Misconceptions about your work.

I went to school completely on federal aid because of how poor my mom is and I still had to pay for backs out of pocket. That system sounds terrible.
 
[quote name='davo1224']I went to school completely on federal aid because of how poor my mom is and I still had to pay for backs out of pocket. That system sounds terrible.[/QUOTE]

Yeah. I don't understand it at all either.
 
Well I guess I can understand, because I had fellow students who still wouldn't have their books 2-3 weeks (or even a month in some cases) into a class sometimes. They'd wait until they got their aid money.
 
[quote name='Javery']It's completely the opposite for me. I spend on average 12 hours in the office and if I'm super lucky I can bill 8 of them.[/QUOTE]

I think you've answered this before but what do you do with the other 4 hours?
 
[quote name='Clak']Everybody seems to think they know what everyone else's job consists of, but often times they don't seem to know at all.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, they're called "managers."
 
Another misconception about teachers is that we always drink coffee. I hate coffee in the morning...it fucks me up since I move around a lot and there for stuff flows faster and needs to exit sooner than later. I hate getting star bucks 5 dollar gift cards from parents during holiday seasons....give me gift cards to target or best buy. I'll blow that shit up!
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']I think you've answered this before but what do you do with the other 4 hours?[/QUOTE]

I either bill it to client development or I don't bill it at all. Either way, it doesn't count towards my yearly minimum requirement.
 
[quote name='Javery']I either bill it to client development or I don't bill it at all. Either way, it doesn't count towards my yearly minimum requirement.[/QUOTE]

but even if it doesn't go against your requirement, you still get paid for it right?
 
[quote name='davo1224']I went to school completely on federal aid because of how poor my mom is and I still had to pay for backs out of pocket. That system sounds terrible.[/QUOTE]


It's the way our contract is written. It was done before I took the job.
 
[quote name='confoosious']but even if it doesn't go against your requirement, you still get paid for it right?[/QUOTE]

That's cute... google "exempt vs non-exempt employees" and please re-think your question...
 
[quote name='Javery']It's completely the opposite for me. I spend on average 12 hours in the office and if I'm super lucky I can bill 8 of them.[/QUOTE]

Same here. I can bill a max of 8 hours a day, however most days run 10-12 hours, minimum.

There's no such thing as comp time, or overtime pay, when you're salaried it seems...
 
[quote name='ITDEFX']Another misconception about teachers is that we always drink coffee. I hate coffee in the morning...it fucks me up since I move around a lot and there for stuff flows faster and needs to exit sooner than later. I hate getting star bucks 5 dollar gift cards from parents during holiday seasons....give me gift cards to target or best buy. I'll blow that shit up![/QUOTE]

Heh, I'm a shift supervisor for Starbucks. Over the holidays, billions of moms come in buying $5 giftcards for their child's teachers. I'm not sure how Starbucks became the purported teacher's gift of choice, but it seems to have become that.
 
[quote name='Javery']I either bill it to client development or I don't bill it at all. Either way, it doesn't count towards my yearly minimum requirement.[/QUOTE]

No, but I mean, what do you DO in that time? Some examples?
 
[quote name='QiG']That's cute... google "exempt vs non-exempt employees" and please re-think your question...[/QUOTE]

:roll:

wow you're an idiot.

First off, I know the difference between exempt and non-exempt. His replies were based on MY post that I was a consultant and I bill by the hour.

Since his description about working 12 and billing 8 to the client, I asked my question whether he got paid.

I assumed he wasn't salaried.

Second, this thread is "misconceptions about your work" -- I wanted to understand what he did and how he billed.

Sorry for asking a damn question. :roll:
 
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[quote name='Javery']I either bill it to client development or I don't bill it at all. Either way, it doesn't count towards my yearly minimum requirement.[/QUOTE]
Despite the shady things lawyers can do, there are legitimate repercussions if ethical standards are violated, so you can't "double bill" like a non-professional consultant.

Am I right?
 
