At one time, I used to share everything about my personal life here and that turned out to be a mistake. I don't reveal much about my personal life anymore here other than I am married with a 10 year old daughter and a soon to be 2 year old son. However, I am a big believer in prayer and I need everyone I know to be praying for me as I am faced with the toughest thing I ever have to deal with. I was told last Friday that my performance in my job (a job that I have only had for a little over 5 months) was below average and that I was being placed on probation for 30 days. I was also told that if I make any mistakes that had been outlined in that document within these 30 days, that I would be immediately terminated. With that being said, there were some things that are highly subjective and I feel that this is their way of protecting themselves legally from me suing them for a wrongful termination suit. I could go on and on about the problems but it is mainly communication issues (my boss is new to management and a horrible communicator) and that the chemistry is just not there. They do things completely different from where I worked previously (a place that I had worked for more than 10 years) and I have not been able to adjust to it. After being there for 2 months, I knew I had made a mistake. However, I felt that I owed it to myself and my family to try to make it work. I honestly thought that I might get a paycut with a demotion but I didn't think it would get to this point. My wife works part-time, gets child support (but it is not as much as it should be), and I do have a part-time job on the side but we need me to have a full-time job. To be let go right before Christmas when I have not only myself but 3 other people to take care of is an indescribable terrible feeling. I have had a tough time sleeping the last 2 nights as you could imagine. Luckily, I have had some promising leads out there so I do have some hope. I just don't know how the timing is going to work and if it will really materialize. So, I am asking for your prayers - please pray for me and my family, especially in regards to: 1) that I can get through these next 30 days without losing my job and/or I am able to get a job offer somewhere else and leave 2) that I can get out of working at that place altogether (I don't care if I am able to "pass" the probation, I cannot continue to work there long-term) 3) that I have the mental fortitude to continue to get up in the morning and show up to this job I have now and keep smiling and act like nothing is wrong I know that God will protect me and my family and deliver us from this situation. Yet, I don't think it would hurt to have others pray on the behalf of me and my family. Two things I have learned from this experience - never take anything for granted (always be grateful for everything you have) and that sometimes you better off to make less money if that means better job security and less pressures placed on you.
Keep your head up Manny. This board is here for you. While I think you should make an effort to care about passing that probation, if only until Plan B become concrete, times are definitely better than 2 years ago. Maintain a positive attitude despite your troubles, and I think you'll land yourself in a place where you want to be. But if you dig up another zombie thread, I'll have to report that violation!
I had a similar issue about two years ago. Keep your chin up and your eye on the prize (your family and getting the heck out) and don't let the negativity get to you.
Very sorry to hear that and hope things work out for you Manny. One thing you mentioned is that you can't keep working there longterm. That may be so but don't do anything rash job wise as the economy is still pretty bad and now isn't the time to take chances with the job market.
I'm sorry that you're going through what you're going through... it's sad that so many people are in the same situation and I couldn't possibly imagine how much goes through a person's mind just to think about if they will have a job the next day or not. Just hang in there man. I hope everything works out.
hey Manny keep your head up bro, you'll get through it, always do the right thing, God will never forget you and your family, we here for you bro.
I'm usually a person that says don't put up with an unfair situation, find that good fit, follow your heart. However at this time, with Christmas around the corner and such, I would go with the bird in the hand is worth two in the bush approach. Unpopular UnAmerican non-liberty opinion, I'd say go with the synthetic approach and meet their demands, toss personal pride right out the window and be a yes man. I just had a similar situation, threatened and cajoled and lectured and yelled at. I was gonna crack some heads open but I swallowed my pride and am persevering. I became a lifeless process in the company hamster wheel yes, but there was an odd sense of slave's comfort in knowing that my next check is secure. Before long they turned their attention to other employees in the company...and are off MY back now. One day at a time. Try to retain things past the 30 days first, then keep an eye out on prospects.
I had a rough year last year myself. Lost a lot. But things are much better now. Stay positive. Ramirez, you are my brother... and I wish you all the best. Don't let those corporate jabronis push you around. You're money.
