Ask Lemmy

Bullies go unpunished by corporate unless it's overtly sexual or racist in nature. If you stick your neck out to defend someone getting bullied the company and the victim will leave you hanging in the future when the unpunished bully turns on you next. HR are soulless husks.

You can't go in and give 100% every day. You will burn out. Give 70% regularly. Only give 100% when shit really hits the fan. People will think you are a miracle worker.

People are really fucking stupid. I work in IT. I'm a helpdesk tech at an MSP, and I see profound idiocy all day every day. People have no critical thinking skill and seem proud of the fact they don't know shit about anything. People young and old say they're tech illiterate like it's a good thing.

Join a union the first chance you get, they exist to fight against HR, and to fuck over the company if they try to fuck you over

Your boss's priorities are your priorities.

You can get away with a LOT if you keep people up to date with what you're doing

These are my grandfather's words not mine: no matter how much of an idiot your boss is, he is still your boss

Being right doesn’t matter if you can’t convince others.

Reward for being even slightly competent and having work ethic is more work. To the point where you are doing everything until you break.

If you do something that needed to be done out of curtesy it'll become your responsibility.

If you want to find someone who understand something about the corporation, look at the basement.

Never try and improve things, specifically things having to do with how your job, group, division, it whatever works. Don't try and improve efficiency, optimize workflow, or anything like that. Just do what you're paid to and nothing more. If the company wants things to be more efficient then they can have your boss figure it out on their own. If they don't punish you for trying them they won't reward you for success, so don't bother. Going above and beyond never works out.

No matter what, under no circumstances should you ever believe the company or place you work for will back you up.

If a company was placed in a situation where they can get rid of you for any reason, they will and they will do it as fast as possible.

Even if you believe you are irreplaceable, a company will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to get you out of the equation.

Even if you have been with the company for 20+ years, if the company sees a way to save a hundred bucks by getting rid of you, they will.

Even if you and your boss and their bosses are buddy buddy and they are the godparent to your child and if you donated them a kidney, they will replace you.

Even if you show that you work the most, bring in the most sales, work the longest, get paid the least, and do work so everyone can slack off, they will replace you.

Also HR is never there for you. It is there to protect the company first and foremost. If you go to them for any reason, you are on a list to be the first to go.

Don’t touch liquid nitrogen with your bare hands.

Don’t touch glowing metal with your bare hands.

Don’t touch exposed wire with your bare hands.

Star Trek lied to us about the competency levels of our co-workers.

for me:

Your

Your

Your

You're represented by your words. It can cost you opportunities.

Hard skills are important for doing the underlying job, but soft skills matter more if you want to progress in the career as well as financially.

You could be the smartest person alive, but if you don't communicate effectively and play nice with others you're almost useless.

Validate your backups regularly.

Also, make backups.

Cover Your Ass

If you don't show up, you get fired.

When you're 19, this is a valuable lesson.

People (customers and coworkers alike) are generally not very bright, putting it politely. No matter how foolproof you design a system, the human race is out there absolutely cranking out bigger fools than you even imagined.

HR protects and represents the company, not you as an employee.

Everybody has a test environment.

Some are lucky enough to also have a production environment.

Just because someone was made a supervisor it doesn't mean they know what they are doing.

To be cool and not let emotion dictate your behaviour.

Keep notes on your work.

1. Its proof of the work you have done
2. A lot of people forget things, including yourself.
3. It helps you reflect back. Helps with projects that are spaced apart as well.

*You're. I'm sorry for being that guy, but you've made that mistake three times.

Anyways, it is never worth being the hard-working type. I've learned the lesson that once you prove to be reliable, management is going to gravitate towards you and work you to death. That means, they'll want you always helping others, they want you in multiple departments, they want you doing extra tasks on top of everything you do.

So, don't be reliable. Just do what you can and call it a day. Don't over-achieve, especially if the company-related rewards aren't worth it.

It usually doesn’t need to be perfect, good enough is often good enough and can be a lot faster where trying for perfection might not get finished in time.

Do NOT let people walk over you. Especially collegues. Especially collegues who have a history

That's a great question and there are so many good answers in this thread.

Don't expect your superiors to ever back you up. I got burned so many times. I knew I was right, but they didn't have a backbone and only thought about the budget, their reputation, and the work they'd have to put in for damage control. I wanted to shut restaurants for their filthiness, but "Oh noes, what will the community think". Well, if someone dies, then it's on your head. DOCUMENT EVERYTHING.

Even if a conversation or direction was made verbally, always follow up with an email to say "Just to confirm our conversation today, you have directed me to...." Even if it's about holidays. My old boss was such a prick. Him and all upper management are the reason I am suspicious of everyone and everything.

99% of people don't wash their hands properly.