'Effed-up employers - had any?

[trinacriabob]

I resigned from one a couple of months ago. I worked there for almost 3 years.

The first 2 years were fine, but one day in early 2006, 6 people (the most promising employees) out of 40 quit and started their own firm. (They were guys who hung out together outside of work and did the beer/shooting range thing, so those of us who didn't "fit in" weren't invited along...no hard feelings). About 10 more left during 2006 because the atmosphere had become depressing. I thought about quitting immediately as their work would fall on other people's shoulders and stress everybody out, but I had to consider the following:

- a hair under 2 years would not look good on a resume

- I had just gotten braces on the cafeteria plan

- I saw no point in switching employers for 1 year as I finished my night time degree and then moved on anyway

My first boss there was awesome...once he left, I worked for some incompetent assholes. One partner was new and had brought in some plum projects but he was one of those "marketing only" type architects who just schmoozed and passed on the technical work...he had his own practice, had gotten into a lot of trouble with clients and had a bad reputation in the area.

I was assigned to work on a massive car dealership complex under him and I was the day-to-day technical guy working for this loser. (While it was a car dealership, it was not that interesting, trust me). He didn't like getting his hands dirty, so he never checked what and how much I was doing, not knowing I was taking classes in the evening and not thinking I would quit.

The way I 'effed him, and the firm, was simply by working 40 hours: 2 doing admin work, 10 on my other projects and only about 28 on a massive project. They were in a world of hurt when I left as Mr. Marketing tried to talk me into staying... and running the job went to a "job captain" (draftsman type) who looked like Jesus. He worked under me and I knew he would be in "over his head." Mr. Marketing told Jesus to cut his hair to which Jesus was rightfully upset.

I heard that this high-profile project will not be profitable. Since I in essence designed the building and Mr. Marketing would take the credit, I wanted to make sure I wasn't there to do the hard part of the job (ratcheting down the drawings to tiny tolerances, dealing with the building department and seeing it through construction).

There are SOOOO many ass-holes out there.

Edited May 26, 2007 by trinacriabob

[ZL-1]

There are SOOOO many ass-holes out there.

É verdade!

The guys I work for think they're the only smart and competent people on Earth, and that everyone else is an idiot... They're quite good in taking advantage of their family names and connections, but they're at the lowest of 'lowest' in terms of how they treat their employees, with the exception of a few darlings who appear out of nowhere (usually by personal invitation by one of the partners) and get ahead of anyone when it's time to decide promotions. And they get promoted whether or not they had the most challenging/complex assignments: fun stuff!

It's getting so awkward, that in Accounting it's happened 4 or 5 times that new people show up to their 1st day of work on a Monday and decide to leave 2 or 3 days later!

I'm so fed up, that I already decided to leave by August/September of next year (after I finish my Masters), but if something comes up in the meantime, I'm getting out of that place...

[trinacriabob]

They're quite good in taking advantage of their family names and connections, but they're at the lowest of 'lowest' in terms of how they treat their employees, with the exception of a few darlings who appear out of nowhere (usually by personal invitation by one of the partners) and get ahead of anyone when it's time to decide promotions.

As my father used to say:

"Tutto il mondo e paese"

Meaning:

"The world is a village"

I have seen this kind of crap everywhere, but your story sounds a little more like Italy than the U.S.

[ZL-1]

As my father used to say:

"Tutto il mondo e paese"

Meaning:

"The world is a village"

I have seen this kind of crap everywhere, but your story sounds a little more like Italy than the U.S.

That expression is used in Portuguese as well.

It happens anywhere, but it does sound to be more of a Latin thing (Italy, Portugal, Spain, France) that a Northern Europe, US, Australia thing... What I find interesting is that I feel this is an experience I needed: going through this kind of experience thickens your skin, and it has helped me get my priorities straight.

Edited May 26, 2007 by ZL-1

[Drew Dowdell]

There are SOOOO many ass-holes out there.

People are bastard covered bastards with bastard filling.

