Job and General Employment Thread

[PFiDC]

Thanks. The terms and conditions state that the company will not cover municipal upgrades. The city of KCMO says that water lines cannot be repaired. They must me replaced unless the line is already made of copper. Almost none of the homes in KCMO have external copper water lines. Also, if ANY water line repair is made KCMO demands that the water meter be moved outside of the home. An average external water line repair costs about $800. A line replacement and meter move costs about $3800 on average. So, instead of changing the Ts and Cs to reflect the municipal upgrade they refuse to do so. The Ts and Cs make no mention of copper vs galvanized water lines. Most homeowners wont even know what they have. Since the company markets to the elderly and the poor there is even less of a chance that they know.

Basically if you pay for external water line coverage in KCMO there is no way to have it fulfilled and have to pay out of pocket for the repair. Since it's a water leak the water company will demand you get it fixed or they will shut the water off. Most of these people can't afford $3800 on anything. Most probably never even have that much in the bank at one time.

[AuthorTony]

The company I was working for sells predatory and unable to be fulfilled warranties to homeowners in Kansas City. When I discovered this I went to my boss and asked him about it. He told me he knows and that upper management wont do anything to change it even though he brings it up often. I went to the executive in charge of my department and expressed my concerns and was told that if I don't like it then I can quit. So...I'm unemployed.

Ugh, sorry to hear that. It sounds like some whistleblowing is necessary.

[tifosi77]

The company I was working for sells predatory and unable to be fulfilled warranties to homeowners in Kansas City. When I discovered this I went to my boss and asked him about it. He told me he knows and that upper management wont do anything to change it even though he brings it up often. I went to the executive in charge of my department and expressed my concerns and was told that if I don't like it then I can quit. So...I'm unemployed.

And a new homeowner.......

That's admirable conviction, I'm sorry you're ex-employers were dicks.

[Factorial]

Maybe just an anonymous email to KC Action News. I can hear the breathless we're on your side reporting.

[shafnutz05]

I'm sorry, I have to say something....I'm a little confused by @PFiDC's actions in this situation. The company, as you allege, is taking part in clearly unethical and (possibly illegal?) practices. Why wouldn't you hang around for a while, see what you can find out, and quietly approach media outlets that may be interested prior to "officially" coming out? That way, you have a boatload of legal protection, especially if they decide to terminate you. If the situation is as obvious as you make it out to be, it shouldn't be that hard to peel the onion and find the wrongdoing.

Instead, you just up and quit your job, I am presuming with no "fallback" job immediately available to bring in income. Even if you said something now, you would have absolutely zero legal ground to stand on. So are they just going to be allowed to continue their unethical practices, or?

[dodint]

Compelling questions.

[PFiDC]

Source of the post Why wouldn't you hang around for a while, see what you can find out, and quietly approach media outlets that may be interested prior to "officially" coming out?

Because I dont want to? This company gets so many complaints to the BBB and local media outlets around the nation that it doesn't matter. I heard "I'm going to complain to the BBB and call my local news outlet" at least once a day. It's nothing new to this company.

Source of the post Even if you said something now, you would have absolutely zero legal ground to stand on

Ok...and? This isn't news to a lot of people. It was news to me so yes...I quit.

Source of the post So are they just going to be allowed to continue their unethical practices, or?

Or what? Yes...they are going to continue.

[PFiDC]

Honestly...this isn't an Erin Brokoich situation. It's a service line warranty company. They all suck. I just got to experience it first hand and don't want to continue to work for them. I'm not going to take down a multi million dollar company because I found out that a warranty company are a bunch of dooshes.

[shafnutz05]

I never hear about the BBB actually doing anything, for all of the calls to report stuff to them, now that you say it.

[PFiDC]

I believe there were 43 legitimate BBB complaints against the company in 2015. The BBB doesn't do anything. The company with a complaint against them usually does. In the case of this company it's usually paying them off.

[columbia]

I worked for a company (as a temp), who sold recipe cards. You had to keep up your subscription to fill up each binder. I'm pretty sure they were chased out of CT to Pittsburgh. The only good part of the job was collecting the complaint letters from some obviously schizophrenic person in Missouri.

[AuthorTony]

The BBB itself is basically a scam.

[Pavel Bure]

I really love when my boss who makes 20-30k more than me complains about something like a meal being expensive and thinks it's relating to the little guy.

[dodint]

There is a company out there called Spark Hire that HR companies are starting to utilize for interviewing.

