Posted: 5/23/2016 6:22:46 PM EDT
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I'm in my late 20's and looking to relocate to Texas for work. I have 2 years of experience in project management (non-it) and I'm a non-target MBA graduate.
Can anyone here recommend an employer that is looking for project managers or business development? I'm open to largely any major city area in Texas at the moment. I have CV by request. Looking to relocate and work asap. Very hungry to work and get out of the north east at the same time! Any input in the right direction is appreciated 
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I'm in my late 20's and looking to relocate to Texas for work. I have 2 years of experience in project management (non-it) and I'm a non-target MBA graduate. Can anyone here recommend a headhunter that does job placement? I'm open to largely any major city area in Texas at the moment. I have CV by request. Looking to relocate and work asap. Very hungry to work and get out of the north east at the same time! Any input in the right direction is appreciated You've got it backwards. Headhunters don't look for jobs for candidates. They look for candidates for jobs. In other words, they work for the employers, not for you. Employers come to them with jobs they want to fill, then the headhunter looks for people who are qualified for the position. Usually that involves searching their database for past candidates that might be qualified, searching on sites like LinkedIn and posting the job description to various job boards (Monster, Careerbuilder, Dice, etc). Candidates don't go to a headhunter with their resume and the headhunter goes out and finds a job for them... that just isn't how it works. At best sending your resume to a headhunter unsolicited will do is get you into their database. But most likely it will get circular filed unless you fit a job they are currently recruiting for. So what you need to do is search on the job boards, workforce commission web site, etc... find a job posting that looks like you are a fit for... then apply for it. Keep doing this. Eventually you'll either find a job directly or get into enough databases that you get found. The key thing is you've got to match an active job request or your resume will go nowhere. Oh... and make sure you are on the right sites like LinikedIn. |
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I've been looking over indeed.com; seems to be plenty of tech jobs there. Quoted:
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+1 on linked in. I'm heading over to indeed.com which is more for non tech, I believe. I guess I'll find out. I've been looking over indeed.com; seems to be plenty of tech jobs there. Wouldn't mind starting in tech myself, built computers for friends and family, still trouble shoot just about every thing out there. Too bad there wasn't a soft entry into tech that was still say $50k/yr where I could get a little training along the way. |
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+1 on linked in. I'm heading over to indeed.com which is more for non tech, I believe. I guess I'll find out. Linked in definitely works, it's where I was contacted recently about a job offer back in CT. Obviously I'm trying to go elsewhere :) Are you referring to applying to jobs ON linked in or finding a listing for job offerings? Or are you more-so referring to using it as a networking source? If the latter, It'll be a little less effective as my network is mostly in the north east (sadly, lol). I need to hunker down with linked in and apply through it, if that's the case. I've seen indeed they seem to be a good feeder for a lot of jobs out there. Also for anyone else searching, look at keywords / buzzwords for your resume. Literally the entire thing is computerized and I'm sure that in the past my resume was pushed past because I didn't have a ton of buzzwords highlighted for the position or industry I was targeting. It's getting ridiculous lately! |
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Quoted: Wouldn't mind starting in tech myself, built computers for friends and family, still trouble shoot just about every thing out there. Too bad there wasn't a soft entry into tech that was still say $50k/yr where I could get a little training along the way. Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: +1 on linked in. I'm heading over to indeed.com which is more for non tech, I believe. I guess I'll find out. I've been looking over indeed.com; seems to be plenty of tech jobs there. Wouldn't mind starting in tech myself, built computers for friends and family, still trouble shoot just about every thing out there. Too bad there wasn't a soft entry into tech that was still say $50k/yr where I could get a little training along the way. I don't think entry level into tech is going to pay that much. Also you need to be realistic about any resume you send out because it will have your CT address. Potential employers will wonder "Does this guy expect a relocation package?" May not be true but it's going to be one of the first things that cross their minds when they see it. |
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I don't think entry level into tech is going to pay that much. Also you need to be realistic about any resume you send out because it will have your CT address. Potential employers will wonder "Does this guy expect a relocation package?" May not be true but it's going to be one of the first things that cross their minds when they see it. Quoted:
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+1 on linked in. I'm heading over to indeed.com which is more for non tech, I believe. I guess I'll find out. I've been looking over indeed.com; seems to be plenty of tech jobs there. Wouldn't mind starting in tech myself, built computers for friends and family, still trouble shoot just about every thing out there. Too bad there wasn't a soft entry into tech that was still say $50k/yr where I could get a little training along the way. I don't think entry level into tech is going to pay that much. Also you need to be realistic about any resume you send out because it will have your CT address. Potential employers will wonder "Does this guy expect a relocation package?" May not be true but it's going to be one of the first things that cross their minds when they see it. Well, the move career and money wise would be to go from project management into IT related project management. Which may possibly be accomplished by grabbing some certifications on my end, not positive as to what it would take. Agree with you about that - I've had a person or two to tell me to 'just make the move', 'work a crap job for awhile', and 'be applying to the better jobs once you're in the area'. I'm risk adverse in that sense^ but the more time goes by, the more I'm entertaining the idea. |
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Well, the move career and money wise would be to go from project management into IT related project management. Which may possibly be accomplished by grabbing some certifications on my end, not positive as to what it would take. Agree with you about that - I've had a person or two to tell me to 'just make the move', 'work a crap job for awhile', and 'be applying to the better jobs once you're in the area'. I'm risk adverse in that sense^ but the more time goes by, the more I'm entertaining the idea. Quoted:
