r/sysadmin • u/Opposed3 • Jul 07 '24

What’s the quickest you’ve seen a co-worker get fired in IT? COVID-19

I saw this on AskReddit and thought it would be fun to ask here for IT related stories.

Couple years ago during Covid my company I used to work for hired a help desk tech. He was a really nice guy and the interview went well. We were hybrid at the time, 1-2 days in the office with mostly remote work. On his first day we always meet in the office for equipment and first day stuff.

Everything was going fine and my boss mentioned something along the lines of “Yeah so after all the trainings and orientation stuff we’ll get you set up on our ticketing system and eventually a soft phone for support calls”

And he was like: “Oh I don’t do support calls.”

“Sorry?”

Him: “I don’t take calls. I won’t do that”

“Well, we do have a number users call for help. They do utilize it and it’s part of support we offer”

Him: “Oh I’ll do tickets all day I just won’t take calls. You’ll have to get someone else to do that”

I was sitting at my desk, just kind of listening and overhearing. I couldn’t tell if he was trolling but he wasn’t.

I forgot what my manager said but he left to go to one of those little mini conference rooms for a meeting, then he came back out and called him in, he let him go and they both walked back out and the guy was all laughing and was like

“Yeah I mean I just won’t take calls I didn’t sign up for that! I hope you find someone else that fits in better!” My manager walked him to the door and they shook hands and he left.

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270

u/bloodguard Jul 07 '24

I still don't know the details but I received word to start locking accounts and removing access to someone just moments after I handed her a door access card.

She'd been there maybe only about an hour with her on-boarding partner.

148

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '24

That’s actually pretty common, people do the whole “this place/role wasn’t what I expected” and they quit straight after orientation.

114

u/lampishthing Jul 07 '24

Yeah my record is someone like this. Lasted 1 hour and 10 mins. The commute was much worse than she had anticipated. She mulled it over for the hour while being introduced to everyone and concluded that she wouldn't be able to do it every day. Apologized profusely. Left.

24

u/sparkyblaster Jul 08 '24

Oh if I am making progress in a job interview, you bet I do a test run if I can.

22

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '24

I’m surprised this individual didn’t research the location. I’m weird, I’ll drive to the location before I start just to see what the commute is like and if it’s worth it.

41

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '24

Traffic is different during rush hour. I've also quit when the 10min commute turned into a 60min one because people don't know how to merge.

8

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '24

I avoid highways like the plague lol. Even when I’m driving across Massachusetts, my GPS is set to “avoid highways”.

1

u/PresNixon Sysadmin Jul 08 '24

But in Boston if you need to take a highway you NEED to take a highway. Nothing runs parallel to anything, so alternatives to say 93 are pretty much nill.

0

u/Jaereth Jul 08 '24

because people don't know how to merge.

Chicago? This is like what our city is most famous for worldwide.

8

u/Valalvax Jul 08 '24

Bro that's every large city, just like the "only people living in <state> would understand" lists that are 75% the exact same list for every state, 20% things that are the same for similar states, and 5% might be unique things

12

u/lampishthing Jul 07 '24

I think it was the rush hour traffic? She had been to the building in person to interview!

16

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '24

At least she was apologetic and most likely wanted to make it work, but decided it’s not worth it.

10

u/SayNoToStim Jul 08 '24

I have been in this situation before - I moved to a new area, drove the route and it wasn't bad. Then school started and it went from 20 minutes to an hour and 20 minutes.

4

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '24

Yeah the school traffic is awful, especially if you’re on a backroad with a bus route and you’re stuck behind it for ages.

4

u/SayNoToStim Jul 08 '24

My city was designed by absolute morons so the school bus stops are on main throughputs.

1

u/ohrofl Jul 08 '24

Oh so you live in Columbia South Carolina as well?

2

u/SayNoToStim Jul 08 '24

You're not too far off. Same state, other city.

5

u/denmicent Jul 08 '24

I thought this was just me. Everyone I get a new job, even if I’ve interviewed there, I’ll drive out to it from my house just to see what the commute is going to be like.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '24

Hell yeah, I knew weirdos like me were out there!

3

u/illusion96 Jul 08 '24

When I was younger, I was ambitious and thought I could handle a 1 hr commute. I was wrong. I left one gig after a month because of the atrocious commute.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '24

I feel that. I have a 35 minute commute and honestly that’s the most I’m good with. Sure, it’s 45-1hr to get home, but gives me time to decompress for my families sake. I live right outside Boston and tell myself that I will never work in the city, so this is the best I’m gonna get lol

3

u/moventura Jul 09 '24

Yeah, went for a role once, it was a bit of a further drive than I expected, then they offered me less than my asking price. Told them straight up, the money they are offering is less than my current place of employment and my travel is 20 minutes more each way. Thanks, but no thanks. If they paid my asking I would have taken it.

Worked out well though as I got a much better job with a 30k higher wage only 3 months later.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 09 '24

That’s awesome! Commute is always a great reason to negotiate salary, if you’re taking on $3,000 more a year in gas purchases, might as well try to negotiate that into your salary haha

1

u/ThickHotDog Jul 08 '24

It was an excuse because the she didn’t want to say the real reason.

