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New Graduate Wants To Take Chances at All the Wrong Times
Q: I will be finishing my bachelor's degree this spring. I have lived all of my life in the city where I am attending school, and I would like to get a job in another city that I have wanted to move to. I only know a couple of people there, so I …Read more.
Preparing Oneself in a Tight Market for the Future
Q: I keep reading that this is the time to go back to school because of our tight economic situation. An article stated that even if a person doesn't know what to do, it's a good time to go to school. What do you think of that advice?
A: I disagree …Read more.
Overly Nervous Employee Scares the Employee Under Him
Q: I work for a brokerage house that seems to be doing well. I am not yet a broker. I work under someone who is a broker but not in management. He is afraid of everything we do when the compliance officer comes into the room. We are supposed to scan …Read more.
Noncompete Agreement Cannot Take Away Person's Ability To Make a Living
Q: I worked as a medical biller for six years. Without warning, I was let go and told my accounts would be taken over by a team leader. When I started the job, I signed an agreement stating that I would not go to work for any of the company's …Read more.
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Employee Must Leave Job To Advance CareerQ: I found out that a co-worker with the same qualifications as I have was making about $10,000 more than I was. I met with my manager and explained all the duties I had taken on in my job over the year and why I deserved a raise, rather than tell him I knew another person was making more. My manager agreed with me and said he would talk to his director about it. When the pay increases came, I received the standard 2.5 percent increase and not the increase he had suggested. He told me that he had talked to the director and that the only way I could receive a substantial increase was to be promoted. He said he and the director would look for a position to put me in. I felt I was given the runaround. In the meantime, I took on even more responsibilities in my position and was placed on large projects on PeopleSoft implementation and SAP migration. I applied for a job outside the company that was more in line with my degree and skills, and I got it. When I gave notice to my manager, he wanted me to go home and think about, but he didn't offer me more money. When I got to work that next Monday, I told him that I was taking the other job and that he should keep my notice. He told me what an asset I was to the company and how much he would miss me. In my last week there, the director asked me why I was leaving. She then told me she had two major projects for me to work on, and that would have led to the promotion for more money, but she never offered me more money to stay. I took the other job and absolutely love it! After I left, I found out that my manager was the one holding me back from being promoted because he didn't want me to leave his department. I look back and see that I was too comfortable in that job. My friends all had three to seven job changes in the nine years that I had only one job. A: As crazy as it sounds, people often have to leave a company to make more money. Employee loyalty often comes about simply because employees feel comfortable and secure in their positions. Laid-Off Sales Executive Exceeded Sales Quota Q: I recently was let go and was told it was because of the economic factors and operational considerations. I was the top salesperson and exceeded my quota. One other salesperson met quota, and the others were below quota. I was let go in the group of the salespeople who were below quota, and I am the only one who is 50 years old. What can I do? A: You're astute to realize that something was going on behind the scenes in the company's decision-making process. If the one remaining salesperson, whose performance was below yours, is younger than 40, you could meet with an investigator at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. If the EEOC says you have a case, keep in mind that the process between filing a charge and resolving it is a long and arduous one — and often not without a residual effect. If you can't persuade the company to reverse its decision based on your sales success, ask for a letter of recommendation and take your talents elsewhere. You also can consult a private lawyer who concentrates in employment law, but employees who have won cases can end up facing other difficulties when job searching. Reality lesson: Negative actions can lead one down a negative path regardless of the laws put in place to protect. Please send your questions to: Lindsey Novak, c/o Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045. E-mail her at LindseyNovak@yahoo.com, or visit her Web site at www.LindseyNovak.com. She answers all e-mails. To find out more about Lindsey Novak and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS.COM
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