Tossed under bus

Wow, forgot just what private sector jobs were like. Got tossed under the bus at new job and was let go for it. And they wonder why I didn't want to quit my day job.

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N2IT

Sorry to hear that

I wish you the best

kevozz

What happened? Maybe we can learn from it too.

NotHackingYou

Sorry to hear this, good luck as you move on in your career.

Roguetadhg

Tell your story. Share it so that others may learn and avoid the same pitfall

I'll tell you a short story - I got an email from a supervisor that wanted to know how much I'll take for getting him some company computers and desks. Yay for people wanting me to steal from the company

CodeBlox

So did you report the supervisor?

Roguetadhg

At first, I had thought he wanted to know where to buy - I pointed him to OfficeMax. Then he clarified "My business venture"... I told him I don't know anything about the equipment. I forwarded it to my bosses today so they know what's going down - Just in case.

They've been busy this weekend so I didn't bother them with it. I handled it and forwarded it along. Hate to be a nark, but it just screamed "Toss Ya Under the Bus!"

I told this story to hear OPs story, and maybe other persons as well?

olaHalo

this thread is interesting! waiting to hear what happened

JustFred

Sad to hear that. Hope things work out for the better in the future

eansdad

I was working with another guy who was working a long change. After his shift he leaves for the day and I get an email about an application instance on one of the servers not starting. So being the new guy, I ask where it is on the server and what should I look for to make sure it is up. Guy gives me wrong information, meanwhile alerts are coming in that I thought were from the application restart. I wasn't trained on these alerts and they looked similar to the ones from earlier when the other guy was working the change. So after a few emails we get the instance running again and during this the next shift comes on (I am by myself during this). I give the updates to the next shift while doing working the restart and I missed an email for an all call for a huge issue. Long story short the alerts where major (even though they corresponded to my restart attempts) and all hell broke lose. I stayed about 30minutes into it since I thought it had to do with what I was doing and the issue looked like it was resolving.

So turns out that the guy I was working with missed a restart during his change, then I find out that he was asked to do something that would have prevented the whole mess but decided not to do to some other issuses going on and neglected to inform me about it.

For the 3 months I was there I received nothing but praise for the job I was doing, how fast I was picking everything up and for being a team player and volunteering for the worst shift.

Never been fired before, over a decade in IT.

Moral of the story I guess is when they say "we need to stick together" it really means "every man for him/herslef". Apparently audit logs and e-mail trails don't mean a thing. Oh well, I believe in karma and good things will happen....they always do!

Everyone

eansdad wrote: »

Apparently audit logs and e-mail trails don't mean a thing.

I bet they mean a lot in a wrongful termination case.

N2IT

That reminds me.

One of my team leads has a technician working for him that is a great artist. He has this huge picture of a bus with all the technicians getting ran over. He has one of the people saying "Hurry get under the bus".

It's funny but of course not appropriate so I had my team lead take it down. I don't want my boss seeing it

shodown

I actually don't see how this could lead to a termination unless somebody just wanted a head to roll. This doesn't make since. I'm not saying your story is false, but there had to be a lot of parts moving in the behind scenes, or you just happen to hit a policy that is cause for automatic termination. People on this site have done way more disruptive things and not being let for for them.

eansdad

The down time cost them money, not to mention our dept was already under managements watch. CIO was ticked...

Mrock4

eansdad- sorry to hear about your situation. Don't let it put too bad of a taste in your mouth. While I have experienced the same thing in organizations, my current company- whom I was hired by only a few months ago, has a FANTASTIC culture, where I can honestly say people look out for each other. It's a big company, but more of a family atmosphere- people will literally go to the end of the earth to help you out, which says a lot.

So consider this your opportunity to grow professionally and find a place like I described, because obviously the place you were at wasn't.

I genuinely think this industry needs to begin focusing on hiring/developing quality leaders.

W Stewart

That's exactly why I left my last job. If you're the new guy there's no reason you should be there working by yourself when you don't fully understand how everything works at that particular company. My last job was at a NOC and they only had one guy there every shift. Besides the fact that it left no room for personal emergencies(I have a son and all) and I got a talking too a few times for things that I didn't know, my manager just reeked of incompetence. He was new himself and pissed off the engineers who had been there for 10 years due to his incometence. On top of that he would constantly try to save face in front of his boss and would quickly throw me under the bus. The last thing I wanted was to lose my job over something that I wasn't properly trained on so I left for something much better.

m3zilla

shodown wrote: »

I actually don't see how this could lead to a termination unless somebody just wanted a head to roll.

