[quote]jbpick86 wrote:
Granted she is a little harder on me because she is training me to be her predecessor but I like being held to an higher standard.[/quote]
Grammar nazi time-
You mean “successor”, not “predecessor” =P
On topic-
Countingbeans, did those people you talk about have any actual “serious” work experience prior to working at your company?
I think, regardless of your upbringing and your experiences, your first real job in a “hard” environment will be a kick in the balls. It is one thing to receive criticism on paper and another entirely to receive it in person, for example.[/quote]
I agree with the first real serious job being a kick in the balls for almost anybody. But you have to learn the lesson quick and should only have to learn it once. I think the problem with the guys in countingbeans’ anecdotes is that they were not willing to listen to initial criticism and showed signs of disrespect. All while being aloof about their changing reality of transitioning from college to a real office. I too remember feeling like shit when I got my first pieces of work flayed with red ink and being told that the standards for school projects no longer applied. But I certainly didn’t disrespect my superiors or continue to not follow direction.
And you should never cry in the office, especially as a man. I went through the ringer my first job and there were several times where I felt utterly hopeless and depressed about an insurmountable workload but I never literally cried about it. These kids don’t even seem to be in a super tough situation, they just have a superior calling them out on bad work and not following directions. If they can’t handle criticism about work (especially in this case b/c the work was objectively wrong)then it’s going to be hard to progress.
[quote]BPCorso wrote:
I agree with the first real serious job being a kick in the balls for almost anybody. But you have to learn the lesson quick and should only have to learn it once. I think the problem with the guys in countingbeans’ anecdotes is that they were not willing to listen to initial criticism and showed signs of disrespect. All while being aloof about their changing reality of transitioning from college to a real office. I too remember feeling like shit when I got my first pieces of work flayed with red ink and being told that the standards for school projects no longer applied. But I certainly didn’t disrespect my superiors or continue to not follow direction.
And you should never cry in the office, especially as a man. I went through the ringer my first job and there were several times where I felt utterly hopeless and depressed about an insurmountable workload but I never literally cried about it. These kids don’t even seem to be in a super tough situation, they just have a superior calling them out on bad work and not following directions. If they can’t handle criticism about work (especially in this case b/c the work was objectively wrong)then it’s going to be hard to progress.[/quote]
All true. You’re especially right about the signs of disrespect and failing to learn after the first mistake.
I think making a mistake is fine. There is nothing wrong with mistakes, provided that they’re not catastrophic (in which case one has to wonder why one gave a job with potential catastrophic consequences to a rank beginner…). The big failure is when beginners don’t learn from their mistakes.
And I cannot imagine being disrespectful to my superiors. But then again I’ve never had superiors that I hated. I suppose respect is a big part of it…
[quote]SexMachine wrote:
So kids read about the joys of fisting in 3rd grade then are warned about reading The Great Gatsby at university? No wonder kids are so fucked up these days.[/quote]
It’s more concerning to me that the Great Gatsby is considered college level reading. [/quote]
Haha, good point.
In an American Lit course, I suppose it is essential, but for the most part it’s high school reading.
As an aside, I’ve always considered it among the most overrated pieces of literature in “the canon.” Which is not to say it isn’t good–it is. But I don’t think it’s great.[/quote]
It’s popular because it’s a generational novel. I didn’t like it either. I did like Kerouac’s On The Road. Kerouac was a staunch anti-Communist and towards the end of his life began to hate the hippy dregs he had associated with. He died supporting Nixon’s Presidential campaign. Kerouac and Ken Kessey were the only decent writers to emerge from the beatnik/hippy scene.
[quote]JR249 wrote:
in my sociology syllabus. [/quote]
I credit my college sociology professor with a lot actually. One of 3 teachers/professors in my school life I can, without a doubt say, made such a significant impact on my life it changed it forever.
He was a hardcore leftist. Statist of the highest order. Played the class warfare spins, evil corporations, Bush was the icon of why America was a horrid place, the whole nine.
Within all this, he did enlighten me quite a bit. At that age I ate up his leftist utopian fantasy with a vigor unrivaled. If it wasn’t for booze and vagina I would have actually studied it and fallen in the rabbit hole. But he did point out some things that I’ll never forget, and now are, in a lot of ways, the foundation of why I think his ideas and leftist leanings are largely bullshit.[/quote]
Wow, you and I had almost the same experience.
My undergrad sociology professor was perhaps a slight tick to the right of Marx. As politically and philosophically wrong as you can possibly be.
And yet, the intellectual vigor; the utter unwillingness to listen to even a single word of bullshit, whether it was Right-wing or Left-wing; the frankness–it always stuck with me.
I’ll never forget, his first lecture was about MADD as a microcosm of everything that is fatuous and stupid and wrong-headed about American society and politics. Fuckin’ awesome.[/quote]
Spooky.
I had a Soc minor and the professor who had the greatest influence on me in school was a Marxist sociology professor. I took him for three classes and loved every minute of them.
[quote]jbpick86 wrote:
Granted she is a little harder on me because she is training me to be her predecessor but I like being held to an higher standard.[/quote]
Damn, where’d she get a time machine from? I think I’d use my trips to the past for something else…
[quote]jbpick86 wrote:
A large part of me feels like I am missing an opportunity by not going into a firm type job where I am using my accounting degree more, and I have forgotten a lot of from shear lack of use, but the hours are great here and most of the stuff we do is fairly simple.
Plus, when I do get her job it will be in the 80-90k range so that’s not half bad, especially to not have a CPA (haven’t filled the work requirement to take the test). I look at some of my counterparts though, kids I finished better than, and they are moving up faster than I am in other places. Kind of makes me wonder if I made the right choice. [/quote]
Sounds like we are in a similar boat. I never found a job in public accounting (kind of glad now actually). I’m technically a budget analyst now, but my role (our team’s role) is more expansive than that. I’m even involved with internal audit for time to time now, which is cool.
Took a couple parts of the exam with the assumption I’d meet the work requirement, but it never panned out. Oh well, just have to find other ways to grow.
[quote]jbpick86 wrote:
Granted she is a little harder on me because she is training me to be her predecessor but I like being held to an higher standard.[/quote]
Damn, where’d she get a time machine from? I think I’d use my trips to the past for something else…
:)[/quote]
Ah, damn it, I mean successor.
EDIT: See where magick already grammar nazi’d me to. Definitely asked for that. Ha