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+1 on linked in. I'm heading over to indeed.com which is more for non tech, I believe. I guess I'll find out. I've been looking over indeed.com; seems to be plenty of tech jobs there. Wouldn't mind starting in tech myself, built computers for friends and family, still trouble shoot just about every thing out there. Too bad there wasn't a soft entry into tech that was still say $50k/yr where I could get a little training along the way. I don't think entry level into tech is going to pay that much. Also you need to be realistic about any resume you send out because it will have your CT address. Potential employers will wonder "Does this guy expect a relocation package?" May not be true but it's going to be one of the first things that cross their minds when they see it. Well, the move career and money wise would be to go from project management into IT related project management. Which may possibly be accomplished by grabbing some certifications on my end, not positive as to what it would take. Agree with you about that - I've had a person or two to tell me to 'just make the move', 'work a crap job for awhile', and 'be applying to the better jobs once you're in the area'. I'm risk adverse in that sense^ but the more time goes by, the more I'm entertaining the idea. There is some truth to that. My wife couldn't get hired in Houston until we actually lived here... and we were just 3 hours away in Austin. |
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Well, the move career and money wise would be to go from project management into IT related project management. Which may possibly be accomplished by grabbing some certifications on my end, not positive as to what it would take. Quoted:
Well, the move career and money wise would be to go from project management into IT related project management. Which may possibly be accomplished by grabbing some certifications on my end, not positive as to what it would take. IT Project management is kind of falling apart. My wife was thinking about going into that, but unlike a few years ago when a PMP certification would practically guarantee you interviews, now there is little demand. Everyone and their dog is a PMP and the market is glutted and the staffing trend is to eliminate all the "Manager" titles at that level, push the planning work down to the people doing the work and have all the senior and lead level people answer directly to the director level people and outsourcing all the HR to external vendors. "Flattening the Management structure" is a big Holy Grail because it means they can shove down the payroll a bunch not only be eliminating head count but also locking most of the people into lower salary bands. Give the team leads management responsibility but don't pay them for it or give them any real power. Agree with you about that - I've had a person or two to tell me to 'just make the move', 'work a crap job for awhile', and 'be applying to the better jobs once you're in the area'.
I'm risk adverse in that sense^ but the more time goes by, the more I'm entertaining the idea. You are smart not to do that. It is a REALLY horrible idea. Unless you've got a big enough savings to be able to survive with little to no income for a year or two, I would not consider moving unless you've got a job guaranteed. Seriously. "crap job" these days means you will be living in a cardboard box under a bridge somewhere. You can't make it in any of the 4 biggest cities in Texas on less than double the minimum wage, and as good as the job market is for highly qualified folks... you can't just hop in and get an interim job that pays much over minimum because there aren't enough out there. The job market for entry level is extremely poor with tons of people looking for the few half decent jobs that pay decently enough you can live. And if you are working full time at a crappy job just to pay rent on some dumpy tiny apartment in the hood you aren't going to have time to be applying for better jobs. You'd be far better off to stay where your support network is, which is where you are currently at. |
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IT Project management is kind of falling apart. My wife was thinking about going into that, but unlike a few years ago when a PMP certification would practically guarantee you interviews, now there is little demand. Everyone and their dog is a PMP and the market is glutted and the staffing trend is to eliminate all the "Manager" titles at that level, push the planning work down to the people doing the work and have all the senior and lead level people answer directly to the director level people and outsourcing all the HR to external vendors. "Flattening the Management structure" is a big Holy Grail because it means they can shove down the payroll a bunch not only be eliminating head count but also locking most of the people into lower salary bands. Give the team leads management responsibility but don't pay them for it or give them any real power. Quoted:
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Well, the move career and money wise would be to go from project management into IT related project management. Which may possibly be accomplished by grabbing some certifications on my end, not positive as to what it would take. IT Project management is kind of falling apart. My wife was thinking about going into that, but unlike a few years ago when a PMP certification would practically guarantee you interviews, now there is little demand. Everyone and their dog is a PMP and the market is glutted and the staffing trend is to eliminate all the "Manager" titles at that level, push the planning work down to the people doing the work and have all the senior and lead level people answer directly to the director level people and outsourcing all the HR to external vendors. "Flattening the Management structure" is a big Holy Grail because it means they can shove down the payroll a bunch not only be eliminating head count but also locking most of the people into lower salary bands. Give the team leads management responsibility but don't pay them for it or give them any real power. IT Project Managers (not to be confused with Product Managers) haven't died anywhere near fast enough. I don't think I've ever met a Project Manager that had a net positive impact. They create piles of mandatory paperwork, convince the VP's that hte bullshit paperwork actually has to be done, then do half the paperwork themselves and force the real engineers to waste time filling out the other half. Then they usually get praised for their generosity of doing half the bullshit paperwork themselves without anyone noticing that the bullshit paperwork doesn't need to be done in the first place. Then again, most managers are pretty useless. At the company I'm currently at, I could probably cut a good 40% of jobs without customers even noticing. |
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My older son went from being an IT analyst to sales and wonders why he didn't move years ago. Travel is almost nonexistent and definitely not leaving the continent.
