<p>I am in a position of being “on call” basically all the time. We have 4-5 who are (company of about 50). My work cell turns on at 4:20 in the morning and goes off at midnight. I get email, texts and phone calls that I am expected to respond to most of the time. When I was first given a cell phone, I responded to things very quickly. Now I have gotten better (a little bit) about separating. If I’m not getting paid for it, why should I be working off the clock? I’m in an hourly position…</p>
<p>Music, we’re really only on call during the day so off hours they only call if absolutely necessary so I don’t mind it. Maybe like once a month or so. Some calls just need fifteen minutes work some are longer. I’m one of the few IT people paid hourly so i get paid for any off hours time and welcome the overtime $$$.</p>
<p>If i can’t help or aren’t home i say so and then they’d have to call someone else… If not on their work cell then on their personal which we all supply for emergencies. Chances are if they’re calling a personal cell there’s an emergency.</p>
<p>I also work from home so it’s a lot easier for me to jump in and work then someone else who has to remote in from home… I have my office stuff right at my finger tips. </p>
<p>We all have tokens on our keychains that allow us to work from anywhere. I can even bring my work desktop up on my cell phone I think with my citrix app.</p>
<p>There was one night after a release last year where I was sick, took Nyquil, went to bed at ten and got called at eleven… Was asked to join a conference call… Wound up on that call till five am. after joining the call and understanding the situation I wounds up basically running the whole call. I still don’t know how I stayed awake!!!</p>
<p>This is the life of IT… ;)</p>
<p>Re: #21</p>
<p>If you are in an hourly position, shouldn’t they count any hour in which you respond to your work cell phone an hour worked for payroll (and overtime) purposes?</p>
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<p>Yes, I think a lot of the emphasis on appearance reflects unprofessional hiring practices rather than unprofessional young people.</p>
<p>UCB, yes, I get paid overtime for any off hours calls and corresponding work. Thus my being happy to be the only one who wants the calls. More money for me. ;)</p>
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I am curious - do you mean that you have refused to interview such people, or that HR has never sent you such a person to be interviewed?</p>
<p>Also, there are people at my company with blue hair and tattoos everywhere and piercings galore. Most of these people are in roles where they just talk to customers on the phone though as opposed to in person which I think probably makes a difference. But they’re always dressed appropriately and do a nice job.</p>
<p>^^^
Yes, I’d think it depends on the company. For example, at Whole Foods, I suspect visible tattoos are almost mandatory for employment.</p>
<p>Ha ha ha.</p>
<p>I do wonder how much longer I will be allowed to work with my old tattoo-less body!!</p>
<p>I work very closely with HR when it comes to hiring. I view them as my partners. One of their jobs is protect the firm being sued for various protected class, so they do watch out for potential offenders. They’ll let me know of applicant’s behavior at the interview, leadership potential, communication skills, and if he/she would be a good fit for the firm. It would then up to people in my department to “tech” an applicant out and we would make the decision together (including HR) whether to hire an applicant. Like many posters here, a lot of applicants do not think HR have much input when it comes to hiring and think they are just paper pushers, so they’ll be more relaxed and let some of their true colors show. Every once in a while, someone in HR will tell me, “John was very rude and demanding,” “Mary kept on playing with her hair,” “Jane asked some good questions about our company, she did a lot of research, I think she is very hard working and pays a lot of attention to details.” </p>
<p>HR gets complaints from employees about behavior of other employees. When it involves “hostile working environment,” “sexual harassement,” “age discrimination,” they need to deal with it in order to prevent the company from getting sued. As an example, if an employee doesn’t feel comfortable in hearing swear words, he/she could formally complain to the HR about hostile working environment. Another example, if an employee wears very revealing clothes and it is a distraction, someone could raise it as an issue with the HR. Having too much to drink at company function could also lead to inappropriate behavior, which result in sexual harassement or hostile working environment. Another word, many acceptable college behavior could potentially become a liability to a company. As a hiring manager, I do not need that kind of headache from my employees, so yes, I would listen to my HR partner if they should raise a red flag.</p>
<p>We are a tech start up company. I see men dress inappropriately just as often as women. They think just because the dress code is casual, they could wear jeans with holes, Ts with offensive language, hair not combed (or even washed).</p>
<p>Cosmicfish, I’ve never refused to interview anyone. My point is, that in my industry, new grads seem to know what appropriate dress and appearance is, and they just do it. HR does not see them prior to their showing up on the day of their departmental interview.</p>