Showing posts with label Big Audit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Big Audit. Show all posts

Thursday, June 30, 2022

Keeping the Faith

 So it's been 2 years since I was laid off from Big Audit 2.0.  Since then I've talked to a zillion recruiters, had dozens of interviews, and one contract gig.  The contract gig, despite its drama, was more of a liferaft than I ever imagined.  It lets me reframe the narrative from "I've been unemployed since July 2020" to "I've been unemployed since May 2022".  Because without a job, I have no power.  No control over my life.  

To say I'm losing faith is an understatement.  I know I've blown a few interviews, but it doesn't seem mathematically possible to have blown them all so badly that no one will take a chance on me.

To be sure, there have been 5 places this year alone that should have taken me on, based on my experience alone.  Two were even contract gigs which would be low risk if it didn't work out.

  • There were interviews given by people who don't know how to conduct an interview.  
  • There were interviews where the role described did not match the job description given.
  • There was a job interview where one of the interviewer was drinking wine.
  • There was a job interview where the interviewer was wearing an ill-fitting T-shirt.
  • There was a job interview where the interviewer picked his nose.

In my field, there are a few options.  I can work for a law firm and be a Widget Engineer.  They might call it something different.  If I'm lucky, I can find another Audit or non-law firm company that uses the No-Name Software.  Finally, the last option is to work for one of the consulting firms that get hired for short-term implementation or upgrade projects.

And I'm so ANGRY.  Angry that my Office Nemesis is still employed there.  Angry that he was allowed to bully and harass me with no repercussions.  


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Monday, April 26, 2021

Feeling powerless and out of control

 sometime in the middle of the night, I realized today would have been my 5th anniversary at Big Audit.  Alas, that didn't happen thanks to being laid off 10 months ago.  I had wanted to make it to at least Year 5 because that is when the full 401K matching investment kicked in.  As most Corporate America entities write their benefits packages, if you separate from the company even 5 minutes before a milestone year, you get prorated benefits.



I'm still going through some depression and PTSD, the effects of my office nemesis.  He really did a number on me.  Looking back through the lens of time, I see things I didn't notice at the time, that I should have done a better job of confronting things head-on and standing up for myself.

It's been a rough few months in the land of job seeking.  I've probably talked to over a dozen recruiters.  A few have brought promising opportunities only to ghost me after I send them my resume.  Sometimes I get feedback like "strong on client-server technology but not on apps" or "not enough Cloud Experience".  

In my industry for my particular skill set, you either worked at the No-Name Software or were at a company that was an early adopter of their software solution.  If you couldn't make it work at No-Name (say for instance you were not part of the cool clique) you found work at a Partner integrator company or a law firm.  All these people use to call me at the support line asking for help and I got them the answers they needed.  But now suddenly I'm not good enough to work for them.  

I once said that dating and job interviewing are similar in that you can have a great first, second, nth date/interview, but until someone gives you a job, you got nothing.


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Tuesday, August 25, 2020

How I've spent my summer

 It’s been 2 months since I was told I was being let go at Big Audit.  In that time a few minor setbacks cropped up that can be magnified by the whole losing your job thing if you let it.  My iPad screen cracked that first week or so.  My tooth cracked last week.  It feels like a few other things have occurred. 


 Oh and the electrical in our basement is acting wonky.  A couple Sundays ago, the power went out, but just to the basement.  The electrician I worked with was out of town so I did some googling.  I started flipping breakers until I identified the one for the basement (lucky number  13) and that brought power back, but only momentarily.  It kept tripping.  When they finally were able to fit me in their schedule, they came over to troubleshoot.   Seems like disconnecting the printer helped, but not completely.  As a short term solution they replaced the breaker.  It seemed to work.  I even reconnected the printer and everything was fine.  Until Saturday.  I think our cleaning lady tripped the breaker again when she vacuumed.  I’ve relocated the printer to the dining room and everything is fine for now, but I know this is a short term solution.  Just when I fixed one issue with the house, another one cropped up.


 I’m not sure why it is all of a sudden a problem.  The printer had been running down there for years, even before the electrical project.  I did add a roku, and apple TV and a NETGEAR FVS318 ProSafe VPN Firewall 8 with 8-Port 10/100 Switch, but I doubt any of those draw enough power especially when passive.  Michal said it might have to do with how humidity affects some of the remaining tube and knob wiring that is within our walls.  We had a Derecho the week before the power outage and he said that might have built up some additional humidity issues.   He later said that I have too many outlets and lights connected to one line.  I think they were in a hurry to get to their next project and didn’t want to take this one on yet.


 Just before we got the news, Nightingale and I hired a baby sitter to watch our kids while we worked.  We learned quickly that both of us WFH was not working well.  Often times we both had to be on calls and that left Moose and Squirrel free to run around and cause trouble.  And sharing an office was not working out either.  

Even after getting the news, we decided we could still afford to keep The Baby Sitter and I could use the help to work on projects around the house, run critical errands, and job hunt.  On that last point,  I want to point out that job hunting during normal times can be slow.  Each time I’ve been between jobs, it’s taken several weeks to several months before I was brought on just because of the byzantine processes of Corporate America.  During a Pandemic, jobs are even harder to come by, especially for someone who specializes in a particular DM software solution.


