How is your career going?

[Paingod]

I can clock in and out remotely using my laptop...

I've got a Surface Pro 3, and when I roll in at 6:45am I'm always the first one in. I don't rush to the door... I just clock in from my car and then walk through the rest of unlocking and turning everything on. I don't think anyone would care, but it looks better than clocking in at 6:55 after getting to my desk and waiting for it to reboot after I dock it.

[Smoove_B]

I've been advised by my employer that if I want to receive and send work related email on my personal phone, I'll need to agree to allow my phone to be remotely wiped by them in the event that it's lost or stolen. I'm of a mixed mind on this. I use an iPhone so I know nothing on there is really there, it's in the cloud (waves hands above head). However, it's still my phone and giving someone I work contract for the ability to wipe it kind of bothers me. Not sure if being able to remotely respond to questions is worth the hassle, but it makes me less useful then out in the field. I'd feel totally different if it was their phone but because it's mine it's just not sitting right with me.

[Isgrimnur]

If incoming notifications matter to you, then that's the devil you have to deal with. If, like me, you're only concern is when you deliberately check it, see if they have a web access portal that you can use from any browser.

[LawBeefaroni]

I've been advised by my employer that if I want to receive and send work related email on my personal phone, I'll need to agree to allow my phone to be remotely wiped by them in the event that it's lost or stolen. I'm of a mixed mind on this. I use an iPhone so I know nothing on there is really there, it's in the cloud (waves hands above head). However, it's still my phone and giving someone I work contract for the ability to wipe it kind of bothers me. Not sure if being able to remotely respond to questions is worth the hassle, but it makes me less useful then out in the field. I'd feel totally different if it was their phone but because it's mine it's just not sitting right with me.

Many folks here have 2 phones. The personal phone and the wipe-able work phone. The work phone is "free" but if you lose it it's something like $800 to replace. Getting it wiped counts as losing it, I think it bricks it.

[Smoove_B]

I need to be remotely available to answer questions - even if it's to say, "I'm out now, but I'll get back to you later when I'm at a desk." They did let me know I can check my email via a web browser on my iPhone and not worry about remote detonation accessibility for them, however doing anything internet related on my iPhone 5 is an exercise in frustration because it's too damn small. I might need to explore it more though or just get a new iPhone 6s that they can then remotely wipe.

Many folks here have 2 phones. The personal phone and the wipe-able work phone. The work phone is "free" but if you lose it it's something like $800 to replace. Getting it wiped counts as losing it, I think it bricks it.

I'd love for them to purchase a work phone (or device that would allow me to check and respond to email remotely) but as a temporary short term (8 years now, 15 weeks at a time) employee, that will never happen. I'm expected to answer and respond to email in a reasonable amount of time so I'm more or less backed into a corner.

[Isgrimnur]

Stall. The 7s will be out shortly, dropping the prices on the 6s. And if you're concerned about size, get the Plus version.

[Smoove_B]

Stall. The 7s will be out shortly, dropping the prices on the 6s. And if you're concerned about size, get the Plus version.

Oh yeah, absolutely a plus. If they made a plus plus, I'd get that. Or is that just an iPad?

And that's a good point about the 7s...though aren't you always ~6 months away from a new iPhone?

[Isgrimnur]

Generally it's once a year. And I've held on to my two previous models for three years each before replacing them.

Release date rumors for 7 are for sometime next month.

[Jeff V]

I've been advised by my employer that if I want to receive and send work related email on my personal phone, I'll need to agree to allow my phone to be remotely wiped by them in the event that it's lost or stolen. I'm of a mixed mind on this. I use an iPhone so I know nothing on there is really there, it's in the cloud (waves hands above head). However, it's still my phone and giving someone I work contract for the ability to wipe it kind of bothers me. Not sure if being able to remotely respond to questions is worth the hassle, but it makes me less useful then out in the field. I'd feel totally different if it was their phone but because it's mine it's just not sitting right with me.

This has been standard policy since phones had data to wipe on them. I don't think I ever worked for any company that didn't manage mobile devices exactly that way.

Where I work now, you have a choice -- you can agree to that, or you can get a company-provided phone to do your company business. Being able to remotely wipe a phone that's lost or stolen is on the list of things I'm too lazy to setup on my own anyway, so having this corporate benefit saves me a potential headache.

[LordMortis]

None of that makes sense to me. If they allow you to connect to the server using a personal device then you have the settings to connect from any device, don't you? If you can get at your email from any device, how protected is your email, then, really?

It seems much more prudent to encrypt confidential information with a key than it would be to pretend to control email you openly don't control.