He's constanlty getting offers but he's pretty phenomenal anyway. Tech paid well but nothing like sales. |
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IT Project Managers (not to be confused with Product Managers) haven't died anywhere near fast enough. I don't think I've ever met a Project Manager that had a net positive impact. They create piles of mandatory paperwork, convince the VP's that hte bullshit paperwork actually has to be done, then do half the paperwork themselves and force the real engineers to waste time filling out the other half. Then they usually get praised for their generosity of doing half the bullshit paperwork themselves without anyone noticing that the bullshit paperwork doesn't need to be done in the first place. Then again, most managers are pretty useless. At the company I'm currently at, I could probably cut a good 40% of jobs without customers even noticing. Quoted:
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Well, the move career and money wise would be to go from project management into IT related project management. Which may possibly be accomplished by grabbing some certifications on my end, not positive as to what it would take. IT Project management is kind of falling apart. My wife was thinking about going into that, but unlike a few years ago when a PMP certification would practically guarantee you interviews, now there is little demand. Everyone and their dog is a PMP and the market is glutted and the staffing trend is to eliminate all the "Manager" titles at that level, push the planning work down to the people doing the work and have all the senior and lead level people answer directly to the director level people and outsourcing all the HR to external vendors. "Flattening the Management structure" is a big Holy Grail because it means they can shove down the payroll a bunch not only be eliminating head count but also locking most of the people into lower salary bands. Give the team leads management responsibility but don't pay them for it or give them any real power. IT Project Managers (not to be confused with Product Managers) haven't died anywhere near fast enough. I don't think I've ever met a Project Manager that had a net positive impact. They create piles of mandatory paperwork, convince the VP's that hte bullshit paperwork actually has to be done, then do half the paperwork themselves and force the real engineers to waste time filling out the other half. Then they usually get praised for their generosity of doing half the bullshit paperwork themselves without anyone noticing that the bullshit paperwork doesn't need to be done in the first place. Then again, most managers are pretty useless. At the company I'm currently at, I could probably cut a good 40% of jobs without customers even noticing. There are two types of IT Project Managers - those of us who have actually operated / installed servers, routers, and switches, etc. and those who went to some course to get a certificate. Once can only bother the people doing the work for what we need to know and deal with the external to the project crap ourselves, while the others constantly bother the people working to try and understand what is happening and why. Experience has value in this industry. |
| All companies have a different definition of the term "project manager". Make sure you know what you will be doing. My last "project manager" position was actually a backup tech position for the clock milking, drug infested, hung over slackers that worked 18 to 20 days per month. I had never heard more creative excuses not to come to work. |
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My older son went from being an IT analyst to sales and wonders why he didn't move years ago. Travel is almost nonexistent and definitely not leaving the continent. He's constanlty getting offers but he's pretty phenomenal anyway. Tech paid well but nothing like sales. Sales is not for everyone. People who flounder and/or are unhappy in tech often do well in sales and vice versa. I've been working as a hard core techie for 25+ years but if I had to sell anything I'd be starving. Seriously. Nobody will buy anything from me. It doesn't matter if I'm selling water and they are on fire, they'll go to someone else who is selling gasoline first. It isn't that I'm super nerdy and can't talk to people or anything. For a techie I'm way more social than average. But there is a talent necessary for selling and I just ain't got it. It doesn't seem to be something that can be taught either, because I've had people who are good at selling try to teach it to me and I can say what they say and do what they do but it just doesn't work for me. FWIW, I've never had much of any luck teaching any of those guys to do even simple scripting or anything that requires much more in depth than you can do by pointing and clicking. There is a place for everyone. It is a good thing when people find somewhere they fit. |
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All companies have a different definition of the term "project manager". Make sure you know what you will be doing. My last "project manager" position was actually a backup tech position for the clock milking, drug infested, hung over slackers that worked 18 to 20 days per month. I had never heard more creative excuses not to come to work. Unless you work in a sweat shop, 19 or 20 working days a month is pretty normal. 4 weeks x 5 days = 20 weekdays, 21 or 22 at most in a month with 31 days. Then 1/2 the months have a holiday in them (January (New Years), July (Independence Day), May (Memorial Day), September (Labor Day), November (Turkey Day) & December (X-Mas)). Most people get at least 5 days worth of vacation (or PTO) a year... So if they take them spread out over the year then 18 to 20 days per month is pretty normal... If they are taking more than that then there might be a legitimate issue. But of course I understand where you are coming from. I usually end up working more than 8 hours a day plus some weekend days (with no compensation) and I usually end up losing most of my PTO days because even the few days a year my wife insists that I take are like getting teeth pulled to get approved... And 1/2 the time I end up getting called and working remotely when I am "on vacation". Hell, I sometimes get groused at when I take a 1/2 day off to go to the dentist or something. I haven't had a doctor's appointment in years (I don't do doctors) and it has been years since I've called in sick. Sometimes I think the slackers are the smart ones and people with "old fashioned work ethic" are suckers. |
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There are two types of IT Project Managers - those of us who have actually operated / installed servers, routers, and switches, etc. and those who went to some course to get a certificate. Once can only bother the people doing the work for what we need to know and deal with the external to the project crap ourselves, while the others constantly bother the people working to try and understand what is happening and why. Experience has value in this industry. Quoted:
