How is your career going?

[Kurth]

In terms of the compensation question, I struck out trying to get benchmarking info from publicly available sources. Indeed and Glassdoor and Fishbowl were pretty useless for me. But I did connect with a large head hunting agency that provided me with a massive report on compensation in my industry (legal), and it made it pretty clear that my current employer pays at the top of the market. So I’m not sure the comp numbers from this new offer - if it actually comes in - are going to do much to move the needle for me. If that’s the case, it will be all about a change of scenery and a promotion in role. We’ll see.

That's always been a sticking point for me. I generally feel like I'm underpaid and every substantial raise I've had (except this place) has come from moving to a new employer and lying my pants off about what I'm currently making. They match it plus a little, and I get a new job with a 15% increase in pay.

I think I've finally hit a place in salary where it's even more vague, but the work is also more stressful and demanding. I feel like stepping out of this role and into another company doing something similar would be a 25-50% raise.

What does it generally cost to get that proper analysis done?

It didn't cost anything, as it turned out. I got another LinkedIn request from a recruiter from a head hunter agency (Larson Maddox) who wanted to connect, and I asked them if they had any comp benchmarking resources they could share. For these recruiters, they are often just looking for potential candidates to sell to employers, so you pretty much are the product. They were more than happy to send me a link to their comp benchmarking data in order to secure a connection and maybe the opportunity to score a placement with an employer down the road.

[stessier]

Social security retirement benefits tax calculator. According to this, I will be taxed on $6200 of my SSI benefits.so that's about a *quarter* of my future benefit that taxes will be calculated for.

https://www.covisum.com/resources/taxab ... calculator

That's not too bad - it goes up to 85% being taxable.

This was a change made in 1983 to keep SS viable for the long run.

[Jeff V]

In terms of the compensation question, I struck out trying to get benchmarking info from publicly available sources. Indeed and Glassdoor and Fishbowl were pretty useless for me. But I did connect with a large head hunting agency that provided me with a massive report on compensation in my industry (legal), and it made it pretty clear that my current employer pays at the top of the market. So I’m not sure the comp numbers from this new offer - if it actually comes in - are going to do much to move the needle for me. If that’s the case, it will be all about a change of scenery and a promotion in role. We’ll see.

That's always been a sticking point for me. I generally feel like I'm underpaid and every substantial raise I've had (except this place) has come from moving to a new employer and lying my pants off about what I'm currently making. They match it plus a little, and I get a new job with a 15% increase in pay.

I think I've finally hit a place in salary where it's even more vague, but the work is also more stressful and demanding. I feel like stepping out of this role and into another company doing something similar would be a 25-50% raise.

What does it generally cost to get that proper analysis done?

It didn't cost anything, as it turned out. I got another LinkedIn request from a recruiter from a head hunter agency (Larson Maddox) who wanted to connect, and I asked them if they had any comp benchmarking resources they could share. For these recruiters, they are often just looking for potential candidates to sell to employers, so you pretty much are the product. They were more than happy to send me a link to their comp benchmarking data in order to secure a connection and maybe the opportunity to score a placement with an employer down the road.

Robert Half does this too, and by geographical location. They unhelpfully informed me I was significantly under paid in my last job, but even going for jobs paying less I came up with bupkis.

[YellowKing]

They finally moved almost all of my regular day to day job duties over to the contractors, so I've been spending the last month or so in a bit of limbo trying to figure out exactly what my responsibilities are. I still had work on a couple of projects here and there, but I confess I really had no clue what their plans were for me.

I found out the hard way last night when we had an issue blow up and I had to work through the night coordinating teams, getting vendors rounded up, managing troubleshooting efforts, etc. Afterwards my boss called me and basically said, "This is why you're still here." The contractors are fine at the daily service desk stuff, but they have no experience dealing with major issues in a critical 24/7 environment.

So it looks like moving forward my role (along with a couple of other long-time employees that were retained) will be acting as escalation points and resources for critical projects and outages that are either outside the scope or simply over the heads of the contractor teams.

I'm still operating under the assumption that I could be let go anytime; that ship has sailed and I no longer have any sense of job security. But for now, I'm quite happy with the new duties as the "shit hitting the fan" stuff was what I always enjoyed. The daily stuff was busy work and tedium, and now I'm not having to worry about that side.