Only I know how much people hate key encrypting (and decrypting) documents (myself included). As a culture, we really do like to pay lip service information security and spend a lot time and money pretending it's important so we can point fingers when something goes wrong.

[gbasden]

None of that makes sense to me. If they allow you to connect to the server using a personal device then you have the settings to connect from any device, don't you? If you can get at your email from any device, how protected is your email, then, really?

It seems much more prudent to encrypt confidential information with a key than it would be to pretend to control email you openly don't control.

Only I know how much people hate key encrypting (and decrypting) documents (myself included). As a culture, we really do like to pay lip service information security and spend a lot time and money pretending it's important so we can point fingers when something goes wrong.

It depends on the email system, but the long and short is when you log in you give the remote server the ability to remotely trigger a wipe. In some cases its a small encrypted partition that contains just the company data, in others it triggers a wipe of the entire phone. If you connected with multiple devices then you would give them the ability to wipe multiple devices. In most cases the phone is also encrypted, but that varies based on manufacturer, MDM solution and OS level.

[Smoove_B]

It depends on the email system, but the long and short is when you log in you give the remote server the ability to remotely trigger a wipe. In some cases its a small encrypted partition that contains just the company data, in others it triggers a wipe of the entire phone. If you connected with multiple devices then you would give them the ability to wipe multiple devices. In most cases the phone is also encrypted, but that varies based on manufacturer, MDM solution and OS level.

In digging around some more, apparently we're transitioning to the Office 365 system, whatever that entails. This would also explain why I was able to get a home use key for Office 16 for $10. Hopefully they don't tell me I also agreed to let them detonate my personal computer too.

[TheMix]

Off-on-topic...

I accepted a verbal offer for a remote position. Sent the background check info today. Once they complete the check, I should be getting a written offer.

Looks like I will probably be working again soon. Guess that's good.

[tjg_marantz]

From home in your OO underoos?

[The Meal]

Off-on-topic...

I accepted a verbal offer for a remote position. Sent the background check info today. Once they complete the check, I should be getting a written offer.

Looks like I will probably be working again soon. Guess that's good.

Congrats! I know who's buying dinner tomorrow night.

[TheMix]

Not sure about that. I still have to pass the background check.

That said, I do owe you and MHS some drinks. A debt I will happily pay back.

[TheMix]

From home in your OO underoos?

No underoos. Though perhaps I should get some. But I do have some "lounge" pants (I think that's what they are called) that are very comfy.

[Jeff V]

Not sure about that. I still have to pass the background check.

If they ask us, we'll lie for you.

[tjg_marantz]

From home in your OO underoos?

No underoos. Though perhaps I should get some. But I do have some "lounge" pants (I think that's what they are called) that are very comfy.

So from home, buck nekkid? Attaboy!

[The Meal]

Not sure about that. I still have to pass the background check.

That said, I do owe you and MHS some drinks. A debt I will happily pay back.

Depending on how MHS is feeling tonight, we may head up to Lyons tonight a bit ahead of the appointed time.

[paulbaxter]

It's officially job application time for me for my post-nursing school career. I'm a bit nervous and overwhelmed thinking about it.

I've completed two job applications now. My hope is specifically to work in the OR setting, but I'd be willing to take something else if that doesn't happen.

I'm in a fairly small town. We have a big urgent care facility associated with a hospital and some clinics, but hospital work means going out of town. First application was to a hospital in Raleigh, about an hour East of me. The second is in Durham, about half an hour East. The hospital system to the West of me, where I've had lots of clinical experience, has their new grad applications open, but I haven't been able to determine if they are offering a program for the OR. Have to sort that our this week. I plan to apply to the next big hospital past that, in Winston-Salem, which is also an hour away, but they also haven't opened their OR training program quite yet.

Right now I'm trying to decide if I want to apply at UNC Chapel Hill, even though they don't have on OR program at all, and/or the big hospital system in Charlotte. The Charlotte option also has OR training potentially, but that's two hours away, which in my mind means moving. I kept telling myself before that I'd be perfectly willing to move, but now that I'm up against it I'm not feeling so sure.

[hitbyambulance]

None of that makes sense to me. If they allow you to connect to the server using a personal device then you have the settings to connect from any device, don't you? If you can get at your email from any device, how protected is your email, then, really?

It seems much more prudent to encrypt confidential information with a key than it would be to pretend to control email you openly don't control.

