If they are sloppy or dishonest in the way they purchase software for their computers, especially if they routinely install illegal copies of software, report them to the Business Software Alliance.
Update your resume. Pay a Professional to go over it, and make sure the right “search engine buzzwords” are there. Post on Monster, etc.
You should have done this as of your 2nd bounced paycheck.
You are totally right. I realized this about 10 seconds after I finished this letter. Typing it made me feel better, but I knew it wouldn’t do much. So I rewrote it, and focused it on the bouncing checks issue (mostly because I wanted to get the situation taken care of quickly so I could quit and cut all ties with them.)
I currently have a resume posted on Monster, but hadn’t considered having a professional look at it. Does this help much, and how expensive are they? How about Monster’s Resume Writing Service. Tonight I will post to career builder and Hot Jobs too, and I have enrolled with a job placement service.
On the advice of my parents I am NOT giving notice before October 1st, in the hopes that I will find another job by then. If I don’t I will give notice on the 1st and try to temp for a while. So for the next couple of weeks I plan to be a model employee, get my department back into shape, and then leave.
As an update, I got an apology for the veiled threat of fireing as well as a promise that I was not going anywhere anytime soon when we had our “talk” yesterday. I also found out that the company’s finances are in worse shape than I had previously assumed, and think that the business will probably fold within a couple of years anyway.
Mostly, no one reads resumes any more. What they do is do a “search” on certain key words in their industry on Monster’s (for example) stock on filed resumes. Thus, you **really ** need to have those key words. Cost is maybe $100, and that’s the high end. To just have a pro go over your resume, make some suggestions and make sure the keywords are there shouldn’t be expensive. I have never used Monster’s Resume service, but otherwise I can recommend them.
NAF1138, I’m an HR manager and don’t mind looking over your resume. You can blank out your real name/addy/personal info and just send the text if you want a critique. E-mail’s in my profile.
Oh, and I strongly, strongly agree about not giving your employer this letter. That sort of thing has a tendency to come back to you at the worst possible moment.
I also agree with the posters that mentioned going after them in small claims to recover your NSF fees and such, and going after them by way of reporting their practices to the DOL. Don’t get mad and fire off a letter telling them what giant assholes they are because you already know that - make it right for yourself where it counts in the form of getting back your money and your credit rating.
Give them the standard, “Thank you for the opportunity, my last day will be blah blah blah, please accept this as my two weeks’ notice.” and leave it at that. Give them absolutely nothing to use against you.
Do the small claims and DOL report after you’ve found the great new job, after you’ve given notice and after you’ve received your last paycheck, and even then wait until that last paycheck clears and you have the funds. Something tells me they’d accidentally on purpose bounce that last check. :rolleyes:
Dr. Deth has an excellent point; most of the larger career sites have searches that run off keywords; have the major keywords in your resume and you’re likely to get more hits.
Thanks for the offer Silver. Your profile says your email is set to private, but if you think you can give me any info based on an idea of the format and the content I am happy to post it here.
So at the risk of this thread ceasing to be pit worthy at all…here is my resume, all personal information has been deleted, in the situations where the missing info has been replaced those items have been placed in bold type:
Objective:
Administrative position in a Professional Services firm where I have the opportunity to grow and advance as I develop my skills.
Qualifications:
Technical: Skilled in Windows and Mac, Word, Excel, QuickBooks, Access, Outlook, Photoshop, Jasic Paintshop Pro, Office Accelerator contacts management program, Highly skilled in Internet Navigations, Typing speed 50 WPM, Ten-Key Speed 40 WPM
Personal: Five Years sales and customer service experience. One year in a management position. Extensive experience with both phone and email etiquette, and as the Internet Sales Coordinator for Companyspent several hours daily working directly with clients. Outgoing, People-Oriented, Skilled at Communication.
Office: Strong Organizational Skills, Hardworking, Dedicated, Punctual, Flexible, willing to work until the job is done right.
Education:
UCLA, Los Angeles, CA Graduated 2005 - Cum Laude
Received a BA in Theater Arts with emphasis on directing which required the cultivation of interpersonal communication skills as well as time management abilities and a strong work ethic. Managed large groups of people and operated as part of a team to get the job done.
Experience:
Company, Los Angeles, CA 2005-Present
Internet Sales Coordinator. Responsible for managing and running the eBay store for Company: This includes but is not limited to:
• Processing sales and reconciling inventory.
