Do I have a beef?

[John Davidson]

…and those that learn to manipulate internet search results about themselves will get a leg up over those that don’t! Googling yourself is no longer the domain of narcissists. Now it’s just smart personal pr.
:-).

John
President & Creative Director, Magic Feather Inc.

[Rick Dolishny]

You got all up at arms maybe a year ago with some post that got a lot of people actually angry at your web site. Your WMV still doesn’t work on any of my browsers.

I’m surprised you’re still working there. You have a huge chip on your shoulder, and despite being all polite on this thread you don’t take criticism very well.

Quit and get a new job and write your own ticket. You’ll be happier for it.

I am curious though, what on earth could anyone find wrong with wind turbines? I’m serious, I think they are so modern and progressive and signal a community that’s taking control of their energy process. I was just in upstate NY and drove past a wind farm of well over 30 units. It was very impressive to see.

—
Rick Dolishny
Discrete Editors COW Leader
http://www.thecreativeprocess.ca

[Grinner Hester]

well you should think twice then.
Every artist that comes into your place is looking at it as a step to the next place. You hope so, right? I mean who wants an artist that calls good enough good enough? Your job as an employer is not to keep that artist under a contract but to grow with him, be cool as hell to him and ensure through your coolness that he does not leave later. Fail and they’ll split. That truely is how it works, like it or not.
I admit I am not very employable. I am expensive, have opnions and have places to be come 6pm. I’d sooner hire 2 22 year olds for less money and work the dog out of em.

but I’d not be surprised when they moved onward and upward. I’d hire expecting it.

If hiring an accountant I may look for a resume that had 2 decades of layalty to one place but, man, we need artists that have great dreams and show it by taking huge leaps forward every other year or so.

[Terence Curren]

[grinner hester] “You hope so, right? I mean who wants an artist that calls good enough good enough? “

Let’s look at the business side. Who wants to spend a ton of money developing an artist, then expose him to all of your client base, and even encourage developing relationships there, so that he can later leave and take some of those clients and his newly developed (on your dime) skill sets with him to some other place?

Terence Curren
http://www.alphadogs.tv
http://www.digitalservicestation.com
Burbank,Ca

[Todd Terry]

As an employer, I have to agree with that. Finding and hiring those people is very expensive and often a drawn-out process. We don’t like having to repeat it more often than is necessary.

As Grinner said, “we need artists that have great dreams and show it by taking huge leaps forward every other year or so” sounds great and in a perfect world that might be true… but in practicality it doesn’t work that way too often. I’ve seen many applicants that indeed did work at six or ten different jobs over a ten year period… but virtually all of them were simply building a checkered resume, I can’t really even think of one of them that moved from job to job taking that “huge leap forward” every time. Most of them simply moved for a few bucks more, because they were tired of the work, or they didn’t like the employer. That’s just the way it is.

I have one employee in particular in my tiny company that could easily make that big leap to something bigger and better… but rather than expecting him to do it, I try to prevent that by keeping him happy here. We are not trying to “hold him back,” we are just trying to keep our business running with the best talent possible. We give him interesting jobs, treat him very well, make sure he has a fun and creative working enviroment, let him grow as much as he can in his job… and pay him very very well (much more than he could get by making the next leap “up”). He’s happy, we’re happy, and he stays creatively challenged and working hard.

Too many employers don’t realize the value of a good employee. They should be nurtured and cared for, not used up. Getting people is easy. Getting great people is hard.

And…as for Googling…

Those in the job market might not like that potential employers Google them, or think that one’s on-line personal life is personal and that shouldn’t matter, etc.,… but the simple fact is that like it or not, or feel that it is “right” or not doesn’t matter one whit. It does happen and it’s going to keep happening. Nothing you can do about it. If there’s something you don’t want the world to see, hear, or know about you, don’t put it on line. Anywhere. There’s no such thing as “Hey, that was just supposed to be for my friends” Doesn’t exist anymore.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Doug Collins]

Everyone has been talking about searching google….did ya know you could do the same thing here at the Cow? I’m not the most active poster this place has ever seen and I came up with 11 posts in 6 forums when I searched my name.

And if you can’t find any posts from them here, do ya really want to hire them? (KIDDING)

As far as google goes….sometimes I just love my name!

[Grinner Hester]

Exactly.
So you should totally take care of your hired help, man.

[Mike Flanagan]

Two important points that I did not see mentioned by anyone else:

1. EMPLOYMENT LAW. Aaron mentioned he was paid by salary. Very often, especially in the media industry, employers INCORRECTLY categorize an employee as “salaried” as opposed to “hourly”. The incorrect presumption then is that a salaried employee need not be paid for overtime (i.e. Salaried = Exempt).
Actually, the proper employee categorization is EXEMPT and NON-EXEMPT, not salaried and hourly. Employment laws specify several stringent requirements that must be met before an employee is exempt from (being paid for) overtime. Chances are high, IMHO, that Aaron is not truly an exempt employee in the way he is being compensated. Most likely he should be paid hourly, and extra for overtime.
So, if Aaron works on “personal projects” during his normal working hours, he deserves no extra compensation. If he already worked 40 hours and then tapes an event on a weekend, he deserves extra compensation.

2. CUSTOMER SERVICE. Aaron should ask “Who is my customer?” Answer: his boss. So the boss’ “personal project” is just another customer project, and he should do it as he would for any customer. If Aaron was running his own business and his customer brought in a “personal project”, would Aaron turn away the customer because it was “personal”? I think not; at least not if Aaron wants to stay in business long.

I just came across this thread, and hence the delay between now and the original post. Hopefully this will help Aaron and any others reading the thread.