Electronics job: Left after one day - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Faringdon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2021, 08:44:39 pm
content: Hi,On thurs 4 nov I had a very brief Teams interview with a company that said they needed me to come and design a circuit for them. They then gave me the job and started me on 9th nov at £35k per annum (pro rata, 6 month contract).When I got there for the first day, the engineer showed me to my desk. He was speaking very quickly to me, not letting me ever get a word in edgeways.I was going to be reliant on this engineer for everything I was to do at the company...eg find a lab space, get electronics equipment, order stuff, etc etc…..i was totally dependent on him.Anyway, he printed off a schem of a 24V PSU with a discrete post regulator just downstream of it. The schem had no identification on it….no saying what the max power was, etc etc. He also printed off for me a 12 page article, of a mosfet based class B amplifier. There was a schematic of the class B amp in this article.He told me that I would have to use the class B schem as it appeared in that article. He told me not to try and Bull***t him into doing something different. He told me to use the schem pretty well exactly as it was shown, and that at the most, I was to change a maximum of only 5 components, if any at all.He told me that he had been working at the company for 30 years and implied that he knew what he was on about. He went off in a babble about Poles and zero's and gain and phase margins.He told me that if at some point he ever asked me to add a decoupling capacitor somewhere, then I should ruddy well do this, and I should not complain about it. Whilst he was talking to me, I could literally not get a word in edgeways. I wanted to ask him what the application was, and what the spec was. But as discussed, I could not get a word in sideways!I wondered why I had been employed at all. I couldn’t understand why he was expecting me to be the design authority for the circuit, when I didn’t even know what the spec or application was, and with his 30 years of experience, why did he even need me at all? I wouldnt object to him doing the circuit by himself, but why was he insisting that my name was to go on it as if I had designed it?Then , he had to go to a meeting with some suppliers for 2 hours.He told me to simulate the discrete post regulator whilst he was in the meeting. But i wondered how i was going to properly simulate anything without knowing the spec or the application.Anyway, Whilst he was in the meeting, I went fishing through the company computer system to try and find out what the project was about. So far, it seemed to me that it might be an audio amplifier circuit. Anyway, after 90 mins of searching, I finally discovered what the application was. But I couldn’t find the spec. The application was not audio. Not in the least bit. I was baffled as to why a class B amplifier was coming into it, as this application usually just demanded a simple DC current source.Anyway, when he came back from his meeting, I tried to ask him for the spec. However, he caught me mid sentence, and began lambasting me with words again...He then gave me a 3.5 hour lecture on the road system in the city where we were at. Again, I couldn’t get a word in edgeways...he spoke solidly, without gaps.Anyway, he then got up to go home...and he stood over me, as i was sat at the desk, and reminded me again not to bull***t him, and that I should stick to the schem he had shown me.Anyway, after he had gone home, the project manager came up to me, and told me that I had better get a move on, as the project was due to be finished “last month”.However, i did not even know what the spec was. I only knew the application because i eventually managed to fish it out of the computer system whilst he was in the meeting earlier.When I got home that evening. I wrote them an email saying that I would be signing off, not going back in. It seemed to me that it was a waste of time for them to parade me as the designer of a circuit , without telling me anything about it…..and the fact that the engineer had told me he was the bees knees, with his 30 years of experience etc etc….so I told them that they’d probably only be hampered if I stayed, and so for their sake, I was leaving. I told them I would not need to be payed for the day, and apologised for their wasted time. I did add that if they (for whatever reason) found themselves without their high calibre electronics engineers in the near future, then I would gladly come and work on it. But that for now, I’d only be holding up their 30 year , high calibre electronics engineer.Anyway…...they have now told recruitment consultants that I bottled it, and just walked off after day one. So now these recruitment consultants are finding out from the web who else I have applied to, and are advising them not to employ me as I “walked off on the first day”….and then most probably advising that they employ their own candidate instead of myself.And as a result , I don’t seem to be getting any more luck with my job applications now.Does anyone know the way round this? Have you had the same thing happen?

author: m98
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2021, 09:56:17 pm
content: You must be a magnet for bizarre life stories. Anyways, maybe I'm missing the intricate details of the UK job market, but why would they take such offense by you quitting during the probation period? And why haven't you dropped those "recruitment consultants" already, as they apparently aren't particularly helpful in finding you an appropriate job?