[quote name='Gentlegamer']Despite the shady things lawyers can do, there are legitimate repercussions if ethical standards are violated, so you can't "double bill" like a non-professional consultant.

Am I right?[/QUOTE]

he's a lawyer? For some reason I thought he was in academia. Must have him confused with someone else.
 
More than several occasions I've given a user a new laptop with "wireless". They went home and cancelled their internet subscription. Then I get a call from their boss a few days later because I've given their employee a broken computer.

If you are in any IT field, never tell anyone else. Because you deal with "that computer crap" and you obviously do everything right?

[quote name='Strell']That wifi is not some all-reaching uberfrequency signal that encompasses the entire world, LOST island and some of the closer planets included.

I can't connect to my home wifi signal
>Where are you calling me from
I'm in a hotel in Florida
>Where do you live
Chicago

IT people in general shouldn't say they work in anything remotely close to computers. Just say electronics and avoid the headache of whatever stupid question someone is going to invariably ask once they figure out what you do.[/QUOTE]
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']Same here. I can bill a max of 8 hours a day, however most days run 10-12 hours, minimum.

There's no such thing as comp time, or overtime pay, when you're salaried it seems...[/QUOTE]

Yep, many salaried jobs get none of that kind of extra pay, comp time etc.. You're paid a set salary, and that's it. I work 50-60 hours minimum, I get paid a set 9 month academic year salary, over the 3 summer months I can make up to 30% of that buy paying myself for research through grants, or teach summer courses (have never done that yet) etc. I get 1 month (10% of salary) my first 3 years so that covered part of the summer last year and this summer and next year.

We can also do outside consulting. I'm allowed to do up to 8 hours during the academic year, can do as much as I want in the summers. I haven't done a lot of that. Only some money from a research project I was working on my last couple years of grad school that got extended.

I'm so busy with teaching and trying to publish things from data I already have that I haven't had much time to think about applying for new grants or doing extra outside consulting work (that often doesn't lead to publications--so I can't really afford that career wise until after getting tenure).
 
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Actually some places do give comp time for salaried positions to make up for what amounts to over time. Think of it as deferred payment for hours you aren't getting paid for at the moment.
 
I didn't know that, so I stand corrected.

The salaried jobs I've had (or know people who worked them) have all been just the straight salary regardless of how many hours you log, with no comp time or overtime etc.
 
[quote name='Clak']Of course whether you ever get to take that time is another story.[/QUOTE]

QFT. I had a 4 weeks vacation time and capped out because the old boss allowed us to take time off for extra time we worked; I was owed an additional 5 days but since my vacation time wasn't accumulating anymore I had to take a two week vacation; then I took six days with pay to make up for the five that were due to me :). Now that I have 2nd tier (out of 3) seniority; I cap out at 220 hours...I'm back to 15X...
 
Well between doing IT and teaching whenever someone has a problem with either their computer or something I taught them in class and the problem mysteriously "Goes away"...the usual response is "oh you being next to me must have cleared it up..." :roll:

My gf's mom calls me every other week for computer related questions. She lives nearly 2 hrs away so it's not easy to help her out, but two things that came to mind was her monitor stopped working and her internet stopped working. The internet was a fairly simple fix (unplug cable modem, wait 1 minute, plug it back in)...but her monitor sounded like it was shot to hell. No idea why. Told her to try another power outlet to see if it at least lights up...she said nothing happened.

Come back from a LONG day yesterday of doing taxes and errands to find her monitor in my hall way...gf tells me "Mom wanted to know if you could fix it and if you do fix it to sell it.........."...:bomb: argh!!!!


I told my gf that if it's a simple fix (bad power cord?) I'm keeping it and having a dual monitor set up :bouncy:. btw.. it was placed in a box upside down with stand facing up with no protection!!! :wall::wall::wall:
 
As a Physical Therapist, NO I can not turn back the clock and get your grandma running like she did when she was 12 before the strokes, arthritis and hammertoes kicked in. I find most old people selfish and miserable. No the medicare/social security you paid in 1950 is not paying my salary. That money ran out long ago and I am paying for your rehab stay out of my current checks. That's why I will have no medicare or social security when I retire. If I hear that BS from another oldster, I may choke them and save us all some money.
 
