The Job Hunt Thread

[Peace77]

Mar 3, 2016 21:11:45 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Mar 3, 2016 18:58:08 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Does anyone know if you can rollover a pension into a new 401k?

Got my pension papers from my job and some of the options are:
- cash it out and get $9,897 minus 20%
- roll it over

I wonder if I can roll it over to my new 401k or is the IRA the only way to go?

Not bad considering I did not save one penny of that money!

I'd roll it into an IRA.  Whether or not you should roll it into your 401k depends on what investment choices you have.  You are going to be limited to those investment choices made by your employer.

I agree.  Put it in a rollover IRA.  You will have lots more choices and probably lower fees.

[Peace77]

Mar 3, 2016 20:45:28 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Mar 3, 2016 18:46:14 GMT -5 Peace77 said:

Is the job title the same for both time periods?

nope. Parttime was Circulation Aide and full time was Circulation Assistant 1.

Then I would use Shanendoah's suggested format.

[TheHaitian]

Got to be nice to be the bad guy!

My predecessor used to blow payroll every week I was told, 5k over payroll every week and didn't care. He was on his way out and he knew it! And no one did anything about it!

Now me the new guy has to inform all my department managers they need to cut payroll by $5,000 every week. Schedule submitted last week they came 1.5k over budget!

Next week schedule they were $3,400 over budget! So today before it post everyone is going back into their schedules and cutting $400 or I will cut it and they won't like it. I already cut $700... $2,700 to go!

I figure they would prefer to cut it themselves then me having to cut it, control your destiny sort of thing.

This is the part I hate about my job: Cutting payroll!

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Mar 4, 2016 8:44:24 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Got to be nice to be the bad guy!

My predecessor used to blow payroll every week I was told, 5k over payroll every week and didn't care. He was on his way out and he knew it! And no one did anything about it!

Now me the new guy has to inform all my department managers they need to cut payroll by $5,000 every week. Schedule submitted last week they came 1.5k over budget!

Next week schedule they were $3,400 over budget! So today before it post everyone is going back into their schedules and cutting $400 or I will cut it and they won't like it. I already cut $700... $2,700 to go!

I figure they would prefer to cut it themselves then me having to cut it, control your destiny sort of thing.

This is the part I hate about my job: Cutting payroll!

Wow! No wonder they needed a new manager.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Convinced DH to reapply at Jack Links.   It may be a total bust, they may decide to tell him to kiss their ass since he turned them down two months ago.   But I think it's worth a shot, it's not like we have anything to lose if he applies.

I love DH to death but he doesn't always know when to stop sharing.  He was giving me this speech he'd prepared for Jack Links if they asked what changed.  I told him for the love of God keep your mouth shut! 

Companies post various positions all the time.  Sometimes you might like one position or be better suited for a different position than one you previously applied for.   That's the case here.

This is a Quality Auditor not a Quality Technician.   The skill set for the Auditor is an even better fit for DH and I think it'd look good on his resume for the future. 

I told DH one of these days I really need tor record him because he has no idea how what he says comes across like to other people.    Dude if the Queen of oversharing/no filter is telling you it sounds bad. .. it sounds bad.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Mar 3, 2016 21:15:19 GMT -5 giramomma said:

I don't know if anyone is reading this..

How do you handle a paragraph describing why you want a job, when you are mostly "overqualified" for said job?

There's a small part time that I wouldn't mind applying for. Hours are perfect. Pay is OK. It's legal tender, so that's good enough.

So, I've always been interested in book keeping, and last year took a Quickbooks class for the job I got restructured from. I'd like to try using these skills, and this part time job I found would be perfect for it.

But, well, that's not a whole paragraph.  I probably can't say that I'm applying because more money would be useful.

Suggestions?

Kitten saver had a great response in ratchets' thread. I'm on my phone, so I cannot link or tag it for you.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Also found another QA tech position thru a staffing agency.    99% sure it's for one DH has already applied for but since we can't be 100% sure he decided to send in his resume anyhow.

