Clueless interviews



  • I've been a regular TDWTF reader, but this one actually made me join and post. Partly because it's so horribly stupid of the said IT technician to have asked such a question, but also because it just mirrors exactly what has been happening in the past year or so at their place (the whole year was a WTF in itself, but is way too long to explain and write up properly).

    To sum things up and start the story, the place in question is a school. As such, one might expect to have good IT technicians, and certainly that they know how to handle their stuff. Ironically, the IT "head" decided to leave after a new IT technician was hired - the kind of technician that does nothing during the whole day, collects forms and "redistributes" them to the knowledgeable person. I also had the misfortune of working there during the holidays, as I like to help the school I graduated from (and it made me a bit of money on the side).
    Anyway, the WTF itself was for the interviews for the new IT technician. The management asked of the second IT technician (call him Sam) to produce a set of technical questions for the interviewers to ask. Here are two, both WTF-worthy:

    Q5. There are different methods to share one internet connection for multiple numbers of computers, Could you describe one of them.

     Now, if you've worked at the place, you know that they have a set of Cisco switches, all linked (without failover dependency, which was a really fun thing to find out when I was working on their infrastructure during the holidays) to a PIX firewall, which is itself linked to a router. What is the point of such a stupid question, especially when a teenager could answer it?

    The real wtf, however, was this:

    Q3: Scenario: the main network server (Domain Controller - DC) has crashed and no one can log on and you can not restart it without investigation, at the same time, a teacher wants you to go and change a toner in a printer in a classroom and you do not know the make or model of the printer, and another teacher wants you to setup a projector in a hall for a presentation for an audience that starts in 5 minutes. What would you do?

    The place - as it says, operates using a windows-based network. It has its advantages, and disadvantages: if the DC is down, no-one can log in. As such, this hypothetical situation wouldn't have happened, as the said teacher wouldn't have been able to log on to any of the PCs in the school. The presentation would be equally dodgy, for the same reason (although, recently, teachers have started storing their data on USB drives).
    As it happens, the answers to the question were:

    Ask the first teacher to fetch the empty toner and give replacement (incident)
    Go and setup projector (incident)
    Troubleshoot the server later as it is likely to take a while (problem)

    In other words, clueless admin is clueless. And yes, we did have an inventory, so, finding the make/model of a printer would have been a matter of seconds. There have been quite a number of hilarious technical incidents at some points, including an unmounted / partition on a linux server (causing it to stop taking command prompts, and as such, to make the guy say "Linux is bad! Let's switch back to windows!"), an IP conflict that took 3 weeks to be eradicated, amongst others.

    (One thing I still wonder about Q3 is: granted, if it's a hardware fault, you cannot find the fault by restarting the server. But if it's software-based...how exactly do you plan on debugging/solving the problem without restarting it?)



  •  My reply to Q3: Reconsider life choices. Become accountant.



  •  @DOA said:

     My reply to Q3: Reconsider life choices. Become accountant.

    Accounting classes are full, what now?



  • @amischiefr said:

    Accounting classes are full, what now?
    Uhmmm... join the US army? Getting shot at is preferable to this. Plus I hear they always have vacancies.



  • @anima said:

    The place - as it says, operates using a windows-based network. It has its advantages, and disadvantages: if the DC is down, no-one can log in.

    This need not be true. A second DC with appropriate FSMO roles, or a BDC (Depending on what you're running) and/or intelligent use of cached logins can resolve this. However, as you stated, clueless admin is clueless.


    Fault tolerant does not have to mean you have faults, and tolerate them.

     



  • It actually gets better than that. Windows has a built in "feature" where credentials are cached. If it cannot contact a domain controller it will still let you log onto the pc with a domain account if you have logged onto it recently with that domain account.

    In most settings people use the same pcs from day to day and a domain controller being down or unreachable for a short amount of time is not going to be a problem to most people.

    So the answer to the question would be. Tell the person with the printer to go get the make and model from the front of the printer and call you back if they don't have a replacement on hand. Meanwhile go set up the projector and wonder why they didn't put in some kind of request beforehand to make the projector ready for the presentation. Then fix the DC.



  • @DOA said:

    @amischiefr said:

    Accounting classes are full, what now?
    Uhmmm... join the US army? Getting shot at is preferable to this. Plus I hear they always have vacancies.

    Obama has cut down the defense budget and they aren't taking new recruits. What now?