• Manage all customer service issues as pertaining to eBay sales.
• Evaluate and price art work
• Create and maintain a filing system for Internet Sales
• Manage Stock room and all storage facilities.
• General Sales
Company, Los Angeles, CA 2000-2005
Gallery Assistant. Assistant to the company in general, duties included but were not limited to:
• Answering a Multi Line Phone
• Maintaining Stock Room
• Designing Window, Wall, and Case Displays
• Filing
• Office Cleaning and Maintenance
• Bank Transactions
• Some Sales
References Available Upon Request
You killed someone’s mother to get a desk? I’d say “abusive” is getting off light. Settle down, Milton!
I wouldn’t even give them two weeks notice, with their history of deliquent payment. Just tell them, “By the way, I won’t be in tomorrow or the next day or the day after that and probably never again.” They don’t have to give you two weeks to fire you why should you give them two weeks notice?
Well, it’s the whole not-burning-bridges thing. These people may honestly not know they’re being assholes. And if NAF can leave on a good note (you know, lie about what a wonderful place to work this has been), perhaps they’ll be a good reference down the line.
Take the objective out of your CV - it’s something you should put in your cover letter so you can customise it to the position sought.
I suppose, and while I agree that the letter shouldn’t be sent, as it serves no real purpose, I don’t think it is so bad to leave without notice. It doesn’t sound like NAF would be using them as a reference, although I don’t know. The key would to be honest in an interview when the subject about why he left his job.
Don’t leave early, don’t raise a stink; just find another job, give your notice, say your farewells, and leave. Don’t start running until you’ve rounded the corner. (Though, don’t let the door hit you on the way out, either.)
Then take them to small claims court.
And make sure you have an excellent cover letter. Nobody reads the whole resume unless they like the cover letter.
I don’t agree with this at all - they bounced half his paycheques and called HIM abusive! There is no good note here - there is only NAF running far and fast from some of the worst employers I’ve ever heard of. He sounds like he’s halfway to Stockholm Syndrome here - he doesn’t even know how bad it is at this point. I don’t agree with your parents’ advice, either - you’re in an abusive work situation, and you need to leave it and start re-building your life. You won’t even know how bad it is until you get out of it - then you’ll wonder how you stayed so long.
Don’t worry about this job being a bad reference, NAF. When asked why you left, all you have to say is that they bounced your paycheques. The only way you look bad is if you tell them you stayed long enough for them to do it twice. How you phrase it is, “After the company I worked for bounced a paycheque, I felt I could not stay with them in a professional capacity any longer.” No more questions.
Don’t worry about sending them any letters, or discussing your job with them, either - just quit. Employment is a two-way street, and these assholes have earned absolutely no respect from you. Unless you are going to starve if you quit now, just do it. Leave this toxic environment. Do it for your poor, neglected self-esteem.
True - unless the OP needs the money, that would be a nice way to exit quickly from the hellhole and leave them holding the bag. 
**
NAF**, so sorry! I thought it was in there. I’ve updated my profile so I think it should show up now. Feel free to e-mail me on it.
With regards to what you’ve got here:
I agree, eliminate the objective. You can speak to that in a cover letter and flesh it out to be more job or industry-specific. It also saves precious room on your resume that can be dedicated instead to your skills and experience.
This is a total nit-pick, and naturally you can use what makes you feel most comfortable, but I tend to go with something along the lines of a “Professional Profile” rather than “Qualifications”. “Professional Profile” just looks a little more updated and snazzy to my eye, and can be used to head up a section on all your skills; for example, I like to go with listing my “soft” skills under this heading and then list my “hard” skills under “Technical Skills”. For example:
Professional Profile
Management skills
Conflict Resolution
Supervisory experience
Technical Skills
Payroll accounting
benefits administration
Also, conserve the wording. Condense as tightly as you can without sacrificing the details. You want to pack as much punch as you can in as few words as possible so that recruiters/employers will be intrigued and will want to know more. Given the volume of resumes many employers look at, you want to relay as much as you can in a condensed “reader’s digest” manner. I know I’ve been guilty of skimming resumes for keywords when I’ve looked at forty of them that day, so when you’ve honed in on what kind of position or industry you’re aiming for, pepper your resume with keywords fitting that industry or job.
