Professional Darwinism: Update to OP on p.74

[Mediancat]

I was an educator when No Child Left Behind was adopted, and I had not clue what she was talking about so had to open another tab to find it.

I was a librarian when Accelerated Reader program was started and did all the computer programing for them and manually labeled all of the books myself. Kids would come in for 'AR' books and I would just look at them blankly.

Pretty much except for FBI as an acronym, I'm lost. That includes staring at the computer screen and having to think about what DH means. No hope for me, I gress.

I know what it means in this context, but I keep thinking "Designated Hitter."

Rob

[AfleetAlex]

A case of PD at my previous job:

BG/ It was a small company (less than 50 employees) and the owners were always in-house. There were about 10 sales staff. One such employee was a healthy man in his mid 30's. (This is relevant.) /end BG

The employee lost his job thusly. He (and the rest of the sales staff) were always under lots of pressure to sell, sell, sell and meet their quotas. All was going swimmingly until he unexpectedly fell ill and had to be hospitalized (he recovered completely), and then his plan unravelled.

To meet his quotas, we learned he was writing up orders for his clients without their consent, and then cancelling the orders before the product was actually delivered.  However, while he was hospitalized, some of the fake orders actually went through before he could cancel them, and companies were calling to find out why something they hadn't ordered was being delivered. And thus his medical leave became permanent.

[LazyDaisy]

That sounds like something that has been going on here for about two years -- except that we're the customer. On large print jobs for the university, we get bids from several print vendors to show that we're not favoring anyone and we're getting the best prices. We have a short list of vendors we trust who we have a good idea that their prices consistently beat out the competition. Every once in a while we'll go with a new vendor so it isn't unheard of.

About two years ago, the owner of a print company that we've never used called up my boss to ask him about the dozen or so print estimates that one of his salesmen, Brett Vanderhouse (made up but he has an unusual name), had in the system for us. He indicated that Brett was no longer with the company so he just wanted to follow up. Boss let him know that while Brett had solicited business from us, we've never actually had him bid on any jobs (he verified with each of us graphic designers that we haven't contacted Brett). That seemed the end of it at the time.

And then about a year later Boss gets a similar call from a different print company that we've never used. Brett Vanderhouse, who has recently left the company, has several print jobs pending for us and they want to follow up. Nope, we've never requested estimates from them.

And then just this last week...Boss gets an email announcement /solicitation from another print company..."Hey meet our new sales associate, Brett Vanderhouse. If you have any print needs, please give us a call...yadda yadda yadda." Boss is debating on whether to call the owners to let them know what Brett has been up to at his last two jobs. The crazy thing is that Brett himself never actually calls us up to solicit work and most print sales people I know work mostly on commission, so other than buying time, what does Brett get by faking jobs that aren't ever going to print?

[Ms_Cellany]

The crazy thing is that Brett himself never actually calls us up to solicit work and most print sales people I know work mostly on commission, so other than buying time, what does Brett get by faking jobs that aren't ever going to print?

Wasn't there something in the PD thread about a guy who made quota by falsifying orders then cancelling them at the last second?

[greencat]

The crazy thing is that Brett himself never actually calls us up to solicit work and most print sales people I know work mostly on commission, so other than buying time, what does Brett get by faking jobs that aren't ever going to print?

Wasn't there something in the PD thread about a guy who made quota by falsifying orders then cancelling them at the last second?

This is the PD thread - and the post you're talking about was the one right before it!

I was wondering if they might have been one and the same person, though...

[Ms_Cellany]

The crazy thing is that Brett himself never actually calls us up to solicit work and most print sales people I know work mostly on commission, so other than buying time, what does Brett get by faking jobs that aren't ever going to print?

Wasn't there something in the PD thread about a guy who made quota by falsifying orders then cancelling them at the last second?

This is the PD thread - and the post you're talking about was the one right before it!

I was wondering if they might have been one and the same person, though...

My only excuse is the prescription cough syrup...

[Seraphia]

Ms_Cellany, I thought the exact same thing.  In my case, it was the alka-seltzer.

[BB-VA]

I was an educator when No Child Left Behind was adopted, and I had not clue what she was talking about so had to open another tab to find it.

I was a librarian when Accelerated Reader program was started and did all the computer programing for them and manually labeled all of the books myself. Kids would come in for 'AR' books and I would just look at them blankly.

Pretty much except for FBI as an acronym, I'm lost. That includes staring at the computer screen and having to think about what DH means. No hope for me, I gress.

I know what it means in this context, but I keep thinking "Designated Hitter."

Rob

I read Rob's post as "Designated Hitler".  Definitely a presbyopia moment.

[LazyDaisy]

The crazy thing is that Brett himself never actually calls us up to solicit work and most print sales people I know work mostly on commission, so other than buying time, what does Brett get by faking jobs that aren't ever going to print?

Wasn't there something in the PD thread about a guy who made quota by falsifying orders then cancelling them at the last second?

This is the PD thread - and the post you're talking about was the one right before it!

I was wondering if they might have been one and the same person, though...

I have a feeling faking is a problem among professions that have quotas to meet in general. Nothing was ever delivered to us that we didn't order. The only way we ever found out about anything was because people called us after Brett was already gone. I have no idea if he was fired or quit before they could find out. My boss won't warn the new company about Brett because we really don't have any business relationship with them; but at the rate he's going through jobs at print companies, it's probably just a matter of time before he hits one we do use. If it happens, that will be interesting.

[Ceallach]

That reminds me of a situation at a previous employer of mine.  Note that this occurred before I started working there. I'm sketchy on some details as I was told this about 8 years ago now.   

