Lexicus
Deity
What is human about treating the people in your life as means to an end? What is human about making it obvious that you're doing this by using corpo-speak and HR-type euphemisms in personal communications?
How to get a job (or not)
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What is human about treating the people in your life as means to an end? What is human about making it obvious that you're doing this by using corpo-speak and HR-type euphemisms in personal communications?
Syno
Deity
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No. There is a difference between making incidental connections that you can turn to in a time of need and artificially constructing a social persona/agenda that is solely dedicated toward corporate advancement and self-benefit. If your (royal you) approach to human connection is gamifying their potential toward your personal career advancement/wealth accumulation, there is something wrong.
The fact that people do have relationships with others for personal benefit, as well as the benefit of those others, makes it a very human trait. Most human relationships are a "means to an end" in one way or another. The article just demonstrates a more systematic way to think about one's work related relationships to find a better or more rewarding job. The process of systematizing things is also very human. Certainly, you may find it distasteful and badly utilitarian, but it is not abusive or inhuman. Some may find it a good way for organizing one's fellow workers to the benefit of the larger group!
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Certainly, Guanxi (Chinese business networking term) is in play. the article is focused on firming up one's network for job hunting, but such things are the foundation of more complex business networks.
Wages Surge For Workers Who Stay Put
BY GABRIEL T. RUBIN AND SARAH CHANEY CAMBON
Workers who stay put in their jobs are getting their heftiest pay raises in decades, a factor putting pressure on inflation.
Wages for workers who stayed at their jobs were up 5.5% in November from a year earlier, averaged over 12 months, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. That was up from 3.7% annual growth in January 2022 and the highest increase in 25 years of record-keeping. Faster wage growth is contributing to historically high inflation, as some companies pass along price increases to compensate for their increased labor costs. Prices rose at their fastest pace in 40 years earlier in 2022. Inflation has cooled in recent months but remains high. Federal Reserve officials are closely monitoring wage gains as they consider future interest-rate increases to slow the economy and bring down inflation.
Employees who changed companies, job duties or occupations saw even greater wage gains of 7.7% in November from a year earlier. The prospect that employees might leave for bigger paychecks is a main reason companies are raising wages for existing employees.
Many workers aren’t feeling the pay gains, though. Wages for all private-sector workers declined 1.9% over the 12 months that ended in November, after accounting for annual inflation of 7.1%, according to the Labor Department.
Workers in sectors such as leisure and hospitality can easily find job openings that might pay more, making it more enticing to switch jobs, said Layla O’Kane, senior economist at Lightcast. “If I can see that the Burger King down the street is offering $22 an hour, and I’m making $20 an hour at the Dunkin’ Donuts that I work at, then I know very clearly what my opportunity cost is,” she said. “Employers are reacting to that and saying, ‘Well, we’re going to increase wages internally because we don’t want to lose the staff that we’ve already trained.’ ” Employee bargaining power has increased as the economy rebounded from the pandemic, likely emboldening some employees to ask for wage increases from their current employers, Ms. O’Kane added.
Alexandria Carter, a billing specialist and accountant at an insurance company in Balti-more, received a promotion and a small pay bump earlier in 2022. After her year-end performance review, she received another 7% pay increase to reward her for her progress, and her bosses told her about their plans for her to keep moving up in the company. That was a contrast with some previous jobs she has held. “They were telling me that I’m excelling in my position, and I just got it,” she said. “To have that recognition and that they notice the work I’ve put in and to be rewarded, it’s just nice.”
There are signs wage gains are beginning to ease as the tight labor market loosens a bit. Average hourly earnings were up 5.1% in November from a year earlier, slowing from a recent peak of 5.6% in March. Many analysts expect wage growth could cool further in coming months.
Alexandria Carter, above left, a Baltimore billing specialist and accountant, received a promotion and two pay increases this past year. Employees are getting more merit and other raises as bosses try to prevent poaching by rivals, including in the restaurant and hospitality industry. FROM LEFT: ALEXANDRIA CARTER, RACHEL WOOLF FOR WSJ
In industries with high demand for workers, “companies are prepared for wage growth to match inflation,” said Paul McDonald, senior executive director at Robert Half, a professional staffing company. “As inflation comes down, it will be more in line with what wage growth has been.” The consumer-price index, a measurement of what consumers pay for goods and services, climbed 7.1% in November from a year earlier, down from 7.7% in October. The pace built on a trend of moderating price increases since June’s 9.1% peak. Still, wage pressures will likely continue in a competitive job market where poaching remains common. More than half of professionals feel underpaid, and 4 in 10 workers would leave their jobs for a 10% raise elsewhere, according to a Robert Half survey released in September.