[Oracle of Delphi]

People are bastard covered bastards with bastard filling.

Oldsmoboi, why don't you tell us how you really feel? :rotflmao:

[ZL-1]

People are bastard covered bastards with bastard filling.

They are? The bastards!

[Paolino]

People are bastard covered bastards with bastard filling.

I'm dying. That sums it up better than, well, anything possible.

I'll give my stories later, but know that my principal was just let go (well, he was told his services will not be required for next year), because he's "too nice". And I'm serious about that. The staff love him. The parents love him. The kids love him. And that's the problem.

I absolutely love this man... he is the FIRST employer I have EVER liked in my life. He paroles the building every now and then and always takes a minute to stop by my room and bust my chops. But it's alright, because he's the kind-of man that can take me calling him shorty or baldy when the kids aren't around, but then come back later playing a prank on me with a few other teachers. I look forward coming to work. This man has been in my corner all year.. he has supported me through a couple of rough patches (since I have a split schedule, and the other principal is a DICK), and has fought to keep me in one building next year because it's what I wanted ultimately. I doubt I will enjoy my next employer as much next year.

[Flybrian]

My most recent former employer, yet they're the ones getting their company truck fleet reposessed, not me.

[Oracle of Delphi]

I've only had one employer since 1989, however I have had numerious bosses and worked in various divisions during that time. Some bosses were good and some were not so good. Not everyone is meant to be a supervisor, manager, director, vice president, etc. I report to someone high enough up that I'm not checked on much at all, as long as I get my work completed. My boss allows me to work when and where I want, so I am not tied to an office all day unless I want to be. Some nights I'm on the computer at 3 AM doing work, but that's the beauty of it, in this age of computers I am not tied to a normal work day, as long as my assignments and projects are completed on time and under budget, it's all good. Yeah, I have a Blackberry strapped to me most of the time and also OnStar and Holden Assist is with me too when I am in the USA or Australia. All in all I have a great job and an even better boss.

The worst boss I ever had, was a spectacular engineer when he was an engineer, when they made him a boss and he was no longer doing engineering work he failed badly. All he really wanted to do was engineering work and he had no people skills at all, so yeah he failed at being a boss big time.

[CARBIZ]

Try working for a company where the General Manager is the son of the owner, who knows very little about the daily operations. He screams and yells at meetings (when he bothers to show up at all). He rants and raves, drags out all kinds of BS statistics and figures (does he not think we can't call up other dealers and find out the truth?), berates us for all being losers, then forgets that the dealership was just awarded a prestigious award. Who does he think got him that award? The good news is that we don't see him for days upon days at a time.

Now, he has hired a manager so incompetent, that not only do I (and others) have to show him on a daily basis how to turn on his computer, he openly cannot work a deal. Seriously. He has no clue. Then again, I am sure he makes half as much as the new car manager that he replaced, who in turn made about half as much as the new car manager before him, who made half as much as the only good new car manager this place has had since I have been there. I guess you get what you pay for!

Reminds me of an old adage: BUSINESS AND POLITICS ARE LIKE A SEPTIC TANK. THE BIG PIECES FLOAT TO THE TOP.

[trinacriabob]

People are bastard covered bastards with bastard filling.

That's a keeper!

[trinacriabob]

but know that my principal was just let go (well, he was told his services will not be required for next year), because he's "too nice". And I'm serious about that. The staff love him. The parents love him. The kids love him. And that's the problem.

I hate hearing $h! like this. It seems like the good ones encounter these problems - this last semester, I had a management seminar that dealt with leadership and ethics - your past principal sounded like the profile of the kind of "charismatic" person that theoretically ought to make it (except for the "too nice" part) but, in reality, it's quite the opposite....so much for book learning.

Curious...in the school system, is he just "lateraled over" to another school in the district....or is he S.O.L.?