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[quote name='PenguinoMF']To all the library assistants/workers, what qualifies a librarian to be a librarian. I always thought if you work at a library you are a librarian. So what makes them special? They have to go to school for that?

Spacepest, my girlfriend works at Barnes and Noble and she usually doesn't have anything to complain about but during holiday time last year all she did was complain about the uneducated people that probably can't even read that came in during that time.[/QUOTE]

Let me respond to your comments.

As other people have also said, you need a specialized degree to become a full fledged librarian, a master's degree in library science. In our area, to get a bachelor's+master's costs about an estimated $70k. (About $40K for a state school degree and then $30K for the library school degree). Its a surprisingly competitive field--every one of our district's open positions receive hundreds (and often a thousand) applications. I've kind of resisted going back to school, because in good conscience, I can't see paying $70K for a $20k a year job, no matter how much I love it. Yeah, there is the chance that you could advance in position and make more money, but that's it--only a chance. And what I've seen so far, it could be very a small chance.

Penguino, your comment about a GF working at Barnes and Noble reminded me of a situation one of my coworkers is going through. She went to library school and now has a $40k student loan debt over her head, which requires her to work a second, non degree'd position at Barnes and Noble just to make ends meet. So two jobs, to pay for one degree. I feel very sorry for that coworker.

My coworker has also stated that surprisingly enough, Barnes and Noble has turned out to be the less stressful job. They are more flexible with her hours, offer better benefits, and the customers exhibit nowhere near the level of insanity that some library patrons do. Oh, and don't ever buy children's books from a bookstore, order them straight from the warehouse. She's seen too many children with unwashed hands (that were in their diapers a few seconds earlier) handling the new books.
 
[quote name='Spacepest']

My coworker has also stated that surprisingly enough, Barnes and Noble has turned out to be the less stressful job. They are more flexible with her hours, offer better benefits, and the customers exhibit nowhere near the level of insanity that some library patrons do. Oh, and don't ever buy children's books from a bookstore, order them straight from the warehouse. She's seen too many children with unwashed hands (that were in their diapers a few seconds earlier) handling the new books.[/QUOTE]

Strangely enough every time I went into Barnes and Noble I found it to be one of the most peaceful environments to shop in. I could see why though.
 
Architect-People think we draw 90% of the time and spend the other 10% shopping for funky glasses. The problem is most architects are all too willing to cultivate this image.

I spend maybe 20% of the time on any project actually drawing and maybe 2% of that is by hand. Yet, clients think drawings are our only product.


I also don't run around yelling "JASON!!"
 
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I work in a pharmacy and most people think all we do is count pills and put them in a bottle. My life would be a lot easier if that is all we had to do to fill your prescription.

What are we doing back there while you're waiting for your Rx to be filled?

We're checking the dosage of the medication to make sure it doesn't kill you, calling the doctor because of a mistake or clarification needed (this happens more than you think), checking for interactions between other meds you may be taking, calling your insurance to resolve claim issues, and much more. And this is only for YOUR prescription. Our pharmacy probably fills about 600 prescriptions a day.
 
Tonight I'm going to work in the blood bank. ABO Rh typing and antigen testing. Mostly by the old outdated tube method. 90% of this could be automated and most of the time we don't need two techs over there doing the work. We just have two in case of 'emergencies'. The rest of the time we're reading procedures, helping out in other areas or just goofing off. (surfing the internet and gossiping)
 
[quote name='Ed_']QFT. I had a 4 weeks vacation time and capped out because the old boss allowed us to take time off for extra time we worked; I was owed an additional 5 days but since my vacation time wasn't accumulating anymore I had to take a two week vacation; then I took six days with pay to make up for the five that were due to me :). Now that I have 2nd tier (out of 3) seniority; I cap out at 220 hours...I'm back to 15X...[/QUOTE]

QFT again. I am at a point where I have the maximum capped hours (6 weeks) and every single week I lose vacation time. I can't take it, because I'm too busy. They won't pay me for it, because it's against the policy...