Many businesses in the Boston Fed district cited labor costs as a bigger source of inflationary pressure for 2023 than other types of expenses, according to the central bank’s Beige Book. Wage and price increases can feed off each other. In fact, higher inflation is pushing some workers to seek cost-of-living increases, helping contribute to wage growth among job stayers, economists say. More broadly, pay is rising for both job stayers and switchers because companies can’t find enough workers. Across the economy, job openings— at 10.3 million in October— far exceeded the 6.1 million unemployed Americans looking for work that month.
BY GABRIEL T. RUBIN AND SARAH CHANEY CAMBON
Workers who stay put in their jobs are getting their heftiest pay raises in decades, a factor putting pressure on inflation.
Wages for workers who stayed at their jobs were up 5.5% in November from a year earlier, averaged over 12 months, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. That was up from 3.7% annual growth in January 2022 and the highest increase in 25 years of record-keeping. Faster wage growth is contributing to historically high inflation, as some companies pass along price increases to compensate for their increased labor costs. Prices rose at their fastest pace in 40 years earlier in 2022. Inflation has cooled in recent months but remains high. Federal Reserve officials are closely monitoring wage gains as they consider future interest-rate increases to slow the economy and bring down inflation.
Employees who changed companies, job duties or occupations saw even greater wage gains of 7.7% in November from a year earlier. The prospect that employees might leave for bigger paychecks is a main reason companies are raising wages for existing employees.
Many workers aren’t feeling the pay gains, though. Wages for all private-sector workers declined 1.9% over the 12 months that ended in November, after accounting for annual inflation of 7.1%, according to the Labor Department.
Workers in sectors such as leisure and hospitality can easily find job openings that might pay more, making it more enticing to switch jobs, said Layla O’Kane, senior economist at Lightcast. “If I can see that the Burger King down the street is offering $22 an hour, and I’m making $20 an hour at the Dunkin’ Donuts that I work at, then I know very clearly what my opportunity cost is,” she said. “Employers are reacting to that and saying, ‘Well, we’re going to increase wages internally because we don’t want to lose the staff that we’ve already trained.’ ” Employee bargaining power has increased as the economy rebounded from the pandemic, likely emboldening some employees to ask for wage increases from their current employers, Ms. O’Kane added.
Alexandria Carter, a billing specialist and accountant at an insurance company in Balti-more, received a promotion and a small pay bump earlier in 2022. After her year-end performance review, she received another 7% pay increase to reward her for her progress, and her bosses told her about their plans for her to keep moving up in the company. That was a contrast with some previous jobs she has held. “They were telling me that I’m excelling in my position, and I just got it,” she said. “To have that recognition and that they notice the work I’ve put in and to be rewarded, it’s just nice.”
There are signs wage gains are beginning to ease as the tight labor market loosens a bit. Average hourly earnings were up 5.1% in November from a year earlier, slowing from a recent peak of 5.6% in March. Many analysts expect wage growth could cool further in coming months.
Alexandria Carter, above left, a Baltimore billing specialist and accountant, received a promotion and two pay increases this past year. Employees are getting more merit and other raises as bosses try to prevent poaching by rivals, including in the restaurant and hospitality industry. FROM LEFT: ALEXANDRIA CARTER, RACHEL WOOLF FOR WSJ
In industries with high demand for workers, “companies are prepared for wage growth to match inflation,” said Paul McDonald, senior executive director at Robert Half, a professional staffing company. “As inflation comes down, it will be more in line with what wage growth has been.” The consumer-price index, a measurement of what consumers pay for goods and services, climbed 7.1% in November from a year earlier, down from 7.7% in October. The pace built on a trend of moderating price increases since June’s 9.1% peak. Still, wage pressures will likely continue in a competitive job market where poaching remains common. More than half of professionals feel underpaid, and 4 in 10 workers would leave their jobs for a 10% raise elsewhere, according to a Robert Half survey released in September.