I like to think I'm now essentially Mr. Wolf from Pulp Fiction.

[LordMortis]

I'm quite happy with the new duties as the "shit hitting the fan" stuff was what I always enjoyed. The daily stuff was busy work and tedium, and now I'm not having to worry about that side.

I like to think I'm now essentially Mr. Wolf from Pulp Fiction.

That was my specialty and was 27 years of Mr Reliable for getting 1000s of people out of holes. I hated it and the stress wrecked me. But I was friggen' good at it. I don't know how y'all can thrive on it.

[Isgrimnur]

Pretty please with sugar on top, fix the fucking server.

[YellowKing]

It helps that A) big issues are few and far between, and B) I have a really good support team. I guess it appeals to my love of problem solving, and once you bring in more people it becomes a cooperative puzzle which is right up my alley.

[LordMortis]

I loved the problem solving. Finding/conceiving/implementing answers was my favorite. Early in my career, I had time and I was fond of saying "my job is to find ways to put myself out of a job." Around 2008 though, more with less, or in corporate speak "continuous improvement" became the international mantra and my company never looked back. The stress of stressing the performance of everything and everyone, creating problems with consequences suddenly thrust on my shoulders (or even gradually but it was never gradually. Everyone loved to make molehills out of mountains), not so much for me.

I remember pre-2008, when I spent all my time here and still doing all my work, doing it well, and being praised for it.... If that was my life, I'm sure I'd still be working now without a weight yoyo, a digestive nightmare, and the complete lack of energy I've been trying to rebuild.

[Jeff V]

I filed for SS a month ago, start date in June. Should I expect there to be more to the process than the application on the internet?

Nope, it's really that easy. Or was for me, anyway.

I waited until my full retirement age so that I can continue earning income without reducing my benefit. I know you don't have that luxury, but once you reach your full age the money they took away comes back to you. IDk exactly how that works since it doesn't apply to me.

So I checked online and I'm approved for my standard early retirement benefit. When they asked few questions about my minor children, I suspected that might not be handled properly and I found out I must schedule an appoint and go into the office for this.

I called the number it said to call. The message said they are closed until May 24.

I called the local number. Says their hours are 9-4, but then said they were closed. It was 2:30.

[Kraken]

If they are delayed in processing your dependent benefits, they will make it up retroactive to your benefit approval date. I don't have experience with that aspect of benefits but have found them to be on top of things once you're set up. For example, my earnings last year bumped one of my anemic Curio City years out of my wage base. Once my tax return was processed they updated my earnings history and raised my check by $13/mo, then deposited $26 to cover one retroactive month. The letter explaining this came later but the income was right on time. I was favorably impressed.

Stick with it. Once your records are complete and accurate you won't have to fight for benefits. The system is designed to make sure that you automatically get what you're owed.

[Kurth]

Finally reaching the end of my saga with the company that reached out on LinkedIn about a possible new position. This thing kicked off back in mid-February, and after 4 calls, 7 video interviews and one on-site trip to lunch with the hiring manager and her boss, they finally made me an offer.

It’s a tough call: I love my job and, although I’m significantly disillusioned with the senior leadership and direction of my current company right now, it’s not like it’s a sinking ship and I’m a rat looking to jump. As bad as current leadership is, if they don’t find a way to turn things around in short order, they’re going to be out and new, hopefully better leaders will come in to chart a better course for us. And it’s not like the company is going away. The brand is awesome and will continue to be so, despite its current stumbles.

So, I’m trying to compartmentalize my current dissatisfaction with the company and keep that out of my decision.

The thing that’s really bothering me - I think - is that my career path is completely stalled out at this company and will remain so for the foreseeable future. I’ve got incredible personal and institutional capital here, but there’s a deep bench ahead of me, and none of those people are leaving, especially not with our stock currently in the shitter.

So the question for me is whether I want to jump out of something very safe that pays me well but where I feel I’m more or less at my ceiling.

And the jump would be to a promotion in role with expanded scope and responsibilities. It would be more challenge, more risk, and, potentially, more reward.

But the offer they made me would basically be a slight step back in comp, which isn’t going to cut it.

