Work Rant - just some people

Work Rant - just some people

Please imagine a deep sigh after the word people.

Because by people I am talking about some of the most stuck-up snobs that think they are oh so put out because haven forbid they should have their account and login information ready when calling tech support. They like to insist that verification is for the 'them' or 'the other people'.

I kid thee not, the first five minuets with this type of call are almost always listening to the caller try and argue their way out of not having to be verified. Most are just too lazy to give the information that they already have memorized. There are a small few who get some kind of power trip from forcing us to ask.

We are not allowed to say that this is what fraudsters say. I personally think we should be able to tell them but there are plenty of stupid people that would think we are calling them fraudsters.

The amount of accountants that say they don't know what an account number is just mind boggling. The amount that says they don't know what a bank account number is is equally horrific. Their whole job is working with their companies back accounts and... they are saying they don't know what that is? I have only had one caller that i think was 100% serious in that they didn't know.

Adding to the list behind accountants but chief financial officers (CFO) who are also saying that they don't know what account numbers are? Honestly these people should not be making more money then me. 

When people call in that they were victims of fraud that was very obvious and omg they could get into so much trouble because we/the bank did this? They get treated the same but whoo boy are they mocked after the call.

You want a good way to avoid fraud? Just assume that any email you get that is providing you account info to send funds to is from a fraudster. So all the info provided in the email is going to be fake. This is EXTREMELY important for if you are in HR because they never verify the information. They just do it and then they are surprised when they are told it's wrong after the fact. Steps that their own company rule book says they they will do, and then they don't? all on them and yet they will try and pass the blame.

Honestly I'm surprised that workers haven't sued them for such stupidity.

The kicker is, the stupid financial people are always in the companies that make the big bucks. Why fraudsters are not just going after them is beyond me. All they would have to do is look at the reviews and go after the horrible big companies and then the big companies? No one would care and would probably see the fraudsters as heroes. 

Well, the bank workers would still be pissed. But if it was consistent then they could just fire the companies that are too stupid.

Honestly, I think the fraudsters that get caught scamming individuals or who focus on the elderly, They deserve to work the customer support lines and suffer. Make it even better so that if they get snarky they get a zap. Honestly I think that should be done for some callers. 

But yeah, fraud bad and the stupid companies that don't follow their own rules about commonsense deserve to suffer for it. And this is me being nice.

On working in customer service part 1

 I can not describe how many times a customer has tried to tell me I was wrong because the answer that they got wasn't the one that they liked.

Or just skipped past telling and launched right into screaming at me because they don't want to follow the rules. Or they don't want me to follow the rules.

I also really don't understand how an accountant can call a bank and hear the message that you need your account info and verification info... and still have no idea what an account number is. These people make so much more then me and I have to wonder how. 

It's one thing to forget that you are on hold while on hold. That actually happens a lot. But to say they have no idea what an account number is? Right after saying that they are calling about a specific account? 

The second bit is when they claim they don't have access to the info and then magically produce it as if they are laboring so hard to.. be prepared to do their job? The horror!

And then there are the people that know all their info and are fully prepared that call in while driving.

Seriously, they will be calling in for help with their computer and.. be driving.

I still haven't gotten an answer from our managers for what would happen if the caller gets into an accident.

Yup. This is my life now.

On Crappy People in Charge of Hiring

Wow that title is a tad bitter...

See, I never put much thought into the whole hiring proses beyond getting the job. It just never occurred to me that some people should never be allowed any ware near the hiring proses. Ever.

First thing first, if someone that you are interviewing with doesn't know the difference between a receptionist and a sales manager. Especially after you explain each time that no you are not a sales manager and they still try to convince you that no rally they are the same thing... you need to run and run very far away.

When it comes to job experiance and you know you don't have it say so. Because if you do get sold on a job that you feel or know you can't do, your screwed.