By my estimates I have lost 32 hours this year so far over the cap.
 
[quote name='sdclippers']Contrary to popular belife we Gamestop employees do have souls.[/QUOTE]


This.

And our job isn't really that fun. It has become too sales-centric. Honestly, it has become more about getting people to reserve and get the PUR card than customer service. It sucks and I need to find a way out!
 
[quote name='usickenme']Architect-People think we draw 90% of the time and spend the other 10% shopping for funky glasses. The problem is most architects are all too willing to cultivate this image.

I spend maybe 20% of the time on any project actually drawing and maybe 2% of that is by hand. Yet, clients think drawings are our only product.


I also don't run around yelling "JASON!!"[/QUOTE]

So what DO you do?
45501503_59464722fc.jpg
 
[quote name='eldergamer']Tonight I'm going to work in the blood bank. ABO Rh typing and antigen testing. Mostly by the old outdated tube method. 90% of this could be automated and most of the time we don't need two techs over there doing the work. We just have two in case of 'emergencies'. The rest of the time we're reading procedures, helping out in other areas or just goofing off. (surfing the internet and gossiping)[/QUOTE]

It figures when I post this we have a massive that night. :roll:
4 platelets,, 10 frozen plasma, 6 cyros, and 10 units of red cells.
thankfully a third person came over to help.
 
[quote name='ispeshaled']I work in a pharmacy and most people think all we do is count pills and put them in a bottle. My life would be a lot easier if that is all we had to do to fill your prescription.

What are we doing back there while you're waiting for your Rx to be filled?

We're checking the dosage of the medication to make sure it doesn't kill you, calling the doctor because of a mistake or clarification needed (this happens more than you think), checking for interactions between other meds you may be taking, calling your insurance to resolve claim issues, and much more. And this is only for YOUR prescription. Our pharmacy probably fills about 600 prescriptions a day.[/QUOTE]

The ?s are warranted, because they keep the pharmacy (At walgreens at least) behind a wall and you can't see what they're doing back there. It makes you wonder if they do any work at all but counting pills and putting them in a bottle.
 
As a public school teacher, I'm completely with the previous poster and their hatred for morning coffee :p

Here are some facts that you can use to easily refute misconceptions about my career!
1) Almost all teachers take massive amounts of work home with them, for no extra pay.
2) We don't get paid for extra curricular activities (theater, band, field trips, etc.)
3) Yes, we do get the summers off, but most of that time is spent figuring out what didn't work the last year and how to improve it for the following. Which leads me to....
4) A good teacher doesn't create a lesson plan at their first job and follow it until retirement. It's constantly being updated/altered to better serve the students.
5) Also, our pay is (almost always) shit.
 
[quote name='2DMention']The ?s are warranted, because they keep the pharmacy (At walgreens at least) behind a wall and you can't see what they're doing back there. It makes you wonder if they do any work at all but counting pills and putting them in a bottle.[/QUOTE]

That's not the norm in the places I've lived. Most pharmacies are just a counter and you can see everything that goes on behind there.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']No, but I mean, what do you DO in that time? Some examples?[/QUOTE]

I continue to do billable work. The asinine partners will say ANYTHING to get a client in the door like "we can do that financing for $20,000" when it actually costs $50,000. So I divide my billable rate into the the amount the partner promised and that's how many hours I can bill to the client for that particular deal - 100% of the time it takes almost double to get it done right. This is why I think the quality of work has been steadily decreasing but this is probably true with most service-based businesses.

It also screws me big-time when it comes to compensation and end of the year reviews. For example, last Friday I was handed a deal that a partner had been working on (because they need hours too) but he says to me that we are "capped out so don't bill too much to this" - what this means is that most likely 100% of my time will be written off and at the end of the year it will look like I am inefficient even though I still have to do 75% of the work that remains to close the deal. This happens all the time. Partners are always putting pressure on associates to not bill. I come out in the middle - as I've gotten more senior I've made a conscious decision to bill as much time as I can and if it gets written off then so be it - I'd rather be labeled inefficient than someone who doesn't bill enough.