I did manage to get the basement painted.  I used an old 5 gallon bucket of ceiling paint that I had bought for my condo in 2003 and never used.   I wouldn’t use this for a real project but it was suitable for covering up the smudges getting the ceiling and walls  one uniform color of white (more or less). 

 I feel like I accomplished some other projects but I just cannot think of them right now.  




 

 

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Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Job History repeats itself

Just wanted to share the not so pleasant news ...My job at Big Audit, along with 400+ other souls, was eliminated.  I got the news June 22 although my last official day was July 5th. 

We knew this might be coming and would have come sooner had COVID-19 not slowed things down a bit.  Like my last job, they outsourced my position to offshore/Not-America. This is just the wave of the future of corporate America.  Same way manufacturing went overseas in the 70s and 80s, other jobs were outsourced in the 90s etc.  Same as it's always been.


I should have been safe because I work with Federal Data that cannot be accessed by 3rd party or non-citizens (or non-employees of KPMG but the got around this by making offshore legit KPMG employees). Whatever your political viewpoint, the Trump Administration relaxing of regulations lead directly to the elimination of my job. 

I'm less mad about that than I am that my Office Nemesis got to keep his job but I lost mine. He made my life a living hell for the last 3+ years and it didn't need to be that way.  Poor leadership enabled him and lack of oversight empowered him. 

Anyway, there is never a good time to lose a job but in the middle of COVID-19 things are moving slower than ever.  Luckily we are good savers and don't spend money too frivolously so we are okay for now.  Hopefully something comes along that is a similar job where I could work from anywhere but this was a unicorn opportunity not likely to be repeated.

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Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Year Four at Big Audit is in the books

I made it through Year 4 at Big Audit.  All this means is that I get to keep 60% of my vested 401K firm matched contributions.  It's no accident the way they designed the proration.

Years of Vesting ServiceVested Percentage
less than 20%
2 but less than 320%
3 but less than 4 40%
4 but less than 5 60%
5 or more 100%


Every year on my anniversary, I look at the email that was sent to my "orientation" class.  There were eight of us, including myself.  Only myself and one other person are still here.  Even the HR person who sent the email and presided over the class is gone.

I don't remember the stats for the previous years but I'm certain even after the first year the number diminished.  I know one person changed careers to become a teacher.  She looked like a Carrie Bradshaw clone and had actually led me to the conference room and babysat me during my in-person interview two months before.

To say it has been a rough 4 years is an understatement.  My Office Nemesis and I have been having more and more issues.  It has got so bad that my PML forced his PML to get involved and our director even got involved.  So far it has mostly been Kangaroo Court Retorhic but there has been some improvement so I'll take it.


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Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Not the best weather this summer

The weather this summer was, to use the technical term, sucky.  For every decent, comfortable day we had two days of either rain or hot and sometimes both.  There weren't as many sit on the front/back porch and enjoy my coffee moments like last year.  On top of that, it wasn't always possible to let the kids spend time in the backyard burning off energy.

With the weather so sucky, It was hard to get anything done around the house.  As I've said before to get things done around here, I need the intersection of appropriate weather, daylight, energy and my kids NOT being here.  I was often in short supply of three-fourths of those items.

Though I consider it done, I still have to touch up the porch somewhat.  I want to install the quarter rounds and I really should paint those lattices.

This summer I sold a few things using Letgo and Facebook Marketplace.  Yesterday I even bought something.  Nightingale wasn't sure when I showed it to her but she declared it a good buy once she sat in it.  The kids also like it, especially Natasha because she can get all cozy in it.




When I only WFH on Fridays, if I didn't get some project done, I had to wait a week.  Since moving to 100% WFH, if I don't get to it on Monday, I can try again on Tuesday.  or Wednesday.  etc.

Tomorrow I have to go into the office for the first time in a month and the second time since Memorial Day.  Our director is in for something and he wants to meet me in person.  I'm not sure what to expect.

I have to admit, this week and two weeks ago have been my best weeks at Big Audit Firm.  It's no coincidence it is because my colleague is out on PTO.


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Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Changes at the Office and home

So I made it through year number two at Big Audit.   It has been rough from almost day one.   I realize belatedly that one of the reasons Headless Nick was so cold towards me was, from his perspective, I was replacing him.

 So a week or so ago my PML forwarded me an email from the person who manages hoteling in the Chicago office.  Note: they reach out to our PMLs instead of to us directly.  This is one more sign of how dysfunctional things are at Big Audit.

I'll miss the white board and coat cubby
The issue was they wanted to move some tax group into my area, which would mean relocating me.  At the same time,  Hoteling Dude asked if I really needed a permanent seat since my utilization was under the threshold.  I could come to the office and hunt for a desk, but that doesn't make sense.  I do not work with anybody in the Chicago office and coming to the office is really just a thing I did to make Headless Nick happy and provide me some structure.

