How is your work relation??

I had something on my mind today and wanted to get some feedback from others in the workforce. I was wondering how are your relations with the people you work with, how do you see and treat the people that you work with?? Are you friends with them or just other employees??

Main reason I ask, I been on job board sites and one of the questionnaires ask "My co-workers are..." with a range option of being good friends to just employees. Due to my experience with the Military, you could say that I am bitter towards other co-workers and I have no other choice but to work with them, since you can't exactly just quit the Service. Anyways I have a very strong sense that they are only Co-workers, even go as far as to not drinking with them unless it is for a special occasion. Other than that, I would go as far as to avoid any official function since I don't share "Camaraderie" with them. When I answered that question it got me thinking, would an answer like that reflect that I am not a team player?? I am a team player when it comes to the Job and the Mission, burning a midnight candle even when my presence is not required. Anything beyond that wouldn't matter to me; I like to keep things Business. On the civilian side, would seeing your co-workers as just employees a bad trait to have?? Would something like that reflect that I am not a "Team Player" in an interview or should I count this trait as one of my weaknesses??

What do you guys think??

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Comments

SteveFT

I consider my co-workers friends that could be lost forever at any point in time. Sometimes you have to make career or business decisions that might affect your relationship with co-workers. Likewise, many people are jealous and even being promoted might cause them to have hard feelings. All that being said, I am almost always at least friendly with co-workers. While I don't want to make my co-worker my best friend, they can be very useful connections in the future.

Params7

Co-workers are just people. Human beings are very social animals at their core. I don't see why your co-workers sometimes also couldn't be your good buddies.

CCNTrainee

Well like I said, my experiance has changed my views in the way I see my co-workers... The people from my first deployment were the ones that were my good buddies and heck I see them as my family. When I came back from that tour, alot of people I was "good friends" with prior to my first deployment either got out or became very shady, spoiled/lazy and selfish. I also realized how much weight they actually pulled when it came to the job with most being useless, thinking they are better then the job yet their skills are crap. Lol It is easy to see the truth when you are no longer on the level of being friends even when I am a nice guy to them.

VAHokie56

I still keep up regularly with co-workers from 5 years ago and more recent ones from jobs I moved on from. I think having good relationships with your co-workers/managers is vital, builds a team environment and trust. I know I can call upon most of my guys at any time to have my back for help or stick up for me if need be. As far as keeping up with past co-workers it can never hurt most of them are spread out in area in great Networking gigs and we all keep each other posted on job movements and try to catch up for drinks monthly. SO imo...make friends, I mean we all got to spend give or take 8 hours with each other in most cases...might as well.

the_Grinch

I can see the point that you are making and where I will definitely agree with you is being friends with someone in upper management. I've seen a lot of issues with this friendship both personally and second hand. That being said, I am always friends with my coworkers. Just last night I actually went out to happy hour with friends from my last job. I've been to events with them, concerts with some, parties, etc. My old boss and I were actually extremely close and we text a couple times a week (mostly movie quotes or about Boardwalk Empire). I'm a fairly social guy and I tend to think that it helps with getting work done.

WafflesAndRootbeer

IT is a pretty cut-throat career field no matter where you work or who you work for. The old adage "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." certainly applies. I've never worked with anyone I would consider remotely trustworthy or "friend-material" based on their conduct and how easy it is for them to be two-faced. That being said, I keep things professional and don't form social relations with people I work with and in many cases I've been - as odd as it sounds - specifically told by "The Boss" not to engage in social interaction or anything that is "buddy-buddy".

VAHokie56

WafflesAndRootbeer wrote: »

IT is a pretty cut-throat career field no matter where you work or who you work for. The old adage "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." certainly applies. I've never worked with anyone I would consider remotely trustworthy or "friend-material" based on their conduct and how easy it is for them to be two-faced. That being said, I keep things professional and don't form social relations with people I work with and in many cases I've been - as odd as it sounds - specifically told by "The Boss" not to engage in social interaction or anything that is "buddy-buddy".