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Well, the move career and money wise would be to go from project management into IT related project management. Which may possibly be accomplished by grabbing some certifications on my end, not positive as to what it would take. IT Project management is kind of falling apart. My wife was thinking about going into that, but unlike a few years ago when a PMP certification would practically guarantee you interviews, now there is little demand. Everyone and their dog is a PMP and the market is glutted and the staffing trend is to eliminate all the "Manager" titles at that level, push the planning work down to the people doing the work and have all the senior and lead level people answer directly to the director level people and outsourcing all the HR to external vendors. "Flattening the Management structure" is a big Holy Grail because it means they can shove down the payroll a bunch not only be eliminating head count but also locking most of the people into lower salary bands. Give the team leads management responsibility but don't pay them for it or give them any real power. IT Project Managers (not to be confused with Product Managers) haven't died anywhere near fast enough. I don't think I've ever met a Project Manager that had a net positive impact. They create piles of mandatory paperwork, convince the VP's that hte bullshit paperwork actually has to be done, then do half the paperwork themselves and force the real engineers to waste time filling out the other half. Then they usually get praised for their generosity of doing half the bullshit paperwork themselves without anyone noticing that the bullshit paperwork doesn't need to be done in the first place. Then again, most managers are pretty useless. At the company I'm currently at, I could probably cut a good 40% of jobs without customers even noticing. There are two types of IT Project Managers - those of us who have actually operated / installed servers, routers, and switches, etc. and those who went to some course to get a certificate. Once can only bother the people doing the work for what we need to know and deal with the external to the project crap ourselves, while the others constantly bother the people working to try and understand what is happening and why. Experience has value in this industry. I'll believe it when I see it. I've worked with close to two dozen project managers in the last eight years. None of them had the technical skills to re-install the OS on their laptop without getting someone else to do it for them. |
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All companies have a different definition of the term "project manager". Make sure you know what you will be doing. My last "project manager" position was actually a backup tech position for the clock milking, drug infested, hung over slackers that worked 18 to 20 days per month. I had never heard more creative excuses not to come to work. Big +1 |
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I'll believe it when I see it. I've worked with close to two dozen project managers in the last eight years. None of them had the technical skills to re-install the OS on their laptop without getting someone else to do it for them. Quoted:
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Well, the move career and money wise would be to go from project management into IT related project management. Which may possibly be accomplished by grabbing some certifications on my end, not positive as to what it would take. IT Project management is kind of falling apart. My wife was thinking about going into that, but unlike a few years ago when a PMP certification would practically guarantee you interviews, now there is little demand. Everyone and their dog is a PMP and the market is glutted and the staffing trend is to eliminate all the "Manager" titles at that level, push the planning work down to the people doing the work and have all the senior and lead level people answer directly to the director level people and outsourcing all the HR to external vendors. "Flattening the Management structure" is a big Holy Grail because it means they can shove down the payroll a bunch not only be eliminating head count but also locking most of the people into lower salary bands. Give the team leads management responsibility but don't pay them for it or give them any real power. IT Project Managers (not to be confused with Product Managers) haven't died anywhere near fast enough. I don't think I've ever met a Project Manager that had a net positive impact. They create piles of mandatory paperwork, convince the VP's that hte bullshit paperwork actually has to be done, then do half the paperwork themselves and force the real engineers to waste time filling out the other half. Then they usually get praised for their generosity of doing half the bullshit paperwork themselves without anyone noticing that the bullshit paperwork doesn't need to be done in the first place. Then again, most managers are pretty useless. At the company I'm currently at, I could probably cut a good 40% of jobs without customers even noticing. There are two types of IT Project Managers - those of us who have actually operated / installed servers, routers, and switches, etc. and those who went to some course to get a certificate. Once can only bother the people doing the work for what we need to know and deal with the external to the project crap ourselves, while the others constantly bother the people working to try and understand what is happening and why. Experience has value in this industry. I'll believe it when I see it. I've worked with close to two dozen project managers in the last eight years. None of them had the technical skills to re-install the OS on their laptop without getting someone else to do it for them. Then in that case I'm ahead of the game. I've built computers for the past decade and a half for friends, family, etc. Trouble shoot nearly everything, and ran a small bitcoin mining farm with 4 computers at one point, hardware selected and built from ground up. |
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What field is your PM experience in? In essence we're sign brokers. We contract out for design work for a client's desires... then contract out for signage fabrication, permitting, installation, scheduling, etc. Both indoors ADA style signage, and outdoor illuminated channel letter, raceway, etc. Larger programs include big telecom work; most recently 525 locations for Frontier Communications, mostly retail stores. I'll do budgets, mark up, proposals, accounts receivable as well as payables. I even run a small online ADA retail website for them including inventorying, design, and marketing. I'm guessing it would qualify as "construction" to some degree. |
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LinkedIn is a great tool. I finally buckled down about a month back and got my profile completely filled out. I've had two headhunters and one VP for another company contact me regarding new employment. I'll be starting at one of the three in two weeks. Awesome, congratulations
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Then in that case I'm ahead of the game. I've built computers for the past decade and a half for friends, family, etc. Trouble shoot nearly everything, and ran a small bitcoin mining farm with 4 computers at one point, hardware selected and built from ground up. Don't kid yourself. The blue stuff I was doing before I got into high school. Not exactly a credential to be proud of. The green stuff is bullshit. Ever work on a live system that was coordinating realtime communication between over 10k humans scattered all over the globe? Ever patch a mainframe that had been running with zero downtime for more than 50 years? Ever coordinate with cable laying ships that were repairing undersea network lines after a major earthquake? Ever rebuild a corrupted Flash file with a hex editor and a PDF of Adobe's technical specs? You haven't "Trouble shoot nearly everything". The red part is just admitting you blew a bunch of money on a scam. Also, 4 computers is an itty bitty joke; you need to add two zero's to that number before anyone will be impressed. ETA: I'm just going to unsubscribe. Dealing with Project Managers is bad for my bloodpressure, and I do enough of it already. |
