Trenches comic: Thursday December 22, 2011 - Absorption

Bogey

“So tell me about your previous job.”

12/22/2011 - Anonymous

I was doing the backend for our game website when I learned that I was going to be laid off shortly. Management decided outsourcing their entire IT staff would save them money, so in a few weeks I knew I would be unemployed like so many others. i had been there before, so I polished up my resume and took my tie out of storage to hit the interview trail.

Among the listings, I found a position available at a new media company close to where I lived. They worked with flash, video games, advertising and promotion, websites, corporate branding and presentations. All in all, they were an ideal match to my skill set.

My interview was proceeding nicely. Their questions, my answers - back and forth like a well rehearsed dialog… that is, until they asked me about my previous job. I explained who I worked for, the network and server administration I did and the website I was doing before learning I would be laid off. To my surprise, the interviewer asks me for more specific details on my processes and methods, and then quickly, the interview ends.

“Nice talking to you. We’ll be in touch.”

Weeks go by and I get no response, even on my post-interview followup.

About six months later, my old employer has a shining new website produced by the company I was working for.

So either my interviewer was getting a sales lead, or I was interviewing (and failed) for my existing job. Either way sucks.

Henroid

Wow, I've actually had that reaction a couple times to some anime.

... WHAT? :evil:

Maigaard

Evertyhing?

Aurich

I don't really follow the Tale. Specifically the last two lines. Seems like a personal thing rather than an industry thing?

Taramoor

Maigaard wrote:

Evertyhing?

I woudln't worry about it too much.

Henroid

I think what the story was meaning to say at the end was that they took his ideas from the interview and used it to do work for the place he was getting laid off from.

Tofystedeth

Henroid wrote:

I think what the story was meaning to say at the end was that they took his ideas from the interview and used it to do work for the place he was getting laid off from.

His other thought was that the company he interviewed at was the company his old job outsourced to, and the reason he appeared to be such a good fit was because it was to do exactly what he did at his old job. leading to back to option A i guess.

rockmonkey

I would imagine the company he interviewed at already had the contract to do the outsourced IT work for his old company.
1. They were hiring for a new position so they likely had new demand
2. It fit so perfectly with the job he was already doing.
3. His old job had already let him go, which means they probably already had the outsourced work lined up with another company/party.

That is some depressing crap right there. You are laid off because it's cheaper for your company (A) to outsource your job to another company (B) instead of doing it in house. You then unknowingly interview at B to basically do your old job at A and then you don't even get the job. Most likely because the interviewer thought that would be awkward or cause problems with their new contract. Not because he wasn't the best fit for the job.

Sticks

It's a legitimate concern I would think. How likely are you to give it your best for a company that kicked you out the door?

Despite being glad to have my job back, that would still rankle.

runwiled

Reversal today as the comic was more interesting than the Tale, which I agree was not very clear in those last couple of lines.

I like the comic. Clearly the "Evertyhing," is intentional -- Issac is so emotionally distraught that he can't speak straight.

The Love Planet man! Remember the Love Planet!

kingworks

"We'll be in touch" = don't hold your breath & keep looking

0blique

It's also not too unusual for the reverse to happen and to get the job that you was outsourced. That happened to a couple people I know. One person I know was laid off and found work as a contractor with the other company ended up working at the same desk even because they had to do work on site. I believe he got paid better too.

Delzhand

Henroid wrote:

I think what the story was meaning to say at the end was that they took his ideas from the interview and used it to do work for the place he was getting laid off from.

Man, I should solve work related problems that way.

"Thanks for coming in, have a seat. Let's get right to the point - if someone asked you to change the label on a search field, how would you do it?"
"Oh, well, I'd probably use hook_form_search_block_form_alter in the theme template.php file."
"Dang, I hadn't thought about that. Good catch! We'll... be in touch."
"Don't you want to discuss my qualifications or experience?"
"Nah, don't worry about it. I'll give you another call if we... need anything else."

Lindsey Lohan

Two Trenches in a row with typos? On the plus side - I really liked this one because we all have those moments where we're watching tv and realize that you shouldn't be watching what you're watching but you really need to know if Snooki gets out of jail.

Starting to get somewhat used to the artstyle too. I've gotten to the point that I can unsee the orange noses EXCEPT on the really super pale people (like the manager in this strip or the Law Star villain).

forty

Taramoor wrote:

Maigaard wrote:

Evertyhing?

I woudln't worry about it too much.

"It's"

Maybe Tycho wrote this one.

Dark Raven X

Lindsey Lohan wrote:

Starting to get somewhat used to the artstyle too. I've gotten to the point that I can unsee the orange noses EXCEPT on the really super pale people (like the manager in this strip or the Law Star villain).

Didn't notice til you pointed it out, but they're less orange this strip - more pink.

Henroid

Dark Raven X wrote:

Lindsey Lohan wrote:

Starting to get somewhat used to the artstyle too. I've gotten to the point that I can unsee the orange noses EXCEPT on the really super pale people (like the manager in this strip or the Law Star villain).

Didn't notice til you pointed it out, but they're less orange this strip - more pink.

I dunno, Isaac is a little more tan in this comic, that or his hair got a little lighter in hue or something.

I've already been behind the art of this comic though so feh.

Hamju

forty wrote:

Taramoor wrote:

Maigaard wrote:

Evertyhing?

I woudln't worry about it too much.

"It's"

Maybe Tycho wrote this one.

The "it's" bugs me way more than the "evertyhing". Good comic otherwise

PwnanObrien

its, it's or ITS can mean:

it's, a contraction of it is or it has
its, the possessive adjective and possessive pronoun form of the personal pronoun it

Hamju

Usage Note: Its is the possessive form of the pronoun it and is correctly written without an apostrophe. It should not be confused with the contraction it's (for it is or it has), which should always have an apostrophe.

Hey look I can post uncited quotes too

PwnanObrien

Yeah, but the phrase is clearly meant to convey "It is vomit" not "it possesses vomit".

They're not discussing the show's vomit. The main character is saying that the show IS vomit.

Hamju

PwnanObrien wrote:

Yeah, but the phrase is clearly meant to convey "It is vomit" not "it possesses vomit".

They're not discussing the show's vomit. The main character is saying that the show IS vomit.

Different it's. Second panel: "it's commercial nature is blatant"

PwnanObrien

Ok, yeah, that's just blatantly wrong.

Henroid

Reminds me of DOL.

forty

Hamju, thank you for filling in during my absence.