Applied for job...

[Arc weld]

I've been a little frustrated at work ullinghair:and have just been casually looking to see what's out there. I applied for a Technical Support Specialist for welding. They are looking for someone with a strong welding background with diversified product knowledge. I think I could be a good fit for this position. If it's something weird or unusual, I've probably heard of it. :laughing:

 

[Furu]

Hope it works out for you.
From your background and your description of the job, it should be a good fit.
When will you hear if you get the position?

 

[jaotguy]

good luck with the hunt ....and hope it turns out well for you :thumbsup:

life is too short to be frustrated day after day , dealing with $%^&* for bosses ....

the road ahead can be "open and beautiful" if you take a bit of time to scope out the next job , and get what you want.

 

[Shield Arc]

In the welding field you're the most knowledgeable I've ever known! In my opinion your bosses are idiots to let you walk out the door! :confused2:

 

[Gary Fowler]

In the welding field you're the most knowledgeable I've ever known! In my opinion your bosses are idiots to let you walk out the door! :confused2:

In my experience, the bosses don't know what they have till they no longer have it. Getting a job with another company lets them know what they had and sometimes one can return to their old company with a substantial pay increase and new position in a few months or longer if they wish.
Most companies seem to have some real A-holes working as bosses, some companies load up more than others so it is good to shop around. Most career counselors will advise you to make a move at least every 3-5 years to make the most of salary negotiations. I worked for one company for over 40 years but I did make a move to another company a couple of times for a couple years then came back with much bigger salary and title each time.
There used to be something to be said for loyalty to a company, but that seems to be a thing of the past thanks to our government legislation, longevity(seniority) is no longer useful to an employee when it comes to benefits so it may not be in your interest to hang around. Look at all the options (quietly) and if you do find a much better job with better benefits, do give the present company a notice so they can look for a replacement so you don't burn any bridges in case you want to apply for a job with them later.

 

[Shield Arc]

Most career counselors will advise you to make a move at least every 3-5 years to make the most of salary negotiations.

In my younger days I wouldn't stay on a job longer than 3 to 4-months. One year I quit 13-contractors, 3 in one week. As I got a little older I settled down, and would go 2 to 3 years on the same project. And decades with same contractor.
But Gary as you know construction is a whole different ball game.

 

[Gary Fowler]

In my younger days I wouldn't stay on a job longer than 3 to 4-months. One year I quit 13-contractors, 3 in one week. As I got a little older I settled down, and would go 2 to 3 years on the same project. And decades with same contractor.
But Gary as you know construction is a whole different ball game.

I did pretty much the same thing when I was a welder. For 5 years I never got laid off, just quit to work on another job. Later when I got into supervision, it was a boon to say with the same company because profit sharing benefits were multiplied factor with longevity (5 year folks got twice as much as new hires, 10 year three time, 15-20 years 4 and 30 year folks would get 5 times the amount till government legislation said that was not fair labor practice ). Folks would stay just to keep their seniority but after that changed, there was no reason to stay if a better offer came along. One could go back and not loose anything in profit sharing. Those were the good old days till our congressmen decided to improve on the work rules. TOO BAD they didn't make the laws to be enforced for their jobs too.

 

[square1]

Best wishes. Would you have to deal with people? I'd love my job if not for that aspect!

 

[Arc weld]

Thanks for all the kind words and votes of confidence. I sent my resume and a cover letter by e-mail so hopefully I'll get an interview. :licking:If I do get the job, I think I'd be dealing less with people. I like dealing with people but some people just make you want to hide in the corner.

There's a lot of little things and a couple big ones at my present job. I work with a woman who acts like she's a supervisor, when she isn't. She actually quit and they brought her back with a big raise. 98% didn't want her back. She's better than she used to be...most of the time. They put in a new computer system the same time they moved to a new facility. Really dumb idea! The sales manager wants to be the only one setting prices. They are all over the place. Today he tells a customer he tries to give the best price the first time. I almost burst out laughing. When you enter an order, the price will usually come up ridiculously high but if the customer is standing there and asks for a price, the sales manager usually gives too low a price. IE/ from last week, $21.00 cost on a shade 5 face shield and price comes up at $51.00(60%+ margin)! Level 2 price is $36.00 which is still better than 40% margin. Of course the customer didn't buy it. Some prices are a quite a bit lower than before even though nobody ever complained about them. $16.50 for a liner now at $11.00. I can see lowering prices if you can buy at a better price but if you drop them too much, the customer will wonder why he was getting ripped off the last 2 years paying an extra $5.00. If we ever gave a customer a discount when we didn't need to, he'd call us out. It's very hard to do your job when you aren't set up with everything you need to do it efficiently. When you have to rely on other people to get product or pricing and they don't think it's as much a priority as you do, causes nothing but problems. They say customer service is their priority but in a lot of cases it's just a theory that sounds good.

 

[DXN1EL]

They say customer service is their priority but in a lot of cases it's just a theory that sounds good.

People boasts, what they lack

 

[cqaigy2]

Good luck at your new job!

I never left a job to make the owners sorry, but i did, to make me happy, be it conditions or money or both. I have on occasion, contracted out to previous employers at a large increase in pay. That made me happy and helped them out of a bind and that made them happy.

 

[Arc weld]

When I have to get back to customers, I want to get back to them ASAP! The job I applied for actually mentioned getting back to customers within 2 hours. 2 hours I can live with. Sometimes it takes a little longer but to be the norm is not acceptable. Keeping the customer waiting is good way to lose them in my opinion.