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2021, 10:05:54 pm
content: Quote from: m98 on November 20, 2021, 09:56:17 pmThis guy has weird stories, but here it's not all surprising. Recruiting agencies do not like people flaking out, even when that's their right and it's perfectly justified. From the agency's POV, the client is the company, the client IS right, and the agency "promised" them a good selected candidate. When things go sour, the agency will lose some credit. The fact they will adivse others to put the candidate on a black list is pretty horrible, but I have seen that happen as well. They just want to maximize their success rates. And this is kind of a rotten "industry" for a large part.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2021, 10:10:34 pm
content: Quote from: Faringdon on November 20, 2021, 08:44:39 pmWell, you did walk out after 1 day. You have cut into the pimps' money stream, and they don't like that.QuoteHow, exactly, are they "finding out from the web?"Your lightweight options are to find other pimps, and to bypass the pimps by locating job openings yourself.Heavyweight options require solid proof and legal remedies.

author: ataradov
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2021, 10:12:20 pm
content: Given your previous posts on this forum (including being banned multiple times), I would not hire you either for anything.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2021, 10:34:45 pm
content: Quote from: m98 on November 20, 2021, 09:56:17 pmWhat Faringdon doesn't make clear is that he is a contractor, not a permanent employee. This is the only way that he could have worked fordozensof companies on his CV. As he said, this time he was employed on a 6 month contract.I'm not clear whether the 'recruitment consultant' is actually a contract agency. Their income is commission based, from the company. Sometimes (the better contractors) are self-employed, with an accountant etc., other contractors are paid via the agency, who bill the company directly and pay the contractor. Regardless, recruitment companies all work on a commission basis, their commission from the hiring company being a significant percentage of the employee's first year's salary.Contractors are normally not highly regarded by permanent staff. They get paid more (of course not getting paid holiday and other benefits), and have no long term accountability - no career progression and performance reviews, the only sanction for a bad contractor is to terminate their contract. You wouldn't make a contractor a 'design authority' because they aren't permanent employees cannot take accountability on behalf of the company.Companies normally bring in contractors when they are in a hole (charitably, when they have a sudden peak of work that they need some extra hands on), but normally because their training, career progression, or staff retention aren't keeping up - not an ideal situation. The 'good' situation is to train up your full time staff in good time for the skills and specific knowledge that will be required on upcoming projects. Everyone benefits. Being a contractor means that you are usually going into a hole (one way or another - 'hole' also being English slang for an unpleasant place).Occasionally really good contractors are offered a permanent position by the company (effectively becoming a 'try before you buy'). This is pretty rare - contractors make a lot more money and only the ones who are looking to 'settle down' and swap income for the security of company benefits packages, pensions, holiday, sickness etc. are likely to accept. £35k pa is a very low figure for a contractor in the UK market.Agencies don't like unreliable contractors, they lose their commission and it impacts on their reputation with the companies that they serve.

author: Refrigerator
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2021, 10:47:58 pm
content: Recently quit a job after three months of being there.The place had just moved office so there were cardboard boxes of parts all over the workshop floor.And the workshop was just an office space atop a warehouse where related work took place.Had no workbench so i brought up an abandoned desk i found in the warehouse.Talked to the boss and he said that they would get a bunch of shelves to allow me tidy the place up. Sounded promising.Got work to make these control boxes but was given no schematics or anything besides a doodle on a piece of paper that was barely legible.After decyphering the doodle i found out that it was completely wrong.So i drew up diagrams and schematics on my PC. A thing noone had done there before, despite making those control boxes for many years.The control boxes had these VFD's in them but before me noone had used the RS485 port to configure them, they did hundreds of these through the push buttons, ridiculous.So i took an RS485 converter they had and hooked it up to the VFD, turning a 5-10 minute process into a 30 second process.Building those control boxes took ages because a bunch of time was wasted rummaging for parts through the sea of cardboard boxes on the floor.Fast forward two months and there are still no shelves, the floor is still littered with cardboard boxes hampering productivity.So i spent the next few weeks finishing up on work that i had started, to not burden the next guy too much, and quit.Found out that a few days after i quit some new guy came but upon seeing the mess he quit the same day.I have nothing against the coworkers or the boss but the management there is ass backwards.They are always in a hurry because they're late on delivering but instead of finding ways to improve productivity they just urge employees to work faster.Hurrying lead to mistakes and shortcuts, which ended up needing to be rectified further reducing productivity.

author: bdunham7
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2021, 10:49:18 pm
content: Quote from: Faringdon on November 20, 2021, 08:44:39 pmThat part seems rather unlikely...

