Maybe just me, but I have always somewhat been like most of the young crowd nowadays about work and bosses. Just saw an auto mechanic job they said need reliable transportation and be on time for your shift. Hmm I guess they have had some issues with that. All this job nastiness is going to have to change when it comes to the younger bunch, I'm actually glad to see it. Since I was a slave at most places I worked at. Well me when I had to do the nasty wrench jobs I needed some lee way. Especially when working in sub freezing conditions in a non heated shop. When sittin on a dozer or hoe, I was on time and put in OT. Not so doing the jumping around wrench and welding stuff though. I have always laughed at jobs that advertise "fast paced", serious like that is desirable? How crazy are they? Me and many others I worked with in machine shops liked to have calm paced work places, and calm supervisors, as the ___holes and screamers cause cnc crashes and scrapped parts. I do miss all the machines I have played with in the day. And only a few of the bosses and outfits. So what you think?
I remember going for a job interview and the guy was screaming at an employee when I got there. Needless to say I didn't go work there.
I have always told every prospective employer, I will crawl over broken glass for you and disappear your wife but the moment I don’t trust you, my tool box has made moves before. I am always on time and work until the job is done. I have always described it as a turn key employee. Turn the key to open the shop, turn the key to close the shop.
Seen too many guys who would do a job that couldn't be done without great risk to hurting themselves, only to see companies wash their hands of them once their back or shoulders or knee gave out. I quit one job before ever starting as a boss and worker were trying to lift a 300 pound idler into place and the forklift was just parked. Had to do it by hand. My tool box was on my truck and never got unloaded. Simon C
I work with a kid who is gung-ho like that. He's 21 and already walks like he's in his 50's. "Its a tough job" No, he's a ****ing idiot. I've watched him try to manhandle things when it'd take an extra 5 minutes to grab a jack or a hoist. Like you said, the owner doesn't care if your body's used up by 40. I'll gladly be the guy who takes a half hour longer on a job to not destroy myself.
Myself I don't have much use for a lot of these younger guys. Once in a while one comes along that surprises me but that's rare. I honestly feel like most of my day is spent hand holding and babysitting.
Another one to be really leery about is when they list it as a lean manufacturing facility. It's head down *** up get stuff out the door as fast as possible all day everyday. No thanks!
I'm lucky where i am. Been here since 1998. Seen them continue paying guys that get sick, or help out when they can. The main owner has been away for a month. Went to Germany. I was at the shop Friday cleaning out the back of my truck. It was after 5, so most people were gone. He's not around as much, he's 72, an a bad back, but he comes over genuinely happy to see me. Training a new truck driver as my regular guy decided to take an open position hauling dump trailer. 24, new baby. Worked the oil sands in Alberta. Seems willing to work, and to listen. Working around someone's house is different than a big job site. They hire young people, some work, some don't. I was taking a sign course last spring, and we went to lunch together. Me and another guy were the only ones over 50, the rest were a bunch of 20 year old. When I came here I was 27, and it was a bunch of old guys. Now I'm considered an old guy
It's odd how management at so many places can't figure why they have high turn over. Self reflection is a skill none of them learned getting their MBAs. Around here to get one of the good jobs you have to wait for someone to retire. Otherwise you're going to work for a revolving door company.
Anybody who worked in the oil sands probably put in some long hours. There are a lot of people that flock to the oil sands when it's booming. When I worked at West Edmonton Mall there was one manager who was a complete *******. He was the reason I quit and many before me quit. The millwrights told him to stay away and leave them alone because too many were quitting and it takes awhile to train the new guys. Working in an amusement park is totally different than most other millwright work. He stayed away for awhile but it didn't last. The only reason he got the job was because he went to the same church as the mall owners. Claimed to be a millwright in Russia or somewhere and borrowed some books and was allowed to challenge the journeyman exam. He somehow passed but had the worst people skills you could imagine. When the roof leaked over the skating rink the head mall manager was helping clean up. This idiot and another idiot above him were watching from railing of the 2nd floor while everybody else was trying to clean it up. My boss was afraid of the idiot and wouldn't stand up to him even when he knew the idiot was out of line. That was part of the reason I quit too. Wimpy boss was also the mayor of city near Edmonton. Definitely a politician! Told you what you wanted to hear and it meant absolutely nothing.
The thing that always rubbed me was when I was up to my axx in alligators on a truck doing a clutch job,brake job or chasing some problem and the batch plant would call over for me to grab a mixer off the front line because they were short a driver today on some big pour. Better yet—-I’d get there and find I had to deal with something broke on one of the mixers already there before he could unload—or he was stuck—-or sumpthin’ else. I always carried a toolbox with basic tools when I went out like that. Fun times !!!
