This is just my advice, learn to live and be happy by yourself.

 

Between the ages of 22-25 I was working a consistent work schedule: Tue-Sat. So of course everyone wants to be with their family or significant other on a Sunday and everyone is back at work on Monday's.

 

But, I HAD some great times going out to the city on a Sunday evening, meeting new people, having a girl swing by every now and then and some time to just myself. I'm a dad now and I feel happy being with my gf and 6 month old. The whole friend thing I don't really miss cause I guess I never really had much of it. And no, I'm not a loner. I will occasionally have friends swing by and they understand since I don't have the liberty to just go out without having to take the baby with.

 

 

My girlfriend is a resident at Lurie downtown averaging 80 hrs a week, meanwhile i work 40 hrs a week in the burbs. The timing can be really tough but I completely understand. Luckily I'm pretty good being happy by myself. I'm taking a two week road trip to the west coast in July by myself. Last year did the same thing to the East coast.

 

Everything in my life feels great, outside of my current job situation.

 

Yeah I'm perfectly fine with my alone time. I have stuff to do to keep myself occupied. It's usually my videogame, go for a bike ride, watch baseball or a tv series or movie time (and even gym time lately haha). It's just disappointing when you do want to go out.

 

And going off what you're saying Sonik, about your trips by yourself, I'm thinking about going to Vegas later in the year for a just a couple days by myself haha Vegas trips are the kinda trips where you get split it from the people you came with for most of the trip anyway (at least my experiences).

Edited June 27, 20178 yr by soxfan2014

We're hiring a Product Owner, QA Analyst, and Software Engineer in Vernon Hills.

If you get hired, don't ever talk to me.

Just know this...you will soon be at an age where your friends are all getting married and knocking up their wives and raising families...you will hardly ever see them anymore anyways...and you'll end up talking to strangers on sports forums more than your own childhood friends....oh wait...that's me.

 

We're not all that bad.

 

Congrats Russ.

 

#YOLO

This has been touched on before, but is there anything to this report that Millennials are a different type group to manage at work? Any managers in here or talent evaluators? Is it true or not about Millennials? Are they good hires or not? From what I've noticed they work as hard as anybody else and take as much s*** from the superiors as anybody else.

 

This has been touched on before, but is there anything to this report that Millennials are a different type group to manage at work? Any managers in here or talent evaluators? Is it true or not about Millennials? Are they good hires or not? From what I've noticed they work as hard as anybody else and take as much s*** from the superiors as anybody else.

Every human is different. Studies show that millennials would rather be a part of something big and depended upon to do work that makes a difference than just receive a paycheck. I have a whole department of millennials and, while I'd agree with that, I have some issues with it.

 

No generation has been more aware of its value. Now, in my case, I have young marketers in my department who could go get a new job in 5 seconds. Hell, I'm technically a millennial, and I could go get a new job in a second, too. It's with that understanding that we strive to keep them happy monetarily BEFORE they feel the need to start looking for better alternative. I also tend to dole out responsibility almost too early rather than too late. This results in each team member (department size of 10) having a defined role with a defined career path and a ton of interaction with me as the buffer to the President and the CEO. We also have a lot of events and I order food for the department because the little s*** counts.

 

It works.

 

That said, there's a million ways to slice it, and I'm only talking about those in the business world in a marketing department of a larger company.

 

Also, it pays to ask them about their personal lives. They really respond well to you caring (or acting like you care if you must) about their personal lives and also remembering to follow up when they tell you something big is coming. I also tend to serve as a first-wave of advice for things like owning homes, investing, etc, and they know they can come to me with any work-related issue.

 

I've been in my current position for 3 years and have yet to have one of them quit their job. I've had to fire a handful, but them's the shakes.

Edited August 21, 20178 yr by Steve9347

Every human is different. Studies show that millennials would rather be a part of something big and depended upon to do work that makes a difference than just receive a paycheck. I have a whole department of millennials and, while I'd agree with that, I have some issues with it.

 

No generation has been more aware of its value. Now, in my case, I have young marketers in my department who could go get a new job in 5 seconds. Hell, I'm technically a millennial, and I could go get a new job in a second, too. It's with that understanding that we strive to keep them happy monetarily BEFORE they feel the need to start looking for better alternative. I also tend to dole out responsibility almost too early rather than too late. This results in each team member (department size of 10) having a defined role with a defined career path and a ton of interaction with me as the buffer to the President and the CEO. We also have a lot of events and I order food for the department because the little s*** counts.

 

It works.

 

That said, there's a million ways to slice it, and I'm only talking about those in the business world in a marketing department of a larger company.

 

Also, it pays to ask them about their personal lives. They really respond well to you caring (or acting like you care if you must) about their personal lives and also remembering to follow up when they tell you something big is coming. I also tend to serve as a first-wave of advice for things like owning homes, investing, etc, and they know they can come to me with any work-related issue.

 

I've been in my current position for 3 years and have yet to have one of them quit their job. I've had to fire a handful, but them's the shakes.

 

You heartless prick...

 

should should should should

 

I think Steve hit it on the head pretty well. I work in IT, and I was one of the last IT interns ever at the company to stay fulltime (there are probably less than 5 now, out of close to 10 years worth of intern classes), and that is mainly because the younger workforce didn't get the opportunities to make a difference enough.

 

I also think this related video is very accurate, and it doesn't apply to just millenials but is very relatable in many fields that millenials are going into (especially with less and less "mechanical" type work available).