I countered today and told them I’m all in if we can make the numbers work, but I can’t take on more work and more responsibility for less pay. The recruiter/HR person said they’d discuss and get back to me. Based on their track record, I imagine I won’t hear anything again until June!

Not sure how I feel about all this. Part of me hates to leave my current job, which, warts and all, I really love. But I also feel like it would be kind of cowardly to just hunker down and ride it out here without at least trying to capitalize on this opportunity. I’m going to be 50 this fall. How many more shots am I going to have to try to do something like this?

Also, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that this potential move being to a company in the gaming industry isn’t a major motivating factory!

[Kraken]

If you're happy and you make good money, why are you leaving?

My brief career in the gaming industry was the opposite of fun, but that was a long time ago in a galaxy far away.

[coopasonic]

If you're happy and you make good money, why are you leaving?

I'm trying to say this without judgment towards Kurth. It's un-american to be satisfied with what you have. If you are not striving for better you are failing. It is a mindset that is drilled into us to make us work harder.

[LordMortis]

I saw a beggar leaning on his wooden crutch
He said to me, "You must not ask for so much"
And a pretty woman leaning in her darkened door
She cried to me, "Hey, why not ask for more?"

Oh, like a bird on the wire
Like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free

[Kurth]

If you're happy and you make good money, why are you leaving?

This is what I’m struggling with. As I mentioned before, although I’m trying to negotiate a better deal, the money isn’t really going to be the motivation on this. The new job would be mostly lateral in terms of comp, even if I get them to come up from where they are.

I think what’s motivating me is that I’ve been in my current job for 9 years, and I think if I stay, I’ll just keep on keeping on. Things will pretty much be the same, which isn’t bad, but also isn’t particularly interesting. I mean, the job is interesting in what I do, but there really isn’t any opportunity for more. Not much growth or challenge. This new job would be an expansion in role and responsibility which would definitely be challenging.

It also has the potential to lead me down some different paths that my current job won’t likely open up.

My brief career in the gaming industry was the opposite of fun, but that was a long time ago in a galaxy far away.

But the free games!!!!!!!

Seriously, I have heard horror stories about gaming industry jobs, but I wouldn’t be a game designer or a coder or a QA person or anything like that. I’d be corporate support, not actual product, which is where the suck has traditionally been in the gaming industry, from what I hear.

[Kurth]

If you're happy and you make good money, why are you leaving?

I'm trying to say this without judgment towards Kurth. It's un-american to be satisfied with what you have. If you are not striving for better you are failing. It is a mindset that is drilled into us to make us work harder.

No offense taken. It’s very true. That mindset is often hammered into us long before we enter the work force, too. In school, in sports, in life . . . I think we’re often programmed to keep looking ahead to the next thing. You did well on this AP course? Take the next level up. You made it to districts in a sport? Let’s see how you do at states. You’re in a good job that meets your needs? See if there’s a better opportunity out there.

I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad mindset. It fosters a competitive drive to improve, which can be healthy and productive. But things absolutely go off the tracks if you don’t appreciate the moment. If you can’t enjoy your current achievements because you are already looking forward to the next thing, I think it becomes a trap.

I think I’d say that the important thing isn’t to be “satisfied” with what you have, but rather to “appreciate” what you have.

[Kraken]

My brief career in the gaming industry was the opposite of fun, but that was a long time ago in a galaxy far away.

But the free games!!!!!!!

Seriously, I have heard horror stories about gaming industry jobs, but I wouldn’t be a game designer or a coder or a QA person or anything like that. I’d be corporate support, not actual product, which is where the suck has traditionally been in the gaming industry, from what I hear.

Setting aside office politics and competitive personalities (who, as you can imagine, are drawn to game companies), it was a good career in between crunch times. When things were slow we were expected to play games at work to keep abreast of the industry. I remember being paid to play the original Fallout and X-Com games, which didn't suck at all. And I felt proud and satisfied every time a game finally launched, not to mention making good commissions.

The crunch times were brutal, though, and felt endless. We'd be flogging ourselves to meet a gold date, working more hours than I even knew were in a week, and then at the last minute: Good news! We got another month! The burnout was tremendous. Even before the crunch, during routine development, the hours and hours spent playing our own broken and incomplete games were not fun.

