Posted by StuckInACubicle on Feb 3, 2010 in Uncategorized
Looking at pictures of Haiti and news reports, the word looting is thrown around for every other action performed by a citizen. I thought we have moved away from this word after the pictures of Katrina. Any time someone of an African descent is taking something from a store to feed their family or themselves during a disaster it is seen as “looting”. Anyone with an Anglo complexion does this exact same thing it is noted as “helping” their family. During a natural disaster people are not LOOTING anything, they are just trying to survive and feed their families. We all try to believe that we are above these actions but we are not, in the exact same situation we would be looking for food and clothing. If a store has food in it, then people are going to gravitate towards it, if a store has basic living supplies then people will take it. There is one thing we all need to remember, during times of crisis and emergency; people are trying to survive nothing more, nothing less.
Posted by StuckInACubicle on Aug 5, 2009 in Uncategorized
Most of us are scared about our first annual review. After the first one it gets easier but we are always anxious when it comes up. We hope that we did the same or better than the year before. After a while we know what to expect but this is still just the performance review. The part we all wait for is the salary review.
The salary review, we all wait for this time of year because we all want more money. Sometimes we get huge raises, other times we get mediocre or crappy raises. The bosses that offer these raises don’t know what people do, they just think of a number that sounds good to them and offer that. What most employees need to remember is that you are not arguing for a raise but selling or “presenting” yourself to your bosses. Make sure all documents are done with an office shattering presentation. Don’t back down and stay firm on what you want. Show them that you are willing to work for it. Show them why you deserve it. In the end, remember that you do deserve it.
Posted by StuckInACubicle on Apr 13, 2009 in Uncategorized
The problem that most companies have these days are looking at an employee resume and believing everything on that sheet of paper. Many resumes are quickly glanced over, potential employees are tossed away and others are given a chance just because they have a small amount of skill according to that piece of paper. Many interviewees lie on their resume with a skill they do not have because they simply want the job. Many other promising people are thrown aside because they did not want to lie on their resume. These promising people are the employees that should be hired. Having “skills” are only a part of the equation, their personality, and drive should be looked at and evaluated at the same level.
Personality is always important in a company because if one person does not mesh with the other employees then it will create an awkward environment. One unwritten but well known rule of smaller companies is to have everyone happy and the way you do that is hire competent people with great attitudes. Employees will learn to work together because of this. Larger companies want to keep this practice but since they are so big they lose touch with their employees and hire people that can do the job even if they do not work well with others.
How far will you go to do that job or improved on it? The answer is, I will make it better than what you thought it could be. A person’s drive is always evaluated during an interview, you can tell how much they want the job. Some people call this hunger, people are hungry for a job and willing to do what ever it takes. In my mind, this is the most important trait. It separates those who are willing to do the bare minimum and those that will be great. A never give up attitude will always be given respect from a people because they wish they could be like that. This trait is usually from people who want something badly and had some kind of hardship or ordeal that they had to deal with to prove themselves. Being lazy is a trait people have and something people cannot grow out of. They have never felt the need to work and they do no have the hunger for a job completed.
Skill, personality and drive are what employers should look for. Do not put skill above all because someone can have all the skill in the world and too lazy to do anything. Personality is needed for a great work environment, a happy group of people make a happy company. From all this I hope you have learned to judge people by everything they are worth then just what is written. Remember to never judge a book by it’s cover.
Posted by StuckInACubicle on Apr 10, 2009 in Uncategorized
Hello Everyone,
I thought I would start including an office video every Friday to my blog. Today’s video is from Office Space with the meeting of the Bobs. Enjoy everyone.
Posted by StuckInACubicle on Apr 10, 2009 in Uncategorized
I was reading the Consumerist today and they had the perfect article for this blog, 5 Tips For Getting Unstuck From A Miserable Job. Here were the five tips that they had for getting unstuck from your miserable job.
Get in touch with the work you would really enjoy.
Communicate with those around you.
Identify the places where you could cut spending in your life.
Build up an emergency fund.
Set a “target date.”
Most of us can identify with these some or all of these things. Everyone wants to work at something they enjoy and that can be anything. I have met engineers that threw it all away just to work on huminatarian projects and hard working business men that joined the navy because they new it was better there. Lately I would love to get in touch with work that I really enjoyed but at my office, they will not let me do that anymore. I know do it at home and I feel proud of myself when it’s done.
Identifying places where I could cut spending is difficult for anyone because everything is a necessity unless I drill it down. The first thing most people do is cut down on eating out, that saves on average $10 dollars a day. Since I do not make that much I am force to cut down on other things. This point leads me into the emergency fund.
The emergency fund is definitely the hardest to create. No one knows how long you will be out of a job. You could have a job the next day or a few months from now. Since my salary is not what I wanted it to be after two hard earned years (brought in new services), I have to save up all the scraps I can muster to protect myself.
The “target date” is a something that is not set in stone but most people have an area of time when they would like to leave the company. Instead of having a target date, I have a target price, if I do not make this salary by my birthday, I will leave. Now all I need to do is bide my time until my review, another darn 6 months.
Posted by StuckInACubicle on Apr 3, 2009 in Uncategorized
It was April Fools’ Day and I was hoping for a prank in my office and nothing happened . Instead I am presenting a few youtube videos of various office pranks.
Walling Off an Entire Hallway
Operation Outhouse
An Office Prank Gone Wrong
This next clip is about someone breaking the cardinal rule of office pranks, you do not squeal.
This last one is an easy prank for the people who do not what to do.
Posted by StuckInACubicle on Mar 25, 2009 in Uncategorized
I just finished watching the last episode of The Office titled The New Boss and as every corporate worker knows, the office has some truth to how companies work. In this episode Michael Scott gets a new boss that oversees what he has to do and he can no longer talk to corporate, his new boss is the “liaison” betweeen the two. Michael was denied his fifteen year anniversary and direct calling with corporate. Michael then decides to go to corporate and complain that he has been there for fifteen years and that’s all he gets, a boss that does not respect him. Corporate says that he can have a party and Michael shook their hand and said I Quit. This provides valuable insight, Michael did not care about his anniversary party, he cared about having his position challenged and feeling betrayed by the company he has worked for.
This happens to every worker after a while, a new person is brought in above you as a manager, director, whatever. The boss above them will tell you that you have the same role, but you do not. Your role has been challenged and you are now in a lower position. Same responsibilities but they have become the mediator with a higher salary. Your “new boss” has become the head of your department quickly. This irates the people with seniority unless the person is highly capable but most of the time they are not. Employees at a lower position have to teach them the basics and it all sucks.
I congratulate Michael for having to courage to quit his company, he left after realizing that he means pretty much nothing to the company. He has dedicated 15 years of his life to Dunder Mifflin just to get a new boss and corporate not understanding why he quit.
Posted by StuckInACubicle on Mar 24, 2009 in Uncategorized
Here is one thing that I think everyone can relate to, creating a new service that spurns a department but you do not get any credit for it.
What is up with that, seriously, if the company is making money off of your idea and you do not see a dime, what are you supposed to do? The company claims this idea but this just makes the workers with ideas less likely to share anything. Many of the olders companies want workers that are an assembly line, to dumb to say anything and easily replaceable.
This is not the way companies should work, they need to compensate their workers for their ideas if they make money off of them. Companies claim that they had the idea but most people will disagree. I am on the side of the worker here and if they do not want to say anything, leave them alone.
There is one good thing about this though, many “corporately abused” individuals who start their own company will have more respect for their workers. They can choose who they want, understand what skills the person has and identify with them. This is how great corporations are built.
. Instead I am presenting a few youtube videos of various office pranks.