Only I know how much people hate key encrypting (and decrypting) documents (myself included). As a culture, we really do like to pay lip service information security and spend a lot time and money pretending it's important so we can point fingers when something goes wrong.

no way would i put job email on a personal device.

my place of employ just started making RSA second factor authentication required for VPN access, but they are too cheap to provide hardware tokens, so they're requiring everyone to use their personal phobes and tablets for this! this is sketchy. furthermore, i don't have a phone, what do i need to do? in order to use a software RSA id generator (Windows or OS X, no Linux), i need to submit a "business justification" to keep being able to use VPN! nevermind i've been using it for the past six years already.

[Jeff V]

The vast majority of RSA tokens in our environment are software tokens installed on the computer they use for the VPN. Very few people require access from multiple machines (I be one) and for that, there's the phone app. Hardware tokens are expensive, intrusive, and obsolete.

Starting tomorrow though, a pin on the lock screen is required to get company email. This is going to be a pain in the ass.

[Isgrimnur]

i need to submit a "business justification" to keep being able to use VPN! nevermind i've been using it for the past six years already.

"That's the way it's always been done" is not a valid justification.

[Paingod]

i need to submit a "business justification" to keep being able to use VPN! nevermind i've been using it for the past six years already.

"That's the way it's always been done" is not a valid justification.

When I took over here, I explained that to an office manager. I believe I said "I think 'That's the way it's always been' is the worst reason to keep doing anything" when I was discussing changes that we needed to make.

[Paingod]

I have a hypothetical career question. Not so much job hunting, but business ethics. If this isn't the best thread, I could start one or move it to another.

Hypothetically, let's assume you discover your boss has Full Access to several mailboxes - including 4 managers he supervises and the company owner - his boss. Hypothetically, this raises some red flags, but it was done before your time and you have no idea under which circumstances it was done. It might have been to cover vacations and never removed and be completely innocent, it might not have been. You don't know if everyone he has access to is aware of his access or not, and asking anyone involved may be like kicking a hypothetical hornet's nest.

Either way, in your experience, most people hypothetically regard their email as a relatively private thing. You also know, hypothetically, that your predecessor was terminated and the primary causes was "Breach of Confidentiality" because he slipped and let it be known that he was reading his co-worker's emails by granting himself Full Access to their mailboxes when he had no cause to do that.... so, hypothetically, you know the company takes issue with this. You've even hypothetically discussed this with one of the managers that's mailbox is hypothetically currently connected to your boss's Outlook, and she hypothetically states that the company takes a very strong stance on people in other people's email, using the previously terminated employee as the basis for the hypothetical conversation.

Hypothetically, what's the next step in a business without any HR department? If there was an HR Department in this scenario, you'd dump this mess in their lap, but without one, hypothetically, your boss is also the HR department.

Again, could hypothetically be nothing, but it could also be something.

[stessier]

I personally think my mail is always being read by the companies I work for and understand I have no privacy.

That being said, I'd play dumb. I'd go to the hypothetical boss and say - "hey, my routine audit (or however you found it) of the email system noted that you had full access to these other emails accounts. Were you aware and do you still need it?" Then, no matter what the answer, I'd log the answer somewhere and let it drop.

Note: I am not an IT professional and may have different ethical expectations.

[LordMortis]

I have a hypothetical career question. Not so much job hunting, but business ethics. If this isn't the best thread, I could start one or move it to another.

Hypothetically, let's assume you discover your boss has Full Access to several mailboxes - including 4 managers he supervises and the company owner - his boss. Hypothetically, this raises some red flags, but it was done before your time and you have no idea under which circumstances it was done. It might have been to cover vacations and never removed and be completely innocent, it might not have been. You don't know if everyone he has access to is aware of his access or not, and asking anyone involved may be like kicking a hypothetical hornet's nest.

Either way, in your experience, most people hypothetically regard their email as a relatively private thing. You also know, hypothetically, that your predecessor was terminated and the primary causes was "Breach of Confidentiality" because he slipped and let it be known that he was reading his co-worker's emails by granting himself Full Access to their mailboxes when he had no cause to do that.... so, hypothetically, you know the company takes issue with this. You've even hypothetically discussed this with one of the managers that's mailbox is hypothetically currently connected to your boss's Outlook, and she hypothetically states that the company takes a very strong stance on people in other people's email, using the previously terminated employee as the basis for the hypothetical conversation.

Hypothetically, what's the next step in a business without any HR department? If there was an HR Department in this scenario, you'd dump this mess in their lap, but without one, hypothetically, your boss is also the HR department.

Again, could hypothetically be nothing, but it could also be something.