No offense but that sounds dreadfully awful

WafflesAndRootbeer

That's just the way things are these days. On a few occasions I've been let go from contract gigs because those in management - allegedly/supposedly - thought I was buddy-buddy/too familiar/whatever with people I simply knew from other jobs that I had worked in the past but didn't actually have any friendships with and didn't see except in passing every so often when they came into my orbit. I know it sounds weird, but I'm not making it up.

Hypntick

I tend to keep folks at work as strictly work relationships. Sure I may go grab a bite to eat with some co-workers, but anything outside of the business day is my own time. I've made some friends that transition to outside of work relationships, but that's only after i've found another opportunity.

--chris--

SteveFT wrote: »

I consider my co-workers friends that could be lost forever at any point in time. Sometimes you have to make career or business decisions that might affect your relationship with co-workers. Likewise, many people are jealous and even being promoted might cause them to have hard feelings. All that being said, I am almost always at least friendly with co-workers. While I don't want to make my co-worker my best friend, they can be very useful connections in the future.

Pretty much this, but I make exceptions. The place I just left I was nice, social and said "hi" "how are you?" to every person I met everday. But I would not be friendly outside of that. I had work to do, if our paths crossed during the work day that I would resume my normal friendly/helpful attitude but I would not seek break time with co-workers.

ratchoke

I think this is where a lot of people go wrong w/ 'work relationships'

Other than the fact it can greatly increase your ability to network and move-up within a company. It's also a great way to help enjoy work, which is just as important imo.

Remember, networking is frowned upon by many because they believe performance should be everything. However, that is only partly true, if you were building a team. Would you build a team were one guy was awesome but a total dick, and or didn't get along with everyone? No because it would be detrimental to a team effort. Of course, this doesn't apply to some positions, but for the most part it is true. This is why knowing your management helps, because it gives them an opportunity to know who you are as a person. Now this shouldn't be confused w/ brown nossing.....

CCNTrainee

Wow, lot of feedback then I expected... lol

Like I said, I'm not in the civilian sector yet but it is nice to see these POVs from the Civilian workforce. Since I am in the Service still, it is not like we can quit our position or "fire" anybody in general, we just have to work with what we are dealt with... I would prefer a Cut-throat environment mostly because that would mean that my co-workers have the skill to do the job and actually pull their damn weight, instead of being a mouth breather that is just taking space in the shop. They obviously don't belong in the field and only joined the Service for the nice GI benefits, the free healthcare, and the guaranteed paycheck for 4-6 years contract. I hate Dirtbags that treat the Military like a welfare system, you are guaranteed to get paid why you don’t earn it and pull your damn weight. We have to work as a team regardless and your team is only strong as its weakest link, in my shop there are too many weak/LAZY links and too few of Superstars, people that actually want to be here, taking pride in the IT field.

Anyways, it is nice to know what to look forward too when I do enter the Civilian side IT, I hope to run into people that actually do work then just be a mouth-breather that skims out of everything...

Master Of Puppets

It would be a good idea to get to know the team before starting the job. It is not uncommon to meet the people you are going to work with before starting.

I for one have a great relationship with my co-workers. I haven't been here for a long time and one of them is already a close friend. The best thing is the awesome, friendly relationship I have with my boss. We, in the networking team, get on perfectly. Things shouldn't be that bad when you get out but striving to meet your future colleagues before accepting the gig is not a bad idea.

Crikey

I always try to have a good professional relationship with my co-workers. This doesn't mean that I don't allow anything personal in the relationship, I just let that naturally build over time. I generally just let that aspect takes its course on its own terms.

That said, there are definitely people that I've worked with that I wouldn't give the time of day to outside of the office, for any reason.

Jon_Cisco

CCNTrainee wrote: »

Wow, lot of feedback then I expected... lol

Like I said, I'm not in the civilian sector yet but it is nice to see these POVs from the Civilian workforce. Since I am in the Service still, it is not like we can quit our position or "fire" anybody in general, we just have to work with what we are dealt with... I would prefer a Cut-throat environment mostly because that would mean that my co-workers have the skill to do the job and actually pull their damn weight, instead of being a mouth breather that is just taking space in the shop. They obviously don't belong in the field and only joined the Service for the nice GI benefits, the free healthcare, and the guaranteed paycheck for 4-6 years contract. I hate Dirtbags that treat the Military like a welfare system, you are guaranteed to get paid why you don’t earn it and pull your damn weight. We have to work as a team regardless and your team is only strong as its weakest link, in my shop there are too many weak/LAZY links and too few of Superstars, people that actually want to be here, taking pride in the IT field.