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2021, 11:02:45 pm
content: Quote from: Refrigerator on November 20, 2021, 10:47:58 pmIt's always worth remembering that an interview is atwo wayprocess. You are interviewing the employer just as much as they are interviewing you (in fact I used to mark down candidates who didn't have a decent list of sensible questions to askme).You need to ensure that the interview (or at least the final one) takes place at the company premises, so that you can judge the working environment, level of equipment etc. Interviews should be split into management interviews, technical interviews (by senior technical staff), and if the company is big enough, HR interviews too. A decent company's final interview process should take around half a day, on site - if the company isn't prepared to expend that much time on you, then you don't want to work there.

author: Faringdon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2021, 11:54:40 pm
content: QuoteThanks Refrigerator, interesting to hear your situation.May i please ask where that place was, eg what country?

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 12:01:46 am
content: Quote from: Gyro on November 20, 2021, 11:02:45 pmYou guys down there in EU must be living in a fantasy land.

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 01:43:53 am
content: There are toxic workplaces in engineering. You'll notice those companies in a state of crisis:Projects are years late, over budget, nothing is working properly, customers upset, understaffed, rush rush push push panic etc. etc.One place was on their fourth engineering manager, as that seemed to be the best person to throw under the bus. The CEO was a complete idiot and sabotaging engineering efforts constantly. Millions $ wasted.Another place was on their third engineering manager and third project engineer. No new products out the door for almost 5 years.It's no fun walking into this and what you will find is blame being cast on anything but the real problem "we just can't find the right people", "it's that former employee..."In the energy sector (oil and gas) a business can do no wrong when commodity prices are high, so you'll find many nuthouses that otherwise would be out of business.Consulting can add further weight because the employees are jealous of your high price compared to them not getting raises for a long time. Most are "paycheque players" content to do little but collect a paycheque, who cares if engineering endeavors are failing, why should they assist you anyhow - it doesn't affect them or their bottom line.Instead of staying and putting up with the abuse, I've learned to walk out the door. People who stay- end up with health issues due to the stress and misery. Really tough people can stay and weather the mess but you have to look after yourself.

author: bdunham7
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 02:11:01 am
content: Quote from: floobydust on November 21, 2021, 01:43:53 amThat's true of many businesses in many sectors in the current capital euphoria where even bankrupt companies can do capital raises. Ridiculously inefficient and inherently unprofitable 'nuthouses' continue on as if they were legit.QuoteI worked at a place for 7 years that paid well but absolutely sucked in every way. Management turned over faster than the seasons, outrageous behavior was tolerated and half the sales staff were criminals and even drug addicts--which they found out when their top sales guy ripped them off for a few hundred grand when he had a dry spell. Occasionally tensions would flare and employee would go out back and have fistfights. A customer service rep shot himself in the bathroom due to the stress. I got out before I was too badly run down, but some were stuck there and a number of them died decades before their time.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 02:34:29 am
content: OTOH you can also land in very nice places where people are super friendly and become close friends. Some of the former and current employees of one of my customers still meet a few times per year for a BBQ or dinner.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 05:28:09 am
content: Quote from: Refrigerator on November 20, 2021, 10:47:58 pmDid they give you an exit interview? Those are common here, and that is the sort of thing I definitely would have said when going through the exit process. If several employees in a row give the same reasons for departing someone may eventually wake up and do something about it. Hiring and training an employee is an expensive process.In your position I think I'd have been tempted to stick around, after greatly reducing the time needed to program the VFDs you could have a lot more time in your day to spend doing other things, even personal projects assuming you're producing at least as many widgets per day as they expect. Ask for permission to order the shelving you need on a company credit card and start organizing things yourself.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 05:34:59 am
content: Quote from: Gyro on November 20, 2021, 10:34:45 pmI was a contractor for much of the first decade of my career. The company may pay more for them but that overhead is taken by the contract agency. I have seen a lot of places where contractors are treated like second class citizens, some of that was fallout from the group of contractors that sued Microsoft back in the early 2000's, after that they made sure not to treat contractors like FTEs. Having experienced that during that time in my career I've always made a point since then to treat contractors I've worked with at the places that use them like any other employee.

author: JPortici
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 06:36:07 am
content: Quote from: Bud on November 21, 2021, 12:01:46 amI get told that there are companies that make you do 3-4 interviews before even talking to someone else than the recruiter.. even for jobs like cashier or sweeping floors. That is truly ridiculous

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 07:14:23 am
content: Those companies must have too much free time on hand to spend on each applicant. Let alone half a day on one interview - unless it was the Coca-Cola president hiring a VP of Operations .