 

[jaotguy]

one solution is to call them back within the 2 hours " still working on it for you sir .... just waiting on XXXXXX and we haven't forgotten " not what they want to hear, but they know you are still on it ....

 

[PhysAssist]

Best of luck to you Arc!

I'm getting ready to start looking too, even though I just got back to work in March after 10 months out with my knee infection.

While I was out, they changed from paper records being scanned in, to using 2 different software systems, one of which still generates the paper record that you still have to scan back in.

Because of the way the systems are set up (no electronic transfer of information) you have to essentially double enter everything.

Unsurprising the end result is having to try to do twice the work in the same amount of time, and because we're only human it adds another set of possibilities for error due to the double entry.

The company doesn't care though because all of us who are having to do twice the work are salaried, and they haven't been sued yet for any errors (good thing we're all responsbile professionals and triple check to make sure that no errors creep in.)

Anyway, best of luck to you, we're all rooting for you, just like we are for Shield with his "Helpful Neighbor".

When I have to get back to customers, I want to get back to them ASAP! The job I applied for actually mentioned getting back to customers within 2 hours. 2 hours I can live with. Sometimes it takes a little longer but to be the norm is not acceptable. Keeping the customer waiting is good way to lose them in my opinion.

 

[Arc weld]

If I thought an answer was coming and/or I had an idea when it was coming, then calling back would make sense. Calling back and saying you have nothing might irritate the customer. It depends a lot on the specific customer too. If they're pretty understanding, then it's good to give an update. If they expect you to have every product under the sun within a moments notice and you can't get it soon enough(for them), calling them to tell them might get you an ear-full.

 

[jaotguy]

there's the sign of a professional .... knowing which customer wants the call back ( proof they are important ) and which ones not to ( don't care about excuses ) ... all part of the learning curve ... :laughing:

 

[Gary Fowler]

You know what peeves me more than anything? It is the sales guy stopping in the middle of my transaction to answer a phone and spend 5 minutes talking to a potential customer while ignoring one standing right in front of him. Stores should have phones answered by someone doing only that and put the phone customer on hold rather than the in store customer, but sadly, most of them are like teenagers with a text message. They cant wait to pick up the phone.

The only thing worse is the clerk or salesperson on a personal call and ignoring you standing at the register and just keeps on talking and talking. I have many times just thrown my purchases on the counter and walked out all the time telling the person how inept they are and should be fired.

 

[newbury]

If I thought an answer was coming and/or I had an idea when it was coming, then calling back would make sense. Calling back and saying you have nothing might irritate the customer. It depends a lot on the specific customer too. If they're pretty understanding, then it's good to give an update. If they expect you to have every product under the sun within a moments notice and you can't get it soon enough(for them), calling them to tell them might get you an ear-full.

I think asking if they want a call back, regardless of status, would be appropriate.

You know what peeves me more than anything? It is the sales guy stopping in the middle of my transaction to answer a phone and spend 5 minutes talking to a potential customer while ignoring one standing right in front of him. Stores should have phones answered by someone doing only that and put the phone customer on hold rather than the in store customer, but sadly, most of them are like teenagers with a text message. They cant wait to pick up the phone.

The only thing worse is the clerk or salesperson on a personal call and ignoring you standing at the register and just keeps on talking and talking. I have many times just thrown my purchases on the counter and walked out all the time telling the person how inept they are and should be fired.

What's even worse is listening to them leave a long voicemail to YOU while you are standing there, not recognizing it is you who just walked up. I started to wonder who had the same exact situation I had.

 

[Arc weld]

Of course a paying customer right in front of you should always take precedence over everything else, unless the building is on fire. If you were on the phone when the person walked in is a little different but you should acknowledge them and try to get to them in less than a minute. I probably could have worded it better but calling a customer back when you have no idea when you can get an answer will sometimes p-them off worse than if you wait till you have an answer. It's a no win situation. A lot of times, you're relying on someone else to get the answer you need. What's worse is giving the customers information/order to the salesman handling that account and that person not doing anything with it. Then being on the order desk, you get the call from the irate customer upset nothing was done with their order. It's really bad when it's your supervisor dropping the ball and it's not an uncommon occurrence. :banghead: Another problem is other people answering the phone if the order desk is busy but not picking up the phone until after it rings half a dozen times or more. After 3 rings, the order desk is probably busy.:duh:

I was a little peeved today. They hired a new guy for the order desk a few weeks ago that doesn't have any welding experience. I come in this morning and he say's that he's going to a welding show with the supervisor. Then the girl who also works the order desk say's she's going to the show in the afternoon. Real nice of management to have asked if I wanted to go.:irked: I'm basically alone on the order desk for 1 1/2 hours. I did have some help from the girl helping us with the new computer system. She even suggested she could stay helping at the order desk so I could attend the show but... it was too late. The new guy comes back from the show about 12:30 and asks if he can take his lunch then. I'm already late for my normal lunch break and said no, I'm already late for mine! I don't mind filling in or staying a little late when needed but really, you spent all morning at a welding show, that I don't get to attend, and come back and want your lunch break the minute you walk in the door. I like him but he's always the first one out the door at 5. He used to leave 5 minutes early everyday until he was set up on the time clock. I don't think that makes a very good impression for a new employee. We had a couple late customers yesterday and he just left at 5. I didn't get out till 5:35 making sure the orders were completed. Then today, he leaves 5 minutes early again because he has to go pick up some lawn furniture. WTF:anyone:

 

[deerseeker001]

Good luck with Job hunt.