Many businesses in the Boston Fed district cited labor costs as a bigger source of inflationary pressure for 2023 than other types of expenses, according to the central bank’s Beige Book. Wage and price increases can feed off each other. In fact, higher inflation is pushing some workers to seek cost-of-living increases, helping contribute to wage growth among job stayers, economists say. More broadly, pay is rising for both job stayers and switchers because companies can’t find enough workers. Across the economy, job openings— at 10.3 million in October— far exceeded the 6.1 million unemployed Americans looking for work that month.
Wonderful. What do you do for work?
sophie
Break My Heart
It’s been what, seven years since he started doing this bit? I still don’t get it 
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It seems like your post was directed at me, so I went back and read page 1 of this thread (from 11 years ago) and found it worth visiting.It’s been what, seven years since he started doing this bit? I still don’t get it
sophie
Break My Heart
No Bridog’s McGuire(=Trump) bit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maguire_University, maybe?
It's a pretty obscure callback. I don't see the analogy other than 'fake'.
edit:
Or I guess I could search here.
It's a pretty obscure callback. I don't see the analogy other than 'fake'.
edit:
Or I guess I could search here.
Mouse Jigglers, Fake PowerPoints: Workers Foil Bosses’ Surveillance
Firms try to track people’s productivity, but employees find workarounds
BY DOUGLAS BELKIN AND LINDSAY ELLIS
In a time of hybrid work, employers are extra-focused on making sure their staffers are being productive. Now come employees with work hacks to keep the bosses off their tails. Lisa Crawford works in marketing from her home in Phoenix. She says she is wary of her computer falling asleep when she gets up to throw in a load of laundry or prep ingredients for dinner. She might miss the ping of an email from a supervisor and be slow to reply. Her solution? Sloth TV, a live-cam of a Costa Rican wildlife rescue ranch, where volunteers feed cute baby sloths for the viewing audience. Ms. Crawford pulls up the stream on a second monitor. Her computer stays awake to hear notifications that pop up so she can dart back to her desk. As a bonus, she keeps up to speed on sloths. “Watch as they take naps, snack, snuggle in their blankets, go for an adventurous climb, and even get fed by our caretakers!” says the live-cam site.
Since the start of the pandemic, an estimated third of medium-to-large U.S. companies have adopted some kind of worker-surveillance system, bringing the overall share of employers using such systems to two out of three. Others tally badge swipes into the office or hire consultants to spot quiet quitters—the buzzy term for employees who do what is in their job description and no more. A September report by Microsoft Corp. described a “paranoia” in which 85% of business leaders said they questioned whether their hybrid workforces were being productive (even though, the report said, people generally are working more than ever). That has led to “productivity theater,” the report added, in which some employees try to show they’re busy by doing things like joining meetings they don’t need to be in.
Workers nationwide are sharing their ways to outsmart supervisors, guard their personal lives or just avoid looking like shirkers. Career coaches such as Sho Dewan provide lessons on techniques. Early in his career, while between consulting projects, Mr. Dewan would wake at 8 a.m., open a PowerPoint slide on his laptop and click “present,” he says. He wasn’t outlining strategy for a client. No one else was seeing the slides. Mr. Dewan had learned that his computer wouldn’t go to sleep or mark him as “idle” during a presentation. His computer being alert meant he didn’t have to be, and he would catch more sleep. Mr. Dewan dashed off a Tik-Tok video on the strategy in October. His slide was all white, with black text reading “REALLY IMPORTANT WORK MEETING” centered on the screen. “Just hit ’slideshow,’ and you’re good,” he says to the audience as he flashes a thumbs up. The tutorial got more than 10 million views.