  • I've worked for a school district. Obviously, the order in which you solves the problem is entirely dependent on which teachers are involved: the teacher who can't tell a TRS-80 from an Apple ][ but is the wife of the vice-superintendent of the whole school district gets served first.



  • @anima said:

    To sum things up and start the story, the place in question is a school. As such, one might expect to have good IT technicians, and certainly that they know how to handle their stuff.
     

     Ahahahahahahahaa!!

     I guess you haven't worked with schools much in the past. :)

     Out of 700+ schools I can count the number of competent IT folks on both hands.



  • unless the teacher who needs the projector set up is hot, of course.



  • @movzx said:

    @anima said:

    To sum things up and start the story, the place in question is a school. As such, one might expect to have good IT technicians, and certainly that they know how to handle their stuff.
     

     Ahahahahahahahaa!!

     I guess you haven't worked with schools much in the past. :)

     Out of 700+ schools I can count the number of competent IT folks on both hands.

    The average school has no shortage of competent IT people: if you've got a problem, ask one of the brighter students to fix it.



  • @dtech said:

    @DOA said:

    @amischiefr said:

    Accounting classes are full, what now?
    Uhmmm... join the US army? Getting shot at is preferable to this. Plus I hear they always have vacancies.

    Obama has cut down the defense budget and they aren't taking new recruits. What now?

    Become ninja.


  • @anima said:

    What is the point of such a stupid question, especially when a teenager could answer it?

    Weedout questions are highly useful.  That's why questions like your Q5 are always Q1-3.  A wrong answer here triggers an entirely different line of questioning, aimed at determining, "How did you get here, and how can we prevent others like you from getting here."  Remember that your minimum interview time is 15 minutes, unless you find a compelling reason to hire in less time than that.  (That is, if it's a reject, don't open yourself to a lawsuit by not interviewing long enough.)

    @anima said:

    Q3:

    A3: Tell the teacher needing the toner cartridge you'll be right on it.  Reboot the secondary DC - obviously, some idiot turned it off because they thought Linux running Samba1 wasn't allowed on the network.  Then assist the second teacher with the presentation setup.  Next, actually take care of the printer (unless it's a tech savvy teacher, I wouldn't expect the teacher to actually be able to properly chose EPSON ink over Cannon ink, so I'd be inclined to get the ink myself, unless I knew the teacher well enough to have some trust.)  Finally, troubleshoot the primary DC.

    1 I haven't actually administered any Windows networks, but I've heard Samba can do a fairly decent job at DC, so long as you know what you're doing.  Having a backup using a different OS or distro can make sense, as it's less likely to be susceptible to whatever took the primary down.  That having been said, it's a pain maintenance-wise, unless it's exceedingly stable.  (Of course, then it becomes a stealth-pain, because people forget about it until it suddenly does matter.)



  • @Eternal Density said:

    @dtech said:

    @DOA said:

    @amischiefr said:

    Accounting classes are full, what now?
    Uhmmm... join the US army? Getting shot at is preferable to this. Plus I hear they always have vacancies.

    Obama has cut down the defense budget and they aren't taking new recruits. What now?

    Become ninja.
    You cannot become ninja, ninja are born. What now?



  • @NeoMojo said:

    @Eternal Density said:

    @dtech said:

    @DOA said:

    @amischiefr said:

    Accounting classes are full, what now?
    Uhmmm... join the US army? Getting shot at is preferable to this. Plus I hear they always have vacancies.

    Obama has cut down the defense budget and they aren't taking new recruits. What now?

    Become ninja.
    You cannot become ninja, ninja are born. What now?

    Form a cult.



  • @Lingerance said:

    @NeoMojo said:

    @Eternal Density said:

    @dtech said:

    @DOA said:

    @amischiefr said:

    Accounting classes are full, what now?
    Uhmmm... join the US army? Getting shot at is preferable to this. Plus I hear they always have vacancies.

    Obama has cut down the defense budget and they aren't taking new recruits. What now?

    Become ninja.
    You cannot become ninja, ninja are born. What now?

    Form a cult.
    A ninja cult?


  • @bstorer said:

    @Lingerance said:

    @NeoMojo said:

    @Eternal Density said:

    @dtech said:

    @DOA said:

    @amischiefr said:

    Accounting classes are full, what now?
    Uhmmm... join the US army? Getting shot at is preferable to this. Plus I hear they always have vacancies.