Will wish you the best. But be prepared for the worst: Best Job Sites Aggregator job sites SimplyHired.com and Indeed.com are job search sites that aggregate millions of listings from all the major job sites (with the exception of Craigslist.org), plus newspapers, corporate job boards and other professional sites. These two sites are different from the traditional job site because both focus on the job hunter. There are no services for employers, though they can advertise on the sites. Both sites allow job seekers to search by keyword. Searcher Editor Jennie Starr writes, "Both companies do a good job of providing information on the freshness of the job, listing the number of hours/ minutes the item has been available on the site." With SimplyHired.com, you can search by keyword, location or occupation. You can filter results by job type, required experience, education and date. You can also filter by company size and revenue. 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The site links to ads found elsewhere, with some tools for refining a search and an option to receive e-mail updates about new listings. Classifieds are especially useful for those searching for non-corporate, non-technical jobs. PC Magazine: “Oodle is a formidable Web presence.” www.oodle.com Hound.com is a new job site that narrows its search results to employer websites only. The idea is to weed out "junk" listings and positions that have been filled in favor of the most current postings from company sites. The focus on quality over quantity could save time wasted by chasing dead or worthless links. To directly search employer ads, JobCentral.com is a membership organization of major corporations like IBM and HP. It posts job leads at a fraction of the cost charged by Monster and HotJobs.com, and might be worth a try if you're looking for work with a huge corporation. www.hound.com CareerOneStop.org is the Department of Labor's site that replaces the now-defunct America’s Job Bank and allows users to search state job banks, which incorporate a wide variety of non-technical and non-business categories. The new site retains the InfoNet section, which contains occupation profiles, median salary information and education statistics. www.careeronestop.org Social networking job sites Craigslist.org is the online classifieds website that has been added to ConsumerSearch Fast Answers on the strength of its growing usefulness as a job-search resource. Although Monster, HobJobs and CareerBuilder remain the largest job sites, there's evidence that job seekers and employers are finding more targeted ways to look for a potential position or candidate. Employers are able to post ads to Craigslist.org for free or at a nominal cost, in contrast to the hundreds of dollars the major job boards charge per ad. This makes Craigslist.org attractive to smaller employers and to those posting more esoteric jobs. The site is organized by location, either by state or metropolitan area, and the listings represent a good cross-section of locally available opportunities. Jobs are categorized by industry, with the most recent postings listed first. There is also a keyword search engine with a few filtering options. Part-time and temporary jobs are listed separately under "gigs." 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Creating a profile at LinkedIn is free. www.linkedin.com Jobster.com is a site that combines advertising and recruiting services for companies with social networking and job-search features. User profiles and employee reviews of corporations appear on the site along with resume posts and searchable job listings. In addition, Jobster's interface with the social networking site Facebook.com allows users to create a "Talent Network" listing the user's connections. CareerBuilder and HotJobs have also created applications linking postings to Facebook. www.jobster.com Mega job sites CareerJournal.com is part of The Wall Street Journal, a must read for business types. Most of the 125,000 job listings are for senior executives in a variety of fields. Its career content is also updated daily. Extras include information about creating a great resume and interviewing strategies, but other unique job-hunting scenarios are also discussed. One caveat is the site has so much information that it appears cluttered, and it may be difficult to find what you want. www.careerjournal.com Monster.com lives up to its name, with a few thousand pages of career advice and over one million job postings. The job listings cover positions in all industries, in all locations and at all levels for part-time, seasonal, temporary and contract jobs. Monster Networking is a feature that hooks up people in the same industry to provide possible leads. Monster Learning is a directory of online degree programs. Job seekers can subscribe to targeted newsletters, browse message boards on various topics and read the job site's blog. The Privacy Plus feature now allows those who post resumes to block viewing access for certain companies (such as their current employers). Reviews are nearly unanimous in listing Monster as the best big job site. Job seekers agree there is an extensive listing of jobs, but a common complaint is there are too many temp agencies and recruiters posting jobs. Some job hunters say they get lost in a sea of information and recruiters are overwhelmed by the glut of resumes from unqualified applicants. According to PC Magazine, "it is still hard to make personal contacts through Monster." Experts agree that Monster can be a good place to survey the landscape. www.monster.com HotJobs.com is also one of the better mega-sites, according to job site reviews. HotJobs makes it easy to find jobs and allows you to save your job searches and listings. Its location search is more specific than the engine at Monster, allowing a user to look in smaller towns as well as large cities. HotJobs' privacy features include HotBlock, which allows users to block specific companies from viewing their profile -- a helpful tool for people who fear that their current employer might stumble across their online resume. Job seekers can subscribe to any of eleven free newsletters that cater to segments of the market such as technology, government, sales, health care and college grads. The discussion boards at HotJobs receive a lot of traffic and are another good source of information and career advice. Although HotJobs allows postings from headhunters and agencies, job hunters choose whether their searches include listings from staffing firms. The site has recently partnered with more than 350 newspapers and saw its traffic increase by 53% in 200. www.hotjobs.com Dice.com appeals directly to tech-minded people with its intelligent, no-nonsense interface. Online job sites have always served technical professions better than others (maybe because high-tech jobs are more easily quantified by acronyms like HTML, NT or UNIX), and reviews continue to recommend Dice.com. Experts say that industry-specific niche job sites generally work better than mega-sites in matching applicants with available positions. Plus, there are more tech jobs at Dice.com than at any other site -- currently more than 90,000 listings. The site claims that many who post their resume receive a job offer within 48 hours. According to Forbes, one of the best features of Dice.com is its section of links to training courses and certification exams, many of which are offered at a discount. Dice.com is still regarded by reviewers as the best site for those seeking jobs in information technology. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that traffic on the site had risen 34% as of August 2007. www.dice.com
You know I love you Manny. Just listen to AC/DC. I'm not joking... They are bad ass pick-me up songs! (I'll go back to making fun of you later, but I'm telling you, they are great) <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ja8UnnIkwNs?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ja8UnnIkwNs?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object> <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AyA_BNIcIZ8?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AyA_BNIcIZ8?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
i know you weren't really looking for advice, but try getting some melatonin from cvs. should help with the sleep. you're gonna go batschit crazy without. don't be afraid to ask for help... from anybody (not necessarily monetary). whether it be the boss, family, friends, etc. a little humility goes a long way... as does a little faith. waiting until you're on the ropes is a bad idea. prayer for what you need (whatever that may be) sent.