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 07:19:30 am
content: Quote from: james_s on November 21, 2021, 05:28:09 amGee... never heard of it here in Canuck Land. Here the employer is just happy to get rid of you asap and some even give you an escort (no, not that type) to the door to make sure you do not stick around for much longer.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 07:21:27 am
content: It used to be a FTE interview at Microsoft was an all day thing with lunch provided, I don't know if that's still the case. Where I am now our interviews are typically 3 hours consisting of 3 different sets of people. Occasionally someone will be brought back in for a followup hour long session if we are on the fence for one reason or another. Multiple days as a normal thing sounds painful.

author: fourtytwo42
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 10:05:01 am
content: Giving up after just one day of a hard to handle boss is unjustified, I put up with some of the buggers for yearsYou lack tenacity and it certainly will not help your CV / reputation

author: capt bullshot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 10:23:38 am
content: Quote from: Faringdon on November 20, 2021, 08:44:39 pmRoughly 41700 EUR salary p.a. would be adequate (low end) for a junior EE fresh from university or an (medium to high end) advanced lab assistant here. Not for an experienced engineer. From what you've told, they were looking for some kind of mindless grunt that just does what they tell him to, offloading that "greatest engineer ever". Doesn't matter if you succeed or fail, you'll be blamed anyway. Bite the bullet, take the money and leave as soon as you can without loosing your face and unecessarily setting them up. One can see this more and more often now. Of course, this engineer did upset you (they'd upset me, too), maybe it's a lesson you've got to learn how to handle this kind of situation without harming your reputation - usually they can tell your recruitment consultants whatever they like and the consultants will believe them, as they are their customer and you're just the goods.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 10:31:48 am
content: Quote from: Gyro on November 20, 2021, 10:34:45 pmThis is odd.The day rate for even a junior engineer on contract is around £35/hour. I would assume Faringdon has more experience and could probably command in the £45-50/hour rate for a senior engineer.Even at £35/hour that's an annual equivalent salary of £63,000, half what is stated. So did they employ him as a salaried engineer or a contractor?

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 10:39:35 am
content: Quote from: Bud on November 21, 2021, 12:01:46 amNot at all, we have obviously had different career experiences. You quoted me out of context - I said final interviews. You will have weeded out the 'chaff' long before that, by CV, agent, HR, phone interviews etc. You're talking 2 final candidates by that stage, 3 max. With one hour interviews - a management interview, followed by a couple of technical interview and a wrap-up is half a day! A bit longer if you're in a company big enough to have a decent HR department, then you'll want their input into your decision too. I've experienced exactly the same level of interviewing with US companies. It's what the Americans call 'due diligence' - and we over here call doing the job properly. I'm surprised you think Canada is different from the US and UK (and EU) in that respect.A good manager keeps his job by recruiting the best staff, treating them well, ensuring that their skills stay up to date, caring about their career progression (training and development), and retaining them... and ensuring that they perform well of course.The jobs market is competitive and recruitment is expensive.You want to do as little of it as possible, but for heavens sake, do it properly when you do! You need a good match - otherwise they leave quickly or don't make it through probation. An employee referral program is a good move too, you typically get a better quality of candidate - your existing staff aren't interested in bringing crap people into the team. It's cheaper for the company than recruitment agencies, or wading though the inevitable piles of unsuitable CVs that result from direct advertising (the main function of an agency in fact). Again, everybody wins.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 11:03:24 am
content: Quote from: Gyro on November 21, 2021, 10:39:35 amYes indeed.Notably the companies I enjoyed working at had long interview processes which enabled both parties to understand the strengths, weaknesses, and fit.Contrariwise, those companies with a cursory interview process were looking for bodies and/or cannon fodder. It fits with being a Theory X company.HP took particular care in this respect; they regarded getting the right people (technically and otherwise) people as fundamental to their success. Every interviewee had HR/personnel, technical, and then short senior management interviews. That's essential for a Theory Y company.

author: nali
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 11:07:58 am
content: Quote from: fourtytwo42 on November 21, 2021, 10:05:01 amAlthough that's obviously tongue in cheek, sitting in a job where things aren't right shows a lack of... something.I've only just quit a job after my 2nd day. I'm normally pretty good at quickly getting a handle of things and could tell that I wouldn't fit so called in early on day 3 to drop off my ID etc. and let the relevent people know so it wouldn't disrupt their day waiting for me. I emailed my resignation and was thanked and we went on our ways. Mind you this was a low level zero-hours gig to stop me getting too bored in my first winter of early retirement - it would be my 6th job since leaving school in the 70s.As for the OP, I can't make up my mind whether he's unlucky, incompetent, a fantasist or sometimes I wonder if he's doing a psychology degree and these posts are some sort of social experiment??