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Unless you work in a sweat shop, 19 or 20 working days a month is pretty normal. 4 weeks x 5 days = 20 weekdays, 21 or 22 at most in a month with 31 days. Then 1/2 the months have a holiday in them (January (New Years), July (Independence Day), May (Memorial Day), September (Labor Day), November (Turkey Day) & December (X-Mas)). Most people get at least 5 days worth of vacation (or PTO) a year... So if they take them spread out over the year then 18 to 20 days per month is pretty normal... If they are taking more than that then there might be a legitimate issue. But of course I understand where you are coming from. I usually end up working more than 8 hours a day plus some weekend days (with no compensation) and I usually end up losing most of my PTO days because even the few days a year my wife insists that I take are like getting teeth pulled to get approved... And 1/2 the time I end up getting called and working remotely when I am "on vacation". Hell, I sometimes get groused at when I take a 1/2 day off to go to the dentist or something. I haven't had a doctor's appointment in years (I don't do doctors) and it has been years since I've called in sick. Sometimes I think the slackers are the smart ones and people with "old fashioned work ethic" are suckers. Quoted:
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All companies have a different definition of the term "project manager". Make sure you know what you will be doing. My last "project manager" position was actually a backup tech position for the clock milking, drug infested, hung over slackers that worked 18 to 20 days per month. I had never heard more creative excuses not to come to work. Unless you work in a sweat shop, 19 or 20 working days a month is pretty normal. 4 weeks x 5 days = 20 weekdays, 21 or 22 at most in a month with 31 days. Then 1/2 the months have a holiday in them (January (New Years), July (Independence Day), May (Memorial Day), September (Labor Day), November (Turkey Day) & December (X-Mas)). Most people get at least 5 days worth of vacation (or PTO) a year... So if they take them spread out over the year then 18 to 20 days per month is pretty normal... If they are taking more than that then there might be a legitimate issue. But of course I understand where you are coming from. I usually end up working more than 8 hours a day plus some weekend days (with no compensation) and I usually end up losing most of my PTO days because even the few days a year my wife insists that I take are like getting teeth pulled to get approved... And 1/2 the time I end up getting called and working remotely when I am "on vacation". Hell, I sometimes get groused at when I take a 1/2 day off to go to the dentist or something. I haven't had a doctor's appointment in years (I don't do doctors) and it has been years since I've called in sick. Sometimes I think the slackers are the smart ones and people with "old fashioned work ethic" are suckers. Good God man. I see work as five days a week with an average month of 22.25 days. Is your name B.B. with a human resources background? You sound like the HR rep that would not let me write up repeatedly to the point of being able to fire them, or fire the slackers on the job site when busted with theft or time. Theft is theft. Theft is a three strike offense in my opinion. They held up everybody's jobs from being completed on schedule. Just ranting. I should have said what I did about the guys, and gals, that called in sick 2 or 3 times per month on regular work days. |
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Good God man. I see work as five days a week with an average month of 22.25 days. Is your name B.B. with a human resources background? You sound like the HR rep that would not let me write up repeatedly to the point of being able to fire them, or fire the slackers on the job site when busted with theft or time. Theft is theft. Theft is a three strike offense in my opinion. They held up everybody's jobs from being completed on schedule. Just ranting. I should have said what I did about the guys, and gals, that called in sick 2 or 3 times per month on regular work days. I've got no problem with theft being automatic firing. I also wouldn't accept someone consistently calling in sick 2 or 3 times a month on top of the holidays and vacation days they've already been given. RANT ON... But I also think it is BS that many companies expect everyone to work more than 40 hours a week every week and 10-12 hours a day 6 or 7 days a week in "crunch time" if that crunch time occurs on a regular basis like at least 1 or 2 weeks every month. It makes it worse if nobody is allowed to take any comp time in the weeks when everything isn't on fire. And why bother with the charade of giving anyone "vacation" if people are never allowed to use it? If 48, or 60 or whatever is the minimum number of hours a person can put down in the time system and not be considered a slacker then that needs to be put out up front like the job posting. And having things in the employee handbook about encouraging employees to use their PTO time when that is clearly not the way things actually work... is just insulting. At some point theft goes two ways -- when people are promised time off and then not allowed to take it and then they lose it with no compensation it just isn't right -- but it is standard practice. I lost 240 hours of accumulated PTO time last job I left, and it was more than that over time because that was the maximum level an employee could build to so I lost hours every month that I didn't take, not even counting that I was working 45-50 hours a week every week and not getting anything for the 5-10 hours of overtime. It was one thing in the old days when people got paid for overtime or unused PTO hours, but that doesn't happen anymore. Heck, even incentive pay like bonuses, option grants, profit sharing, etc... haven't heard of those things happening in the industry I work in for 10-15 years. And even when I have taken vacation time -- I've often ended up working remotely. Last time I took a couple days I had to VPN through motel WiFi at 4 AM on Saturday to handle some things because nobody else knows how to. |
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I've got no problem with theft being automatic firing. I also wouldn't accept someone consistently calling in sick 2 or 3 times a month on top of the holidays and vacation days they've already been given. RANT ON... But I also think it is BS that many companies expect everyone to work more than 40 hours a week every week and 10-12 hours a day 6 or 7 days a week in "crunch time" if that crunch time occurs on a regular basis like at least 1 or 2 weeks every month. It makes it worse if nobody is allowed to take any comp time in the weeks when everything isn't on fire. And why bother with the charade of giving anyone "vacation" if people are never allowed to use it? If 48, or 60 or whatever is the minimum number of hours a person can put down in the time system and not be considered a slacker then that needs to be put out up front like the job posting. And having things in the employee handbook about encouraging employees to use their PTO time when that is clearly not the way things actually work... is just insulting. At some point theft goes two ways -- when people are promised time off and then not allowed to take it and then they lose it with no compensation it just isn't right -- but it is standard practice. I lost 240 hours of accumulated PTO time last job I left, and it was more than that over time because that was the maximum level an employee could build to so I lost hours every month that I didn't take, not even counting that I was working 45-50 hours a week every week and not getting anything for the 5-10 hours of overtime. It was one thing in the old days when people got paid for overtime or unused PTO hours, but that doesn't happen anymore. Heck, even incentive pay like bonuses, option grants, profit sharing, etc... haven't heard of those things happening in the industry I work in for 10-15 years. And even when I have taken vacation time -- I've often ended up working remotely. Last time I took a couple days I had to VPN through motel WiFi at 4 AM on Saturday to handle some things because nobody else knows how to. Quoted:
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Good God man. I see work as five days a week with an average month of 22.25 days. Is your name B.B. with a human resources background? You sound like the HR rep that would not let me write up repeatedly to the point of being able to fire them, or fire the slackers on the job site when busted with theft or time. Theft is theft. Theft is a three strike offense in my opinion. They held up everybody's jobs from being completed on schedule. Just ranting. I should have said what I did about the guys, and gals, that called in sick 2 or 3 times per month on regular work days. I've got no problem with theft being automatic firing. I also wouldn't accept someone consistently calling in sick 2 or 3 times a month on top of the holidays and vacation days they've already been given. RANT ON... But I also think it is BS that many companies expect everyone to work more than 40 hours a week every week and 10-12 hours a day 6 or 7 days a week in "crunch time" if that crunch time occurs on a regular basis like at least 1 or 2 weeks every month. It makes it worse if nobody is allowed to take any comp time in the weeks when everything isn't on fire. And why bother with the charade of giving anyone "vacation" if people are never allowed to use it? If 48, or 60 or whatever is the minimum number of hours a person can put down in the time system and not be considered a slacker then that needs to be put out up front like the job posting. And having things in the employee handbook about encouraging employees to use their PTO time when that is clearly not the way things actually work... is just insulting. At some point theft goes two ways -- when people are promised time off and then not allowed to take it and then they lose it with no compensation it just isn't right -- but it is standard practice. I lost 240 hours of accumulated PTO time last job I left, and it was more than that over time because that was the maximum level an employee could build to so I lost hours every month that I didn't take, not even counting that I was working 45-50 hours a week every week and not getting anything for the 5-10 hours of overtime. It was one thing in the old days when people got paid for overtime or unused PTO hours, but that doesn't happen anymore. Heck, even incentive pay like bonuses, option grants, profit sharing, etc... haven't heard of those things happening in the industry I work in for 10-15 years. And even when I have taken vacation time -- I've often ended up working remotely. Last time I took a couple days I had to VPN through motel WiFi at 4 AM on Saturday to handle some things because nobody else knows how to. I have had the same crap above pulled on me. It really sucks. It's the reason why I took a new job recently. The real crap part was when they wanted me to remote in on my phone during some time of for a funeral. |
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I have had the same crap above pulled on me. It really sucks. It's the reason why I took a new job recently. The real crap part was when they wanted me to remote in on my phone during some time of for a funeral. Quoted:
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Good God man. I see work as five days a week with an average month of 22.25 days. Is your name B.B. with a human resources background? You sound like the HR rep that would not let me write up repeatedly to the point of being able to fire them, or fire the slackers on the job site when busted with theft or time. Theft is theft. Theft is a three strike offense in my opinion. They held up everybody's jobs from being completed on schedule. Just ranting. I should have said what I did about the guys, and gals, that called in sick 2 or 3 times per month on regular work days. I've got no problem with theft being automatic firing. I also wouldn't accept someone consistently calling in sick 2 or 3 times a month on top of the holidays and vacation days they've already been given. RANT ON... But I also think it is BS that many companies expect everyone to work more than 40 hours a week every week and 10-12 hours a day 6 or 7 days a week in "crunch time" if that crunch time occurs on a regular basis like at least 1 or 2 weeks every month. It makes it worse if nobody is allowed to take any comp time in the weeks when everything isn't on fire. And why bother with the charade of giving anyone "vacation" if people are never allowed to use it? If 48, or 60 or whatever is the minimum number of hours a person can put down in the time system and not be considered a slacker then that needs to be put out up front like the job posting. And having things in the employee handbook about encouraging employees to use their PTO time when that is clearly not the way things actually work... is just insulting. At some point theft goes two ways -- when people are promised time off and then not allowed to take it and then they lose it with no compensation it just isn't right -- but it is standard practice. I lost 240 hours of accumulated PTO time last job I left, and it was more than that over time because that was the maximum level an employee could build to so I lost hours every month that I didn't take, not even counting that I was working 45-50 hours a week every week and not getting anything for the 5-10 hours of overtime. It was one thing in the old days when people got paid for overtime or unused PTO hours, but that doesn't happen anymore. Heck, even incentive pay like bonuses, option grants, profit sharing, etc... haven't heard of those things happening in the industry I work in for 10-15 years. And even when I have taken vacation time -- I've often ended up working remotely. Last time I took a couple days I had to VPN through motel WiFi at 4 AM on Saturday to handle some things because nobody else knows how to. I have had the same crap above pulled on me. It really sucks. It's the reason why I took a new job recently. The real crap part was when they wanted me to remote in on my phone during some time of for a funeral. I've run into it most of the places I've worked in the past 15 years. I keep thinking I will get away from it one of these days but it seems to be completely endemic to the IT industry these days. I hear you about the phone thing... I have an SSH client installed on my phone so I can remote in from anywhere... I've been known to be entering SQL into the live production database from my phone while in the passenger seat of a pickup doing 75 down the interstate before. If that isn't scary. It amazes me some of the nitpicky things that upper management worry about and they are oblivious to the risks that they take by not having sufficient staffing to barely get the work done let alone to have any overlap or backup. It anyone where I am now were to get sick, be hired away or die it would literally throw them into a spiral where they'd end up months behind and potentially cost them tens of thousands of dollars to clean up, in lost business, not to mention the cost of lost opportunity. But what do I know, I'm not an MBA so I obviously it all makes sense and I am just missing something. |
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I've run into it most of the places I've worked in the past 15 years. I keep thinking I will get away from it one of these days but it seems to be completely endemic to the IT industry these days. I hear you about the phone thing... I have an SSH client installed on my phone so I can remote in from anywhere... I've been known to be entering SQL into the live production database from my phone while in the passenger seat of a pickup doing 75 down the interstate before. If that isn't scary. It amazes me some of the nitpicky things that upper management worry about and they are oblivious to the risks that they take by not having sufficient staffing to barely get the work done let alone to have any overlap or backup. It anyone where I am now were to get sick, be hired away or die it would literally throw them into a spiral where they'd end up months behind and potentially cost them tens of thousands of dollars to clean up, in lost business, not to mention the cost of lost opportunity. But what do I know, I'm not an MBA so I obviously it all makes sense and I am just missing something. Quoted:
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Good God man. I see work as five days a week with an average month of 22.25 days. Is your name B.B. with a human resources background? You sound like the HR rep that would not let me write up repeatedly to the point of being able to fire them, or fire the slackers on the job site when busted with theft or time. Theft is theft. Theft is a three strike offense in my opinion. They held up everybody's jobs from being completed on schedule. Just ranting. I should have said what I did about the guys, and gals, that called in sick 2 or 3 times per month on regular work days. I've got no problem with theft being automatic firing. I also wouldn't accept someone consistently calling in sick 2 or 3 times a month on top of the holidays and vacation days they've already been given. RANT ON... But I also think it is BS that many companies expect everyone to work more than 40 hours a week every week and 10-12 hours a day 6 or 7 days a week in "crunch time" if that crunch time occurs on a regular basis like at least 1 or 2 weeks every month. It makes it worse if nobody is allowed to take any comp time in the weeks when everything isn't on fire. And why bother with the charade of giving anyone "vacation" if people are never allowed to use it? If 48, or 60 or whatever is the minimum number of hours a person can put down in the time system and not be considered a slacker then that needs to be put out up front like the job posting. And having things in the employee handbook about encouraging employees to use their PTO time when that is clearly not the way things actually work... is just insulting. At some point theft goes two ways -- when people are promised time off and then not allowed to take it and then they lose it with no compensation it just isn't right -- but it is standard practice. I lost 240 hours of accumulated PTO time last job I left, and it was more than that over time because that was the maximum level an employee could build to so I lost hours every month that I didn't take, not even counting that I was working 45-50 hours a week every week and not getting anything for the 5-10 hours of overtime. It was one thing in the old days when people got paid for overtime or unused PTO hours, but that doesn't happen anymore. Heck, even incentive pay like bonuses, option grants, profit sharing, etc... haven't heard of those things happening in the industry I work in for 10-15 years. And even when I have taken vacation time -- I've often ended up working remotely. Last time I took a couple days I had to VPN through motel WiFi at 4 AM on Saturday to handle some things because nobody else knows how to. I have had the same crap above pulled on me. It really sucks. It's the reason why I took a new job recently. The real crap part was when they wanted me to remote in on my phone during some time of for a funeral. I've run into it most of the places I've worked in the past 15 years. I keep thinking I will get away from it one of these days but it seems to be completely endemic to the IT industry these days. I hear you about the phone thing... I have an SSH client installed on my phone so I can remote in from anywhere... I've been known to be entering SQL into the live production database from my phone while in the passenger seat of a pickup doing 75 down the interstate before. If that isn't scary. It amazes me some of the nitpicky things that upper management worry about and they are oblivious to the risks that they take by not having sufficient staffing to barely get the work done let alone to have any overlap or backup. It anyone where I am now were to get sick, be hired away or die it would literally throw them into a spiral where they'd end up months behind and potentially cost them tens of thousands of dollars to clean up, in lost business, not to mention the cost of lost opportunity. But what do I know, I'm not an MBA so I obviously it all makes sense and I am just missing something. The last company I worked for only had around 22 in the IT department. The consultant they got said we needed around 80 more and was shocked we had been that understaffed for so many years. It just turns out the CIO was a cheap ass and never asked for the head count. The CFO found out and made the CIO start to hire staff. |
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I've got no problem with theft being automatic firing. I also wouldn't accept someone consistently calling in sick 2 or 3 times a month on top of the holidays and vacation days they've already been given. RANT ON... But I also think it is BS that many companies expect everyone to work more than 40 hours a week every week and 10-12 hours a day 6 or 7 days a week in "crunch time" if that crunch time occurs on a regular basis like at least 1 or 2 weeks every month. It makes it worse if nobody is allowed to take any comp time in the weeks when everything isn't on fire. And why bother with the charade of giving anyone "vacation" if people are never allowed to use it? If 48, or 60 or whatever is the minimum number of hours a person can put down in the time system and not be considered a slacker then that needs to be put out up front like the job posting. And having things in the employee handbook about encouraging employees to use their PTO time when that is clearly not the way things actually work... is just insulting. At some point theft goes two ways -- when people are promised time off and then not allowed to take it and then they lose it with no compensation it just isn't right -- but it is standard practice. I lost 240 hours of accumulated PTO time last job I left, and it was more than that over time because that was the maximum level an employee could build to so I lost hours every month that I didn't take, not even counting that I was working 45-50 hours a week every week and not getting anything for the 5-10 hours of overtime. It was one thing in the old days when people got paid for overtime or unused PTO hours, but that doesn't happen anymore. Heck, even incentive pay like bonuses, option grants, profit sharing, etc... haven't heard of those things happening in the industry I work in for 10-15 years. And even when I have taken vacation time -- I've often ended up working remotely. Last time I took a couple days I had to VPN through motel WiFi at 4 AM on Saturday to handle some things because nobody else knows how to. Quoted:
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Good God man. I see work as five days a week with an average month of 22.25 days. Is your name B.B. with a human resources background? You sound like the HR rep that would not let me write up repeatedly to the point of being able to fire them, or fire the slackers on the job site when busted with theft or time. Theft is theft. Theft is a three strike offense in my opinion. They held up everybody's jobs from being completed on schedule. Just ranting. I should have said what I did about the guys, and gals, that called in sick 2 or 3 times per month on regular work days. I've got no problem with theft being automatic firing. I also wouldn't accept someone consistently calling in sick 2 or 3 times a month on top of the holidays and vacation days they've already been given. RANT ON... But I also think it is BS that many companies expect everyone to work more than 40 hours a week every week and 10-12 hours a day 6 or 7 days a week in "crunch time" if that crunch time occurs on a regular basis like at least 1 or 2 weeks every month. It makes it worse if nobody is allowed to take any comp time in the weeks when everything isn't on fire. And why bother with the charade of giving anyone "vacation" if people are never allowed to use it? If 48, or 60 or whatever is the minimum number of hours a person can put down in the time system and not be considered a slacker then that needs to be put out up front like the