OT: Career advice Part II

[SnowblindNYR]

Yeah I think it's the pressure-cooker work environment today. Nearly all my previous bosses were all the mentor-type. My current boss shouldn't be a boss. He works in tactics and not in strategy and manages up. He's very proficient technically but does not do a thing to advocate for his people or move them forward.

I don't know how much he advocated for his people but this reminds me of an engineering manager I worked with. He was always overwhelmed with work because he was a nerd at heart and didn't delogate shit. Is your role highly technical? Sometimes those guys would rather do the work themselves.

 

[kovazub94]

Yeah I think it's the pressure-cooker work environment today. Nearly all my previous bosses were all the mentor-type. My current boss shouldn't be a boss. He works in tactics and not in strategy and manages up. He's very proficient technically but does not do a thing to advocate for his people or move them forward.

Didn’t realize this is what you think about me, William

 

[will1066]

I don't know how much he advocated for his people but this reminds me of an engineering manager I worked with. He was always overwhelmed with work because he was a nerd at heart and didn't delogate shit. Is your role highly technical? Sometimes those guys would rather do the work themselves.

This fits part of his profile perfectly. It tooks a couple of years for me to pry things to do away from him even though I'm the professionally qualified one to do them. He's a complete techie nerd. There's a bit of insecurity with him; he likes to talk and many times over others, and he'll just ramble in attempts to demonstrate his knowledge. I work in corporate communications, so I deal with a variety of comms platforms and content, a mix of technical and art.

 

[Kane One]

Managers have the skill of delegating their actual work to others and being able to make nice looking charts and diagrams.

I’ll delegate the uninteresting shit to the offshore team if I can and keep the interesting shit to myself. All depends on my bandwidth.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Managers have the skill of delegating their actual work to others and being able to make nice looking charts and diagrams.

I’ll delegate the uninteresting shit to the offshore team if I can and keep the interesting shit to myself. All depends on my bandwidth.

I always feel like there's this movement where people say that managers don't do anything. Being able to delegate means you have to be able to understand this work at a much higher level than your subordinate in order to QA and to present to your higher ups.

 

[Chytilmania]

Have you all ever done the Myers Briggs, DiSC, or other personality test at work? I always come out a dead-center "C" on DiSC and introvert/analytical on Myers Briggs.

Sometimes I really wonder how managers get into managerial positions. My boss is just exasperating most times. He's a pure manage-above type, deathly scared of being scolded/hand-slapped by his boss. Sometimes he'll commend me for job well done, most times he's silent when the kudos come from elsewhere, but when there's an issue he's all over it like a helicopter parent as I'm trying to take care of it.

I am 36% dominance, 31% influence, 26% steadiness, 7% compliance. I am not one to comply lol. I guess that's why I can't work for anyone aymore.

I think I am INFJ-A? The avatar is a Wizard lol and it says Diplomat.

EDIT- Gretchen Ruben has a great book called The Four Tendencies. That is good to know about people and how they tick.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

I think these personality tests at work and especially in recruiting are dumb because most people give answers they think the company wants to hear not answers that are true.

 

[Chytilmania]

I think these personality tests at work and especially in recruiting are dumb because most people give answers they think the company wants to hear not answers that are true.

I like Gretchen Rubin's Four Tendencies

Gretchen Rubin's The Four Tendencies is a book that analyzes personality and how people respond to expectations. The book's framework identifies four tendencies that people fall into, and how each tendency shapes behavior:

• Upholders
  Respond to both inner and outer rules, and are self-directed. They are reliable, responsible, and team players.
  
  
• Questioners
  Question all rules, but will follow rules they endorse. They value reason, research, and efficiency.
  
  
• Obligers
  Respond to outer rules but not inner rules. They are the biggest tendency, and match up well with all other tendencies.
  
  
• Rebels
  Resist all rules, and are inspired by the spirit of resistance.
  I am a Questioner so I am a f**** pain in the ass when things don't make sense to me.
  

 

[Kane One]

I always feel like there's this movement where people say that managers don't do anything. Being able to delegate means you have to be able to understand this work at a much higher level than your subordinate in order to QA and to present to your higher ups.

Absolutely. I think the problem is that managers are “higher up” rather than just another person on a team with a different skill set.

 

[Chytilmania]

So was planning on hiring two people. One is my age mid 30s and the other is fresh out of college. The mid 30s year old disappeared lol but I was starting to sour on him after meeting in person. The college grad is VERY impressive and he's starting January 6th.

 

[will1066]

I am 36% dominance, 31% influence, 26% steadiness, 7% compliance. I am not one to comply lol. I guess that's why I can't work for anyone aymore.