We just posted a Director of InfoSec & Privacy position in case anyone here is interested in working at REI. They will pay to move you out here to the greater Seattle area. Awesome company to work for and a wonderful place to live.

What are some good sources to determine your market value for salary negotiations?

I've used glassdoor and payscale.com/salary.com to some success.  Honestly the best way I've found is from interviews and talking to recruiters about salary ranges for comparable jobs.

I've been with a company for about 5 months now and I'm not really feeling the company nor the job. Is it ok to start looking for something else? I'm not sure I can do ~2 years at this place. I'm an accountant who is thinking about going into a financial analyst role.

Edited December 19, 20187 yr by soxfan2014

1 minute ago, soxfan2014 said:

I've been with a company for about 5 months now and I'm not really feeling the company nor the job. Is it ok to start looking for something else? I'm not sure I can do ~2 years at this place.

What does your previous history look like?  Either way it makes your next job choice really important as you don't want two unexplainable short term moves in a row.

30 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

What does your previous history look like?  Either way it makes your next job choice really important as you don't want two unexplainable short term moves in a row.

I was at my last job for a year and 8 months. Job before that, 6 months but that was because they relocated my department to Columbus and I rejected a move there. 

On ‎12‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 7:06 PM, soxfan2014 said:

I've been with a company for about 5 months now and I'm not really feeling the company nor the job. Is it ok to start looking for something else? I'm not sure I can do ~2 years at this place. I'm an accountant who is thinking about going into a financial analyst role.

As someone that has been on both sides of the fence (finance and accounting), 1) they are completely different things.  2)  Accounting you can get away with not really knowing the business, as long as those debit and credits tie.  3)  Depending on your history, you can get away with it by saying that the position wasn't represented fairly to you - but you really only get that card play once because if you start moving that several times, it can get ugly.

Over 25 years now, I've had 9 different places of employment.  Sometimes it's just hitting the right place at the right time.  My current position is one of those situations.

6 minutes ago, kapkomet said:

As someone that has been on both sides of the fence (finance and accounting), 1) they are completely different things.  2)  Accounting you can get away with not really knowing the business, as long as those debit and credits tie.  3)  Depending on your history, you can get away with it by saying that the position wasn't represented fairly to you - but you really only get that card play once because if you start moving that several times, it can get ugly.

Over 25 years now, I've had 9 different places of employment.  Sometimes it's just hitting the right place at the right time.  My current position is one of those situations.

The bolded is the truth. The current department I work in is a mess.

On 12/21/2018 at 7:20 PM, soxfan2014 said:

The bolded is the truth. The current department I work in is a mess.

I'm actually a recruiter in Accounting and Finance in the Chicago area.  I'll be honest that we do mostly work on contract and contract to hire positions but if you're open on opportunity it might be worth a talk.  We do occasionally see Direct Placement roles as well too. Feel free to shoot me a DM. 

I'm looking for work, yet again.

I worked at two different software QA firms and wasn't able to stick at either. I've probably had 8 jobs since high school, and I doubt any of them would recommend me for a position. I have had exactly zero positive work experiences. Most I was only there for a few months. One job I had for 5 years, but as soon as the boss had the gumption to let me go, I was let go.  I'd bet that if anyone called any of my previous employers, they'd tell them not to hire me. 

How do I get around this? I'm 32 and have a crappy work history, no experience in my degreed field and nobody to vouch for me to say I'm good at anything. 

Edited January 23, 20197 yr by Jack Parkman

11 hours ago, Jack Parkman said:

I'm looking for work, yet again.

I worked at two different software QA firms and wasn't able to stick at either. I've probably had 8 jobs since high school, and I doubt any of them would recommend me for a position. I have had exactly zero positive work experiences. Most I was only there for a few months. One job I had for 5 years, but as soon as the boss had the gumption to let me go, I was let go.  I'd bet that if anyone called any of my previous employers, they'd tell them not to hire me. 

How do I get around this? I'm 32 and have a crappy work history, no experience in my degreed field and nobody to vouch for me to say I'm good at anything. 

What's your degree in?

Just now, soxfan2014 said:

What's your degree in?

Chemical Engineering. I had the unfortunate timing of graduating into the teeth of the recession in 2011. 

If a company is called as a reference to you, I don't think it is legal for them to say "Don't hire this person!"

I've heard that legally, they are allowed to say yes or no to the question "Would you hire this person again?"

3 hours ago, Brian said:

If a company is called as a reference to you, I don't think it is legal for them to say "Don't hire this person!"

It is legal, thought it could open them up to a lawsuit for something like slander.

49 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

It is legal, thought it could open them up to a lawsuit for something like slander.

I knew it was a no-no somehow. Ha

4 minutes ago, Brian said:

I knew it was a no-no somehow. Ha

As I understand it most places who don't want to answer will simply say they worked here between date x and date y, and refuse to answer any other questions. 

20 hours ago, Jack Parkman said:

I'm looking for work, yet again.

I worked at two different software QA firms and wasn't able to stick at either. I've probably had 8 jobs since high school, and I doubt any of them would recommend me for a position. I have had exactly zero positive work experiences. Most I was only there for a few months. One job I had for 5 years, but as soon as the boss had the gumption to let me go, I was let go.  I'd bet that if anyone called any of my previous employers, they'd tell them not to hire me. 

How do I get around this? I'm 32 and have a crappy work history, no experience in my degreed field and nobody to vouch for me to say I'm good at anything. 

Government. You would have job protections and a more welcoming environment. By government standards you are young. It might also bring a new career path.