Shops, work load and personalities---anyone of those by it's self that isn't balanced can turn the atmosphere in any setting into a turd. * But all that can be neutralized by some humor. The pressed shirt, creased pants of a serious company manager attitude can do more harm in 10 seconds to the morale of a shop than any bomb built in work place environment. A job can be the sh!tt!est of jobs and still get done well at the end of day, but throw in a stamped cut out of a company maintenance manager who lays down unreasonable shop rules and has a upper know it all attitude and about the only thing on a mechanics mind is going home. The dapper looking cotton docker jacka$$ with logo is a automatic downer for the work force in any shop. Especially when those working the floor know he/she has never picked up a wrench to earn a living. Too much stern behavior is a damper for work flow. * For me putting on a pair of overalls with corporate logo crap sewn on just is a little to regimental. It wasn't necessarily the work it's the under the company thumb feeling that ruins it for most. IMO. * I remember unloading tools at a job and the shop manager says {swearing isn't allowed around here}. I started loading back up {what are you doing he asked?} { I didn't see the steeple on the roof when I applied, adios}. *
No swearing on the company radio because of the girls in the office. Out on the job OK, but comon sense has to be used working around the public. Kids and such
Never been allowed on two way radio, Public--public shouldn't be in a shop. I don't think I need reminded of what is what isn't--I've managed three shops. One thing I did do was bounce anyone who was a zip tight buttoned to their neck.
I'm not allowed in the shop, it's distracting to the guys, and they don't get paid to talk to me. But if I'm in so and so's yard doing their driveway, we can't be dropping f bombs. Even if she swears more than me
The female dispatcher at a local cement plant put's most of the guys to shame with the sailor language.
The owner likes to say shizzle--I said to him, you may as well cut it short and put a T in it. You ain't fooling anyone. * Another reason I worked fleet, and in control I set the banter.
Mental illness and severe personality disorders are a lot more common than we realise. Twenty percent of the population will suffer from mental illness at some point in their life a further twenty percent have personality disorders severe enough to cause them and people around them problems. People that suffer from them tend to have aggressive personalities as well often getting them into leadership positions as managers and supervisors. A few years ago I took a course on understanding mental illness. My step son lives with schizophrenia. It was very interesting and a real eye opener. I realised that there was more than one person in my family with problems. That course really helped with my outlook on life. The micro manager is most likely suffering from an obsessive mental disorder. I worked at a Kenworth Case Link-Belt dealer for over twenty years. They had nineteen branches and close to a thousand employees. I was the senior mechanic. They invested a lot of money in training me and I had a good job good pay rate and good benefits. I could bank my overtime at double time. I was a single parent with three children I would take my months holidays and a banked month and have almost the same time off in the summer that my school age children had. One day the service manager left and was replaced by a micromanager who also suffered from extreme black and white thinking. He came from a truck owner operator background so he knew a little bit about the mechanical aspect of trucks but not as much as he thought. He needed to be in control of every job that was being done in the shop thought he could do all the troubleshooting. A few months later the dealer manager left and somehow the micro manager was promoted to dealer manager. I promptly found a new job. He did me a favour I ended up with a pension and was semi retired at sixty fifteen years later. All the senior people left leaving the company very short handed. They couldn't get any new hires to stay and a couple years later the company laid off the remaining employees and closed the store. Why they didn't replace the manager I can't imagine. The business opened in 1959 and the company I worked for bought it in 1969. In the fifty-one years they owned it it never failed to turn a profit, some years maybe not as much as they wanted.
My wife burps, farts, and swears worse than anyone i know. She used to like to fight when she was younger. She said 3 girls jumped her one night. Took her almost a year, but she got each one of them alone. Said she still remembers the last one crying. Needless to say that I'm a good boy when she has a drink
Lovely Lass....Related to Stompin' Tom ?
Try working for a owner with bi-polar, ocd issues and his wife is a sociopath. There are many of those duo's in the business world, while he's choking a employee she was holding a torch to their feet.
If given the time to investigate everyone's mind--there isn't really anyone that could be classified as totally sane--simply because of something done in their past--and the person handing out the sane awards--who's to say he's sane.
Cape Breton girl.
I been offered the job as the boss a few times and sorta declined. I told them that no matter what decision I make you have to back me up 100%. They would not like some of my idea's. But most everyone working under me would. And production would be very good.
Thing we have noticed is the younger generation can't go more than 3 minutes without fiddling with their phone. We pay you to learn a trade and then be able to produce a quality product. We are not paying you to play on your phone. That can be done at home or standing in the unemployment line. Stay off my damn lawn.......
I had to google it. The answers here must have been coded by damn Millennials or Zoomers, who have to look at their phone every 3 minutes to try and find the answer to anything about life......explains a whole lot.....
My 14 year old told me when I got my phone, not to down load Facebook. Or tic tok. I find it's mostly work stuff and hef that take up my screen time
I have a good friend that has a personal cell phone and a work cell phone. Whenever I’m around him, his cellphones are always going off and it’s extremely distracting. When he comes over and I’m in the shop, first thing I tell him is to shut the phones off. Even going hunting with him, don’t do that anymore. His damn phones are constantly dinging and ringing.
Spent most of my career working in bush/heli camps...prior to the first crude satellite systems you were in for 3-4 weeks straight; not sure most would be up for that now....Completely cut off In the late 80's we sometimes had Mobitel VHF access, you would ask the operator for privacy...that way others on the open air could only hear one side of the conversation! Funny story: We drove a keen, young new helper/core splitter in to our exploration camp in the Toodoggone. They took one look around at our tent frame camp and hitched a ride out with a driller the next morning! 470km of gravel/dirt roads into camp...
A few years back I was having a conversation with my brother in law when I realized he wasn't talking to me, he was on his phone (mid conversation lol...)
My bosses cell phones never stop ringing. If I call one of them. If they don't answer after 3 rings. I hang up cause they are probably busy and will call me back