When Mohamed Abbas’s job went remote early in the pandemic, the management assistant liked the idea of being at his home in Barstow, Calif., collecting pay of $27 an hour. Then friends in the IT department shared some bad news. Work computers would shut down if left inactive for more than 10 minutes. Bosses would know who was away from their desks. That irked Mr. Abbas. His responsibilities included setting up training for new employees, coordinating calendar invites for meetings and handling travel vouchers. Some-times there was none of that to do, he says, yet “they still wanted us logged on. It didn’t make any sense.” Mr. Abbas wrapped the cord of his computer mouse around a rotating desk fan. Its motion kept the mouse moving and prevented his computer from shutting down. “I logged on, went to the gym,” he says. Another time, Mr. Abbas says, he opened the notes application and placed a lock on the keyboard over the letter C. The page filled up with row after row of the letter while he stepped out.
For workers who aren’t as handy, mouse jigglers are for sale on Amazon. “Push the button when you’re getting up from your desk and the cursor travels randomly around the screen—for hours, if needed!” says one review.
Employees who go to the office also are sharing tips for dealing with productivity-focused bosses. “A desk covered with papers makes it look like you’re in the middle of 5 things at once,” advises a Reddit thread.
What annoyed Ma Treeka Rogers, when she was a sales manager at fashion retailer Forever 21 in Dallas, was that when employees like her were taking 10 minutes in the break room, “the managers would just keep interrupting you with questions about work.” So she stacked her breaks on top of her half-hour lunch to make a nice stretch of time, then sat in her car and watched “Grey’s Anatomy.”
The first rule of all such strategies is to keep them quiet, to stay employed while looking for a new job, says Leigh Henderson, a human-resources executive in San Antonio who moonlights as an online coach.
Years ago, back from a vacation to a job she had quietly quit, she found 800 emails in her inbox. She deleted them all, on the assumption that if any were important, people would resend. Only a few did.
Firms try to track people’s productivity, but employees find workarounds
BY DOUGLAS BELKIN AND LINDSAY ELLIS
In a time of hybrid work, employers are extra-focused on making sure their staffers are being productive. Now come employees with work hacks to keep the bosses off their tails. Lisa Crawford works in marketing from her home in Phoenix. She says she is wary of her computer falling asleep when she gets up to throw in a load of laundry or prep ingredients for dinner. She might miss the ping of an email from a supervisor and be slow to reply. Her solution? Sloth TV, a live-cam of a Costa Rican wildlife rescue ranch, where volunteers feed cute baby sloths for the viewing audience. Ms. Crawford pulls up the stream on a second monitor. Her computer stays awake to hear notifications that pop up so she can dart back to her desk. As a bonus, she keeps up to speed on sloths. “Watch as they take naps, snack, snuggle in their blankets, go for an adventurous climb, and even get fed by our caretakers!” says the live-cam site.
Since the start of the pandemic, an estimated third of medium-to-large U.S. companies have adopted some kind of worker-surveillance system, bringing the overall share of employers using such systems to two out of three. Others tally badge swipes into the office or hire consultants to spot quiet quitters—the buzzy term for employees who do what is in their job description and no more. A September report by Microsoft Corp. described a “paranoia” in which 85% of business leaders said they questioned whether their hybrid workforces were being productive (even though, the report said, people generally are working more than ever). That has led to “productivity theater,” the report added, in which some employees try to show they’re busy by doing things like joining meetings they don’t need to be in.
Workers nationwide are sharing their ways to outsmart supervisors, guard their personal lives or just avoid looking like shirkers. Career coaches such as Sho Dewan provide lessons on techniques. Early in his career, while between consulting projects, Mr. Dewan would wake at 8 a.m., open a PowerPoint slide on his laptop and click “present,” he says. He wasn’t outlining strategy for a client. No one else was seeing the slides. Mr. Dewan had learned that his computer wouldn’t go to sleep or mark him as “idle” during a presentation. His computer being alert meant he didn’t have to be, and he would catch more sleep. Mr. Dewan dashed off a Tik-Tok video on the strategy in October. His slide was all white, with black text reading “REALLY IMPORTANT WORK MEETING” centered on the screen. “Just hit ’slideshow,’ and you’re good,” he says to the audience as he flashes a thumbs up. The tutorial got more than 10 million views.
