Last summer, I decided that I needed to find another job. One big reason is that driving from Louisville to Lexington everyday was hell on my car and my wallet!! I was spending at least $120 in gas and putting 165 miles a day on my car! I had asked if I could work from home once or twice a week to help ease the burden of driving so far to work, but I was turned down citing the contract stated working from home was not allowed. The hypocrisy that I saw was that my coworkers who lived much closer were working from home (sometimes covertly) without being reprimanded.
A bigger reason for leaving is that I did not get any training or help that I needed to do the job, It was bad enough to find out after the fact that the job was not that job that was advertised, but to not train me to do the job that was expected of me was an insult! I really felt that I was screwed over royally! I was there for nearly a year and the most productive I was while I was there was getting proficient in playing Solitaire, Spider Solitaire, and Tri-Peaks on my phone! Some of you may say "Yeah, but it's easy money" (and I even told myself that at times), but the time will come that I will have to do the job, but how can I do the job if no one trains me for it? Especially a job for which I was deceived in to applying? I tried to learn as much on my own, but that only goes so far. I asked techs who knew the job for help but got "I'm busy" type responses or no response at all.
And the biggest reason of them all - MONEY!! Not that I was not getting paid , but I was not getting paid ON TIME! I was being paid twice a month (the 15th and last day of each month) so I would need to submit my time sheet for approval 2 business day prior to pay day so I would be paid on time. Unfortunately, there was only one person who approved the time sheets, so no back up in case that person was out sick or on vacation, etc. The first time my time sheet was not approved on time, I was understanding about it and dealt with it. But then it happened a second time. After sending in my time sheet, I id not get a confirmation that My time sheet had been received ad was approved. I started getting concerned about it because if I'm getting paid late, then I'm paying my bills late which can negatively affect my credit, as well as get late notices from creditors and get charged late fees for paying bills late (not to mention, keeping gas in the car so I can get back and forth to work!). When it happened a third time, that was the straw that broke the camel's back! I felt this time it was intentional because I did not receive any confirmation that my time sheet had been approved and I had to send my time sheet a second time before getting the approval. So after my time sheet was finally approved, I submitted my resignation the next day.
Long before I resigned, I was blasting my resume all over the Internet and registering to every job website I could think of. I had recruiters blowing up my phone with job opportunities that they think I would be a "good fit" for. I jumped through their hoops, e-signing every document they sent, taking time off for interviews, and get "edged out" by a candidate who was a "better fit". I distinctly remember interviewing for a desktop support job with Wild Turkey Distillery. Although the job was only for six months or so but I had to get away from Conduent! I think I was their first interview. They quizzed me on my technical knowledge and I was just knocking it out of the park. By the end of the interview, I was certain I would be offered the job. I was thinking, "Finally, I'm be away from Conduent and working a job that I know how to do! And working a bourbon distillery that I had toured earlier in the year! The feed back I got from the recruiter was they were ready to bring me on board, but all of a sudden, the recruiter told me they wanted to interview a few more people. A few days passed , then a couple weeks passed. I asked the recruiter what's going on, but she told me they told me they wanted to interview more people. A month after I had interview with Wild Turkey, I gave up waiting and resumed my job search. Something insides me was asking " Did they not want a 50 year old Black guy working at their establishment?". Of course I couldn't prove anything, but it just kept gnawing at me why were they so hesitant to offer me the job.
Shortly after that fiasco, I was offered a contract-to-hire position with DXC, who had recently bought out the contact with IBM, who provided computer support to AT&T. I interviewed with the manager of the Tech group. The interview didn't last fifteen minutes! She asked me the generic "Tell me about yourself" question, then I went int my job history spiel. After that she asked if I had reliable transportation, to which I replied "yes". I tried to ask a couple of technical questions but she didn't answer them. then the interview was over. I called the recruiter and told him how short the interview was and that she was more concerned about my having reliable transportation than my technical knowledge. About 30 minutes after that call, the recruiter calls back and offers me the job! I was overjoyed that I finally have a job in that wings so I can quit Conduent, but was concerned about what I was walking into because of the interview. Of course, I accepted the new job. The pay was the same but I'm not driving to Lexington every day, and I'm getting paid weekly instead of bimonthly!
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