# Workplace griping, anyone? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 12, 2010, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401 "2010-11-12T06:39:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 295
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5882 "2013-08-05T18:29:59Z")
> [@TheFaerie](#): > > 1. I received an email this morning requesting a video interview. Instead of talking to a person on the phone like in the good-ole-days (getoffmylawn), I now have to pretty myself up to sit in my own living room, prop my damn cell phone to get a good angle, and talk to the stupid thing while it records me. I freaking live less than 10 miles from their damn office. > I am not afraid of the technology, but damn it, I hate talking on the phone under the best of circumstances, and now I have to get over a certain amount of stage fright to talk to a fucking recording. Tell 'em you don’t have a cell phone (or it doesn’t have a camera) and offer to come in for the interview. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5883 "2013-08-05T18:39:03Z")
Are you sure it’ll be a recording, or is it a video-conferenced interview? ---
**Author:** ![TheFaerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@TheFaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFaerie)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5884 "2013-08-05T18:48:58Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Are you sure it’ll be a recording, or is it a video-conferenced interview? Definitely a recording. I can do it on my own time in the next 3 days. I imagine that if they like my head shot and audition they will call me for a video-conference. (I call it a ‘head shot and audition’ jokingly, I’m applying for a drafter/designer job.) There are a couple of reasons I can think of why they do this. It is a large, international company, so it may be cheaper than phone calls. They probably want to know if I am actually a real person who really speaks the language that I claim to speak. They want to make sure I am not a hippie freak with tattoos on my face, or whatever. And it is the newest, shiniest thing on the HR recruiting market and they want to show their corporate masters that they are on the cutting edge of stupid, I mean, technology and that their recruits are too. I’m a little annoyed. ETA: Oh and **t** , if I tell them that they will helpfully send me a camera to use for the interview. No, really. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5885 "2013-08-05T21:17:11Z")
BAH! (This isn’t a rant about anyone at work except my own stupid self.) I made 2 major mistakes at work: 1. Drank way too much coffee in the morning and felt sick for the rest of the day. 2. Made a small mistake on something I was printing 200 copies of, therefore wasting 200 sheets of paper. (Though at least I recycled them instead of throwing them in the garbage.) These two mistakes are not related, but they both combined to make my first day back at work not-so-good. Other than that, though, I like my job. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5886 "2013-08-05T21:18:31Z")
> [@TheFaerie](#): > > There are a couple of reasons I can think of why they do this. It is a large, international company, so it may be cheaper than phone calls. They probably want to know if I am actually a real person who really speaks the language that I claim to speak. They want to make sure I am not a hippie freak with tattoos on my face, or whatever. They want to see what race you are. They want to see how old you are. They want to see what clues they can pick up about you from what they can see about your living conditions in the background. They want to see if they can hear kids in the background. ---
**Author:** ![spotthegerbil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@spotthegerbil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spotthegerbil)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5887 "2013-08-05T22:41:15Z")
> [@TheFaerie](#): > > Job search idiocy: > > 1. I received an email this morning requesting a video interview. Instead of talking to a person on the phone like in the good-ole-days (getoffmylawn), I now have to pretty myself up to sit in my own living room, prop my damn cell phone to get a good angle, and talk to the stupid thing while it records me… I’m starting a distance learning college course where the classes are videoconferenced. I’m giving serious thought to using a green screen ([Chroma key](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chroma_key)) background to change the clutter in my study into something more interesting. I don’t know what the best background for an interview would be, but I’m planning on taking my forst class in front of the Sydney Opera House. Good luck in the interview from a fellow job hunter. ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5888 "2013-08-06T00:25:57Z")
**rockle** , are you an overtime exempt employee (as your manager surely is)? If not, tell 'em to pound sand. (Pun intended!) ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5889 "2013-08-06T00:46:22Z")
I’ve never participated in the Workplace Griping thread before, because I thought it would be bad form. But, considering I was fired this morning, I really have no compunctions anymore in letting the world at large know what a complete and utter asshole I’ve been working for for the past several years. I get put on a probation for my accuracy. Fine. I’ll buy that. I worked on it. I really did. I made changes to my organizational procedures. I started coming in early to make sure I had everything covered. I tried and tried to make that douche happy. But it was all a big fucking sham. The probation was nothing but rationalization to fire me … as in, we can’t get rid of him, let’s set him up to fail. I would be given a project with a deadline of a week away and then get pulled off the project for ad hoc shit until the day the project was due and then criticized for doing it last minute. I would complete a project and then have my manager sit on it