Comments on: ‘The biggest turkey I ever hired’

By: Sachin, Yorkshire, Leeds

Sachin, Yorkshire, Leeds — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:39:19 +0000

I had the opportunity to work for not one, but TWO Turkeys when I was just done woth my studies!!
The first one would always brag about how much money we could make and how there was no scope of any office-politics, when all he offered was a commission on what you were able to sell, at more than the Market Price for the same product that was easily available at lesser prices.

I saw through his game and quit after 4-5 days.

The second one was talking all big-big things and was not ready to sign an appointment-letter or even pay my salary!I learnt that he didn’t pay any of the earlier employee’s sal either!

I quit in 1 month and never cared to know what happened to him since.

By: Walker....Johnny Walker

Walker....Johnny Walker — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:51:55 +0000

Got a job where the boss conveniently ‘forgot’ to mention key aspects of the job- for instance that my renumeration was based on certain sales.
A real body shopping experience. Once I did some investigative work, i realized that most of his employees were from other countries and that he deliberately treated them poor ( below market salary etc) because he knew that they would not ( easily) go back nor get a new job. These types of companies are actually quite common ( usually small unknown private companies – hidden from public view). They dont do much marketing in order to not attract attention to themselves.
I believe the government has thus cracked down on these types of companies now that the economy has gone south…pity we needed a bad economy to trigger this crackdown.

By: Anne Fisher

Anne Fisher — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:56:00 +0000

Annie here — A French boss who said that vacations are “out of the question”? Je suis etonnee!

By: Pascal G., Paris, France

Pascal G., Paris, France — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:22:22 +0000

The worst place I ever work at was a startup software company in Paris, France. And the managers were also some of the worst people I met.
The boss was at the door in the morning making unpleasant remarks if you were 5 minutes late.
But in the evening it was another story: it was a software company and a new version of the software was compiled once a day – most companies are usually happy with compiling once or twice a week.
The version was supposed to be out in the morning but was usually ready by 7pm… then the staff was expected to stay on until the tedious and mostly useless job of completely testing the software was done.
At that time of course, the boss and the top execs were long gone. I guess I never saw the boss in his office after 6pm…
One night, the guy who was in charge of testing fainted in the testing lab one night at about 1am and was taken away in an ambulance after too many nights on the job.
Another guy who was always leaving early in the morning asked once to be allowed to leave at 3pm on a Friday. He was told to use half a day of his vacation time.
At the beginning of the year the boss secretary sent a standard email to all the staff listing the holidays for the year to come and the way to submit vacation requests.
To which the boss replied that every one should be focused on the job and that vacations were out of question. The sales manager sent his email saying how much the boss was right – as always. The following week, the boss was nowhere to be seen. The boss came back with a tan after a week spent in a tropical paradise then the sales manager took an even longer vacation…
That was the shortest time I spent on a job. I slammed the door after 6 months. They went out of business as fast as they had sucked in money from their investors.

By: Karen Anderson, Greensboro, NC

Karen Anderson, Greensboro, NC — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:54:04 +0000

I worked for a very small company that had two partners. The partners were total opposites and never agreed on anything. Each would give me instructions on how to complete an assignment for a customer and the instructions always conflicted with the instructions from the other partner. Each thought they had the most say-so and would tell me to ignore the othe partner. It was a lose-lose.

To save money, one partner’s wife prepared the payroll. We would get paid on the correct day if she didn’t have a tennis match; her tennis life took presidence over everything. When I complained the partner told me that I was just jealous because she got to play tennis.

One of the partners threatened to throw me through his window if I didn’t do what he told me to do; he would curse and swear at me. When I finally quit he called me in to tell me I was a very negative person.

Ultimately they realized that they would never get along and decided to channel their anger at me. They would take me in a conference room and berate me for hours – I would be crying hysterically and the more I got upset the more they enjoyed putting me down.

Laws to protect employees do not apply to companies with less than 50 employees. I kept a log and finally contacted an attorney. He said I had a great case if I had worked for a large company.

Sadly I needed the job so badly I had to endure it until I could find another position. The sad part is these people destroyed my self esteem, I really needed the job and I stayed there for 9 years. I had to have counseling for years to get over what I endured.

By: English First DOS Shanghai, China

English First DOS Shanghai, China — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:23:10 +0000

I was asked by Human Resources to pick up a new hire at the train station where my new employee was face down on a bench. When he got up to meet me, there were imprints on his cheek of holes from the metal bench at the train station. He couldn’t carry his own bags because he was so hung over and threw up out the window of the taxi as we traveled to his hotel. Needless to say, he never made it to his first day on the job.

