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Post by hopefulj on Apr 10, 2009 8:33:13 GMT -5
From an outsider. I read globalpanda's spanking just before reading the advice on another thread to be nice in the interview, because they are looking for people who can get along. kinda funny, eh?
I really appreciated appending's putting everything in one place. Yes, Jagghagg, most of us newbies do try to look through the threads and do searches on issues. But it is is hard to look through hundreds of threads to find answers to all those questions. And if you work...and have a family....and don't live on this blog, then sometimes it is nice to have someone take the time to respond.
For those of you oldies who have been on this blog for years, just ignore the questions. It isn't necessary to criticize or put down any question. Perhaps a simple: "May I suggest you look at the threads or do a search. Remember to change the time to 360 days" would be the best answer.
Finally, I hope globalpanda gets either a thicker skin or a sense of humor. Life is too short to take what someone says in an anonymous post personally.
Good luck to all who are interviewing in the next two weeks. I look forward to meeting you in training.
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Post by valkyrie on Apr 10, 2009 8:46:08 GMT -5
This thread is just more proof that there is just no way that any of the interviews could have possibly gone badly. The previous postings are just more proof that reasonable people never say anything that can be taken the wrong way, and that reasonable people never take anything the wrong way. Of course, even is something like that happened in an interview it would be okay. SSA only takes points off for drooling and hat dances.
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Post by carjack on Apr 10, 2009 10:45:48 GMT -5
When you get a chance, it really is beneficial to simply scroll back in the pages on this board. The threads that are of no interest are apparent generally since they involve questions of the moment. You may find some important info that you are looking for and info you may not even know you'd like to know. The FAQs cover a lot of it, but it's still interesting. TOB is the same way if you go back far enough in early '07 and before.
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Post by nvnatv on Apr 10, 2009 18:06:57 GMT -5
"SSA only takes points off for drooling and hat dances. "
Oh no! And I've been practicing.
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Post by shp on Apr 10, 2009 18:40:52 GMT -5
"SSA only takes points off for drooling and hat dances. " Oh no! And I've been practicing. If I was in charge, I would give points for pole dancing!
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Post by globalpanda on Apr 10, 2009 19:14:31 GMT -5
Posted by hopefulj on Today at 8:33am
"Finally, I hope globalpanda gets either a thicker skin or a sense of humor. Life is too short to take what someone says in an anonymous post personally."
Shoot, there is nothing wrong with the thickness of my Derma. Rather, it was simply a desire to point out the rude and uncivil behavior, and how that is viewed by the agency that the posters endeavor to join. I never take poor behavior personally.
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Post by pm on Apr 10, 2009 20:08:35 GMT -5
This thread is just more proof that there is just no way that any of the interviews could have possibly gone badly. The previous postings are just more proof that reasonable people never say anything that can be taken the wrong way, and that reasonable people never take anything the wrong way. Of course, even is something like that happened in an interview it would be okay. SSA only takes points off for drooling and hat dances. I love your sarcasm, but unfortunately those who need it will not get it.
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Post by rhino on Apr 10, 2009 20:18:38 GMT -5
Well, um, THAT comes as no surprise, now does it? Aren't you pretty much Ishmael to her Ahab?
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Post by doctorwho on Apr 10, 2009 21:27:33 GMT -5
Hell, honey, I would have asked the same question - and in the same way - had I been face-to-face. ;D Sorta the same smack I got from ALJ Discussion when I first came on the boards and did the same thing. And, there are three threads of FAQs at the very beginning of the boards for this exact situation. ( Threads, I might add, that were not present when I bumbled onto the boards...) First, I am NOT your "honey". Second, SSA as an agency prizes courtesy and civility, not only in our interactions with the public, but in how we treat each other. In fact we place such a high value on it that we make it an element of everyone's job description, from the most junior mail clerk, right up to those folks in the SES. Further, we value cooperation, teamwork and the willingness to extend a helping hand to those who need it most. How you treat the least of your brethren reflects not only on you, it also reflects on the rest of us. If you have not yet figured this out about the culture of the Administration then perhaps "not where I want to be" is the right spot for you. Spare me. There are truly wonderful people that work at SSA. I had the great pleasure to work with many of them. However, your post makes SSA sound like it is the model workplace, which it is not. The treatment I received from a member of the SES at Social Security was, in short, actionable -- and, with regard to the general "culture," although it is true that MANY people are warm-hearted, caring, and simply lovely, some simply did not get the memo -- from the Junior mail clerk, to upper management. No Federal Agency is a Utopian Society globalpanda. The more you insist, the more unlikely it seems to all of us -- especially those of us who have been there, and those of us who have served and continue to serve at other agencies. Your swipe at JH speaks volumes.
