Q–I was asked to take early retirement five years ago and haven’t worked since. I was a senior programmer analyst — I enjoyed the job and was good at it. I am now bored and would like to get back in the game. Are there any groups that can help me with a job search?
A–According to Bob Cohen, senior vice president of Information Technology Association of America in Arlington, Va., you may well be able to name your terms to come back. The association conducted a 1998 study showing that 1 out of every 10 jobs for programmers, systems analysts and computer scientists goes unfilled. Many companies have postponed projects to use their people for the Y2K problem, whose cleanup could last well beyond the year 2000. If you update your resume and read the want ads, you could be working within weeks.
Q–I worked for more than a year and a half for a verbally abusive general manager at a family-owned business, until I walked out on the job. He has been with the company for 18 years and in this time, 12 administrative assistants left. One even filed a harassment lawsuit; they settled out of court. I’ve been honest with potential employers regarding my reasons for leaving the company, but to no avail. What can I do about this?
A–Many people have felt like walking out of a job, but when you actually do so, you create another problem: you need to straighten out the situation for reference reasons. According to Judie Moswin, career consultant at Drake Beam Morin, before you start interviewing for new jobs the thing to do is to meet with the owner of the company you’re leaving to work out an agreement about references. You may want to consult a lawyer, not to file a lawsuit, but to find out about your rights and to develop a strategy to get what you want. Since the owner is aware of the manager’s reputation and will most likely not want another lawsuit, you should be able to attain an agreed-upon reason for leaving.
Q–I started a job two months after being terminated from my previous job. I took a $12,000 pay cut but was promised a raise in six months. Two weeks after I started, my boss was fired. The new boss said that my raise was written into the budget, but that he could not promise anything. When the raise didn’t come through after six months, my boss said he didn’t think I’d receive it. During a meeting with a senior officer, I mentioned the raise; he said it wasn’t his area. When I later told my boss that I turned down a job offer based on that promise, he said he would see what he could do. How can I resolve this?
A–Maybe you should have taken the other job. The new boss was upfront in saying he wouldn’t promise anything. Writing it into the budget doesn’t mean that the money has to be given to you. Perhaps after six months the new boss did not think the raise was warranted. It was also not the smartest thing for you to talk about the problem with another company officer who had never been involved in the negotiations. You have made your request for a raise. If the company doesn’t come through and you are dissatisfied with the other aspects of the job, I suggest you quietly continue your job search and wait for the best offer.
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Write to Lindsey Novak, Jobs, Room 400, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago 60611. Include your telephone number. E-mail her at
AtWorkbyLN@aol.com.