He got an interview with the dairy that way, so it's worth a shot.

Only pays $12.50/hr but that's still better than 6 hours a week at $9.50/hr that he's currently getting at Hy-Vee.

I pointed out that might be what he gets paid thru the staffing agency and it will go up once he's thru his probation and employed directly by the company.   

[973beachbum]

Carl can the teammates do everything they need to do with the reduced hours?

I ask because I have seen that happening in my pt job.  And I understand the mgr's position.  She was told like you to cut the hours so she is doing what she was told.  My problem comes in when she gets mad that there are lines for instances when we have all the cashiers ringing.  If they pull the desk person that means that the office mgr has to work the desk.  Which is fine for me.   I am just a worker bee.  I will work almost whatever position they want.

My issue it common sense.  They cut a cashier who makes $9 hr.  Doing so made the office mgr not be able to do their job so they had to work OT.  The office mgr is the highest paid person in the store after the store director.  So their $9 savings actually cost them at least twice that.

So my question is are people standing around doing nothing or are they working hard just the store doesn't do the numbers that make those hours make sense?

[giramomma]

Thanks all!

[Wisconsin Beth]

I was wondering along the lines of what beachbum said but didn't know how to put it.

[TheHaitian]

Mar 4, 2016 9:56:52 GMT -5 973beachbum said:

Carl can the teammates do everything they need to do with the reduced hours?

I ask because I have seen that happening in my pt job.  And I understand the mgr's position.  She was told like you to cut the hours so she is doing what she was told.  My problem comes in when she gets mad that there are lines for instances when we have all the cashiers ringing.  If they pull the desk person that means that the office mgr has to work the desk.  Which is fine for me.   I am just a worker bee.  I will work almost whatever position they want.

My issue it common sense.  They cut a cashier who makes $9 hr.  Doing so made the office mgr not be able to do their job so they had to work OT.  The office mgr is the highest paid person in the store after the store director.  So their $9 savings actually cost them at least twice that.

So my question is are people standing around doing nothing or are they working hard just the store doesn't do the numbers that make those hours make sense?

Having only been here 1 week tomorrow I think the store definitely have opportunities when it comes to efficiency!

But when you tell a dept manager they need to get used to setting up their department in the morning by themselves you would think their world is ending when they have been doing it with 2 people but how do you accept it when another dept manager with double the sales is doing it?

No one ever questioned the hours, they needed it them they got it... Now they are being questioned and no one likes it. I train in a store that made 700k/week in sales vs my store 360k/week yet some department managers feel they should be getting the same amount of hours for half the sales... Unfortunately it does not work way!

[zibazinski]

Haitian the Hatchet Man!!!

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Mar 4, 2016 10:46:51 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Mar 4, 2016 9:56:52 GMT -5 973beachbum said:

Carl can the teammates do everything they need to do with the reduced hours?

I ask because I have seen that happening in my pt job.  And I understand the mgr's position.  She was told like you to cut the hours so she is doing what she was told.  My problem comes in when she gets mad that there are lines for instances when we have all the cashiers ringing.  If they pull the desk person that means that the office mgr has to work the desk.  Which is fine for me.   I am just a worker bee.  I will work almost whatever position they want.

My issue it common sense.  They cut a cashier who makes $9 hr.  Doing so made the office mgr not be able to do their job so they had to work OT.  The office mgr is the highest paid person in the store after the store director.  So their $9 savings actually cost them at least twice that.

So my question is are people standing around doing nothing or are they working hard just the store doesn't do the numbers that make those hours make sense?

Having only been here 1 week tomorrow I think the store definitely have opportunities when it comes to efficiency!

But when you tell a dept manager they need to get used to setting up their department in the morning by themselves you would think their world is ending when they have been doing it with 2 people but how do you accept it when another dept manager with double the sales is doing it?

No one ever questioned the hours, they needed it them they got it... Now they are being questioned and no one likes it. I train in a store that made 700k/week in sales vs my store 360k/week yet some department managers feel they should be getting the same amount of hours for half the sales... Unfortunately it does not work way!