When Mohamed Abbas’s job went remote early in the pandemic, the management assistant liked the idea of being at his home in Barstow, Calif., collecting pay of $27 an hour. Then friends in the IT department shared some bad news. Work computers would shut down if left inactive for more than 10 minutes. Bosses would know who was away from their desks. That irked Mr. Abbas. His responsibilities included setting up training for new employees, coordinating calendar invites for meetings and handling travel vouchers. Some-times there was none of that to do, he says, yet “they still wanted us logged on. It didn’t make any sense.” Mr. Abbas wrapped the cord of his computer mouse around a rotating desk fan. Its motion kept the mouse moving and prevented his computer from shutting down. “I logged on, went to the gym,” he says. Another time, Mr. Abbas says, he opened the notes application and placed a lock on the keyboard over the letter C. The page filled up with row after row of the letter while he stepped out.
For workers who aren’t as handy, mouse jigglers are for sale on Amazon. “Push the button when you’re getting up from your desk and the cursor travels randomly around the screen—for hours, if needed!” says one review.
Employees who go to the office also are sharing tips for dealing with productivity-focused bosses. “A desk covered with papers makes it look like you’re in the middle of 5 things at once,” advises a Reddit thread.
What annoyed Ma Treeka Rogers, when she was a sales manager at fashion retailer Forever 21 in Dallas, was that when employees like her were taking 10 minutes in the break room, “the managers would just keep interrupting you with questions about work.” So she stacked her breaks on top of her half-hour lunch to make a nice stretch of time, then sat in her car and watched “Grey’s Anatomy.”
The first rule of all such strategies is to keep them quiet, to stay employed while looking for a new job, says Leigh Henderson, a human-resources executive in San Antonio who moonlights as an online coach.
Years ago, back from a vacation to a job she had quietly quit, she found 800 emails in her inbox. She deleted them all, on the assumption that if any were important, people would resend. Only a few did.
aelf
Ashen One
Not sure why employers still think it's effective to track time spent rather than look at results.
Employers who pay by the hour will track time spent because that is what they are paying for. Salaried folks are more likely compensated by results regardless of the hours actually spent. Contracted work is paid for based on completion of the tasks.
aelf
Ashen One
Pretty sure that some of those cases mentioned are salaried workers.
In the above the business was based on hours - estimate 10 hours to quote for an accounting job, if it takes 11 it is a relative loss, if it takes 9 it is a relative gain. The woman was being judged on her results and wasn't performing well.
The time tracking software was added with her knowledge. She still filed false hours, saying she was working offline on printed documents but the tracking software showed she didn't print stuff either.
She was in the wrong business if she didn't want to have her time tracked - accounting firms being notorious penny-pinchers the world over.
The best part is she brought this on herself. She was dismissed and subsequently sued for wrongful dismissal, but the judge found that she was guilty of time theft.
Recording of time to projects, even for salaried employees, is around for a long time.
The time tracking software was added with her knowledge. She still filed false hours, saying she was working offline on printed documents but the tracking software showed she didn't print stuff either.
She was in the wrong business if she didn't want to have her time tracked - accounting firms being notorious penny-pinchers the world over.
The best part is she brought this on herself. She was dismissed and subsequently sued for wrongful dismissal, but the judge found that she was guilty of time theft.
Recording of time to projects, even for salaried employees, is around for a long time.
I don't see that from the article. Where?
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2007
- Messages
- 9,324
We've been interviewing candidates where I work over the past week, and the difference between two of the candidates we've interviewed points out an important part for getting a job.
If you put a skill on your resume, be able to answer questions about it.
Candidate A mentioned knowing about a certain concept, so I asked him a classic interview question about that topic. He floundered.
Candidate B mentioned knowing about a different concept which I'd worked with recently on the C7 project, so I asked her about it, although it was a more advanced concept. She was able to explain it accurately and correctly.
It's not the only reason that Candidate B is the leading candidate, but as the hiring manager said, he'd rather have someone with a few skills that they can demonstrate they know than a whole page of skills that they can't show they know.
If you put a skill on your resume, be able to answer questions about it.
Candidate A mentioned knowing about a certain concept, so I asked him a classic interview question about that topic. He floundered.
Candidate B mentioned knowing about a different concept which I'd worked with recently on the C7 project, so I asked her about it, although it was a more advanced concept. She was able to explain it accurately and correctly.
It's not the only reason that Candidate B is the leading candidate, but as the hiring manager said, he'd rather have someone with a few skills that they can demonstrate they know than a whole page of skills that they can't show they know.
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