While working at an automotive job, I decided to transition to an IT career and put the plan in motion by self-studying and taking evening classes. After I had the necessary training, I started a search for an IT job.
I landed my first IT position as a low-level Tech 1 with a company that sold and maintained case management software for police departments.
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The first day I did all the normal HR stuff: filled out forms, met the group manager, and was escorted to an office -- an office! I was stoked.
The manager opened the office door and I met my new office mate, "Bob." The manager introduced us and said I was to get to know the case management software by working on the demo system. Because I did not yet have a PC to get email on, the manager told Bob to let me log in a few times a day on his computer to get email and work with the online material, but mostly I was to work on the demo machine and follow Bob on help desk calls.
The manager left and closed the door behind him. Bob looked at me and, barely waiting for the door to shut, said, "If you have another job, go back to it. You won't make it here. This is a bad company."
I was saddened and sick to my stomach. I had left a very stable (but going nowhere) job to do what I felt was going to be a new life for me and my family -- but this person who I had just met was telling me the company was unstable and I wasn't going to make it.
I asked a few questions about the company, but essentially Bob told me nothing.
I learned this was a trend with him. For instance, when I was working with the software on the demo machine and had a question, Bob would say things like, "You figure it out like I did," or my favorite, "You won't be here long enough for me to waste the time to train you."