    Obama has cut down the defense budget and they aren't taking new recruits. What now?

    Become ninja.
    You cannot become ninja, ninja are born. What now?

    Form a cult.
    A ninja cult?
    No, a cargo-programming cult. (Just WTF is a cargo programmer anyways?)


  • @Steeldragon said:

    @bstorer said:

    @Lingerance said:

    @NeoMojo said:

    @Eternal Density said:

    @dtech said:

    @DOA said:

    @amischiefr said:

    Accounting classes are full, what now?
    Uhmmm... join the US army? Getting shot at is preferable to this. Plus I hear they always have vacancies.

    Obama has cut down the defense budget and they aren't taking new recruits. What now?

    Become ninja.
    You cannot become ninja, ninja are born. What now?

    Form a cult.
    A ninja cult?
    No, a cargo-programming cult. (Just WTF is a cargo programmer anyways?)
     

     

    It is programming practices that you are doing with the (false) belief that it will bring positive results... i think. - try wikipedia

    http://catb.org/jargon/html/C/cargo-cult-programming.html



  •  



  • @Helix said:

    @Steeldragon said:

    @bstorer said:

    @Lingerance said:

    @NeoMojo said:

    @Eternal Density said:

    @dtech said:

    @DOA said:

    @amischiefr said:

    Accounting classes are full, what now?
    Uhmmm... join the US army? Getting shot at is preferable to this. Plus I hear they always have vacancies.

    Obama has cut down the defense budget and they aren't taking new recruits. What now?

    Become ninja.
    You cannot become ninja, ninja are born. What now?

    Form a cult.
    A ninja cult?
    No, a cargo-programming cult. (Just WTF is a cargo programmer anyways?)
     

     

    It is programming practices that you are doing with the (false) belief that it will bring positive results... i think. - try wikipedia

    http://catb.org/jargon/html/C/cargo-cult-programming.html

    Thanks for ruining our fun with your facts.


  • @bstorer said:

    @Helix said:

    @Steeldragon said:

    @bstorer said:

    @Lingerance said:

    @NeoMojo said:

    @Eternal Density said:

    @dtech said:

    @DOA said:

    @amischiefr said:

    Accounting classes are full, what now?
    Uhmmm... join the US army? Getting shot at is preferable to this. Plus I hear they always have vacancies.

    Obama has cut down the defense budget and they aren't taking new recruits. What now?

    Become ninja.
    You cannot become ninja, ninja are born. What now?

    Form a cult.
    A ninja cult?
    No, a cargo-programming cult. (Just WTF is a cargo programmer anyways?)
     

     

    It is programming practices that you are doing with the (false) belief that it will bring positive results... i think. - try wikipedia

    http://catb.org/jargon/html/C/cargo-cult-programming.html

    Thanks for ruining our fun with your facts.
     

    You have run out of answers and set up the cargo-programming cult and about to epic fail the interview. What now ?



  • @Carnildo said:

    @movzx said:

    @anima said:

    To sum things up and start the story, the place in question is a school. As such, one might expect to have good IT technicians, and certainly that they know how to handle their stuff.
     

     Ahahahahahahahaa!!

     I guess you haven't worked with schools much in the past. :)

     Out of 700+ schools I can count the number of competent IT folks on both hands.

    The average school has no shortage of competent IT people: if you've got a problem, ask one of the brighter students to fix it.

     

    Guess how I became a temporary IT technician down there: I actually graduated from there the year before.

    That said, a few replies to the comments:
    - Spending money on a second DC was considered "wasteful'. Maybe one day they'll take a server down and notice that a backup is needed.
    - Cached logons were disabled; because it itself caused a problem in which old log-in names would still work.
    - tgape: you have no clue how much of an anti-linux frenzy runs at that place. I set up a squid daemon as a web proxy, and the SECOND it hung (after 3 and a half months of uptime @ 200 requests / second average), the technician decided that windows server 2003 + SurfControl (and shell £3000). His motive: "linux is unstable", when the problem is simply that the main partition was full.

    Finally, if I may say so, I consider it fully normal that ALL technicians have now resigned. I did because one of the others drove me mad (kicking people out of their workplace because you consider it your "working environment" - i.e. the place where he listened to radio all day); the brilliant one resigned because he went into full-time teaching. And the one who wrote the interview questions...found the job too demanding.