So, in my professional world, we would have those people meet and talk about how everyone approaches the morning set up. Then, everyone would need to leave with at least two new strategies to implement that week to make their personal department run better.

[973beachbum]

Mar 4, 2016 10:46:51 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Mar 4, 2016 9:56:52 GMT -5 973beachbum said:

Carl can the teammates do everything they need to do with the reduced hours?

I ask because I have seen that happening in my pt job.  And I understand the mgr's position.  She was told like you to cut the hours so she is doing what she was told.  My problem comes in when she gets mad that there are lines for instances when we have all the cashiers ringing.  If they pull the desk person that means that the office mgr has to work the desk.  Which is fine for me.   I am just a worker bee.  I will work almost whatever position they want.

My issue it common sense.  They cut a cashier who makes $9 hr.  Doing so made the office mgr not be able to do their job so they had to work OT.  The office mgr is the highest paid person in the store after the store director.  So their $9 savings actually cost them at least twice that.

So my question is are people standing around doing nothing or are they working hard just the store doesn't do the numbers that make those hours make sense?

Having only been here 1 week tomorrow I think the store definitely have opportunities when it comes to efficiency!

But when you tell a dept manager they need to get used to setting up their department in the morning by themselves you would think their world is ending when they have been doing it with 2 people but how do you accept it when another dept manager with double the sales is doing it?

No one ever questioned the hours, they needed it them they got it... Now they are being questioned and no one likes it. I train in a store that made 700k/week in sales vs my store 360k/week yet some department managers feel they should be getting the same amount of hours for half the sales... Unfortunately it does not work way!

Is it consistant sales?  The store I work in is crazy.  We have peak season where we break 1mil a week, shoulder season where we ramp up in the 500K to 700K range and then there is winter, I am not sure right now we are breaking $250K.  It is a weird feeling in Sept when all of a sudden you realize you are all alone.

There are also economies of scale.  When the store is cranking out over a mil a week we have almost too many people.  It is easier for two people to do more than double the work of one.  They can work as a team and help each other. 

Is it possible for different depts to help each other?  Maybe have the groc mgr put a u boat with things close to the checkout for the cashiers to put up.  Maybe the scan dept can get the tags for the checkout candy and close end caps for the cashiers also.  This way scan wouldn't need as many hours for their people.  Maybe produce and bakery can work together to break down their loads.  Then split up and finish their depts.

I will say I feel sorriest for the produce dept.  If the store is slow and no one is buying cereal it just stays on the shelf.  But fresh fruits and veg have to be moved and culled constantly.   At a certain point the size of the room dictates how much it costs to heat even if no one is in it.

[MJ2.0]

So I'm here now as a job seeker. I hate to do this so close to school but I can't be here any more. The whole Problem Child situation has brought out the worst in me professionally. I've already had two meetings with my boss and HR. I don't think I'll be fired, but I will probably get a write up. (basically I discussed something confidential with another associate and it got back to her. She told my boss, who then told me. Stupid, I know) A write up isn't the end of the world but even if I do everything right from here on out, I will be living with a target on my back until I leave. I can't live like that.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

That sucks MJ.    Been there done that with doing something stupid and it got back to the "wrong" people.

[andi9899]

So I just went in for the IT interview and it was a slam dunk! The lady was asking if the pay was ok. She said "It starts between $35-40/ hour, but with all your experience, I think I can get you $40/hour, is that ok? I played it cool and said "Yeah, that should be fine" when I wanted to say "hell yes!" So I'm going to meet with the manager that I would report to next, then the team I would work with, then the director. They are looking to move quickly and so am I. Woot!

[andi9899]

Mar 4, 2016 12:46:26 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

So I'm here now as a job seeker. I hate to do this so close to school but I can't be here any more. The whole Problem Child situation has brought out the worst in me professionally. I've already had two meetings with my boss and HR. I don't think I'll be fired, but I will probably get a write up. (basically I discussed something confidential with another associate and it got back to her. She told my boss, who then told me. Stupid, I know) A write up isn't the end of the world but even if I do everything right from here on out, I will be living with a target on my back until I leave. I can't live like that.