Yes I dealt with this and yes I did take the job. Guess what? they didn't spend any time training me nor did they want to. they wanted some one to start in another building that they didn't need to train. I had my warning flags and I ignored them. Even in my "exit interview" the person that hired me insisted that there was no difference between a receptionist and a sales manager. My only hope is that since an owner of the company was present at it (and completely miserable) I hope that they took a good look what that person did wrong and don't let them be in charge of hiring people.

I really, really can not tell you just how bitter I am about this whole thing. And beyond that, after seeing first hand how they run both the corporate and manufacturing sides I can never recommend or comment on them to people. I just don't feel comfortable about it.

However if anyone ever asks me if I think they should work there I will say no. And while I would love to ask who they are interviewing with I can't. I know that would put me in a bad position and I never want to deal with thous people or their company again.

So a short check list:
-  is a job/company/training solution sounds too good to be true.
- they tell you one amount for pay in the interview and tell you another in the offer.
- want you in another office building right away were no one else that would be training you works at.
- tell you that they "don't remember saying that" every time you talk to them about things from the interviews.
- they take 2 months for 3 interviews to narrow it to 2 people.
-the interviewer says "there is no difference between a receptionist and a sales manager".

Then the job is probably not the one you want to be with and you should run like hell. I wish I had run like hell and not taken that job. But it's done and over with. I feel so much better now that I have that out of my system.

Not much to say...

So, much has happened. I have little free time these days but this is actually a very good thing. :3 I do get a chance to spend so time surfing the net and looking at blogs.

However... For the love of god I will never understand why people put set music to automatically play on a blog/website. It is the most annoying thing I have ever had to deal with.

I was on a blog that had a list of blogs that they followed. So I held down control and opened about 14 blogs in 14 tabs. 6 of them had songs playing on them, 2 had music videos playing on them and I had my own music playing at the time. I can not convey the lag that this cause my computer to suffer with. Nor can I convey just how horrendous the songs sounded as they mangled each other and skipped about because of loading at the same time.

I realize I am weird in that I open many, many tabs at once... I just wish they would at least make it easy to tune off the mood/theam music. I also wish they had better taste in music and not select the kind of music that makes me want to gouge out my ears with a fork.

Thank god for ad/code blocking addons.

Another Way to Not Get an Interview

Please do not use a resume that is a photo copy of a photo copy X infinity.... It shows and people will pass it around and laugh at it for a few moments before tossing it out. An almost clear envelope that is written poorly is also not a good idea. Also, only send one to the company and not one to every person in the company.

And send a cover letter or letter of intrest/intent.

And for the love of god send it to a company whose industry you actually have experience in.

This person had the degrees, experiance and age to know better then to do something stupid like this.

If I ever dis this I would want to be mocked.

How Not to Get an Interview

So, over at Ask a Manager there is a lovely post of what not to do with your cover letter. This is the link you will laugh your self silly over.

In the comments I mentioned that it looked like it had been photo copied to death. Perhaps this person has been using this method for some time. Or worse, perhaps someone is giving people that page and telling them to fill it out like that? Either way it is a Very Bad Idea.

Also, an extremely humorous one.

Getting a Loan

Getting a personal loan for any amount is going to frustrate you. I feel that it would be a giant waste of time to even consider getting more information from the banks. That is, as long as they are not trying to rush you off the phone.

So, the bank I tried was one in my home town. The woman did not work in the loan department but she said she could help me anyhow. She couldn't really answer most of my questions. She also tried to rush me off the phone as soon as she could answer my first question.  she kept saying "so your all set right?" to which I had to answer "no, i have a few more Questions for you".

Another strike against her was that she kept trying to insist that i should get an equity loan for my house.even though I kept telling her I did not own a house. She was not interested in talking about using my car as a collateral but said I would need to have the amount I needed in an account already to use as collateral. But Even this information was given to me broken up.

If you want to talk to a bank about a loan, only talk to someone in the loan department. Other wise you will be wasting your time.