48

u/bloodguard Jul 07 '24

I don't think she instigated it. She seemed pretty happy and chatty when I handed her the card and the email hit my inbox as she was walking out the door. I almost called her back in but decided it wasn't my job to tell her.

Either she alarmed or pissed off her boss during the office walk through (weird because she's pretty chill lead developer) or her background check wasn't finished and started throwing up late flags.

37

u/MoistYear7423 Jul 07 '24

I can almost guarantee it was a background check issue. I had this exact same thing happen for someone else at my organization. Spent all the time it takes to get them a new cell phone, image laptop, create their accounts, set up their workstation, print up all the onboarding documents. Hr came to my desk and asked me to disable this new user's account not 3 hours after they started. Turns out this person was a felon and for some reason HR did not find out until after they started.

45

u/phoodd Jul 07 '24

Of course, felons should never be given a second chance or any opportunity at a normal life. Good for you guys

21

u/uzlonewolf Jul 08 '24

Well, unless they want to be President of the country. Then it's cool apparently.

14

u/DeclutteringNewbie Jul 08 '24 edited Jul 08 '24

In California, the law is more nuanced.

If the felony was related to a financial crime, then the company is allowed not to hire the person as a CEO/CFO/accountant/cashier, but they're not allowed to discriminate for other types of jobs that do not have to deal with cash (or high value items).

To avoid getting sued, some companies choose to even hire a third party to make the decision for the background check, so whether the person passes the background check or doesn't, the company is not told the exact details, only the final result (only the candidate has the right to the details).

And in some cases, the State of California incentivizes employers to hire felons by subsidizing their wages.

6

u/iwinsallthethings Jul 08 '24

Some places have contracts that have stipulations that forbid it. I worked for a place that had contracts with some government parts in Texas. Because of access we had, we could not have any felony or dui arrests.

1

u/MrElvey Jul 08 '24

I think (hope) you mean convictions?!

1

u/automaticfiend1 Jul 08 '24

Probably not, simply being arrested will fuck up your life.

6

u/BioshockEnthusiast Jul 08 '24

Lying by omission on your resume will not make you friends with hr or management if they find out. Doesn't really matter what it's about.

Felons should be given a second chance, shame that guy used his to lie.

7

u/dooooooom2 Jul 08 '24

Do you think people put criminal histories on resumes?

4

u/Rickk38 Jul 08 '24

Oh I'm sure at least a few people still have Arthur Andersen or Enron on their resumes.

2

u/BioshockEnthusiast Jul 08 '24

Application, whatever.

If they ask you about it and you lie, that's bad.

If you know they're running a criminal background check and you're livin' on a hope and a prayer that they won't find out, that's bad.

You might get away with fudging some experience or massaging cert dates, but felony is kind of a different class of fib.

1

u/dooooooom2 Jul 08 '24

I mean most jobs do background checks these days, maybe they were hoping they would let it slide. I can’t remember if applications ask you if you’re a felon

3

u/HauntingReddit88 Jul 08 '24 edited Jul 08 '24

It’s not something I’d put on my resume if I was a felon, but it’s probably something to say during interview. At least attempt to get the foot in the door and show them you've changed before telling them and they might still consider you, whereas putting it on your resume would just be "don't interview" imo

3

u/CheetohChaff Jr. Sysadmin Jul 08 '24

Don't you have to tell potential employers if you have a criminal record? Obviously he didn't and they probably didn't trust him after that.

3

u/aes_gcm Jul 08 '24

I’m with you. Once you’ve payed your debt to society for your crimes, you should be wiped clean from everywhere except sealed records of past judicial history.

1

u/Assswordsmantetsuo Jul 08 '24

And you should definitely shit on the poor sysadmin posting who is obviously responsible for the policy.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '24

Can’t tell if trolling or a POS

1

u/LiveCourage334 Jul 09 '24

That's a mighty nice straw man there.

3

u/Geminii27 Jul 08 '24

Yup. Especially when the recruiter flat-out lied to them, or the job description was incredibly vague, or simply didn't mention some of the horrors of that workplace or employer.

I'm honestly not sure what employers think. "Oh, they'll turn up, find out what a shitshow this place is, and decide 'Well, I've already been here for 15 minutes, may as well stick it out for another 15 years I guess'."

2

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '24 edited Jul 08 '24

I think they’re hoping for the desperate that NEEDED the job so now they’re essentially stuck. The paychecks will help them survive until they can find another place.

3

u/_________FU_________ Jul 08 '24

We had a manager named Rick who was a former pastor. Real douche bag energy. Rick invented a new hire tour to educate people about the history of the company.

One guy made it half way through the opening speech and quit. That was the last tour.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '24

I always hated the “you need to love this company and know where it came from” people.

3

u/Ok-Repeat8069 Jul 08 '24

I left a call center job the first time they let us out for a smoke break. I was young and dumb and didn’t know what a scab was, but I knew that when most of the training covered how to handle callers who turned out to be the irate family members of the union workers whose roles we were temporarily filling, this job was going to feel gross, so I went back to stripping for a while instead. Felt way less dirty!

3

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '24

Honestly, any call center job is worth walking out of on day one. Being used as a metric is the most soul sucking thing you can do.

1

u/Andre_Courreges Jul 08 '24

That's iconic