My biggest problem is that I tend to be a good project manager checking all the minutia (like my spelling corrections LOL) that it tends to keep me in that same spot whenever I get under one of these "broker" types who are "big picture" and don't care about the details but want someone else to tend to that...so I then "check out" and look elsewhere, since most firms are revolving doors, that's seldom a problem. (I was ecstatic that I was able to hand them a nice financial blow, leaving the project and the firm at such a critical point). However, these flakes aren't as prevalent in my upcoming career shift, having been there before. There are not many "broker" types, they all have their sleeves rolled up doing the work.

[daves87rs]

I only wish I could tell the stories I've seen and been though, but I wouldn't know where to start.

That, and my current job patrols the websites for any kind of "stories"...I know of an employee who was canned for bad-mouthing the company..

So I have to watch what I say...

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Just from what I've gathered through my girlfriend being in an architecture curriculum; that career seems to be full of politics.

I've had good and bad over the years. The investment job I scored was probably one of the best experiences I'll ever be a part of. I made my own hours, worked in an office of 3 people and my boss, a thoughtful and caring individual, was even kind enough to share his quarterly bonus with both of us (His 2 assistants)

On the flipside, I worked for a parcel company. Now, I'm definitely a fan of heavy physical labor because I love being active and I love feeling a sense of pride in getting something accomplished, but this place was nothing but legalized slave labor. They were not compliant with OSHA standards, which put us at serious risk, we were talked to like a bunch of dogs and it was constant conflict. They deliberately hired 16-18 year olds so they could get young and naive people that they could 'scare' into doing whatever they wanted, physical risk aside. I spent many a cold night there on the docks, sick and sweating through 2 shirts and a coat. There was no such thing as a break and often people would be throwing up because of the heat in the summer. I'm not one to be pushed around and eventually one of the supervisors, whom I and my family had known for years before I worked there, decided that he could shout profanity at me like he had been doing to everyone else there. That resulted in my threatening him and telling him that I'd better never find him outside of work. He was a small guy, unlike me, so he threatened to "sick" his brother, who was well known for being a good fighter, on me. A week or so later I showed up at a party THEY had organized and he indeed told his brother what had happened. His brother would not speak to me and gave me a very hostile look the whole time. I've never been one to back down from a fight, and of course, I had made it a point to show up there on purpose. I was ready for whatever he had to offer, but 1) the brother knew how much $h! my supervisor had talked to me and 2) my co-workers were there to control the situation. When I finally left the company to take a retail sales job that paid $4 more per hour this jackass made it a point to belittle me in front of my co-workers, saying that I wasn't a real man because I was going to work in retail. But they all knew what had went down and they all knew how he was.

After our union's failure to deal with that mess and having to pick up the slack of fellow workers who were a part of the union, yet couldn't be fired no matter how bad they sucked, it pretty much sealed my anti-union stance.

Since then I've seen and partied with the guy who was the supervisor and his brother. We've pretty much reconciled our differences because neither of us works there anymore and we all realize that we have too much history to let a dump like that ruin things.

Edited May 27, 2007 by FUTURE_OF_GM

[trinacriabob]

Just from what I've gathered through my girlfriend being in an architecture curriculum; that career seems to be full of politics.

Well, I'm not in architecture as of roughly Spring Break and, if I ever dabble, it will be on my terms. I plan on keeping my license(s). I do like small scale residential.

I sort of saw the writing on the wall while in the architectural program. It is clearly a step below the professionalism than being in a business, law, or health curriculum. How could it not be? It's full of pussified catty men.

There are some people who are only good at design and useless at anything technical, yet they are granted a degree, and here is where the problem lies. I got As in design but I also sat in the front and payed attention in all my structures classes. In fact, when I opened "the envelope" containing my licensing exam scores, my highest was a 96 in structures-general, which floored me. The problem is that these bull$h!ters get into firms, don't do any work and only want the glam part of the job: design and client contact. Just like the pussified a-hole (married, but with all his dapperness, crisp articulation, weird mannerisms and plants, kind of questionable) that came into the firm I worked for and caused everybody under him to leave. My attitude toward them: go to work for a f@#king advertising agency instead!