  • @Helix said:

    @bstorer said:

    @Helix said:

    @Steeldragon said:

    @bstorer said:

    @Lingerance said:

    @NeoMojo said:

    @Eternal Density said:

    @dtech said:

    @DOA said:

    @amischiefr said:

    Accounting classes are full, what now?
    Uhmmm... join the US army? Getting shot at is preferable to this. Plus I hear they always have vacancies.

    Obama has cut down the defense budget and they aren't taking new recruits. What now?

    Become ninja.
    You cannot become ninja, ninja are born. What now?

    Form a cult.
    A ninja cult?
    No, a cargo-programming cult. (Just WTF is a cargo programmer anyways?)
     

     

    It is programming practices that you are doing with the (false) belief that it will bring positive results... i think. - try wikipedia

    http://catb.org/jargon/html/C/cargo-cult-programming.html

    Thanks for ruining our fun with your facts.
     

    You have run out of answers and set up the cargo-programming cult and about to epic fail the interview. What now ?

     

    Put together a Microsoft-office killer using a drag-and-drop GUI designer and get millions from investors?



  • @anima said:

    - Spending money on a second DC was considered "wasteful'. Maybe one day they'll take a server down and notice that a backup is needed.

    The benefits of running a Samba secondary DC is that it can also do many other tasks.  It could run openbsd, freebsd, OpenSolaris, or, for that matter, pretty much any OS to which Samba has been ported.  It wouldn't have to be Linux.

    That having been said, your bit @anima said:

    - tgape: you have no clue how much of an anti-linux frenzy runs at that place
    ...@anima said:
    when the problem is simply that the main partition was full.
    sounds much more like a case of, "I don't know how to admin this, I want to suggest something I can actually manage."  And, it sounds like you needed some form of disk space monitoring tool, such as Nagios.



  • What would you do?
    Shoot the hostage.


  • @tgape said:

    @anima said:
    - Spending money on a second DC was considered "wasteful'. Maybe one day they'll take a server down and notice that a backup is needed.

    The benefits of running a Samba secondary DC is that it can also do many other tasks.  It could run openbsd, freebsd, OpenSolaris, or, for that matter, pretty much any OS to which Samba has been ported.  It wouldn't have to be Linux.

     I know the many benefits; the problem is mostly "how to admin this", since the 2 techs knowing linux (me, the brilliant guy) resigned.
    Plus, not to be cynical or anything, but already installing one linux box took an argument to save £3000, 6 months of work on politics and 2 meetings.

    That having been said, your bit @anima said:
    - tgape: you have no clue how much of an anti-linux frenzy runs at that place
    ...@anima said:
    when the problem is simply that the main partition was full.
    sounds much more like a case of, "I don't know how to admin this, I want to suggest something I can actually manage."  And, it sounds like you needed some form of disk space monitoring tool, such as Nagios.

     

    It is exactly that, but the guy has too much pride to actually say it. Everyone knows it; there was a problem on the admin network recently, a case of "printer doesn't print on windows, but prints on their management software (runs on solaris)". Steps I took to solve it:
    - Check the printer, print config + IP
    - Compare IP with windows IP
    - Compare IP with solaris IP
    - Deduce that the printer had a wrongly assigned IP adress from the fact that solaris had it as .22, printer was .22, windows was .24.

    His steps:
    - Glance at printer
    - Try changing the printer's config at random (and at random, I seriously mean it. When I found it, it had set itself on letter by default, the netmask was wrong, printer was set to manual, to name a few)
    - Blame it on a webcam that I set up recently on someone's PC, that apparently has an IP adress (didn't know a USB port on windows had this possibility).

    The funniest by far, however, is that he wants to stay in the pit of ignorance. I fixed that printer when I was "just visiting" (i.e. threaten to sue the place because they breached a contract), and fixed it in a matter of minutes. The guy heard that I fixed it, and sent two emails: the first, only to management, saying that he would not take responsability for the network if I was allowed to mess with it (which raises the issue of FUCKING CHANGE THE PASSWORD ALREADY); the second was sent to all staff (teachers, caretakers, etc), saying that I was a dire threat to the place and should be avoided at all costs.
    All this because I helped. Next time, I know, I will break the printer instead.



  • @anima said:

    - Blame it on a webcam that I set up recently on someone's PC, that apparently has an IP adress (didn't know a USB port on windows had this possibility).
    Hehehe, someone failed communication protocols.