But as you say, corporate is insulated from all that. Or should be. And it might not be as true today as it was back then.

Myself, I wouldn't leave a happy and comfortable situation for no clear gain, but that's my personality. I don't like risk and value stability.

[Kurth]

My brief career in the gaming industry was the opposite of fun, but that was a long time ago in a galaxy far away.

But the free games!!!!!!!

Seriously, I have heard horror stories about gaming industry jobs, but I wouldn’t be a game designer or a coder or a QA person or anything like that. I’d be corporate support, not actual product, which is where the suck has traditionally been in the gaming industry, from what I hear.

Setting aside office politics and competitive personalities (who, as you can imagine, are drawn to game companies), it was a good career in between crunch times. When things were slow we were expected to play games at work to keep abreast of the industry. I remember being paid to play the original Fallout and X-Com games, which didn't suck at all. And I felt proud and satisfied every time a game finally launched, not to mention making good commissions.

The crunch times were brutal, though, and felt endless. We'd be flogging ourselves to meet a gold date, working more hours than I even knew were in a week, and then at the last minute: Good news! We got another month! The burnout was tremendous. Even before the crunch, during routine development, the hours and hours spent playing our own broken and incomplete games were not fun.

But as you say, corporate is insulated from all that. Or should be. And it might not be as true today as it was back then.

Myself, I wouldn't leave a happy and comfortable situation for no clear gain, but that's my personality. I don't like risk and value stability.

I’m generally pretty risk averse, too. That’s what I’m struggling with. But this is (1) a step up for me in terms of role; and (2) has the potential to open up a lot of different an possibly interesting future paths.

If I stay where I am, I’m reasonably sure I know what I’ll be doing in my current job: Pretty much what I’m doing right now. If I take this new job, the future is wide open. Which could be a good thing or a bad thing, I guess.

But I think I’m going to give it a shot if I can get them to offer me something that’s not a clear step back in pay. Hopefully it will work out!

[Skinypupy]

I just had one of the strangest experiences of my 20+ year sales career.

For the past 6 months, I've been working with a woman (we'll call her Susan) at a large federal agency to potentially launch a huge learning and development effort. We have been on 6-7 virtual meetings and have traded dozens of e-mails regarding pricing, deployment, resourcing, etc. We had a meeting on Monday, and at the end of the meeting agreed that the next steps were for me to gather some past performance details and create a draft learning plan that she could take up the chain to her leadership team.

I was supposed to have this to Susan by the end of the day today, but am running a bit behind. So I e-mailed to let her know that I would get the deliverables we discussed to her by tomorrow instead. Susan sent the following reply:

Hi Skinypupy. Although great to hear from you, I think this e-mail may be intended for someone else.

Confused, I reached back out to confirm with Susan that those were the deliverables that we agreed on in Monday's 2-HOUR meeting. Her response:

I'm not sure what you're referring to, but I think you have the wrong person.

I have been working with this woman for months to get this project kicked off. We met two days ago. For some reason, she's acting as if we've never talked before.

This is all incredibly bizarre and I honestly have no idea how to approach it.

[gilraen]

Is there any context in the previous emails where you could reply to an existing email chain to "ask for clarification" or confirm some minor point? So that it wouldn't just be a single email that's coming to her but a clear evidence of an ongoing conversation (with email headers). I wonder if there's some screwup in their IT where Susan's emails are getting forwarded to someone else's mailbox?

[Default]

30 business days until the election seat.

[Isgrimnur]

30 business days until the election seat.

Running for office after you retire?

[Default]

"ejection seat".

Stupid autocorrect.

[Kurth]

I just had one of the strangest experiences of my 20+ year sales career.

For the past 6 months, I've been working with a woman (we'll call her Susan) at a large federal agency to potentially launch a huge learning and development effort. We have been on 6-7 virtual meetings and have traded dozens of e-mails regarding pricing, deployment, resourcing, etc. We had a meeting on Monday, and at the end of the meeting agreed that the next steps were for me to gather some past performance details and create a draft learning plan that she could take up the chain to her leadership team.

