180
How common is this type of job interview? Are there any good reasons why a company would prefer this one-way form of communication?
That's pretty unusual and would be a red flag for me.
Interviewing is a two way street. In order for a hire to be successful, the candidate must be a good fit for the role, but the role and the culture must also be a good fit ...
151
I am a fellow parent and manager. I had to un-stick Lego, wipe little bottoms (off-cam) and stop fights during professional presentations. Or tell my 5 years old to put on some trousers before he comes into the camera.
Other answers talk about ignoring it if it doesn't affect work performance.
Having to take care of children while trying to work does affect ...
147
The best course of action is to let him stay home at this point. It is no use to expect him to be productive while on a working notice, given that his performance was already lacking. Give him pay in lieu of notice and free up a desk.
147
So you fire someone for not being productive and then expect him to be productive?
Joke's on you.
He was already poorly motivated, now he's even less motivated.
You should have expected this and just put him on inactive status.
145
I need this job because I have to take care of my daughter
No. You need a job to take care of your daughter. That could be flipping Burgers at McDonald's.
In Germany as a Software Developer there should be no shortage of job offers. We are so starved for developers, we are importing them not just from other countries, but from other continents. You should ...
110
Your best bet would be to act as if the child isn't even in the room.
If it's not having an impact on either their or your performance it's irrelevant. The professional thing to do would be to continue on about work business.
It's a tough time for a lot of people, many I imagine are finding childcare hard to come by. There's a good chance that your ...
103
I have some legal training in employee law in Germany (but IANAL and this is not legal advise).
Your guess is probably right. By doing a minimum of work, he is bullet-proofing himself against further actions on your part. The bar for immediate termination is rather high in Germany, and if your company has a Betriebsrat and/or is unionized, even more so. And ...
101
The company has a notice period so that you will have time to finish your tasks, and clean things up.
Your obligation is to give them notice. You have no obligation to give them more notice than is required by the contract/law.
Therefore you need only to give them one month of notice.
I have been in a similar situation before. I knew for several weeks I was ...
92
You sacked someone and let them keep access to your network?
If you are lucky, all he's doing is being ineffective. If you're unlucky, he's writing a script that will anonymously execute in a few month's time and delete all your backups.
Never, ever, ever let someone with a cause for grievance against you anywhere near anything important. You lock them out ...
81
Why not just give him 3 months pay as per contract and tell him to go home.
Problem solved.
And it will help the rest of the team as well.
76
An interview is a 2-way street. Make sure they don't have a revolving door of employees.
I think the question they meant to ask was
The last person left after 6 months, how do we know you'll stay longer?
Ask how long the last person stayed and why they left. This company may have management issues that turns it into a revolving door. Ask more questions ...
71
From a German perspective this does not sound uncommon to me. In my experience it is quite usual to have the 13th salary included when calculating yearly pay, it is not uncommon to lose it when quitting within a certain range around payout of this 13th salary.
If you want more salary, then go ahead and try to negotiate for it but don't feel ripped of because ...
69
I already created forged documents about results of safety relevant tests of another department (mechanical engineering) because the test station failed to protocol the results and no one noticed for 3 years
You already committed a crime along with your employer IMO. But then again you should consult lawyer to decide how much you are liable incase this gets ...
58
What I would do:
In private:
Hey, would you mind giving me feedback about my suggestion, what was the problem you saw in that approach? I noticed my suggestions get mostly denied, and I would need feedback to improve upon them, it might be that I just don't see some aspects that you may see.
I made it clear that I noticed I am getting all my suggestions ...
46
I would say this kind of interview is very uncommon, and with good reason.
Usually a job interview is so that both parties get a feel for one another. If it ends up more like a interrogation, then the interviewer won't know everything they should about the candidate. Of course, the candidate doesn't know whether or not they should take the job.
You know more ...
45
I’m in the UK, so perhaps this isn't quite right for Germany.
But usually, if an employee goes to the relevant authorities (safety standards organisations, product approval bodies, or police), and says openly, " I faked safety data. I felt pressured and needed the job. I have had time to think and I need to let someone know..", they will be ...
37
You should absolutely continue as if nothing has changed until you give your official notice. If you feel it’s unethical, consider the reverse situation—say the company is planning to downsize and you would be one of the people to be let go. They most likely wouldn’t mention anything to you prior to giving you an official termination letter. Why? Because ...
37
If you get a question in an interview that you don't fully understand, ask for clarification.
Interviewing is a two way process, clear communication is vital because it's only a short period to assess within.
36
About a month ago, the German ministry of work made a new regulation which mandates home office wherever possible.
The SARS-CoV-2-Arbeitsschutzverordnung (Corona-ArbSchV)
says:
(4) Der Arbeitgeber hat den Beschäftigten im Fall von Büroarbeit oder vergleichbaren Tätigkeiten anzubieten,
diese Tätigkeiten in deren Wohnung auszuführen, wenn keine zwingenden ...
36
I'm not defending the company here, and honestly, this sounds like terrible interview practice.
But, one possible explanation could be that this was a pool interview.
In other words, there are X possible roles available within the company (possibly for different departments), and they are using the interview to figure out which, if any, you would be a good ...
34
For years I struggled with this type of self-doubt and the fear of being somehow "found out". It only started to ease when I realised the following things:
Whenever I completed a task with minimum fuss, I always felt it was because it was a simple task - the kind anybody with basic experience could complete easily. It never once entered my mind ...
31
Let me get this straight: you terminated this employee for unsatisfactory performance...
... and now you are expecting him to perform to your satisfaction.
Just... stop and think about that for a moment. In fact, think about it for a good long while. Think hard about it - really exert your brain.
Then, stop wasting everyone's time, and tell the former ...
31
You're required to give one month notice. Your new job starts in October. Give your one month notice in September.
I'm failing to see how or why this is an issue of ethics.
29
Well, lets unpack this.
In Germany, working 10-12 hours a day over a longer period of time is illegal as an employee. Actually, the employee will not be sentenced, it's illegal for the company to allow this. The only person legally allowed to do this is the owner(s) of the company, who are probably self-employed. An employee cannot legally do this and it ...
28
This is actually an interesting questions because of whether or not a former professor retains the title "Prof." after leaving the university. In Germany, it depends on several factors (mostly length of tenure) which also differ by Bundesland (State/Province). So nobody will expect you to know whether or not you should address them "Prof. X&...
26
There are two reasons that your companies policies right now are illegal:
For one, right now, it is the law to enable personnel to work from home whenever possible. And everybody else working remotely is strong evidence that it is indeed possible.
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/corona-arbschv/Corona-ArbSchV.pdf
But generally speaking, as an apprentice in ...
25
Go get a new job. Interview, get a signed offer, serve notice period, leave, the normal way.
Also work on your own mental issues.
There is nothing else to worry about. You cannot be “held responsible” in any real sense for leaving a job, even if the “company collapses,” and to be honest they can hire another system admin to follow checklists in a very ...
25
If your resume contains many short appointments this is an invitation to assuage their fears you'll be out the door the moment you've finished training.
For example, maybe you did a bunch of short-term contract work and they'd like to be reassured that you were there for six months because that's what the client wanted and agreed upfront.
If this job is ...
23
First things first: just about everybody suffers from imposter syndrome to some degree or another. The people I'd worry about more are those who do always think they're the best developer in the company1, because that can be a much more damaging attitude to take.
Probably the most important thing to do here is to get some actual feedback on your performance ...
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