Hope it works out for you, Manny. I'm rooting for ya. I'll send out that music as soon as get back Stateside next month. It should cheer you up!
Sorry to hear that Manny. Best of luck to you. Are these performance differences, like sales numbers for example? Or simply chemistry/procedures type issues? If the latter, you just gotta grit it out and do things the way they want them until you secure something else. Dont want to lose anything through the holidays. Hope it works out.
When I read the thread title, and the first few lines of the post, I was dreading the worst. I thought you were ill or someone close to you was ill or had been in an accident. Then I continued reading and I breathed a sigh of relief and said out loud, "oh, it's only a job". Could be much much worse man, losing a job is tough, but seriously it's just a job. If you do lose it, you may go through a rough time, have to cut back on some things, but you'll come out of it and find something better. Just be thankful that you and your family is healthy - that's way more important than a silly job on the grand scheme of things.
Thanks everyone for the posts, thoughts, and prayers. Rokkit - it is definitely chemistry/procedure issues; I feel that they thought they were getting something that would look at what they did and feel that it was a joke to do since I used to work for a big company compared to them. However, the culture is very different and communication is just not a priority around there. I personally believe that my manager has been blaming me for working late despite the fact that I have reached out numerous times to him to try to help him take the workload off of him. Did I mention that after being there a little over 2 months, that 2 other people in my department had quit to go work somewhere else? Since this guy has gone to management, he has had a total of 5 people work for him, and 2 have quit with a 3rd (that's me) wanting to quit. I mean I could go on and on about other issues but I think you get the point. I'm going to take it day by day and approach it that I am a consultant and that I could be told at any time that my services are no longer needed. Just because I have a job when I walk in the door in the morning does not necessarily mean I have one when I leave at night. I am really hopeful that I can get through at least the 1st of December, so that way we have health insurance for the rest of the month. My most promising lead is one that I won't know anything else about until 2 weeks from now. I do feel good that I will get a job through that lead; I just don't know when is the problem. Ideal situation would be offered a job there 2 weeks from now and then I can turn in my notice at the other place. But don't worry - I will not leave where I am at unless I am a) told to leave, or b) have another job offer in hand. Don't be surprised that I may ask eventually in this thread a question on negotiating a termination - mainly to see if I could apply for unemployment.
Not trying to be a debbie downer, but it could be worse. My friend on the other hand, his dad died from some freak accident at the hospital after checking in for neck/shoulder pains. Doctors gave him a shot, check up and everything looks like he's good to go. As a precaution he stayed overnight at the hospital. Not sure how long he was asleep, but he died in his sleep at 9 pm. Now his Mom is forced to sell the home they lived in for over 15 years (right down the street from me and only owe about 60k). He has to take over the work load from his deceased dad and give the income to his Mom because she is unemployed. If/when they sell the home, she plans on moving to Austin to live with his sister because the Mom is paying for her apartment/tuition. Gets even better. About a year ago, they had a small business they owned for over ten years that started making good money. Why they didn't use the profits to pay off their home befuddles me. Anyways, their supplier basically forced their hand and made them sell their business for pennies on the dollar. How? Simple, they cut off their supplies. No supplies = less customers = less revenue. The supplier was going to purchase the business for over a million I believe, but they found a loop hole and exploited it to drive down the selling price to roughly 100k. Anyways....long story short...it could always get worse.