I agree. I've done worse, and have seen much worse! So you were essentially let go for missing an email? IMO, if it's a "all hands on deck" issue, I would question the idiot who decided to send you an email instead of calling you...

WiseWun

m3zilla wrote: »

I agree. I've done worse, and have seen much worse! So you were essentially let go for missing an email? IMO, if it's a "all hands on deck" issue, I would question the idiot who decided to send you an email instead of calling you...

This happened where I worked and finally the managers notified all the support teams to CALL instead of sending an e-mail. Nobody is constantly going to check their e-mails on a 12-hr shift.

To the OP, I'm sure you'll get back on your feet and find something better. Who knows that ticked off CIO will ask you for a reference one day! Happened to me but my CIO was a nice guy.

N2IT

Sounds like a poorly designed process.

eansdad

Thanks everyone. I'm just glad I didn't leave my day job as a computer tech like I was planning to. At least I got some good exp within a Linux environment.

blargoe

Someone higher up probably demanded a head to roll and you were probably the path of least resistance. That really sucks, but you will grow from it, and those scars from the knife that went into your back will make you tougher.

petedude

N2IT wrote: »

Sounds like a poorly designed process.

. . . and a poorly managed department/corporate culture.

[rant]
Seriously, stuff like this just hurts American business way more than it helps.
[/rant]

zrockstar

Sounds like a poorly ran company anyways... newbie working by himself, communication by e-mail, guy can't even remote in for a major problem and fix it himself. If anyones head should get rolled it should be that CIOs. Sorry you got canned man, but you will find something much better.

mgmguy1

The best way to stick it to them is grow as a IT person. Learn, Get skills and become one of those people that management cannot fire no matter how much you piss them off. I have seen people who were really good at there jobs but were not good Team Players who missed wave after wave of Lay off's because they knew too much. I also knew people who were so good at there job's that they came back with repeated incentive packages to stay with the company when they put in there two weeks. You will find something better.

Side note: A tech once told me he put in his two weeks because he got tired of management passing him over for a Tier 3 Help Desk position.
He left the company and went to work at this Major telecom provider and with in a year he became a manager. After 4 years of doing that he received a call from one of his friends who still worked at his old job and asked him to interview for the IT Directors position. Just for giggles this guy went and interviewed for the position. He was offered the job on the spot and took it. The funny part to this story is the fact that this person aka The Tech now is the IT Director at this small IT company and writes the employee reviews on the very people who kept passing over for the tier 3 position.

QHalo

Honestly, its this type of behavior that helps push people to not help out at all unless it directly pertains to them. I know many who have been burned by situations like this and its caused them to go completely jaded because they are 'just helping'. Don't be that guy that ends up becoming jaded and doesn't want to be a team player, please. As for your co-worker, shame on him for not setting a better example of what to do during a change window. Communication, communication, communication.

Chitownjedi

Karma man, you will be blessed many times more. Just stay positive and manifest your next step forward!

kurosaki00

sorry to read that man.
Dont let it discourage you, like JP say ganbatte!
(or just keep trying your best)

powerfool

So far, every time I have lost a job (only once from my cause... very early in my career from a boss that wanted someone with 15 years experience at the cost of someone with 2 years of experience) it has worked out better in the long run. It certainly is tough if it takes a while to find another gig, but keep focusing on growing your skills and career. Last job I lost, they just wanted to clean shop, so everyone was cut upon returning after New Year's. With vacation and severance, I had two months of cash. I found a new job starting the first of March (very lateral, slightly less pay) that I ended up leaving within the first three weeks for a big change (much different and larger environment and a significant increase in pay and benefits).

Take something if you need the cash, but keep your eyes on the big opportunity. Best wishes.

snokerpoker

Stuff like this happened all the time at the NOC I worked at a while ago. Sounds like you're dealing with it well. Keep up the good work!

Nemowolf

I just wanted to add that its support like this that smoothes the jaded edges i have for this career. Good will come your way!

truckfit

it happens mate.

best of luck and I hope something good will come soon.