When I started in 2016, we could somehow get the kids to daycare and get to work between 8 and 8:20, especially with my mom helping out in nicer weather.  However, as the kids have gotten older and are learning to test limits, getting them to daycare has become a longer battle ordeal in the mornings.  I simply cannot get to work anywhere in the zip code of On Time.

Anywho, I'm giving up my desk at the office and WFH more.  Until they officially take my desk away, my plan is to go into the office a couple times mid-week.  Eventually I will switch to full time at home, unless and until the rumored restructure impacts me. 


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Friday, June 2, 2017

Post Memorial Day Wrap up

We had a busy Memorial Day weekend.  First, my mom left our house Friday at some point and didn't return until Monday so that was an extra bonus.  I know that sounds mean reader from the future but there is a distinct difference in the overall mood when my mom is not around.




Katness and family came over late Saturday evening and we grilled hamburgers.  On Sunday we went to a friends annual MD cookout.  On Monday Nightingale got the idea, based on our On This Day FB reminder, to go out to breakfast at our local diner and then take the bus to the beach.  It was a close to spontaneous as a couple with two 2-yr olds can be (you still have to pack a ton of stuff).


It definitely wore the kids out.  They napped so well Monday afternoon that it was hard to wake them up.



A lot of companies in Corporate America have figured out that people get even lazier during the summer so they come up with summer hours.  My current place (Big Audit) does the leave two hours early on Friday thing.  We are supposed to make those hours up during the week but either you are busy enough or you aren't.

Last year Headless Nick never brought up this perk.  I did ask him about it once and he was very nonchalant, saying that people do it if they are caught up.  The thing is, he liked to work.  He would come in at 9 and stay until 6 which equals my 5 pm.  During Kickoff Friday, he would stay until his 4, which was my 3.  So skipping lunch to leave early wasn't an option.  He just couldn't understand why someone wouldn't want to take advantage of the distraction-free time to get some real work done.

Update:  Based on information receive much later, I have determined that Headless Nick was staying around late because his girlfriend was finishing up her tasks and they shared a car.  That doesn't negate him being a prick about expecting others to work on his schedule, but it at least paints him as less of a workaholic and just more of an obtuse person.

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Thursday, February 23, 2017

Time to stop letting former colleague live Rent-Free in my head

About a year ago I started a new job.  It's probably about as close to my dream job as I'm gonna get in this lifetime.  I have a lot of autonomy, am paid well and enjoy good benefits.  It's still work and there are the usual Corporate America frustrations that come with most white collar office jobs. 

That said, there was one conflict I had to deal with.  An overzealous coworker who was also assigned to be my mentor and unofficial supervisor.

I'm gonna call him Nearly Headless Nick like the ghost from the Harry Potter series.  He wasn't a bad guy and we got along well enough except in the power struggle area.  My real boss has a lot on his plate and asked Nearly Headless to manage me.  He took this task to heart and really tried to over-manage me.

I don't want this to be a gripe about a coworker but I want to point out one form of psychological warfare he played on me.   My team is on the East Coast and I work in our Chicago office.   So we do the majority of our interaction electronically.  Email, Instant Messenger and phone. 

Over a two week period of time, I would come into the office, sit at my desk from 8am (okay 8ish) and not get up until 1, 2 or 3 in the afternoon to take lunch.  No matter when I took lunch (full disclosure I eat lunch at my desk but then go to the gym next door to get some semblance of a workout in), I would come back to an IM and email asking me for something. 

I don't know what the odds are of this happening but it has to be an incredible coincidence that he didn't need anything from me until I left my desk! 

The coworker is long gone.  But he is still living rent-free in my head.  I get stressed out in the morning when I'm trying to get my kids to daycare and get to work on time.  I stress when I go to work out and the elevator takes a little longer, or God forbid I spent a little too much time in the post-workout sauna. To be clear, I'm not spending hours at the gym, I either run 3 miles or swim 10 laps, that's about all I can manage in an hour when you factor in clothes changing and showering.  Even with the gym right next door, it takes the better part of 10 minutes to get from my desk to the locker room.

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Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Job essentials

I love my not so new job, I really do.  Well, love is a strong word but essentially it is as close to my dream job as I will achieve at this point in my life.  I have a flexible schedule and it is very autonomous.  Furthermore, now that Headless Nick has left and I don't feel like I'm constantly being watched, it is more enjoyable than ever.

That said there are some drawbacks.  For one thing, I often get an assignment or task that is so boring my brain tries to escape out of my ears. And as is often the case, the reward for finishing one of those assignments is getting assigned a new boring task.

This has been the most snowless January I can remember in quite a while.  On the one hand I'm happy that I don't have to shovel a ton of snow or deal with bundling up the kids to take them to daycare.

On the other hand, I would like to have some snow to build a snowman or fort on the weekends for them to play with.  I had visions of them jumping off the deck from the old pool access door into a big pile of snow.

Guess that will have to wait until next year, which might be better anyway as they'll be a year older and more susceptible to the idea that you don't jump off every high place, just the one Daddy approves.

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