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Post by globalpanda on Apr 11, 2009 14:09:39 GMT -5
Spare me. There are truly wonderful people that work at SSA. I had the great pleasure to work with many of them. However, your post makes SSA sound like it is the model workplace, which it is not. The treatment I received from a member of the SES at Social Security was, in short, actionable -- and, with regard to the general "culture," although it is true that MANY people are warm-hearted, caring, and simply lovely, some simply did not get the memo -- from the Junior mail clerk, to upper management. No Federal Agency is a Utopian Society globalpanda. The more you insist, the more unlikely it seems to all of us -- especially those of us who have been there, and those of us who have served and continue to serve at other agencies. Your swipe at JH speaks volumes. You seem to have misinterpreted the nature of my chiding. I made no claim that the Administration is a utopian work enviroment. However, since you brought the subject up: bestplacestowork.org/BPTW/rankings/index.php?t=&c=indexI am sorry DrWho if you were treated badly by a supervisor or co worker. It happens. In an agency as big as SSA, you get a few. One more reason to screen applicants carefully. Overall however the culture of the agency is as I stated. It is one that values helping others and treating folks with kindness and compassion.
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Post by alj on Apr 12, 2009 9:54:06 GMT -5
Spot on GP. We certainly could use more "kindness and civility."
I am a member of a very large forum that is divided into sections of fairly narrow interests with thousands of international members. As the sectional interests are narrow and somewhat technical, the same questions tend to be repeated by the new members. Normally the response is: "There was an extensive thread on that topic a few weeks (or a few months) back." Some of the members will tell them where to find the thread, or if it is in the distant past, give an URL for its location. I have yet to see a curt reply on that board that conveys how much more the responder knows than the newbie asking the question.
My point is, on that board there is seldom seen snipping and sniping, toward either new members or long term members, as is seen on this board. This board was formed in September, 2007. That was only 1 1/2 years ago! For many of you, the sum of what you know about the hiring process was gleaned from this board and from going through the process as a candidate. There are at least four of us here who not only have been judges for a number of years, but who also have management experience and have inside knowledge about the ALJ hiring experience. The Panda is one of those.
I hardly think experience gathered as a candidate, or from this board, enables one to be rude to our fellow forum members.
Sure, we get tired of seeing some of the same questions being asked this time as were asked last time, but is that really a good reason to give a less than welcoming response to a new poster? I have seen the same questions asked for the past ten years, since I found the predecessor to TOB, but I don't give short smart ___ answers. I think we should be happy to have the new posters, and make them feel welcome to the forum.
When the Giant Panda tells you something, believe it.
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Post by flannery on Apr 12, 2009 20:12:27 GMT -5
Whether you are a pragmatist or an idealist, there are many reasons to be civil. There is never really a reason not to be civil. Even the protagonists in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, and High Noon were civil as they battled the bad guys.... So that is one reason to try to bite one's tongue on the board and in life. I don't know for a fact who is who on the board, but I do try to read between the lines and then use my own judgment. Having said that, it seems to me ALJ is deserving of more than a little street cred... If he says believe, I'll be fairly inclined to believe...
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Post by flannery on Apr 17, 2009 8:22:40 GMT -5
I returned from my interview this week to see something has happened on our board--an offensive post, etc. So with my rabbit hind legs, I am going to kick my recent post back up to the top of the threads. In such highly public discourse as we engage in on this board--where, literally, the whole world can watch us--I repeat the mantra: "there is never really a reason not to be civil." I'm all for pressing our point forward--whatever the point is. But when the discourse degrades into ad hominem grenades aimed either at individual posters or a group of posters based on status (e.g. "insiders," "outsiders"), that's when the creators of the board must step in. I hope Global Panda will come back, whoever he or she is. But I appreciate the board creators for stepping in at what was apparently high noon to save Dodge City...
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