for a week before he would issue changes he wanted – I would make the updates and send them back and he would sit on it again … and then when the project comes in late, guess who takes the hit? But the best one was this … new guy is responsible for this report; the day it is due there is a problem with it. It’s 5:30, the new guy “has to leave” for what, I don’t know. So I step up and offer … “dude, I can stay late, what do you need?” – “Nothing, we’re fine, go home.” – “Are you sure? I can stay as late as you need.” – “No, to home, enjoy your evening” … next day I get pulled aside and I’m issued a hit on my probation for not staying late the night before. At this point I can’t tell if I’m pissed off over losing my job, or relieved that I never have to deal with that complete and utter asshole again. Of course, the fact that I just bought a house and I have just about enough money in the bank to cover my next mortgage payment if I don’t eat anything for the rest of the month causes a little consternation, but hey, who needs a retirement fund anyway? Fuck my life. I’m just glad that I don’t have to report back to fucking cube-world tomorrow. With any sort of luck, my buddy can can put me to work on his lobster boat and I won’t starve to death. So, how was your day at work? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5890 "2013-08-06T01:05:14Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > Oh hell, I forgot my workplace rant: sweetie, when you show me a stack of test results and I tell you “I’ll take a look at it,” rolling your eyes and saying “whatever” is not the appropriate response. In fact, rolling your eyes and saying “whatever” to me on a Friday afternoon causes me to place your precious results at the bottom of my stack. \ That isn’t an appropriate response to _anyone_ at work, ever. > [@amelie](#): > > \ > So…am I normal? Can I say to myself: it’s the first week, I’ll make mistakes, and screw them for making a massive drama out of it? Or do I need to worry that this job just isnt for me? Your co-workers are unkind jerks. _Everyone_ makes mistakes their first week at work. Not everyone makes fun of their new co-workers for making mistakes, though - only nasty people do that. ETA: That really does suck, **Jack Batty**. I’m sorry to hear they fired you, and sorry that you were working at such a shitty company. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5891 "2013-08-06T01:16:39Z")
You know the biggest problem? It isn’t a shitty company. It was just a shitty department. I really wanted to stay there. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5892 "2013-08-06T02:56:18Z")
Aw fuck. I’m so sorry, **Jack**. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5893 "2013-08-06T05:00:40Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > You know the biggest problem? It isn’t a shitty company. It was just a shitty department. I really wanted to stay there. Well, the company allows the shitty department to stay shitty, so I’m hating them on your behalf. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5894 "2013-08-06T11:47:15Z")
We’re getting the carpets at the front desk and in the back offices (behind the desk) replaced today. At 8-o-fucking-clock-a.m. When there are a lot of people trying to get work done and guests checking out and the phone ringing. And She Who Must Be Obeyed, who scheduled this clusterfuck, is conveniently out of town at a conference. And there is much profanity. Also I requested Tuesday of next week off and said I could work Sunday. My sister’s in town next Tuesday and we have non-reschedulable plans. So \*\*of course \*\*Squirrel AGM schedules me to work Tuesday. Yeah, that schedule’s going to be redone. ---
**Author:** ![TheFaerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@TheFaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFaerie)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5895 "2013-08-06T14:10:36Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > They want to see what race you are. > They want to see how old you are. > They want to see what clues they can pick up about you from what they can see about your living conditions in the background. > They want to see if they can hear kids in the background. Yep, answers to questions that are illegal to actually ask. I tried to do it this morning, epic fail. I look and sound like a complete idiot on the first question and there is no way to go back and fix it so I stopped the interview. Who thought up this new torture? I’m a nervous wreck. I’m contemplating contacting them and telling them that I would rather come into the office and talk to them. I’m going for my walk. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5896 "2013-08-06T15:49:59Z")
> [@Cheez\_Whia](#): > > **rockle** , are you an overtime exempt employee (as your manager surely is)? If not, tell 'em to pound sand. (Pun intended!) Nope. Hourly. And they ALREADY give me a hard time about the ½-1 hour of extra time I put in a week because for whateverthehell reason, Manager’s Boss has some sort of catastrophe EVERY. SINGLE. FRIDAY. around 3pm and I always end up being the lucky winner who has to stay late and fix it. Isn’t it interesting how it takes all week to break shit, but they expect me to fix it in under an hour? (And by “interesting” I mean “STFU and GTFO and DIAF” and whatever other overused acronyms I will think up later.) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5897 "2013-08-06T16:24:43Z")