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 11:44:12 am
content: Quote from: Bud on November 21, 2021, 07:14:23 amYou are misreading. The total sum of all interviews adds up to half a day for people that get hired. IMHO this is a good average that also matches my experience.

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 12:21:46 pm
content: Due to the recent situation, I’ve had to find jobs where ever I can. Even in other industries. So, I’ve been applying for anything. I turned up to a new job and I couldn’t believe the hostility of the women there toward me. Guys, don’t waste your time answering ads for becoming a wet nurse. Bunch of sexists.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 12:36:27 pm
content: Quote from: floobydust on November 21, 2021, 01:43:53 amFixed that for you. I'm in absolute agreement.Quote from: floobydust on November 21, 2021, 01:43:53 amAnd idiots like me think they're the latter, but really are the former; ending up as burned out husks, trying to claw their way back.Being responsible for a task, without any control over the task or without sufficient information or tools to complete the task, is a common mismanagement pattern.The only correct action is to change the situation. With reasonable management, that changes the control/information/tools. With unreasonable management, one has to remove oneself from the situation. Staying in the situation is the worst option, as you are basically then just a scapegoat or a cog, not a worker/employee.Assuming what Faringdon described is reasonably accurate, I believe they acted more or less reasonably.Quote from: Ed.Kloonk on November 21, 2021, 12:21:46 pmEd, "wet" doesn't mean you get to come to work sloshed every day.

author: VK3DRB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 01:36:23 pm
content: It is not unusual in the electronics engineering field and programming fields. There are plenty of autistic people working in engineering, as well social misfits, egotistical arrogant buffoons, manic depressives, Illuminati conspiracy theorists, and those with absolute zero (-273.16) social skills. I have known a few and I have tolerated most of them. (OK, I admit I might be slightly autistic myself, and I get on well with myself except when I make a stupid mistake like having a 0603 part number in the BOM with an 0402 footprint). I have come across people like your bombastic buffoon in a few companies. Typically a high IQ, but an very low EQ. But on the whole, most engineers are reasonable people, east to get along with, and almost normal. Out of probably 2000 people I have worked with, there were only a four that were absolutely horrible. Most were fine, and a few fantastic. It a bell curve.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 04:00:54 pm
content: Quote from: Gyro on November 21, 2021, 10:39:35 amHalf an hour HR drone interview on the phone (totally useless from technical competency perspective) and one hour interview with the hiring manager, often accompanied with members of the team. Done.In fact a friend of mine actually complaint his interview was too short !(yes they hired him )

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 04:52:47 pm
content: thats too strict, when you have to sign off on something that you changed the parts for when you had fingers on your throat from the beginning, fat chance its gonna be a quality product. Everything has to be negotiable about a design because the fuckingdevice physicsare not aligned with some stupid ass company policies or wants lol. There is a high chance they have low grade unrefined bullshit to begin with.They could say 'ideally we want' but if you start hearing 'don't bullshit' on your first day (verbose), fuck em!Sounds like when the supply chain is bad, work sucks.There is something to be said about being respectful for someones topology or core components (don't switch a MCU architecture for no reason) but acting like this about some analog parts is silly. There are so many different types of similar performance converters a smart person can make with similar costs and performance that its hardly an issue, unless the power levels are staggering.Like if someone started making demands to switch a classic well liked simple class A stage to a class D for little to no reason, I could see that as someone trying to change the 'feel' of a product where sales starts thinking 'wtf', but in most cases you would be OK. I had issues like this were there was maybe like 1 circuit out of many that I was warned is 'difficult' to work with and not to spend time screwing with it unless I knew exactly what was going on. I did not* so I just left it alone because there were like 50 easier development paths to takes in order to improve the complex board. But still that meant like "if you can't present a page of equations and ramifications for changes you want to make with this sub circuit in 2 weeks, just work on something easier". It was not off the books, it was just a 'difficult work' warning, which is reasonable, because most companies have circuits that would cause a mental breakdown in a starting engineer if they were given it for a first job.*I tried to compare it to other parts/typologies that I chose with regards to either performance or cost, but my analysis was unable to find a better circuit, so I just did not push the issue. Classic case of something complicated working fine in a circuit surrounded by other things working not so fine, so just leave that alone and so something else. You get to be the one telling the boss good job for once, it looks like your old circuit is still best in class (it was not only my desire to eliminate that circuit, it is good, but it sure irked people.. naturally you wanted to go to a modern part but it was just not gonna happen)

