I remember working a loooong time ago (Lotus 1-2-3, anyone?) performing data entry for a company that provided "qualified leads" for sale. Supposedly, you could be assured that you would get sales leads that conformed to your requirements... salary/age range, investment interests, etc. Most often, I'd be handed a regional telephone book for the area that was ordered (say, Denver), and would type in everything listed. So, old story with a new twist.
I suppose the one good thing to come of employment there was that thru sheer drudgery, I learned to blind touch-type the entire keyboard (numbers & special characters included).
clueless, and/or flying by the seat of our pants
on
Do You Like Your Job?
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· Score: 1
Disclaimer: I was promoted-to & briefly held a supervisor-type tech position once. It was enough. I'm happily back as a regular employee. Most of below is from my observation of friends & loved ones in positions from CIO to entry-level helpdesk.
IMHO, much of management is done by the seat of one's pants. Especially when it comes to technology. Artificially tight deadlines leave little time for thinking through projects, and few of us are trained to plan or test critically. So we cross our fingers, read the trade mags looking for direction that other companies are taking (while they're flying blind as well), and make decisions by SWAG (scientific wild-@ssed guessing) while trying to make sure we can see the big picture & long-term ramifications.
Then, we pull on the asbestos underwear, because middle-management has to "take the heat" from both upper-management and the regular employees. Upper-management wants productivity & profits, regardless of employee impact -- mostly because they just don't understand the ramifications. Employees react with anger & resentment, not suprisingly, because the reasons behind the decisions aren't always communicated clearly... and "kill the messenger" is a time-honored stress release. As a manager, if you can't keep your mind agile & flexible (to see, persuade/argue all points of view to above & below), you end up resentful, bitter, and an unreasonable person to work for.
It would take a near-miracle for me to take a management-type position again... it's incredibly thankless, no matter how good or bad your ability. I offer the above in hopes it can bring about some understanding or compassion for why management seems so clueless... not to say that one should "put up" with it, but to have a better handle on why it might be happening, and what might be done to help or get around it. In closing, I concur with the other posters, in that you can best salvage your work needs by working for a company or cause or project that you really care about. Feeling like you're "making a difference" can make the annoying crap much easier to deal with, no matter where you rest in the company hierarchy. Good luck.
Geek charity - Byte Back in Washington, DC
on
Geek Charities?
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· Score: 1
Here's a geek charity in the Washington DC area, and I know they're hurting for money:
http://www.byteback.org/
"We are a 501(c)3 non-profit computer training organization which partners with other social service organizations to provide computer training to under-employed and unemployed adults, and at-risk youth. In the next three years we are working to make this pilot program available for transfer to many other localities. "
Slashdot Mirror
I remember working a loooong time ago (Lotus 1-2-3, anyone?) performing data entry for a company that provided "qualified leads" for sale. Supposedly, you could be assured that you would get sales leads that conformed to your requirements... salary/age range, investment interests, etc. Most often, I'd be handed a regional telephone book for the area that was ordered (say, Denver), and would type in everything listed. So, old story with a new twist.
I suppose the one good thing to come of employment there was that thru sheer drudgery, I learned to blind touch-type the entire keyboard (numbers & special characters included).
Disclaimer: I was promoted-to & briefly held a supervisor-type tech position once. It was enough. I'm happily back as a regular employee. Most of below is from my observation of friends & loved ones in positions from CIO to entry-level helpdesk.
IMHO, much of management is done by the seat of one's pants. Especially when it comes to technology. Artificially tight deadlines leave little time for thinking through projects, and few of us are trained to plan or test critically. So we cross our fingers, read the trade mags looking for direction that other companies are taking (while they're flying blind as well), and make decisions by SWAG (scientific wild-@ssed guessing) while trying to make sure we can see the big picture & long-term ramifications.
Then, we pull on the asbestos underwear, because middle-management has to "take the heat" from both upper-management and the regular employees. Upper-management wants productivity & profits, regardless of employee impact -- mostly because they just don't understand the ramifications. Employees react with anger & resentment, not suprisingly, because the reasons behind the decisions aren't always communicated clearly... and "kill the messenger" is a time-honored stress release. As a manager, if you can't keep your mind agile & flexible (to see, persuade/argue all points of view to above & below), you end up resentful, bitter, and an unreasonable person to work for.
It would take a near-miracle for me to take a management-type position again... it's incredibly thankless, no matter how good or bad your ability. I offer the above in hopes it can bring about some understanding or compassion for why management seems so clueless... not to say that one should "put up" with it, but to have a better handle on why it might be happening, and what might be done to help or get around it. In closing, I concur with the other posters, in that you can best salvage your work needs by working for a company or cause or project that you really care about. Feeling like you're "making a difference" can make the annoying crap much easier to deal with, no matter where you rest in the company hierarchy. Good luck.
Here's a geek charity in the Washington DC area, and I know they're hurting for money: http://www.byteback.org/ "We are a 501(c)3 non-profit computer training organization which partners with other social service organizations to provide computer training to under-employed and unemployed adults, and at-risk youth. In the next three years we are working to make this pilot program available for transfer to many other localities. "