Why is it so hard to be a part-time bank teller (or to get any job)?

[Flubber]

Alby-- we got ointo this because you seemed proud of sending all your referrals to only one person-- that seems a surefire way to alienate people if they make money from referrals. I was never talking about making best friends-- its more about not making enemies which your actions may do .

As for "you being you " automatically meaning " good guy" -- I thought it was "you being you" that led you to decide to do things that might alienate your co-workers but perhaps that was you being someone else???

[Al B. Sure!]

Me being someone else. We wear many masks in life.

[Dinner]

This forum must really have some love for Albert Speer because we have threads to help him get a job and threads to help his love life.

[Al B. Sure!]

This forum must really have some love for Albert Speer because we have threads to help him get a job and threads to help his love life.

I AM APOLYTON!!!!!!

[Cort Haus]

Bull****, I know from low-level management that having friends at the job is a disaster. It was my one constant reprimand that nearly got me terminated at Sodexo.

You don't want friends at the job... especially when you compete for promotions with them, receive the promotions they don't get, and they become your subordinates... or, when they start out as subordinates but you get too cozy with them and they start leveraging your friendship with them against you.

I have enough experience to know you don't make friends at the job

Jesus wept.

I'm starting a contract tomorrow that I've got though an ex-colleague because they thought I was good and because they liked me. I got a previous job through a friend that I'd met at another job and so on. I have many good friends that I used to work with. Not every colleague is a rival or a subordinate to be kept at arms length.

Al, this thread is a cry for help from YOU because you were struggling to get a job. People on here try to help you, as they try to help you in your love life. You routinely throw this back at everyone while snarling that you know best. Has it not occurred to you yet that you don't know best?

[Zoetstofzoetje]

I always make it a point to be friends or friendly with employees, colleagues, and competitors. Your employees will be more loyal, even though it sometimes makes it harder to give them instructions (or to fire them!). Likewise, a good relationship with competitors makes it less likely that they will screw you. It's a win-win situation too: They're less inclined to bother you just for the sake of annoying you, and this works both ways.

For example, one of my competitors in NL had a rivalry with another competitor over there. The second had rented a server in the same rackspace to dDOS the API for their website, which went down for several days until they forced the data centre to pull the plug. No business could be conducted in the meantime. The first one was not 'innocent' either, they had been doing similar things to annoy the second. These vendettas serve no productive purpose, and can be avoided so that the battlefield is narrowed down to competing for the customers' favour straight up.

Another example, a competitor that I'm on good terms with in Hungary recently got screwed by his employees - a few of them decided to set up a competing business with the business knowledge that they had developed. And they didn't just leave, they seduced all the other employees at his offices to come along, luring them with much higher payouts (never mind that this is not financially viable in the long run, they just wanted to make sure they'd destroy their former business, so that there would be no local competition). He told me that his biggest regret was not that they left and betrayed him, instead he was bitter about having befriended them in the first place. My response was that his charismatic friendliness had simply delayed the inevitable - human nature.

I might be wrong, but being on good terms with those above, below, and side-ways makes sense to me.

Also Albie, I'm under the impression that your issues with women and jobs are part of a larger problem in social 'understanding'.

[Zoetstofzoetje]

People on here try to help you, as they try to help you in your love life. You routinely throw this back at everyone while snarling that you know best. Has it not occurred to you yet that you don't know best?

I'd normally not encourage such direct confrontational statements, but considering the evidence it might lead to be an eye-opener.

[Zoetstofzoetje]

Bull****, I know from low-level management that having friends at the job is a disaster.

There's a careful balance between friendliness and competitiveness, hinging towards the first. Being on good terms with those near you endears trust, which means they will not only communicate useful information to you - it will also be much more likely to occur.

[DaShi]

Me being someone else. We wear many masks in life.

It's hats, not masks. Masks are for people like me, who are smiling when shaking your hand while wondering how much I can milk you for before you become completely disposable. Clearly, you're not doing that.

[Ben Kenobi]

Albert, that's a good way to screw yourself over. Send your referrals to as many people as possible. That way they all have a stake in having you stay.

[Fve Crathva]

Me being someone else. We wear many masks in life.

Have you ever considered that you might have an ASPD?

[Lykken] believed psychopaths are born with temperamental differences such as impulsivity, cortical underarousal, and fearlessness that lead them to risk-seeking behavior and an inability to internalize social norms.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASPD

SP

[Provost Harrison]

Get your ASPD cheched ASAP or you might get an ASBO.

[MikeH]

There's a difference between having friends when you are chief whip cracker at a burger joint or equivalent, and in a professional environment.

[Pax]

Al, If everyone is saying the same thing then maybe you should listen. I mean you have united the left and the right.

[rah]

I will admit that on rare occasions having friends at work can lead to an awkward situation, but I can't imagine going through life with out friends. And for every occasion where it was awkward, there were 10 cases where it was helpful. Everyday crap like hearing in advance that something was going down. Or having that friend that was promoted in a different department that was able to put in a good word for you that gets you promoted. Heck at one place I worked, I took a phone rep off the phones and offered him a programming career. He turned out to be a crappy programmer but since we became friends I got him placed in the supervisor/manager track. He left the company but returned 8 years later into an upper management position where he helped to advance my career. After I left the company he was made president of that division. You never know where help can come from and the more friends you have, the more chances that help can come.

And yes, these aren't weekend friends but we do go out for drinks every now and then and it's great to know someone has your back.

And my best example is one of the guys that I met at this site and gamed with frequently became friends. When I had an opening, I offered him a change of careers to work for me. It's the best hire I've ever made. It even raised my bosses opinion of me in terms of me being a great judge of talent.

Yes there's always the potential for something bad happening, but in life you never get anything good without taking a few risks.

Oh and by the way, I"m looking to hire again.