It's a one-way interview process. The candidate calls/skypes into an interface that asks them questions. It asks you the question, you have 30 seconds to think about it and 3 minutes to respond. When you're done you hang up and it forwards your recording to the hiring manager.

I haven't done this myself, I read about it on an IT board. Not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand it makes the company seem like the type that would, upon hire, record you breaks with a a stop watch. And it really makes the candidate a commodity. On the other hand it's really flexible because you can call in whenever you want.

I imagine it's only done as a first line interview, in part to weed out folks that don't agree to be jerked around. Anyone ever done one of these?

[NTP66]

No, but I don't particularly care for that style of interviewing, even if it is a first/weeding out step.

[Staggy]

I did a couple when I was coming out of college a few years ago. I wasn't familiar with the process so I'm pretty sure I awkwardly bombed the first one as I never heard back from the company. I did much better on the second one. Most companies that employ this use it as a first round screener to a Skype/phone interview, and then finally the in-person.

I definitely prefer a regular phone screen/interview to this process. Staring back at myself in an iPad screen made me more self-aware and thus made it easier for me to lose my train of thought. It's much more comfortable to engage in a conversation with somebody rather than staring back at yourself with a ticking timebomb in the upper corner.

[Morkle]

I find that kind of sort-of offensive. To me, if you're not willing to get to know me as a person from the start, what does that mean 6 months down the line?

I've only ever had over the phone and in-person conversations, I feel if they're looking for talent, they owe me that much.

[Craig]

I did that recording intrview thing once. It was for a job that i was not nearly qualified for so i knew i wouldnt get it, but i treated it as decent practice. The questions were mostly straightforward, but there was one that i would have asked for clarification on in the very middle and since that wasnt possible i just assumed their intention was the one that allowed me to answer in a way that i felt made me look the best. The problem was that i was bitter about that question and lack of clairty ormability to get an explanation the rest of the interview and im guessing it affected my remaining answers.

I have since gone to a company i want to stay with and that company has followed up on other positions for real interviews, but it was in DC and im in Pittsburgh...and i also disliked that experience so it kind of turned me off of them.

[count2infinity]

I'm mostly asking this as I'm applying for an assistant professor's position, but I suppose it applies to other jobs as well. What's the protocol for contacting someone at the place of employment and asking questions about the company/university? Essentially I want to work in some of the experiments and knowledge I have with the instrumentation they have, but there's nothing on the website (as there are with most other universities) describing what instruments they have available.

My question is: Is it okay to out of the blue e-mail someone at a place you're applying to? And if so, how should I go about doing it? I see they have a laboratory director. I think that's who I'll e-mail.

[large garlic]

I'm mostly asking this as I'm applying for an assistant professor's position, but I suppose it applies to other jobs as well. What's the protocol for contacting someone at the place of employment and asking questions about the company/university? Essentially I want to work in some of the experiments and knowledge I have with the instrumentation they have, but there's nothing on the website (as there are with most other universities) describing what instruments they have available.

My question is: Is it okay to out of the blue e-mail someone at a place you're applying to? And if so, how should I go about doing it? I see they have a laboratory director. I think that's who I'll e-mail.

For academic jobs, I'd say it depends on where you are in the process. In my field, there will typically be several hundred applicants for each tenure-track position, so having a significant number of them emailing about specific details of the job can be annoying. However, if it's to the interview stage where the field is narrowed down to 10-15 serious contenders, then asking questions can be a welcome sign of serious interest in the position.

[count2infinity]

But I wanna know NOW!!!

I understand the concern. I suppose I'll just write my application material assuming they have the bare minimum for a successful chemistry program and go from there. Thanks.

[Kicksave]

But I wanna know NOW!!!

I understand the concern. I suppose I'll just write my application material assuming they have the bare minimum for a successful chemistry program and go from there. Thanks.

[NAN]

Props to you PFIDC. I know I wouldnt' be able to just up and leave, especially with a new home and a kid.

Good luck man.

[mikey]

I'm reviewing resumes for a position I'm hiring for...and beyond the general brutal-ness of most people's attempts at getting hired (not following directions like not including a cover letter or having countless spelling/grammar mistakes in the e-mail and resume itself, etc.), this person listed their job experience, certifications, "trainings" (seem to be company-specific...but fine, whatever) and then proceeded to list three recent books that they have read...

I've received over 100 resumes in the past 36 hours or so. About 95 of them not only should not get the job, but in a rare double-whammy verdict, should be sentenced to turn a giant wheel in the center of the earth for all of eternity...

[slappybrown]

Which books?