  • @DOA said:

    @anima said:

    - Blame it on a webcam that I set up recently on someone's PC, that apparently has an IP adress (didn't know a USB port on windows had this possibility).
    Hehehe, someone failed communication protocols.

     

    Sjees, get with the times. Never heard of the IPoU?



  •  @dtech said:

    @DOA said:

    @anima said:

    - Blame it on a webcam that I set up recently on someone's PC, that apparently has an IP adress (didn't know a USB port on windows had this possibility).
    Hehehe, someone failed communication protocols.

     

    Sjees, get with the times. Never heard of the IPoU?

    On a £15 webcam? Sure. Plus, IPoU is, as far as I know, quite not so well handled by some very famous host OS, for security purposes - same as the stack limitations, in other words. Not that I have a fear of windows, mind you. Just like any OS, it has stupid features.



  • @anima said:

    On a £15 webcam? Sure. Plus, IPoU is, as far as I know, quite not so well handled by some very famous host OS, for security purposes - same as the stack limitations, in other words. Not that I have a fear of windows, mind you. Just like any OS, it has stupid features.
     

    It really exists?



  • @dtech said:

    @anima said:

    On a £15 webcam? Sure. Plus, IPoU is, as far as I know, quite not so well handled by some very famous host OS, for security purposes - same as the stack limitations, in other words. Not that I have a fear of windows, mind you. Just like any OS, it has stupid features.
     

    It really exists?

     

    Something similar exists. You can masquerade a device on a network, in the same way that you can masquerade a virtual machine: it ends up having its own IP adress.

    Linux does handle it, so does Solaris, but Windows...ahem.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @anima said:

    (which raises the issue of FUCKING CHANGE THE PASSWORD ALREADY[...]

    All this because I helped. Next time, I know, I will break the printer instead.

    Please don't even consider that. (Assuming you're in the US.) Google 'Terry Childs' if you don't know the name already.



  • @tgape said:

    Nagios
    You have reminded me of a great event that happened related to Nagios. I may tell it here.



  •  I'm in the UK, actually.



  • @anima said:

    I'm in the UK, actually.
    Help me out.  What was this a response to?  This thread has been going on for a while and I can't remember each post.



  • @PJH said:

    @anima said:

    (which raises the issue of FUCKING CHANGE THE PASSWORD ALREADY[...]

    All this because I helped. Next time, I know, I will break the printer instead.

    Please don't even consider that. (Assuming you're in the US.) Google 'Terry Childs' if you don't know the name already.

     

    It was a reply to this. I'm in the UK, so I'm not in the US. But yeah, I knew the Terry Childs story, and not fixing a printer isn't as bad as committing a felony.

    But heh, story is over, I'll just get a better job for the holidays. Time to use my PHP skills instead of server management.



  •  @belgariontheking said:

    @anima said:

    I'm in the UK, actually.
    Help me out.  What was this a response to?  This thread has been going on for a while and I can't remember each post.



  •  As always, Community Server is TRWTF

    1) Why aren't post numbers displayed?

    2) Why isn't the 'In Reply To' link just within the page?

    3) Why can the view type (flat or threaded) be changed by users? It seems a good idea, but the two types use different posting conventions. Seeing it in flat view, if a threaded view user replies to multiple posts, I see a double (or worse) post. And if a flat view user clicks any reply button (other than the 'right' one) it looks fine to him, but those in threaded view see it as a non-sequiter reply to some random post.



  • @m0ffx said:

     As always, Community Server is TRWTF

    1) Why aren't post numbers displayed?

    2) Why isn't the 'In Reply To' link just within the page?

    3) Why can the view type (flat or threaded) be changed by users? It seems a good idea, but the two types use different posting conventions. Seeing it in flat view, if a threaded view user replies to multiple posts, I see a double (or worse) post. And if a flat view user clicks any reply button (other than the 'right' one) it looks fine to him, but those in threaded view see it as a non-sequiter reply to some random post.

    I don't know, I like this setup MUCH better than the faggy one /. uses.  I could never tell what the fuck was going on over there.  If you know of one that is sort of inbetween post a link.


  • @m0ffx said:

    1) Why aren't post numbers displayed?

    Does it matter?  You can always see them by hovering over the "reply" button.

     

    @m0ffx said:

    2) Why isn't the 'In Reply To' link just within the page?

