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Career Advice - Am I being exploited ?
- Thread starter Nyanko
- Start date
Excel Facts
SuperFerret
Well-known Member
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Are those about.me things actually any good?
I have seen them before but I wasn't sure whether to take the step and put myself on there or keep at the relentless trawling on various job sites
I have seen them before but I wasn't sure whether to take the step and put myself on there or keep at the relentless trawling on various job sites
Richard Schollar
MrExcel MVP
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- Apr 19, 2005
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I rarely get asked Excel things in my office 
And almost never any VBA stuff.
I agree with Rory and Jon though - keep doing the stuff you are. Might be frustrating now but more likely it will pay dividends in the future. And it's more fun that what you would otherwise be doing, right?
And almost never any VBA stuff.
I agree with Rory and Jon though - keep doing the stuff you are. Might be frustrating now but more likely it will pay dividends in the future. And it's more fun that what you would otherwise be doing, right?
arkusM
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Nyanko/Catherine
I sympathize with you, I have often felt the same way, though my circumstances are very different. I would affirm what the others have posted and add at the end of the day you owe it to yourself to do the best job that you can do. Your extra effort in helping others builds not only your skills but your character as well. At some point someone will notice, and you may be "rewarded" for it in a traditional sense or you may be the motivation/inspiration for someone else to do better. You never know when or how your hard work, good attitude and character will have an affect. Keep up the good work.
I sympathize with you, I have often felt the same way, though my circumstances are very different. I would affirm what the others have posted and add at the end of the day you owe it to yourself to do the best job that you can do. Your extra effort in helping others builds not only your skills but your character as well. At some point someone will notice, and you may be "rewarded" for it in a traditional sense or you may be the motivation/inspiration for someone else to do better. You never know when or how your hard work, good attitude and character will have an affect. Keep up the good work.
MrKowz
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- Jun 30, 2008
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- 2016
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As already stated, this is a common problem with people that have a skill that is outside of what most others have. I am a temporary-assigned pension analyst for an international corporation, and I'm probably the only person in the entire office who knows Excel outside of a VLOOKUP. When I started here, the way we processed pension plans was utterly horrible: we were printing out forms from Excel, looking up data manually in Excel (with the Find tool), and hand-calculating everything. I was ready to scream when they told me that this is "how they do it." So, I developed an entire application in Excel that increased productivity by 500% and reduced possible human error by 95%. This translated to an estimated (by me) savings to the company of around $500,000 (as well as virtually eliminating miscalculations). Know what I got? A "huh, neat".
That was back in August 2010. Currently, I am still in the position, but my knowledge of Excel is starting to get around the office, and I welcome each time someone asks for help. I've helped a few managers with some projects, made the lives of financial analysts easier, and helped slow down the hair-loss of the person who pulls and formats reports. My name has also gotten a bit out of the office, up to some higher-ups, who are at least aware that there is someone (else) who really knows Excel in the company.
What I feel is that while you may not get the cheers and accolades now, it is being noticed. When it comes time to get promoted or if you apply for a different position within the same company, you'll have direct examples of how you have impacted the company. I know I can, in an interview, explain what I have developed for the company, the impact my developments have had, and the cost-savings of such developments. Business people like to hear that kind of stuff!
Ultimately, my goal is to open my own consulting business, but that is going to take a lot more savings than what I currently have. Companies are looking for people who can do increased productivity in the same amount of time. The job market has taken a vast turn (at least in the US) where not only are people being laid off left and right, but new jobs aren't being opened. My company just recently took a 150-person department down to 50, because they feel that if they get the right skills in that 50-person group, they don't need any more because they will be able to get all the work done.
Develop your skills in a professional environment while you can. Relish in those situations where you get the tasks that require you to research a new method, because that will become just one more gun in your arsenal. Also, be sure that if you leave the company, give the manager(s) a way to contact you so you can do moonlight-consulting. When they contact you after you leave the company, that could lead to some serious profits on your end.
That was back in August 2010. Currently, I am still in the position, but my knowledge of Excel is starting to get around the office, and I welcome each time someone asks for help. I've helped a few managers with some projects, made the lives of financial analysts easier, and helped slow down the hair-loss of the person who pulls and formats reports. My name has also gotten a bit out of the office, up to some higher-ups, who are at least aware that there is someone (else) who really knows Excel in the company.