[quote name='confoosious']but even if it doesn't go against your requirement, you still get paid for it right?[/QUOTE]

Nope. I'm salaried so I get the same pay no matter how busy I am or how many weekends I work.

[quote name='Gentlegamer']Despite the shady things lawyers can do, there are legitimate repercussions if ethical standards are violated, so you can't "double bill" like a non-professional consultant.

Am I right?[/QUOTE]

Right. I'm not sure how you would get caught unless it was something totally ridiculous like your billable time added up to 25 hours a day or something. I know partners that bill while they are taking a shit or eating breakfast as long as they are thinking about the client matter. If you do get caught with an ethical violation you can get disbarred - they take that stuff very seriously.

[quote name='Clak']Of course whether you ever get to take that time is another story.[/QUOTE]

Our policy is no vacation! I mean, it's take as much as you want as long as you meet your billable hours requirement (which is insane) so it's effectively no vacation for anyone. They did away with actual vacation time (I used to get 4 weeks) about 2 years ago right before massive layoffs - this way they didn't have to pay anyone out for accrued time. Bastards.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']So what DO you do?
[/QUOTE]

Off the top of my head


Besides drawing?

Planning – which means figuring out what the client wants, what they can do on the site, what is allowed by the city, how realistic their budget is and code research.

Submitting drawing to the City- Most project require some city review so there is always a process of back and forth over what changes they want and how they interpret the building code. Also some project require public hearings that attract angry older people who need to be convinced of the project

Contracts/ Negotiation- We always review out contracts with the owner and often review the contract between the owner and contractor.

Specifications- Basically, written instructions for everything not in the drawings. For ex. The drawing may call out paint but the specs will say “Sherwin-Williams A89 series, with compatible primer. 2 Coats flat finish”

Bidding- Basically help the owner with getting information to bidders. Answering questions, etc.

Construction Administration- Being “on call” to help the contractor if he has question during construction. If they find an unforeseen condition or if they want to do it another way (and they always do). We have to protect the owner and make sure the Contractor is not cheaping out.



[quote name='Javery']I continue to do billable work. The asinine partners will say ANYTHING to get a client in the door like "we can do that financing for $20,000" when it actually costs $50,000. So I divide my billable rate into the the amount the partner promised and that's how many hours I can bill to the client for that particular deal - 100% of the time it takes almost double to get it done right. This is why I think the quality of work has been steadily decreasing but this is probably true with most service-based businesses.
.[/QUOTE]

Happens to me a lot as well. Clients are equally guilty and don't want to pay for stuff if they because they watched a few shows on HGTV.
 
[quote name='Jedimaster7705'] As a public school teacher, I'm completely with the previous poster and their hatred for morning coffee :p

Here are some facts that you can use to easily refute misconceptions about my career!
1) Almost all teachers take massive amounts of work home with them, for no extra pay.
2) We don't get paid for extra curricular activities (theater, band, field trips, etc.)
3) Yes, we do get the summers off, but most of that time is spent figuring out what didn't work the last year and how to improve it for the following. Which leads me to....
4) A good teacher doesn't create a lesson plan at their first job and follow it until retirement. It's constantly being updated/altered to better serve the students.
5) Also, our pay is (almost always) shit.[/QUOTE]

WHy don't you pay anything towards your healthcare hmm? HMMM????? Or your pension HMMM??
 
[quote name='Javery']I continue to do billable work. The asinine partners will say ANYTHING to get a client in the door like "we can do that financing for $20,000" when it actually costs $50,000. So I divide my billable rate into the the amount the partner promised and that's how many hours I can bill to the client for that particular deal - 100% of the time it takes almost double to get it done right. This is why I think the quality of work has been steadily decreasing but this is probably true with most service-based businesses.

