note anything relevant down.

2 and a half hours is mental for an interview imo.

Handing in my resignation tomorrow, finally, woop.

And aye the pay scales around the world are crazy - always find the US pays stacks more.

Yeah it's mad. I'm finding in my sector UK pay is reprehensible even compared to the States or other countries elsewhere. Cost of living obviously needs to be taken into account, but it's mad.

My PA just an hour ago asked me if it was possible to get a payrise, as they had asked another adult social care recipient that they work for for the same thing. The organisation that speaks for the council on these matters stated it could go up by 5 pence an hour. I felt awful.

Because that isn't authorised yet I have to make "client contributions", I wish I could give him better news, but I can give him more hours (not always appropriate, everyone has their limits and capabilities...)

In fact he did some work over the weekend so I'm doubling his effective pay for £20/hr for those hours which nets an extra hundred quid this month. I have a surplus and if I have to bend the system a bit to help I will. I sincerely doubt most organisations would consider this though...

[Outrunner]

Went out for my leaving meal with the handful of people I still like at work. It was really nice as I don't really get the chance to talk to them at work much these days due to different working patterns. As much as I'm glad I'm leaving I will miss seeing them. Hopefully I can maintain the friendships post-work.

Only two more Saturday shifts and then I'm free!