Was Laid Off My First IT Job!

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Absolutely agree Phoenix. The guy that we had was useless. He was consistently useless, but it took ages, and many many complaints before we could get rid of him.

 

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Absolutely agree. I'd much rather an employer be able to fire someone for incompetence than be forced to keep someone who can't do the job. Ever worked with a bad tech, or have to fix the problems left behind by a former employee? It can be miserable. Some people simply have no business working in IT.

Let the market decide. If an employee brings you value, then keep them. If an employee is a liability, then get rid of them. Be a valuable employee and not a liability, and you have nothing to fear from employers.

 

Falken, I'd recommend putting the experience on your CV. The short amount of work time might put some employers off, but the experience will attract other employers. It's certainly worth the risk because of how valuable real-world IT experience is.

 

I agree that if someone is consistently useless then sack them but people need to be given a fair chance, that is why probationary periods exist, if after that period and an employee has not improved or attempted to improve then the employer has every right to get rid.

 

Its a fair point. Probationary periods can last up to 6 months, and after that, if they dont think you are quite ready, the can extend it again (obviously telling you, and telling you why). After the probationary period, employers should know if you are suitable or not. If they arent proactive in terminating your contract, so that you automatically enter full staff (its automatic if they dont tell you beforehand that they are going to extend your period, or sack you), then its their own fault really.

It exists for a reason, employers should use it.

 

And if someone STARTS being a problem, then they should be put on probation and allowed to improve. If they don't... out the door.

 

Wouldnt disagree with that I suppose. So long as the probationary period was a period where the employee was put on notice, and the employer needed to actually gather evidence to support being sacked. The employer should set measureable criteria, that allows the employee and the employer to gauge their progress. I also think that only evidence gathered during said probationary period should be permissable in making the decision as to whether to sack someone. Once you have put them on notice, they should be given a fair chance to buck up and keep their job.

 

Yep obviously they need to follow rules such as verbal warnings and written warnings, if after a 6 month period you are not told on your status after that then I would assume the job is permanent.

I have had jobs were probationary periods are 2 weeks and have been in one where it was 6 months, but you normally will get told this in your employment contract or at least at the interview.

 

Almost correct. The rules concerning warning/disciplinarys dont apply during a probationary period.

 

I thought they had to inform you on the probationary period on your progress and when its at the end by verbal or written letter if you are being made permanent or getting your p45

 

The company that I currently work for expects you to be exceptional over 'good'. I've seen perfectly good people go out the door either because the were not quick enough at their job, or simply not hired in the first place although they have excellent CVs/Resumes. In many cases probationary periods are not allowed to complete, and it's perfectly within the law.

What is importrant to realise here besides legislation on what is a fair chance to prove your worth at a job, is that because one employer might not think you are 'experienced enough' does not mean that they all will. Subjective judgement is also very common at the corporate level as well as the individual.

About short terms of employment - I worked for an employer as a developer for four months over 2.5 years ago, and it was a contract for one month that ended up lasting four months. On my CV I make sure that I make clear that this was an original one-month contract that lasted four.

For short terms of employment always state the reason why the term was short to avoid potentially awkward question at interview. How would you get around yours? I would make it clear that even though I had successfully interviewed for the job and was employed, requirements changed needing more experienced personel, and as this was my very first IT job the employer offered to give me a reference because of my otherwise good performance.

Notice that I emphasized "offered"? It makes it clear that:

1. You didn't even have to ask to get a reference, meaning that your former employer actually valued you although you fell short on experience.
2. You were otherwise good in terms of timekeeping and attendance.

There is a job for you out there.

 

Wow what an ecouragement your message is. I am taking your advice and looking for another job.
I need some advice working on my resume. I wrote down some of the things that I did while working for that
company if you have any suggestion on how to word it differently and the spacing on my resume please let me know.

 

Seems ok but you need to fill it out a bit.

Try to remember everything you did in you last job, even if it was visually checking all processing were running on the server every morning, or even if you just switched monitors on when you walked in the building.

You could word that to sound more interesting like: Visually check monitors and check relevant processes are functioning correctly.

Try to think of ways to beef it up.

One of my responsibilties at work is to monitor all 7 servers in my room and if one fails I reboot it aswell as the license server.

The way I have beefed that up on my CV is to say: Monitor 7 servers and processes running on the servers, use correct fail over procedures to rectify any down time cause by general exception faults and bad Pdf files.

Hope this helps