So you're letting Problem Child take you out like that? Why not use this as a learning experience and come back stronger. Especially if you only have a few months left.

[MJ2.0]

It's also a problem who told her what I said. It was someone I thought I could trust. And I can't mention any of this to him. Part of me thinks he's not dumb enough to do that and she's lying, the other part of me knows how much he runs his mouth without thinking. That is a huge hurt to me, and I have to see both of them every day. It's a lot.

[MJ2.0]

Mar 4, 2016 12:59:19 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

Mar 4, 2016 12:46:26 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

So I'm here now as a job seeker. I hate to do this so close to school but I can't be here any more. The whole Problem Child situation has brought out the worst in me professionally. I've already had two meetings with my boss and HR. I don't think I'll be fired, but I will probably get a write up. (basically I discussed something confidential with another associate and it got back to her. She told my boss, who then told me. Stupid, I know) A write up isn't the end of the world but even if I do everything right from here on out, I will be living with a target on my back until I leave. I can't live like that.

So you're letting Problem Child take you out like that? Why not use this as a learning experience and come back stronger. Especially if you only have a few months left.

She/they are basically trying to frame her failure as my fault from the beginning. If they are so ready to believe that, let them. And when I'm gone, they can deal with her. Even if I make good on everything I said I'd fix (which I am actively doing), I'm not perfect. Any other screw-ups I make, no matter how small, will be magnified.

[mojothehelpermonkey]

Mar 3, 2016 19:23:44 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Mar 3, 2016 18:51:41 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

Crap.

Post doc and I made peace. It's an important experiment and rotten luck.  I took for granted they were okay last night. I have no idea what happened between four PM and 9 am today that resulted in them killing their pups.

From now on I'll check before I thaw cells. It's an extra trip downstairs but not the end of the world.

Can't contol if they eat them after inject them. Here's hoping.

I'm just burnt out. Need to go thru my calendar and see what would be a good day to take off.  We got $65 in credit card rewards. I know it should go into savings but DH suggested I use it to get my hair cut and colored at the beauty school.

I need to take a day off before I do or say something I regret.  I have a dental appt on the 29th that would be a good day to take off. Ready made reason.DI

Did the mom kill the pups? They will do that when they are stressed out, and some strains are more prone to stress. I don't know the circumstances, and I don't want to contradict the postdoc. However, I doubt you would have been able to save them if you had checked on them. (They do their murdering at night.) If anything, constantly pulling out the cages increases the mom's stress levels. Do the mom's have nesting materials?

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Yes the mom's have nesting materials.   As far as I can tell the mom's neglected them.   All 10 were alive and healthy at 4:00 pm.  When I went downstairs the next day at 9:45 am all 10 were dead and scattered around the cage.

I shouldn't have thawed the cells until I went downstairs and checked again.    That was my mistake.

I didn't think.   The pups were 48 hours old by that point and had been fine at 4:30 pm the previous day.

I'll just make it a point to make an extra trip downstairs before I humanize from now on.

The other ones are still living as of this morning.  I warned I can't control what they do over the weekend though.

[zibazinski]

Mar 4, 2016 13:17:22 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

It's also a problem who told her what I said. It was someone I thought I could trust. And I can't mention any of this to him. Part of me thinks he's not dumb enough to do that and she's lying, the other part of me knows how much he runs his mouth without thinking. That is a huge hurt to me, and I have to see both of them every day. It's a lot.

It's painful when you realize there are people you think you can trust and you find out you can't. Try to just do your job, collect your paycheck, and move on.

[jeep108]

Mar 4, 2016 12:54:31 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

So I just went in for the IT interview and it was a slam dunk! The lady was asking if the pay was ok. She said "It starts between $35-40/ hour, but with all your experience, I think I can get you $40/hour, is that ok? I played it cool and said "Yeah, that should be fine" when I wanted to say "hell yes!" So I'm going to meet with the manager that I would report to next, then the team I would work with, then the director. They are looking to move quickly and so am I. Woot!