Anyways, it is nice to know what to look forward too when I do enter the Civilian side IT, I hope to run into people that actually do work then just be a mouth-breather that skims out of everything...

Don't expect business to be that much different then your current situation. All jobs have good and bad employees and the reasons for them being promoted don't always align with your way of thinking.

As to being friends with co-workers. If you like them then you will probably develop some friendships. Sometimes it just does not happen.

CCNTrainee

I can see things not being so different, but there are factors in the Cilivian world that would the very least "filter out" the window licking mouth breathers. For one, you can actually fire the dirtbags, a great chance I don't have to deal with a person for years if they aren't doing actual work. The second factor is that people would need some knowledge and some performing skill to be in the IT position in the first place. They would need certs, have IT foundation down and be able to sound competent enough in a interview before they even step foot in the work enviorment.

devils_haircut

CCNTrainee wrote: »

For one, you can actually fire the dirtbags

You might be surprised at the number of people that slip by doing nothing for years, or at the general apathy of some managers.

WafflesAndRootbeer

CCNTrainee wrote: »

I can see things not being so different, but there are factors in the Cilivian world that would the very least "filter out" the window licking mouth breathers. For one, you can actually fire the dirtbags, a great chance I don't have to deal with a person for years if they aren't doing actual work. The second factor is that people would need some knowledge and some performing skill to be in the IT position in the first place. They would need certs, have IT foundation down and be able to sound competent enough in a interview before they even step foot in the work enviorment.

Not really. I run into a lot of people with no skills or real IT knowledge pulling down decent salaries just because someone they know - often family - got them the job by signing off on it. Here in Northern VA, we have tons of MilGovCons owned and run by such people and they get contracts for big money because of their ethnicity, gender, or where their business is incorporated. Heck, I see those guys hiring vets with no IT experience or credentials for IT jobs just to get their tax credits or someone with a security clearance. IT is not like it was in the 90's when you had to know your stuff to get in and stay in. It's a free-for-all these days now that contractors are the norm.

Snow.bros

Well i am the youngest in the technical team and i am the most quiet guy in the office but if i get used to a person or if you get used to me i am most friendly, it's hard to get used to someone on a serious environment where every person is focused on doing their job which makes my relationship with co-workers less friendlier and keeping it a bit professional.

CCNTrainee

WafflesAndRootbeer wrote: »

Not really. I run into a lot of people with no skills or real IT knowledge pulling down decent salaries just because someone they know - often family - got them the job by signing off on it. Here in Northern VA, we have tons of MilGovCons owned and run by such people and they get contracts for big money because of their ethnicity, gender, or where their business is incorporated. Heck, I see those guys hiring vets with no IT experience or credentials for IT jobs just to get their tax credits or someone with a security clearance. IT is not like it was in the 90's when you had to know your stuff to get in and stay in. It's a free-for-all these days now that contractors are the norm.

Well if that is the case, I better get a job as well when I get out, since I am a Tax Credit Minority that has a Security Clearance and is an actual Combat Vet that got to use his weapons. LOL

I think it is kind of funny reading your comment about comparing the 90s after reading the State of the IT Field Thread.

CCNTrainee

devils_haircut wrote: »

You might be surprised at the number of people that slip by doing nothing for years, or at the general apathy of some managers.

That sounds like the "Clever" ones that actually try to get out of things... there is a difference from someone that is sneaky about something and someone that is straight out a useless "POS", where it is obvious to everyone, including to the ones in charge. Can't just get rid of anybody even the ones just being a "warm body." Lol

At least I got one thing to look forward to on the Cilivian side... no longer will I be tasked for a "Security" deployment while the useless ones get these cake taskings to Germany, Kuwait, Africa, any other place where you are allowed to drink Alcohal and you are always safe... >_> Lmao