Try to stay focused on the “concrete” stuff - rather than an applicant telling me that their work ethic is strong and they’re enthusiastic about working in widgets, I like to see things like, “Developed significant management skills running daily E-Bay operations for X Company”, or “Generated $X in sales over one-year period while managing E-Bay sales operation.” So if I, the recruiter, happen to need someone who has sales experience and has generated that kind of dough in sales, I’d be interested in talking to you because I see you’ve got direct experience in doing that for someone else.
Don’t get me wrong; you absolutely should expound upon your strong work ethic and your people skills, but I’d do that in the interview once you’ve hooked them with your concrete details of sales and management success on your resume.
So, here’s my own first hack at your resume - sorry, I kind of rushed it but will be glad to give it a good rough-up in the morning when the juniors aren’t climbing all over me.
You might open up the headers and footers on your Word document - if you’re using Word - and put your contact information in it, like your name, phone and e-mail address - nice touch.) Resumes have a habit of getting passed around all over the place by we sordid HRMs , so as long as you have valid, updated e-mail and phone contact info on it, you can get away with not having your physical address on there. If you’ve got a P.O. Box address, that can work. Rather than put the “duties included but not limited to” line, cut that line and use bullets to cram in more skills and experience related to that job.
The trend has been to leave off the reference line, though it’s still fine to use it, and to just give your reference information after the interview if the prospective employer asks for it. It saves space on your resume that you can use to add more job or skill-related information. Also, it’s completely kosher (as long as the prospective employer is cool with it; get a business card to do this) to e-mail your reference information after the interview if they want references. Use that as an opportunity to follow up on the interview and get in a few extra brags on yourself - mention things specifically from the interview as well.
NAF1138
Anywhere, CA
555-555-5555
e-mail address
Professional Profile
Extensive sales and customer service skills
Management experience
Well-developed written and verbal communication skills
Significant organizational skills
Client relations and development (pad your resume where you can, but do it right and always stay true to your skills )
Technical Skills
Skilled and trained in Windows and MacIntosh systems. Word, Excel, QuickBooks, MS Access, MS Outlook, PhotoShop, Basic Paintshop Pro, Office Accelerator contacts management program, internet navigations, 50 WPM, 10-key at 40 WPM.
Education:
University of California
Los Angeles, California
B.A.
2005
Received a BA in Theater Arts with emphasis on directing which required the cultivation of interpersonal communication skills as well as time management abilities and a strong work ethic. Managed large groups of people and operated as part of a team.
Employment History
Company, Los Angeles, CA 2005-Present
Internet Sales Coordinator
• Managed eBay operations
• Processed all sales and reconciled inventory
• Managed any customer service issues arising from Ebay sales activity
• Evaluate and appraise art work; set pricing for works for sale
• Created and maintained Internet sales filing system
• Managed stock room and all storage facilities
• Responsible for administration of general sales operations
Company, Los Angeles, CA 2000-2005
Gallery Assistant
• Managed stock room operations
• Designed window, wall and case displays
• Processed financial transactions,
• Sales management
• Maintenance and filing
• Responsible for phone inquiries (creative way to say you took phone calls…I know )
Let me know if there’s more you want to add; will be happy to help. Go get 'em!
Do not leave without giving two weeks notice. Like I said, California is a union state, as opposed to a right-to-work state; but really, what right-to-work means is that either party can get rid of the other at a moment’s notice. So you have to check your locale, any contracts you may have signed, and what the California code is on quitting, because some states that aren’t right-to-work have a legal requirement (it sounds stupid, but is true) about how much notice you have to give before leaving a job or firing an employee. I’ve never heard of a locale or state requiring more than two weeks except for executive positions, though.
However, I do wish you the best of luck, and I really hope you get out of there ASAP. No job is worth that kind of stress.
~Tasha
Isn’t California a so-called “right to work” state?
I’d love to see a cite on this. That smells way too much like forced servitude to be enforceable.
That would be HUNDREDS of checks by now.
You’re supposed to quit after the second bounced paycheck. One I can understand, maybe they made a mistake. At two, you leave.
An employer that doesn’t pay its employees prompty on time is unethical. Paying the employees takes immediate priority over everything else. If you can’t afford your employees you’re supposed to lay them off, not string them along.
Why the fuck have you worked there for so long?
In CA you can quit- or be fired- with no notice at all. AFAIK, no state requires notice. Now, if you have a contract, things change a lot.
In this particular case, I wouldn’t be concerned about giving notice as their habit of bouncing their paychecks has absolved the OP of any reason to be nice.