Posted this in the wrong thread; The shit is in the process of flying straight at the fan in my office. Most of my team, like me, is hourly. OT has to be approved in advance. Our new manager informed us yesterday that we will all need to be available for these mandatory escalation calls that can come at any time and usually happen at like, 2am on the weekends, then can last ALL FUCKING DAY. All of this of course, would be OT since it’s unscheduled and we have other things to do. We also have ZERO business need to be in on those calls, since they’re issue resolution on issues we cannot even help resolve. As I said, I take sleep meds. Good luck waking me up at 2am and expecting me to be coherent. And of course, it was drilled into us that if you’re called, it is _ **mandatory** _. No ‘as soon as I’m available’, or ‘I’m busy now’, or ‘as soon as I finish this’. (So wait, you would honestly expect me, for example, to walk out on a date or a family function to take the fucking call? That’s not happening.) Pretty bad when my team lead, who has been with the company well over 20 years, mentioned looking for another job five times in 10 minutes if he’s required to do this. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5898 "2013-08-06T16:40:27Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Posted this in the wrong thread; > > The shit is in the process of flying straight at the fan in my office. Most of my team, like me, is hourly. OT has to be approved in advance. Our new manager informed us yesterday that we will all need to be available for these mandatory escalation calls that can come at any time and usually happen at like, 2am on the weekends, then can last ALL FUCKING DAY. All of this of course, would be OT since it’s unscheduled and we have other things to do. We also have ZERO business need to be in on those calls, since they’re issue resolution on issues we cannot even help resolve. > > As I said, I take sleep meds. Good luck waking me up at 2am and expecting me to be coherent. > > And of course, it was drilled into us that if you’re called, it is _ **mandatory** _. No ‘as soon as I’m available’, or ‘I’m busy now’, or ‘as soon as I finish this’. (So wait, you would honestly expect me, for example, to walk out on a date or a family function to take the fucking call? That’s not happening.) > > Pretty bad when my team lead, who has been with the company well over 20 years, mentioned looking for another job five times in 10 minutes if he’s required to do this. I think that was my fault, since I posted a workplace rant in a non workplace rant thread, and you were quoting me. But I’ll also say - while not as bad as the above, I was called, at home, on Monday, a day I had taken as a vacation, for a terribly minor issue, that turned out was due to the complete and utter stupidity of my coworker. Next time I take a day off the cell phone is going to be OFF. And then I will just not answer my home phone. Neener neener. I don’t work in anything so important that it can’t wait. ---
**Author:** ![eulalia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eulalia/32/457_2.png) [@eulalia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eulalia)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5899 "2013-08-06T19:20:38Z")
> [@TheFaerie](#): > > Yep, answers to questions that are illegal to actually ask. > I tried to do it this morning, epic fail. I look and sound like a complete idiot on the first question and there is no way to go back and fix it so I stopped the interview. Who thought up this new torture? I’m a nervous wreck. I’m contemplating contacting them and telling them that I would rather come into the office and talk to them. > I’m going for my walk. :mad: Part of the purpose of a job interview should be to give you the opportunity to decide if you want to work for them. Shifting the interview to your home makes that harder. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5900 "2013-08-06T19:26:22Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Posted this in the wrong thread; > > The shit is in the process of flying straight at the fan in my office. Most of my team, like me, is hourly. OT has to be approved in advance. Our new manager informed us yesterday that we will all need to be available for these mandatory escalation calls that can come at any time and usually happen at like, 2am on the weekends, then can last ALL FUCKING DAY. All of this of course, would be OT since it’s unscheduled and we have other things to do. We also have ZERO business need to be in on those calls, since they’re issue resolution on issues we cannot even help resolve. > > As I said, I take sleep meds. Good luck waking me up at 2am and expecting me to be coherent. > > And of course, it was drilled into us that if you’re called, it is _ **mandatory** _. No ‘as soon as I’m available’, or ‘I’m busy now’, or ‘as soon as I finish this’. (So wait, you would honestly expect me, for example, to walk out on a date or a family function to take the fucking call? That’s not happening.) > > Pretty bad when my team lead, who has been with the company well over 20 years, mentioned looking for another job five times in 10 minutes if he’s required to do this. Egad. 1. Haven’t they ever heard of on-call scheduling? As in “Jane gets the first 3 days of the month, John gets the next 3, you can swap them as long as it’s covered”???. At least then you could swap them if you had a date or whatever. 2. Has the manager addressed the conflicting rules in any way? As in “I got a call at 2 AM that took 2 hours, either I get paid 2 hours overtime or I get to leave 2 hours early”? ---
**Author:** ![TheFaerie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@TheFaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFaerie)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401/5901 "2013-08-06T19:29:33Z")
> [@eulalia](#): > > Part of the purpose of a job interview should be to give you the opportunity to decide if you want to work for them. Shifting the interview to your home makes that harder. Online sources make a big deal out of how it is supposed to make the interviewee more comfortable since they are in their own home. Not so much. I’m too worried about what I look like and how I sound instead of trying to give intelligent answers. I’d like to hear from anyone who has successfully completed a video interview and felt they did a good job. In fact I’m going to post that question to GQ right now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401.md?page=294) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/workplace-griping-anyone/560401.md?page=296)