It's not always bad. But there are more unprofessional firms than professional firms and that nauseates me.

[Hollingsworth]

I think my boss at the former place where I worked took the cake for "least compassionate boss". He was detached from reality and didn't make any attempt to understand how outsourcing or large lay offs affect people and communities.

Once at a business meeting, someone cautiously brought up "Sir, you know, don't you think we've cut out enough jobs already? I mean, there's a limit and good families have lost all their income." His reply: "We can't all be winners."

Then, we had a "scandal" over our company's scholarship program excluding children of minorities, and in particular, hispanic workers. His response to the whole thing: "They don't hop across the border to go to college. They're here to screw in the damn bolts."

Ironically, the idea that he so embraced was the idea that ended his career. He failed to realize that if all the labor is outsourced to India and China, there is no longer a need for an overseer for that division, so he too was let go. Unfortunately, that applied to the rest of middle management under him (i.e., me).

Edited May 27, 2007 by Hollingsworth

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Well, I'm not in architecture as of roughly Spring Break and, if I ever dabble, it will be on my terms. I plan on keeping my license(s). I do like small scale residential.

I sort of saw the writing on the wall while in the architectural program. It is clearly a step below the professionalism than being in a business, law, or health curriculum. How could it not be? It's full of pussified catty men.

There are some people who are only good at design and useless at anything technical, yet they are granted a degree, and here is where the problem lies. I got As in design but I also sat in the front and payed attention in all my structures classes. In fact, when I opened "the envelope" containing my licensing exam scores, my highest was a 96 in structures-general, which floored me. The problem is that these bull$h!ters get into firms, don't do any work and only want the glam part of the job: design and client contact. Just like the pussified a-hole (married, but with all his dapperness, crisp articulation, weird mannerisms and plants, kind of questionable) that came into the firm I worked for and caused everybody under him to leave. My attitude toward them: go to work for a f@#king advertising agency instead!

It's not always bad. But there are more unprofessional firms than professional firms and that nauseates me.

LOL it's like you've been hiding in the corner at my GF's college of architecture and describing what you see.

That's probably the best description of the kind of people in the program that I've ever heard. She's in an art based program and one of her instructors that I've kind of befriended on a personal level has mentioned his beliefs about the program not having enough "substance" Like me, he comes from a blue collar background and works with his hands a lot. He believes that all of the computer work and modeling is good for teaching, but he also firmly believes in 'hands on' and technical aspects of the profession as well. It seems that the college is trying to force him into retirement because he doesn't fit in. (Meaning he isn't effeminate, doesn't wear all black and techie glasses, doesn't hate the Bush administration and doesn't have a cynical/sarcastic chip on his shoulder at all times.)

Grades are assigned based on how well the instructor JUDGES your work. No points, no semester progress updates, nothing. At the end of the term the instructor just decides A, B, C, D, F and as long as it is justified (Which is pretty easy to do because their work can be interpreted or picked apart easily) then all is fair to fail or pass.

Edited May 28, 2007 by FUTURE_OF_GM

[Oracle of Delphi]

Frank Lloyd Wright, he's the man! Ooops, was the man!

[trinacriabob]

Frank Lloyd Wright, he's the man! Ooops, was the man!

Frank Lloyd Wright was a train wreck...5 or 6 marriages, bankruptcies, arrogant...and his work wasn't even uniformly good.

[ZL-1]

I report to someone high enough up that I'm not checked on much at all, as long as I get my work completed. My boss allows me to work when and where I want, so I am not tied to an office all day unless I want to be. Some nights I'm on the computer at 3 AM doing work, but that's the beauty of it, in this age of computers I am not tied to a normal work day, as long as my assignments and projects are completed on time and under budget, it's all good. Yeah, I have a Blackberry strapped to me most of the time and also OnStar and Holden Assist is with me too when I am in the USA or Australia. All in all I have a great job and an even better boss.

You're a lucky man!