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2021, 05:49:53 pm
content: also ignore the hiring company, there are alot of them, they all have a bad reputation and their hated. When you have a real interview for a good place, mentioning a hiring company/contractor company is similar to mentioning that you got mugged in the past. It's more seen that you are a victim then a problem. The hiring company is acting like a feudal enterprise.. problem is you are a citizen and not a serf. The hiring company is not a goverment institution, its justONEad-hock network setup to act as a paid service for corporate entities. There are ALOT of these entities and NONE of them are 'aligned' to be in favor of hiring agencies. "elite hiring practices' are often just a indicator of 'internal people problems', you find out no one does any 'elite' work there most of the time.Its like saying you were part of some desperado vanguard mercenary force sent to the fringe of humanity to maintain operations in some severely unstable area. Contractors experience is similar to Aliens (1986) or Outland (1981).No one is going to blame you for not being 'patriotic' HAHA. The person in the company that works with the hiring company is probobly disliked as well. That guy probobly uses contractors/temps/agency hires because his 'bedside manner' is terrible BTW. Keep in mind also that people that works alot of temp/contractor jobs start to develop thick skin.. so they end up being sent to work for 'difficult' employees that are otherwise useful. Sometimes an average service contract for a department is as simple as putting a average number on 'how much of this boss can you take?'This is possibly an opportunity in itself, since this leads to easy jobs under difficult people, so people with 'diffusal' skills can find work opportunities... but I would not advise trying to make a positive on toxic work conditions unless your hands are tied.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 22, 2021, 09:43:10 am
content: Quote from: Bud on November 21, 2021, 04:00:54 pmYour friend was right.

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 22, 2021, 08:25:31 pm
content: For tradesmen, acquaintance gives a paid $50/hr for the aptitude-test portion of his job interviews. He gives a candidate a multimeter and control box that is not working and has them troubleshoot it. There's the usual contactors, relays, switches etc. After all the hype, bragging, @ss kissing in the interview, do you really know your stuff?It's at most 1/2hr of time but point is the candidate is getting paid for it. Many of them choke and can't do it, they are used to just replacing things.Placement agencies have their own sharky environment - they fight (internally) over which agent serves the client company, and whom is pimping out the candidate. It's dog eat dog.Agents can hoard CV's to try keep their candidate exclusive, out of the central database. Or steal another agent's candidate, or schmooze a client company - anything to get a placement. They don't even know the difference between PCB, FMEA, C, SQL, Python etc. it can get pretty funny as they are pretty much salespeople. I would say they want to preserve the relationship with CrassB Co. so OP takes the blame.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 22, 2021, 08:29:17 pm
content: Quote from: floobydust on November 22, 2021, 08:25:31 pmYes, it's a highly competitive "market". And candidates flaking out after just a couple days give them a bad rep. Also keep in mind that in most cases, if a candidate just hired leaves before a certain delay (for contract jobs, depends, can be 2 weeks or 1 month), the agency will NOT get paid. That makes them pretty angry.

author: penfold
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 22, 2021, 09:07:08 pm
content: Quote from: floobydust on November 22, 2021, 08:25:31 pmVery very true. I spoke with an agent recently, he was reading from a job spec and wanted to know if I had experience working with "em double-u power converters", I sighed and didn't even have the willpower to come up with a snarky response.There's quite a big difference between what type of contract it was as to how justifiably upset the agent may be, if its a contract for/of services, then the contractor (service provider) is likely to be operating on behalf of the agent (employment business) for the client. There's a bit more time invested with legal and accounting teams in setting up the arrangement, and ultimately the agreement (client to employment business) is probably in the form of a purchase order which doesn't afford the same niceties as an employment contract and can have penalties for delays and late deliveries easily added: so it can get quite nasty quite quickly.The fixed-term employment type is a lot more flexible, so yeah the agent/recruiter is missing out on some commission, but it's a quick-win easy-lose kinda game and a lot less time invested per contract. Views may vary?I have a lot of empathy for the OP at the moment, sounds worrying similar to my current contract from which I sorely wish I'd escaped much earlier on!