It also screws me big-time when it comes to compensation and end of the year reviews. For example, last Friday I was handed a deal that a partner had been working on (because they need hours too) but he says to me that we are "capped out so don't bill too much to this" - what this means is that most likely 100% of my time will be written off and at the end of the year it will look like I am inefficient even though I still have to do 75% of the work that remains to close the deal. This happens all the time. Partners are always putting pressure on associates to not bill. I come out in the middle - as I've gotten more senior I've made a conscious decision to bill as much time as I can and if it gets written off then so be it - I'd rather be labeled inefficient than someone who doesn't bill enough.
[/QUOTE]
Sounds just like public accounting! Though I lucked out with an awesome firm that doesn't give a shit about it.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']Sounds just like public accounting! Though I lucked out with an awesome firm that doesn't give a shit about it.[/QUOTE]

yeah, all of my friends at Big 4 places have the same complaints. I bet your firm cares - they are in it to make money after all. They probably recognize the absurdity of it though and realize it would be counter-productive to get angry at their employees for something completely out of their control.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']That's not the norm in the places I've lived. Most pharmacies are just a counter and you can see everything that goes on behind there.[/QUOTE]

most walgreens are exactly the same or damn close now, they like to keep it safe in case of a robbery and to monitor it, cvs and other pharmacies are usually open viewed where you can see the workers working.

and also remember the techs do a chunk of the work, then the pharmacist goes behind them and checks everything again, then you have patients who need to ask questions, along with everything else everyone else has mentioned, theres alot of reasons why it takes so long (my wife was a pharmacy tech for about 3 1/2 years at cvs and ive worked at walgreens twice now once for 2 years on the front end and just got rehired about a week and a half ago for a position where im all over the store)

but yea theres alot you dont see when theres a wall with only 3 windows you can see through
 
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Interesting thread.

We are not all alcoholic potheads.
We do not all do this because we're incapable of getting by in the real world.
We do not all wreck our hotel rooms and steal the towels.
We do not all vote for the NDP and Green Party.
We do not all go on the dole as soon as our season ends.
We do not all go for unusually large amounts of time without showering, bathing, and/or shaving (especially the women).
We are not doing it for the environment.
We do not all have bullshit philosophy/english/useless bullshit degrees (nor are we all working towards them).
We do not all get in fights (usually losing fights) in bars with loggers and rig-pigs.



But the above is true for a lot of tree planters.

Also, no, we don't have machines to do that now. Probably never will, not for our terrain.
 
[quote name='The Crotch']Interesting thread.

We are not all alcoholic potheads.
We do not all do this because we're incapable of getting by in the real world.
We do not all wreck our hotel rooms and steal the towels.
We do not all vote for the NDP and Green Party.
We do not all go on the dole as soon as our season ends.
We do not all go for unusually large amounts of time without showering, bathing, and/or shaving (especially the women).
We are not doing it for the environment.
We do not all have bullshit philosophy/english/useless bullshit degrees (nor are we all working towards them).
We do not all get in fights (usually losing fights) in bars with loggers and rig-pigs.



But the above is true for a lot of tree planters.

Also, no, we don't have machines to do that now. Probably never will, not for our terrain.
[/QUOTE]


i live next to a giant tree farm, those people make damn good money, takes a staff of like 150 to do all of the upkeeping
 
It's... a bit different.

Tree planters set up camps during the spring and summer near recently clearcut areas (well, hopefully recently - it fucking sucks working somewhere that's been left to grass up for years and years) and plant the area en masse. We make a few cents for every tree (price varies by land difficulty), so you'd better be putting in thousands a day to make it worth your while, and if you're good at it, it can be very worth your while.

The trees (mostly white spruce, some black, and assorted species of pine) we're planting are small little things. Usually about a foot or so tall, sometimes only half a foot at the freakishly small end of things, sometimes (annoyingly) a couple feet tall, with a root "plug" that extends for another seven-ish inches, so we can carry a few hundred of them on us at a time.
 
so youre more into the refielding(sorry for the redneck terminology just love using that one) area as opposed to the service/goods area (what i described, where people grow trees, then sell them when they get to the right height)? damn all that work for not much, that sucks
 
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