I was supposed to have this to Susan by the end of the day today, but am running a bit behind. So I e-mailed to let her know that I would get the deliverables we discussed to her by tomorrow instead. Susan sent the following reply:

Hi Skinypupy. Although great to hear from you, I think this e-mail may be intended for someone else.

Confused, I reached back out to confirm with Susan that those were the deliverables that we agreed on in Monday's 2-HOUR meeting. Her response:

I'm not sure what you're referring to, but I think you have the wrong person.

I have been working with this woman for months to get this project kicked off. We met two days ago. For some reason, she's acting as if we've never talked before.

This is all incredibly bizarre and I honestly have no idea how to approach it.

That’s got to be an IT screwup, right? Did you try gilraen’s approach?

Really interested to see how this turned out. If “Susan” is really just pretending you’ve never interacted, that’s a new level of business insanity.

[Skinypupy]

I just had one of the strangest experiences of my 20+ year sales career.

For the past 6 months, I've been working with a woman (we'll call her Susan) at a large federal agency to potentially launch a huge learning and development effort. We have been on 6-7 virtual meetings and have traded dozens of e-mails regarding pricing, deployment, resourcing, etc. We had a meeting on Monday, and at the end of the meeting agreed that the next steps were for me to gather some past performance details and create a draft learning plan that she could take up the chain to her leadership team.

I was supposed to have this to Susan by the end of the day today, but am running a bit behind. So I e-mailed to let her know that I would get the deliverables we discussed to her by tomorrow instead. Susan sent the following reply:

Hi Skinypupy. Although great to hear from you, I think this e-mail may be intended for someone else.

Confused, I reached back out to confirm with Susan that those were the deliverables that we agreed on in Monday's 2-HOUR meeting. Her response:

I'm not sure what you're referring to, but I think you have the wrong person.

I have been working with this woman for months to get this project kicked off. We met two days ago. For some reason, she's acting as if we've never talked before.

This is all incredibly bizarre and I honestly have no idea how to approach it.

That’s got to be an IT screwup, right? Did you try gilraen’s approach?

Really interested to see how this turned out. If “Susan” is really just pretending you’ve never interacted, that’s a new level of business insanity.

I sent her all the details she requested on Thursday, and sent it as a RE: response to one of her previous e-mails so she knows what it's about. Haven't heard back yet...will keep you posted.

She has been very enthusiastic and communicative throughout the entire process. it would have been EXTREMELY out of character for her to suddenly switch directions on a dime, especially by claiming she didn't know who I was. We'll see...

[Kurth]

My brief career in the gaming industry was the opposite of fun, but that was a long time ago in a galaxy far away.

But the free games!!!!!!!

Seriously, I have heard horror stories about gaming industry jobs, but I wouldn’t be a game designer or a coder or a QA person or anything like that. I’d be corporate support, not actual product, which is where the suck has traditionally been in the gaming industry, from what I hear.

Setting aside office politics and competitive personalities (who, as you can imagine, are drawn to game companies), it was a good career in between crunch times. When things were slow we were expected to play games at work to keep abreast of the industry. I remember being paid to play the original Fallout and X-Com games, which didn't suck at all. And I felt proud and satisfied every time a game finally launched, not to mention making good commissions.

The crunch times were brutal, though, and felt endless. We'd be flogging ourselves to meet a gold date, working more hours than I even knew were in a week, and then at the last minute: Good news! We got another month! The burnout was tremendous. Even before the crunch, during routine development, the hours and hours spent playing our own broken and incomplete games were not fun.

But as you say, corporate is insulated from all that. Or should be. And it might not be as true today as it was back then.

Myself, I wouldn't leave a happy and comfortable situation for no clear gain, but that's my personality. I don't like risk and value stability.

Well, I did it. The new company came back to me with an offer that met me in the middle. While this new job is still basically a lateral move financially, I decided to go for it given the promotion in role + the chance to work for a game company I’ve always loved + the opportunity to work remote (no relocation necessary) + the lack of near (or long) term opportunity for me at my present company.

I give notice 6/3 and start the new job 6/17. Now that it’s finally done, I’m really excited, and also a little nervous. LFG.

[Zaxxon]

Congrats, Kurth! It sounds like an interesting fork in the road for you. Best of luck in the new role!

[Kraken]

Exciting! Wishing you the best.