Cranky Hiring Agents in New York City pt2

Last night I spoke with a third New York City hiring agent. She called while I was stuck in traffic but I figured what the hey?

She was very eager to actually talk with me. But I could hear her sails deflating when I explained the whole 'not living in the city right now' thing to her. She did try and wiggle out of the conversation as soon as she heard that but when pressed answered my questions.

When I ask about the possablity of jobs with out an inperson meeting she shot it right down.

She also had no intention of possably saying something that could be held over her. A clear sign to me that someone had done that to her before. She did say that an interview for a job the same week i meet with her could happen but it depended on how many opening came her way. I told her I wasn't looking for a guarantee but just to see how I might schedule my time needed to be there. She was a little startled but went with it.

 This was all I was looking for.

So, now I know that hiring agents in New York City, and possibly in general, do not read cover letters. They are just looking for people they can use to get a better turn over for their commission. Which is fine, but I am amazed that they would waste so much time talking with people they could have quickly eliminated as candidates. I also found that they have no idea were my city is and possibly never hear/read the news.

But! It gave me a very good out look of the time line needed to set interviews for a trip. It also confirmed the fact that I am a dime a dozen. A degree would give me the edge I need for the job market so I can make some headway.

Cranky Hiring Agents in New York City

I know they can be a wonderful way of finding employment, but if you are not living in the city they will not be able to do much for you. And if they did contact you then they probably did not read your cover letter that says you don't like in the area. Also you need a think skin when dealing with them.


But let me start again.

I sent out some responces to Craigslist postings. Most have resulted in scam e-mails telling me to go to a website that they linked to so you can get your credit scores or take an IQ test. Aside from the e-mail links showing a diffrent site when you hover the mouse over them, the e-mail addresses they were sent from will not accept responces. I have accepted this challenge and pass them by.

However, silly me thought that the real companies would actually take a moment to look at my cover letter. In which I state that I do not live near the city and can't meet for an interview without some planing. I figured that they would read this in consideration or that they would delete the e-mail. I had no idea they would actually call me and expect me to see them the same day for an interview for their hiring agency with out reading the cover letter.

I have had contact with two agents so far. The gentleman hemmed and hawed a little and complained that i wasn't living in the city. The conversation lasted maybe five minuets and had many little red flags waving at me. I sent him a polite e-mail saying I understand this, would understand that nothing would come my way and that at some point later in time when I will be out there I will pop him a message to see if he'd like to talk again. I knew it wasn't going to work out and gave him the best out possable.

For some odd reasion he responded. This is his entire e-mail:

And though it is not easy you are not unique to us

I will do my best

I have more of an obstacle with the time of year versus your location

I have mixed feeling about this. I am boggled by the lack of grammar skills and that he bothered to send a separate e-mail response, possibly by blackberry. I am pissed because it seems like an slap in the face but most of all I just can't grasp that he would waist the time to send this pointless e-mail to state what we spoke about.

The woman... I have changed my oppinion of her.

She used one - two word sentences in e-mails from her black berry. Red Flag one.
When she requested I call her, then tell me on the line 'e-mail' then quickly rattled off that she was on the line with three other calls and to e-mail her when to meet. Red Flag two.

I took this all as a sign that I should look elsewhere.


I sent the same e-mail to her as the other gentlemen (actually, i e-mailed her first and then used it for him.) thinking that was it and that she would probably be relived. Imagine my shock when I find an e-mail from her asking me to let her know when I'm in the city next.


Now, I'm probably looking into this with rose colored glasses, yet it's still a nicer response then the other guy. I will be dropping her a line when I get a chance to be in the city.

Interpretation has a lot to do with it. Both side of a conversation could be hearing different things. The guy could be telling me not to waste my time contacting him again or he could be trying to  explain why it could take a long time to get back to me. Like wise the woman could be trying to keep connected or she could just be sending it to be polite. In the digital age I just can't be sure.


So... I'm going to hope for the best.