By: Mark Stoney, Salem NH

Mark Stoney, Salem NH — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 22:09:23 +0000

I used to work for a defense contractor where I reminded the manager of one her sons and was unfortunately treated accordingly. She continually second-guessed me, “nurtured” me, micro-managed me, and continually told me I wasn’t technical enough (I’m and engineer). She personally scuttled to jobs I landed internally in other departments. No wonder her son never left home! Needless to say, my career took off when I finally got out of there.

Before that, I worked in the MIS department of a local college where the manager tried to put me in an “office” which was known to have exposed asbestos insulation. I refused to move in to that office and found out that he knew it was asbestos from an earlier report. It made for a tense working relationship.

By: Almost Turkey Free, Fayetteville, AR

Almost Turkey Free, Fayetteville, AR — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:44:20 +0000

Went to work for a company as one of two accounting managers reporting to the controller who reported to the CFO…during monthly p&l reviews the CFO would swear and pound his fist and insist that “…our accounting system numbers are wrong, and we made budget…” The controller called me on a sat a.m. one time and asked me “…where was the additional $1.6MM in revenue I forgot to book…” I refused diplomatically…I also insisted that we “…did know the right (higher) revenue amounts on which to pay taxes…” Needless to say I was kept out of meetings and eventually “let go”…They filed bankruptcy within 3 months of my leaving…

By: Niren, Cincinnati, Ohio

Niren, Cincinnati, Ohio — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:20:02 +0000

I hired a administrative assistant for our insurance brokerage co. She showed up first day, learned few things. Same night, i received a message from her “one of her best friends passed away, so she would not come to the office. I called her, left message. She never returned call back. Next day evening, she left me a message again saying her friend did not have any family, so she would have to do all for her” How convenient was it to kill your friend than tell the truth. I had to let go.

By: JB North Palm Beach, FL

JB North Palm Beach, FL — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 15:56:03 +0000

Two “turkey employers” quickly come to mind during the 20 years I crucified myself in the retail investment industry. First, a few months after being laid off in the wake of the’87 market crash, I picked myself up and moved an hour and a half away to begin anew. About two months later, the firm closes that branch. The manager who hired me left a month after I started so I asked the gentleman who came down to break the news that we were closing what I should do… His response: “Call the Providence office (45 minutes away) and see if they have a seat for you.” Yes sir.

Then, many years later, I was hired by a father and son team (2/3rds of the Three Stooges – actually, the daughter made up the other 3rd)to work as a consultant in their Boston office. Unfortunately for me, Moe and Larry neglected to tell me they had also just hired an egomaniac branch manager for that same office. I lasted just barely a year.

It took 20 years but I finally realized I’m not cut out to be a broker. So, I’m a slow learner………

By: ckg, atlanta, GA

ckg, atlanta, GA — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 06:05:47 +0000

I got a job offer through a head hunter agency– “temp to permanent”. The salary I asked for was 100k, and they gave it to me– no questions asked. They told me the perm would be for 1 month, and then they would transition me to permanent. The same day, I received an offer from a competitor for 120k. I really preferred the 100k company, so I asked to them if they would at least split the difference (20K a year is significant).

The response I got was that they “would renegotiate my salary after I transferred to perm”. When I asked why my perm salary would be any different after 1 month, they told me “The job you are being hired for is slated for 55-60k a year perm- we can’t afford to pay you 100k permanently with the increase in benefits you will receive as perm”. 40K a year for benefits? They were making me pay my health insurance premium anyways! and the 401k match was 5%?!

BAIT and SWITCH if I have ever seen one! Needless to say, I took the other job and haven’t regretted it one bit.

By: Connie, Houston, TX

Connie, Houston, TX — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 04:48:09 +0000

I got hired this August to be a teacher assistant for a charter school in SW Houston. After 5 days of training and 1.5 days of school, I got called into the office and was told by the principal that they actually didn’t have any money in the budget to keep me, even though during the hiring process, he mentioned to me that it was possible to bring me aboard due to the surplus in funds this school year. Well, apparently, the budget “surplus” that the principal had mistakenly believed that he had had vaporized or did not come through. I was allowed to finish the rest of the week but was not offered any severance pay. Since this was my first real job post-college, I had no idea it was possible to ask for severance. Months later, I was talking to one of my co-workers from that school and asked him how all my students were doing and he replied, “well actually, Coach G. and I no longer work there anymore. We were laid off.” So out of the 4 new teachers that this principal hired for the new school year, he laid off 3 of them. Can you say biggest “turkey” ever for a boss? Who does that? This is a clear case of someone in a management position who shouldn’t be.