Company was an employment agency, and "Andy's" job was recruiting e.g. building up relationships with companies and sourcing candidates to fill their vacancies - a VERY sales focused role for anybody who doesn't know (lots of people think it's about finding people jobs, which couldn't be further from the truth).     Andy left the company after a few months (I can't recall the exact circumstances) and it wasn't until after some time he left that they discovered he'd been claiming roles as filled that were not in fact filled by him.    Basically, he'd been paid commission on work he hadn't done, and there was no way to recoup that.  It took awhile to placate the clients, reverse invoices, and generally clean up after him.   The general view was that Andy was so over-confident he was claiming fills to get commission believing he could get the role filled, and then left when he realised his giant house of cards was about to collapse.       They chalked it up as an expensive mistake and moved on. 

Through the grapevine, the managers learned that Andy left his next job not so long afterwards, and somehow it transpired that he had "faked" a reference from *my company* to get that job e.g. actually had somebody on the phone pretending to be the boss and give him a glowing reference.   Our bosses assured the other company that there is no way they gave Andy a reference, it must have been faked.   Andy had sold himself into that role and let them down so the other company was angry.

And the reason I was told this story?   The managers at my company had just seen Andy listed in an industry magazine as being appointed to a fairly prominent role at yet another company.   Presumably again with faked references!   So they told us the story because they just couldn't believe this guy was getting away with this time and time again.  I never met Andy, but he must have had the gift of the gab to sell himself into increasingly senior positions time and time again.
 
Not really Professional Darwinism, but more Professional Con-Artist I'm afraid!     

[AfleetAlex]

The crazy thing is that Brett himself never actually calls us up to solicit work and most print sales people I know work mostly on commission, so other than buying time, what does Brett get by faking jobs that aren't ever going to print?

Wasn't there something in the PD thread about a guy who made quota by falsifying orders then cancelling them at the last second?

This is the PD thread - and the post you're talking about was the one right before it!

I was wondering if they might have been one and the same person, though...

My only excuse is the prescription cough syrup...

  I've been there (DayQuil + me = zombie). Brett and my PD aren't the same person, although I'm not sure what happened to my PD. He's probably around somewhere, hopefully having learned his lesson!

[Wulfie]

I hate it when PD actually ends up destroying a town. We have a case of this going on in the Seattle area right now.

The town of Pacific elected the mayor by a write in campaign. He has been a little dictator, he fired the city clerk because she locked her office when she went on vacation, tried to fire a bunch of police officers when he was arrested for breaking into her office, firing anyone who did not bow down to his demands and who actually wanted to do their jobs correctly, ect.  The state and the insurance company for the city gave him a deadline to have these jobs either filled or at least posted for hire, he did not do so.

 Now they have lost their insurance at the end of the year and may have to incorporate into one of the nearby towns.The insurance company told the city that if there is a change to city leadership they may consider re-instating it.  There was a meeting last week and again early this week about incorporating into the nearby town and the mayor didn’t show up. Today the papers say that he has skipped town.   They have called for a recall but it will not happen in time to save the city as the mayor is fighting it.

[rose red]

That reminds me of a situation at a previous employer of mine.  Note that this occurred before I started working there. I'm sketchy on some details as I was told this about 8 years ago now.   

Company was an employment agency, and "Andy's" job was recruiting e.g. building up relationships with companies and sourcing candidates to fill their vacancies - a VERY sales focused role for anybody who doesn't know (lots of people think it's about finding people jobs, which couldn't be further from the truth). 

*snip*       

Unfortunately, I learned that the hard way.  I warn people away from "employment" agencies that I've had bad experiences with.  The ones who oh-so-smoothly pump you for information about any businesses you had any connection with (not just your past work history), you're left confused and used, and you never hear from them again. 

[RooRoo]

...he fired the city clerk because she locked her office when she went on vacation, tried to fire a bunch of police officers when he was arrested for breaking into her office...

I remember hearing about this a while ago. IIRC, the city clerk locked her office because she had caught him trying to access records he was not allowed to see, by law. I can't believe he wasn't recalled at the time. What a piece of work!

And I'm sure none of it was his fault - according to him. IIRC, he had some bombastic excuse for trying to get into those records, and how he wasn't breaking the spirit of the law, just the letter... 

I have no sense of time passing - but it seems to me it was quite a while ago. Maybe it's his twin brother, or maybe he moved and managed to get elected yet again, in a new state? Or, worse, maybe there are two power-hungry fools who don't care what they destroy, as long as they get their way? 

[SoCalVal]

DF and I are hiring servers for our wedding reception.  On Monday, I put up a notice in the kitchen classroom of the local community college's culinary program (I've taken classes there in the last few years so I know I'd find interested, qualified parties there).

The first person who contacted me I was honest with and told her she was the first person so far (she expressed concern about how old the notice was; I told her I'd just put it up that morning).  She said she'd get copies of her qualifications to me later that evening.  It took her more than 48 hours to send her info to me and with no explanation for the delay (except a "sorry I was late sending them" in her e-mail; if she had maintained contact and let me know she'd be delayed, I might've been okay with that).  I replied that we've already found the individuals we need (which we did -- the first two people who quickly sent me their culinary work history and proof of ServSafe certification).  I hope she learns from this experience not to delay (especially since her work experience, period, and education are pretty minimal -- *I* have taken more culinary classes than she has, which isn't that much).  She wants to get a job as a pastry chef and while working as a server isn't that, culinary work experience for a private event would carry more weight than cashier at a fast food place.