job posting. And having things in the employee handbook about encouraging employees to use their PTO time when that is clearly not the way things actually work... is just insulting. At some point theft goes two ways -- when people are promised time off and then not allowed to take it and then they lose it with no compensation it just isn't right -- but it is standard practice. I lost 240 hours of accumulated PTO time last job I left, and it was more than that over time because that was the maximum level an employee could build to so I lost hours every month that I didn't take, not even counting that I was working 45-50 hours a week every week and not getting anything for the 5-10 hours of overtime. It was one thing in the old days when people got paid for overtime or unused PTO hours, but that doesn't happen anymore. Heck, even incentive pay like bonuses, option grants, profit sharing, etc... haven't heard of those things happening in the industry I work in for 10-15 years. And even when I have taken vacation time -- I've often ended up working remotely. Last time I took a couple days I had to VPN through motel WiFi at 4 AM on Saturday to handle some things because nobody else knows how to. I have been there as well. That 240 hours you mentioned hits home. A place I worked at we would "peak out" at 80 hours. WTF is that? Peak out??? If we attempted to use it, it was like asking for a spare body part. The turnover there was very high. Everybdy that worked there was looking for a job. When you did take a long weekend or God forbid you were actually sick, the people covering your ongoing jobs and proposals would let them go to shit. I am self employed now. I can't blame anybody for anything that I did not allow to happen. OK Rant over. |
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Well, the move career and money wise would be to go from project management into IT related project management. Which may possibly be accomplished by grabbing some certifications on my end, not positive as to what it would take. Agree with you about that - I've had a person or two to tell me to 'just make the move', 'work a crap job for awhile', and 'be applying to the better jobs once you're in the area'. I'm risk adverse in that sense^ but the more time goes by, the more I'm entertaining the idea. Quoted:
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Wouldn't mind starting in tech myself, built computers for friends and family, still trouble shoot just about every thing out there. Too bad there wasn't a soft entry into tech that was still say $50k/yr where I could get a little training along the way. I don't think entry level into tech is going to pay that much. Also you need to be realistic about any resume you send out because it will have your CT address. Potential employers will wonder "Does this guy expect a relocation package?" May not be true but it's going to be one of the first things that cross their minds when they see it. Well, the move career and money wise would be to go from project management into IT related project management. Which may possibly be accomplished by grabbing some certifications on my end, not positive as to what it would take. Agree with you about that - I've had a person or two to tell me to 'just make the move', 'work a crap job for awhile', and 'be applying to the better jobs once you're in the area'. I'm risk adverse in that sense^ but the more time goes by, the more I'm entertaining the idea. Welp, you aren't getting into IT without sacking up and making the jump and enduring some shite times. PMO is a pretty clogged field these days and, god help me, I've yet to find a PM who adds value. Sounds like you can build PCs, which puts you in the job market along with a metric crap-ton of highschool students. If you want to get into IT, especially in an IT town like DFW or Austin (or, to some degree Houston), a NOC job is a great start. Doing something like that gets you exposure to packet caps via Wireshark or TCPDump, monitoring software, (maybe) scripting languages. Let me know if you want any job tips. |
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I'm in my late 20's and looking to relocate to Texas for work. I have 2 years of experience in project management (non-it) and I'm a non-target MBA graduate. Can anyone here recommend an employer that is looking for project managers or business development? I'm open to largely any major city area in Texas at the moment. I have CV by request. Looking to relocate and work asap. Very hungry to work and get out of the north east at the same time! Any input in the right direction is appreciated TxDOT. The pay isn't all that great but benefits are pretty good. |
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TxDOT. The pay isn't all that great but benefits are pretty good. Quoted:
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I'm in my late 20's and looking to relocate to Texas for work. I have 2 years of experience in project management (non-it) and I'm a non-target MBA graduate. Can anyone here recommend an employer that is looking for project managers or business development? I'm open to largely any major city area in Texas at the moment. I have CV by request. Looking to relocate and work asap. Very hungry to work and get out of the north east at the same time! Any input in the right direction is appreciated TxDOT. The pay isn't all that great but benefits are pretty good. +1 Get a .gov job and never worry about job loss because the .gov always gets more money for payroll  
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Interesting thread here...a lot of you guys have no idea what an IT PM does...yes, there are useless ones with their head up their ass that can't find there way to the men's room without instructions or a map but there are many good ones as well. I've been in IT for 30 years. Half of that was as a developer, analyst and consultant - the other half as an application manager and then project manager.
Project managers don't install software on PC's. They coordinate across intra company departments to get shit done. A functional manager only controls the people that report to them. A good project manager has to tie the various functional teams together in order to design, develop, and implement a solution. They have to understand what the problem is, know who needs to do what to resolve it - and when. They have to hold those functional teams to that design and schedule. Every time a problem comes up and the various teams are squabbling or not communicating - or not performing, it's up to the PM to resolve it. Every time the business has a problem with something one of the function teams is doing (or not doing) it falls on the PM to resolve the problem. We PM's put together plans and schedules based on the feedback of the teams that do the work - and when those teams either provide bad feedback or don't deliver, they aren't the ones that get blamed by the business or upper management - the PM does. To be a good PM you must be a good communicator, negotiator, budget planner, manager, and friggin baby sitter and wild cat herder. I'm of the camp that doesn't put much stock in certificates and books. They have no real bearing in the real world. A person can be a certified SCRUM Master and have their PMP certification but still be a lousy PM because they have no real world experience. Give me someone that's successfully done many multi-million dollar projects over a period of years as compared to a "certified" PM with little to no experience any day. To that end, the characteristics that make a good PM in the non IT world - such as a construction PM for example, are the same as they are for an IT PM - and experience can move across those paradigms. Sure, an IT PM needs to know about IT applications and systems, development methodologies, etc..but they don't teach those things when it comes to the PM courses, only the PM methodologies and those are the same regardless of what type of PM you are. |