By: Anonymous, Richmond, VA

Anonymous, Richmond, VA — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 02:49:23 +0000

I used to work for a guy that made us say TGIM ( Thank God It’s Monday). We also were strongly discouranged to ever say TGIF. Oh yeah, he also developed a saying called ” Work is Better…” Better than what is what I’d like to know…

By: Ken, Staten Island, NY

Ken, Staten Island, NY — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 21:38:34 +0000

A part timer who was to work 2-6 to help with some of the daily financial tables the newspaper put out. The job allowed for break time, but within a week he was taking lunch. He went to school in the mornings, so it wasn’t a big deal when he ate at his desk. Then he was taking half an hour to eat. Within two weeks he was taking two hour lunches, coming back with red eyes and simply not doing the work. Despite speaking with him several times, the behavior continued. I thought I would have a problem firing someone (he was the first) but that situation made it easy.

By: J.M.R Daytona Beach, FL

J.M.R Daytona Beach, FL — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:01:49 +0000

One manager I had would come to work hungover every week. It would take him past lunch-time and several cups of coffee to get going. Then we would have to listen to all his dating problems and he’d constanlty ask the women for advice. He was a mess.

By: shawn, boston, ma

shawn, boston, ma — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 16:24:20 +0000

Some of these stories speak more about the bosses than the employees. If you hire someone who isexcited about the job, and then don’t show up for the second day maybe there is a problem with the work environment.

By: Kelly, Milwaukee, WI

Kelly, Milwaukee, WI — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 02:40:49 +0000

I left a great job one year, thinking that the new job would offer quicker advancement and more responsibility. People in my department had been complaining and I got to thinking that perhaps the grass was greener somewhere else, so when a former employee called to tell me about this opportunity I jumped at it. But it turned out to be the worst job of my life. My new boss acted like a “mother” and treated me like her child. Every morning she would corner me with stories of her child’s issues. Then throughout the day she would hand me jobs and go over them with me as if she was explaining homework assignments to her seven-year-old, or she would yell at me for errors in such a way that I sometimes wondered if I was going to get a “time out.” It was a very degrading experience, and the “advancement” I thought was possible turned out to be undesirable. After three months of this my old job called me and begged me to come back. I immediately accepted, and never lost appreciation for that job since.

By: Ron, Columbus, IN

Ron, Columbus, IN — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 20:44:53 +0000

Not necessarily a “professional” job, but had to be the worst hiring experience I ever had. Owner of a small “tea room” in a major metropolitan area wanted to expand into a full high end restaurant. They found a building in an average sized city that didn’t really have luck with expensive menu restaurants. I was hired by the executive chef as a sous-chef and did fairly well on his staff. I admit there were some minor issues that I was responsible for (nothing that affected the running of the restaurant) but overall it was a good learning experience for me.

After several months the chef, who had the right idea, clashed with the owners who wanted to cut costs, and the owners got their way, cutting his salary off the payroll. The assistant chef took over the whole kitchen operation and promptly changed almost everything, menu included.

I left one night, after a double shift, standing in the kitchen with the guy as he okay-ed my having closed everything down. I walked in the next afternoon for my scheduled shift and was told to leave as I was being replaced.

According to him, I was blamed for a problem that was caused after I walked out the door by another guy who left before I did the night previous. The kitchen was not in the state they said it was when I left, and I was being fired because I didn’t fix the other guy’s mistake. Not to mention that I wasn’t this guy’s supervisor, and had no idea that anything was wrong until I walked in eight hours after they opened for business that day.

It’s now only a bar, and not even a good dive.

By: Roger, Raleigh, North Carolina

Roger, Raleigh, North Carolina — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:50:58 +0000

Perhaps it was unintended, but saying they will “muddle through” with the staff they have says a lot about how executives feel about their “staff”.
They would have much better performance in their business if they spent time appreciating the loyalty of long time staff members. Replacing a high-performing individual is difficult and expensive. They should do what they can to retain and nurture them.

By: T Segerson Reagan, TN

T Segerson Reagan, TN — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 03:30:35 +0000

I worked for a company writing tech manuals. They got a contract for work in Europe. The HR manager, known for his online gambling habit while at work, couldn’t provide me with any info on working in the Netherlands or the contract. It took 6 drafts before they gave the Dutch a legal contract,just before the deadline to expell me from the Netherlands.

The job was a year behind schedule when I was sent in to replace 5 people. As a ‘manager’ I was told I could hire some help, but was never allowed to do so. After being there over a year, I tried to resign. The company president begged me to stay.

My mother was ill in the USA with terminal cancer. She called and asked me to come home for Thanksgiving. The company refused my request. Four days after Thanksgiving, my mother called again. This time I left and got to spend four days with her before she died.

When I returned to Europe, the company had hired an ‘assistant’. He couldn’t do any tech writing and had never used a digital camera. More time lost training him. I was blamed for his work.

One month after my mother’s death, I was terminated by the online gambler HR manager. We went to court, three times, they lost each time. They still haven’t paid me for the court judgment.

It cost me almost $20,000 to move back to the USA. I have not been able to recover it or other expenses from my former employer.

Check out the company before you send in your resume.

http://01wageslave.blogspot.com

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Tom