    Because CS is a piece of shit.

     

    @m0ffx said:

    3) Why can the view type (flat or threaded) be changed by users? It seems a good idea, but the two types use different posting conventions. Seeing it in flat view, if a threaded view user replies to multiple posts, I see a double (or worse) post. And if a flat view user clicks any reply button (other than the 'right' one) it looks fine to him, but those in threaded view see it as a non-sequiter reply to some random post.

    It's in your preferences.



  • @morbiuswilters said:

    @m0ffx said:

    1) Why aren't post numbers displayed?

    Does it matter?  You can always see them by hovering over the "reply" button.

    I've harped on this before: CS used to have "$POST_NUMBER in reply to $SOME_OTHER_POST_NUMBER" instead of forcing you to hover.  I don't see why this was changed.  It doesn't really gain you anything.@morbiuswilters said:

    @m0ffx said:

    2) Why isn't the 'In Reply To' link just within the page?

    Because CS is a piece of shit.

    This is always the answer, regardless of the question.@morbiuswilters said:

    @m0ffx said:

    3) Why can the view type (flat or threaded) be changed by users? It seems a good idea, but the two types use different posting conventions. Seeing it in flat view, if a threaded view user replies to multiple posts, I see a double (or worse) post. And if a flat view user clicks any reply button (other than the 'right' one) it looks fine to him, but those in threaded view see it as a non-sequiter reply to some random post.

    It's in your preferences.

    He's not asking how to change it, but why it can be changed at all.  I personally don't like threaded view, but I only reply to one post per response because a) I don't like mixing different strands of the conversation together, and 2) it's more work to quote somebody if you aren't replying to their post.

     

     



  • @bstorer said:

    I personally don't like threaded view, but I only reply to one post per response because a) I don't like mixing different strands of the conversation together, and 2) it's more work to quote somebody if you aren't replying to their post.
     

    QFT.



  • @bstorer said:

    He's not asking how to change it, but why it can be changed at all.

    Well I'll be damned...

     

    @bstorer said:

    I personally don't like threaded view, but I only reply to one post per response because a) I don't like mixing different strands of the conversation together, and 2) it's more work to quote somebody if you aren't replying to their post.

    Also QFT.



  •  

    snip

    ...The funniest by far, however, is that he wants to stay in the pit of ignorance. I fixed that printer when I was "just visiting" (i.e. threaten to sue the place because they breached a contract), and fixed it in a matter of minutes. The guy heard that I fixed it, and sent two emails: the first, only to management, saying that he would not take responsability for the network if I was allowed to mess with it (which raises the issue of FUCKING CHANGE THE PASSWORD ALREADY); the second was sent to all staff (teachers, caretakers, etc), saying that I was a dire threat to the place and should be avoided at all costs.
    All this because I helped. Next time, I know, I will break the printer instead.

    Sounds like you're dealing with a political asshole.

    I had a guy like that once.  He tried to get me fired, and it was funny coz this guy was just a contractor like me, thought he had big-time juice with the bosses etc.  He gave them an ultimatum while he was on vacation telling them I had to go, and when they didn't do it he folded like a little baby and quit.  He was also a 2 faced bastard who lied to my face and told me that he defended me against other people who wanted to have me fired, and he "took the bullet for me."  What BS....



  • @ogilmor said:

     

    snip

    ...The funniest by far, however, is that he wants to stay in the pit of ignorance. I fixed that printer when I was "just visiting" (i.e. threaten to sue the place because they breached a contract), and fixed it in a matter of minutes. The guy heard that I fixed it, and sent two emails: the first, only to management, saying that he would not take responsability for the network if I was allowed to mess with it (which raises the issue of FUCKING CHANGE THE PASSWORD ALREADY); the second was sent to all staff (teachers, caretakers, etc), saying that I was a dire threat to the place and should be avoided at all costs.
    All this because I helped. Next time, I know, I will break the printer instead.

    Sounds like you're dealing with a political asshole.

    I had a guy like that once.  He tried to get me fired, and it was funny coz this guy was just a contractor like me, thought he had big-time juice with the bosses etc.  He gave them an ultimatum while he was on vacation telling them I had to go, and when they didn't do it he folded like a little baby and quit.  He was also a 2 faced bastard who lied to my face and told me that he defended me against other people who wanted to have me fired, and he "took the bullet for me."  What BS....

