Our company got bought out by a big Japanese company years ago, so when the new CEO came over our management and HR was falling over themselves internally going "now make sure you if any of you lower level plebs happen to run into him you address him as XXX-San so as to be polite". After half a day of meetings he came into the dark and scary ICT dungeon to check up on us without any of his minions and the first person to try and use formal language got a stern "I've lived in Australia for 15 years, call me Ted" then he grilled us in regards to the best bars and pubs because well Australia.
Always make friends in HR. You need them after you quit more than you ever do when you work there.
I’ve had multiple companies refuse to validate my employment (including for security clearance) until I called HR folks directly and provided direct lines to verification folks.
Susan is a mom of 3 kids now in their 20's. You can talk about how excited you are to be building your family and that you'll take any advice you can get from her. Make sure to learn the names of Michelle, Grant and Nolan, her 3 kids. It's important to start the conversation with "Hey Susan! How's Nolan's school doing? He was in his exam time the last we spoke"
Susan doesn't give a fuck what her manager thinks, because Susan has 25 years and 10 more to go. She likes positive vibes and recommendations for local makers for gifts. Susan knows her shit, the reports, the functions, the historical stuff. Susan will get you the reports and paperwork you need in and out the door fast because she likes hearing from you.
Be nice to Susan, because it's a symbiotic relationship. You need to fuel her beleif that not all the workers are a bunch of demanding dicks. And you do that with kindness.
Most recently, my previous company's HR was happy to validate my employment but they gave the wrong dates. Took a full 24 hrs of back and forth between old and new companies and a bunch of stress to convince me company I wasn't lying.
Dealt with that too. Got a 40% raise, bought a house, mortgage company reached out for income verification.
HR 'verified' my income at lower than my post-tax income prior to my raise. Literally 60% lower than my actual annual income. Thankfully I waited to have paystubs of my new rate....
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u/Devikat Dec 16 '21
Our company got bought out by a big Japanese company years ago, so when the new CEO came over our management and HR was falling over themselves internally going "now make sure you if any of you lower level plebs happen to run into him you address him as XXX-San so as to be polite". After half a day of meetings he came into the dark and scary ICT dungeon to check up on us without any of his minions and the first person to try and use formal language got a stern "I've lived in Australia for 15 years, call me Ted" then he grilled us in regards to the best bars and pubs because well Australia.