I think I am INFJ-A? The avatar is a Wizard lol and it says Diplomat.

EDIT- Gretchen Ruben has a great book called The Four Tendencies. That is good to know about people and how they tick.

I will try and dig up my report. Not sure where I stashed it. It was fun the first few days afterward where everyone talked about it and compared each other, but then we all go back to our foxholes and carry on the same way we've carried on.

 

[will1066]

I think these personality tests at work and especially in recruiting are dumb because most people give answers they think the company wants to hear not answers that are true.

And then what happens is everyone comes out very similarly and management decides there's too many people of the same ilk and let go some.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

So was planning on hiring two people. One is my age mid 30s and the other is fresh out of college. The mid 30s year old disappeared lol but I was starting to sour on him after meeting in person. The college grad is VERY impressive and he's starting January 6th.

What's the job?

 

[Chytilmania]

What's the job?

Personal Trainer lol

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Personal Trainer lol

Do you ask about exercises for particular muscle groups?

 

[Chytilmania]

Do you ask about exercises for particular muscle groups?

What do you mean?

In the interview process? No

 

[SnowblindNYR]

What do you mean?

In the interview process? No

Yeah, in the interview process. So what else is there to ask? Interpersonal skills?

 

[Chytilmania]

Yeah, in the interview process. So what else is there to ask? Interpersonal skills?

Yes I care more about the person and the interpersonal skills. And their commitment to learning. I can teach them everything else. Can’t teach work ethic or personality.

In fact the less they know the better. So I can teach them my system and they don’t have to unlearn anything.

 

[Chytilmania]

@SnowblindNYR are you applying?

Maybe I could use someone to yell at people whenever they mess up a meal lol

 

[SnowblindNYR]

@SnowblindNYR are you applying?

Maybe I could use someone to yell at people whenever they mess up a meal lol

I would be a lot more chill about that than soft goals.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Anyone in corporate job that can help answer this. Is it common for people now to know VBA, Python, SQL, etc. A couple of jobs ago it was really eye opening when I joined a good company that was by no means a big name and the technical skills were beyond what I had. VBA and python specifically. But that might be just one guy. I feel like if I were to join a fancy tech company the technical skills will be even more impressive.

 

[Kane One]

Anyone in corporate job that can help answer this. Is it common for people now to know VBA, Python, SQL, etc. A couple of jobs ago it was really eye opening when I joined a good company that was by no means a big name and the technical skills were beyond what I had. VBA and python specifically. But that might be just one guy. I feel like if I were to join a fancy tech company the technical skills will be even more impressive.

It really depends. I’ve worked with accountants who knew Python and SQL and some that didn’t. The ones who knew it were more involved with the developers in coming up with new projects or enhancements.

The people who are involved in these projects are probably looked at more highly. But that’s just from my developer POV.

What exactly are you looking to do? I can look around my network.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

It really depends. I’ve worked with accountants who knew Python and SQL and some that didn’t. The ones who knew it were more involved with the developers in coming up with new projects or enhancements.

The people who are involved in these projects are probably looked at more highly. But that’s just from my developer POV.

What exactly are you looking to do? I can look around my network.

FP&A roles right now. Thanks, much appreciated!

 

[sbjnyc]

Anyone in corporate job that can help answer this. Is it common for people now to know VBA, Python, SQL, etc. A couple of jobs ago it was really eye opening when I joined a good company that was by no means a big name and the technical skills were beyond what I had. VBA and python specifically. But that might be just one guy. I feel like if I were to join a fancy tech company the technical skills will be even more impressive.

I work for an insurance company and a lot of people within finance know VBA/python, etc. and this doesn't include our software engineers. I wouldn't say python is common but knowing a scripting language like VBA is fairly common I think.

That said I think most people in finance using a scripting language just use it enough for their own needs like automating some basic tasks. Soon, tools like copilot or power/automate (both integrated microsoft office applications) will do this for us

 

[SnowblindNYR]

I work for an insurance company and a lot of people within finance know VBA/python, etc. and this doesn't include our software engineers. I wouldn't say python is common but knowing a scripting language like VBA is fairly common I think.

That said I think most people in finance using a scripting language just use it enough for their own needs like automating some basic tasks. Soon, tools like copilot or power/automate (both integrated microsoft office applications) will do this for us

Yeah, I probably need to learn VBA. But I also so the challenges with knowing VBA and building a report in VBA that no one else knows how to use and then leaving, lol. I had to rebuild a giant report at my old job because the builder left and the Macros broke and no one knew how to fix them. So I had to build it in excel.