What I feel is that while you may not get the cheers and accolades now, it is being noticed. When it comes time to get promoted or if you apply for a different position within the same company, you'll have direct examples of how you have impacted the company. I know I can, in an interview, explain what I have developed for the company, the impact my developments have had, and the cost-savings of such developments. Business people like to hear that kind of stuff!
Ultimately, my goal is to open my own consulting business, but that is going to take a lot more savings than what I currently have. Companies are looking for people who can do increased productivity in the same amount of time. The job market has taken a vast turn (at least in the US) where not only are people being laid off left and right, but new jobs aren't being opened. My company just recently took a 150-person department down to 50, because they feel that if they get the right skills in that 50-person group, they don't need any more because they will be able to get all the work done.
Develop your skills in a professional environment while you can. Relish in those situations where you get the tasks that require you to research a new method, because that will become just one more gun in your arsenal. Also, be sure that if you leave the company, give the manager(s) a way to contact you so you can do moonlight-consulting. When they contact you after you leave the company, that could lead to some serious profits on your end.
Darren Bartrup
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I agree with Jon, and have been in the same situation about 10 years ago.
I explained how many millions I was saving the company through the use of my formula, instead of manually with calculators - doesn't matter, that's the average grade for my job position.
I didn't leave (was made redundant) and now have a job as a developer built on the experience I gained from that job 10 years ago.
Seeing as they're cutting you out of all credit though - put headers (comments) in each bit of code with your name on it. Find the code to update the Excel 'About' window to include your name (sorry, can't remember off-hand where that code is).
I explained how many millions I was saving the company through the use of my formula, instead of manually with calculators - doesn't matter, that's the average grade for my job position.
I didn't leave (was made redundant) and now have a job as a developer built on the experience I gained from that job 10 years ago.
Seeing as they're cutting you out of all credit though - put headers (comments) in each bit of code with your name on it. Find the code to update the Excel 'About' window to include your name (sorry, can't remember off-hand where that code is).
Domski
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- Jan 18, 2005
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- 7,292
Are those about.me things actually any good?
I have seen them before but I wasn't sure whether to take the step and put myself on there or keep at the relentless trawling on various job sites
I've been using it in my work so that those interested can find me through my work, thinking that if I leave and someone looks me up in 5 years there is a single page I can keep updated with my email address, twitter links, linkin profile etc .... almost like a brief online CV.
I figure that if I'm going to the trouble of creating this stuff I'm gonna leave my name and contact details all over it :D
After reading all of your replies and trying to think longer term I agree that I need to think of the bigger picture. However in my current situation I'm gonna try not to be such a walkover and stand up for myself a bit more.
As much as I want to "not share my toys" I don't know whether I can do that and remain sane. You see I'm a bit of a teacher's pet/show off and can't resist adding the little programming tweeks that got me into this problem to start with !!!!
MrKowz, I too have helped my department by reducing input time from, at it's most dramatic, half a day down to 57 seconds !!!! Because I work for a manufactoring company you'd think that creating efficiency would count for something :D
I'm gonna keep doing what I do best and just hope that karma pays me back
As much as I want to "not share my toys" I don't know whether I can do that and remain sane. You see I'm a bit of a teacher's pet/show off and can't resist adding the little programming tweeks that got me into this problem to start with !!!!
MrKowz, I too have helped my department by reducing input time from, at it's most dramatic, half a day down to 57 seconds !!!! Because I work for a manufactoring company you'd think that creating efficiency would count for something :D
I'm gonna keep doing what I do best and just hope that karma pays me back
Expiry
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- Jun 20, 2007
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- 865
Interestingly, I have the almost opposite problem. I want to help people around the office, but my line manager insists it's not my job to do so (which is correct). It pains me, though, when I look over someone's shoulder and i see what they're doing.
A classic example recently was someone had developed a Gantt style chart, which basically had manually coloured cells depicting the various activities for each week of 2011. He updates the cell colours manually every week from 14 similar charts that 14 other people have updated manually for their tiny bit and sent to him. Incredible.
A classic example recently was someone had developed a Gantt style chart, which basically had manually coloured cells depicting the various activities for each week of 2011. He updates the cell colours manually every week from 14 similar charts that 14 other people have updated manually for their tiny bit and sent to him. Incredible.