     

    Funny you should mention that, actually, because the same thing literally happened to me with that guy at the end of june. Quite a few WTFs, but none of them worth their own thread.

    It all started when I temporarily replaced the good IT technician for a month. It was all planned, as he had to finish his PGCSE. Basically, during that time, the political person did absolutely NOTHING. and when I say nothing, I still have the logs that prove that he was browsing the internet 9 hours a day instead of actually helping anyone. Didn't do anything about that, because I had more important stuff to do (fix stuff, mend stuff, make sure that stuff is running, work on stuff).
    He then went to an ICT meeting to which I wasn't invited. I did see the minutes of it later. Basically, the whole set of minutes is bullshit, amongst which:
    - Virtualization for 500 users costs £10k
    - Linux is non-free
    - I am not doing my work
    - Mark (the other IT tech) is not doing his work
    - We should both get fired
    - We should keep an inventory

    Following that meeting, I was given two tasks:
    - Install Citrix in three days using ancient servers (he said to management that I'd do it in 3 days, then told me the management wanted to do it in 3 days. It's called an invisible deadline trick, and I only got out of that by going and seeing management about it)
    - Code a media server in three days
    - Keep a paper inventory of all PCs.

    Now, which one do you think I went for? I took #2 as priority, seeing as there wasn't a single hope of even getting my hands on a citrix CD in 3 days. I didn't finish the media server (heck, coding that from the ground up is a nightmare), and so the guy shot me in the back by emailing management, basically saying that I haven't even been able to keep a paper inventory of hardware.
    Notice the irony there.

    There have been a lot of other WTFs, as I said, most of which I remember once in a while. Typical example: on 14/06, I crashed off my bike and was rewarded with a broken knee and very badly scarred elbow. Still not an excuse not to support people, so I had to carry boxes around with a broken knee, run to places where teachers needed help, all this because the other guy was too fucking fat to run/carry stuff. What's even worse, the elbow wound got infected and started smelling funny (it's entirely explainable, as the lymphatic system is not just water. There's sugar in there. And as sugar rots...). Guess what? I took another blame for something I couldn't do a single thing about.
    But the best, by far, was the last day of school. The senior year wanted a display on scene for their proclamation, along with a beamer, but that display had to be swiftly removed before proc started. The other tech reluctantly said he'd help.
    So, I worked on the tech side, making sure the beamer was there on the day and stuff. Turned out for the day, the guy signed in at 9...signed off at 9:20 because of a "personal issue". I ended up carrying that display out of the stage with my knee.
    Went back to the office, and there was a pile of support forms on my desk to do during the holidays. Yes, the guy only came in on that day to drop them on my desk.

    That's the full story of the holidays; I'm extremely happy to be out of that place now.



  • so whatever happened did you overcome the a-hole or did you get driven out?  I was driven out of a place once where I was the new employee and didn't have the political strength to protect myself against "the guru."



  • @ogilmor said:

    so whatever happened did you overcome the a-hole or did you get driven out?  I was driven out of a place once where I was the new employee and didn't have the political strength to protect myself against "the guru."

     

    And now you shall be driven out of TDWTF for resurecting old threads.



  • @dtech said:

    @Helix said:

    @bstorer said:

    @Helix said:

    @Steeldragon said:

    @bstorer said:

    @Lingerance said:

    @NeoMojo said:

    @Eternal Density said:

    @dtech said:

    @DOA said:

    @amischiefr said:

    Accounting classes are full, what now?
    Uhmmm... join the US army? Getting shot at is preferable to this. Plus I hear they always have vacancies.

    Obama has cut down the defense budget and they aren't taking new recruits. What now?

    Become ninja.
    You cannot become ninja, ninja are born. What now?

    Form a cult.
    A ninja cult?
    No, a cargo-programming cult. (Just WTF is a cargo programmer anyways?)
     

     

    It is programming practices that you are doing with the (false) belief that it will bring positive results... i think. - try wikipedia

    http://catb.org/jargon/html/C/cargo-cult-programming.html

    Thanks for ruining our fun with your facts.
     

    You have run out of answers and set up the cargo-programming cult and about to epic fail the interview. What now ?

     

    Put together a Microsoft-office killer using a drag-and-drop GUI designer and get millions from investors?

     

    3. ?????

    4. Profit!! 

    What now?


Log in to reply