Congrats.

[mojothehelpermonkey]

Mar 4, 2016 14:42:07 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Yes the mom's have nesting materials.   As far as I can tell the mom's neglected them.   All 10 were alive and healthy at 4:00 pm.  When I went downstairs the next day at 9:45 am all 10 were dead and scattered around the cage.

I shouldn't have thawed the cells until I went downstairs and checked again.    That was my mistake.

I didn't think.   The pups were 48 hours old by that point and had been fine at 4:30 pm the previous day.

I'll just make it a point to make an extra trip downstairs before I humanize from now on.

The other ones are still living as of this morning.  I warned I can't control what they do over the weekend though.

It sounds like you are working with a strain of bad mothers. When I was having trouble with my breeding moms, I set up a meeting with someone from the breeding core facility. She asked me if the mom's were eating the babies at a rate of one a night or if it was a massacre. It sounds like you had a massacre on your hands.
Anyway, that breeding expert told me that minimizing stress is the best way to prevent cannibalism, but sometimes the mom's are just going to massacre their babies anyway. I don't think the postdoc should be giving you are hard time if that happens. You would have to camp out in front of the cage all night to stop her from doing it, but that would be pointless because she would probably just try again tomorrow.
I hope you can take a day off soon.

[zibazinski]

It's a hard lesson to learn when you realize the people you work with are not your friends

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Mar 4, 2016 15:04:13 GMT -5 mojothehelpermonkey said:

Mar 4, 2016 14:42:07 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

Yes the mom's have nesting materials.   As far as I can tell the mom's neglected them.   All 10 were alive and healthy at 4:00 pm.  When I went downstairs the next day at 9:45 am all 10 were dead and scattered around the cage.

I shouldn't have thawed the cells until I went downstairs and checked again.    That was my mistake.

I didn't think.   The pups were 48 hours old by that point and had been fine at 4:30 pm the previous day.

I'll just make it a point to make an extra trip downstairs before I humanize from now on.

The other ones are still living as of this morning.  I warned I can't control what they do over the weekend though.

It sounds like you are working with a strain of bad mothers. When I was having trouble with my breeding moms, I set up a meeting with someone from the breeding core facility. She asked me if the mom's were eating the babies at a rate of one a night or if it was a massacre. It sounds like you had a massacre on your hands.
Anyway, that breeding expert told me that minimizing stress is the best way to prevent cannibalism, but sometimes the mom's are just going to massacre their babies anyway. I don't think the postdoc should be giving you are hard time if that happens. You would have to camp out in front of the cage all night to stop her from doing it, but that would be pointless because she would probably just try again tomorrow.
I hope you can take a day off soon.

Yeah they don't pay me enough to camp out in front of cages.

They were really good moms the first go around.   I got 42 babies out of these six ladies.    I wonder if maybe I bred them again too soon.   Or it could just be a crap shoot.    Since they can't talk it's not like I can ask them why they did it.

It was just incredibly bad luck.   The PI was all concerned and I was trying to explain to her that I set up multiple breeding cages for this very reason.  I play the averages.  I also have it set up so I have more coming down the pike if this round eats all their babies.  I also tend to have some ready to go that people can use.   By the time it's all said and done I have a decent amount of mice to play with.

If someone needs this specific litter that's a lot harder to control for.  I can average out what i need over 6-8 moms.  If you want ONE mom and she decides to be an asshole there isn't a lot I can do about it.

When cooler heads prevailed the post doc and I discussed it and it was more about the CELLS that he was concerned with.  Which was a valid point and I admitted that.

[mojothehelpermonkey]

The postdoc probably wasn't even that upset with you. Sometimes its just hard for them to handle their frustration when multiple experiments aren't going well.

[andi9899]

The IT job called my references and I have another interview next week. Yay!

[TheHaitian]

So a little over 1 month afterwards, 2 phone calls and 1 complaint to the department of labor I am finally in possession of my bonus check from my former employer.

All is good!