1) Email is not private, not even confidential email is private unless it is encrypted. Your people should be exorcised of that expectation if they ever get it in their heads.
2) If I am accountable for this hornets nest then I make judgement call as to who to inform but I verify with someone. If I am not accountable then I likely verify with the person who is. If your boss is accountable, then I would go to them and verify this access is intentional and permanent. After that it's not your call. If your boss is not accountable but rather you are, I would probably bring up the violation generally and get general direction in writing. Email along the lines of "I have discovered some people have access to other people's email. I would like to audit and wipe these accesses. Is there ever a case when emails should be "shared." Please advise.", essentially finding a way to shift accountability to them.

[Smoove_B]

Aren't there sometimes software updates that reset access flags or settings on the server-side, forcing you to go and manually re-enable access to mailboxes? All you did was re-enable mailbox access in the way that made sense.

Also, I'd never assume my work email was private in any capacity. While someone might not be actively monitoring it, I'd fully expect there could be an audit and review at any time.

[LordMortis]

I personally think my mail is always being read by the companies I work for and understand I have no privacy.

That being said, I'd play dumb. I'd go to the hypothetical boss and say - "hey, my routine audit (or however you found it) of the email system noted that you had full access to these other emails accounts. Were you aware and do you still need it?" Then, no matter what the answer, I'd log the answer somewhere and let it drop.

Note: I am not an IT professional and may have different ethical expectations.

Stess and I see eye to eye in every way. Two makes it unanimous, right?

[Paingod]

Hypothetically, I like the "Routine Audit" thing. I thought about the "Security Update Fixed It" option, but that seemed less honest, hypothetically.

Email is not private, not even confidential email is private unless it is encrypted. Your people should be exorcised of that expectation if they ever get it in their heads.

Every business I've been in so far has taken email as a murky gray area - they know they own it, they tell the employees they own it, but they're always very careful to cross their t's and dot their i's when they get into opening it and searching it. I've always assumed that was because it could get sticky in a legal sense if someone took exception to it and had a good enough lawyer.

[hitbyambulance]

i need to submit a "business justification" to keep being able to use VPN! nevermind i've been using it for the past six years already.

"That's the way it's always been done" is not a valid justification.

When I took over here, I explained that to an office manager. I believe I said "I think 'That's the way it's always been' is the worst reason to keep doing anything" when I was discussing changes that we needed to make.

keep in mind i was saying i always had VPN access and it's not an option to not have it, since everyone needs the ability to work remotely. not that i think we should keep doing the old, RSA-less way of authorization. in case there was any confusion here.

[paulbaxter]

Nursing school graduation isn't until December 10th for me, then I have to take the NCLEX sometime in January, but last night I received and accepted my first nursing job offer.

I was secretly hoping to have an offer by the end of this month. I'm not quite the first in my class to get one, but I am second. Very excited to have crossed that hurdle.

Now I just have to pass this last semester.

[Isgrimnur]

Congrats! Don't let senioritis set in.

[MonkeyFinger]

My career is just fine, been working in IT since the late 70s. My job is a little in flux at the moment. Been an independent consultant for many years and doing that for the Government since 2010. Just like twice before, the contract we were working under came up for rebid as they go for 5 years max. The wheels turned, it was awarded, the new overlords came in and signed people up, transition under way. All that changes for us 1099 types is the name on our check, typically pretty painless. Then the award was protested. Then a 'Stop Work' was issued by the Accounting Office. Then the drama kicked into high gear with the grunts are being used as pawns. We've been asked to stay home while the parties involved play a game of chicken while we wait to see who blinks first. Fun.

[Skinypupy]

Then the award was protested. Then a 'Stop Work' was issued by the Accounting Office. Then the drama kicked into high gear with the grunts are being used as pawns. We've been asked to stay home while the parties involved play a game of chicken while we wait to see who blinks first. Fun.

Ugh...been there. Good luck man, those protests can be ridiculous.

[Grundbegriff]

1) Email is not private, not even confidential email is private unless it is encrypted.

And if the email is encrypted within an enterprise-managed email system, then it's probably encrypted not only to the key of your intended recipient, but also (transparently) to the key of a third party administrative account.

[MonkeyFinger]

Then the award was protested. Then a 'Stop Work' was issued by the Accounting Office. Then the drama kicked into high gear with the grunts are being used as pawns. We've been asked to stay home while the parties involved play a game of chicken while we wait to see who blinks first. Fun.

Ugh...been there. Good luck man, those protests can be ridiculous.

Well... there are two protests now and the "winner" of the new contract backed off. So we're on an extension with the old prime for 4 months and - depending on what happens with the protests - we'll see what happens next. But at least we're working.

[tiny ogre]

Here's a video from this morning's Keynote at the Oculus Connect conference. It features the back of my head. And also what what my team has been working on for the last 6 months

[Paingod]

I've got a phone interview tomorrow with a larger organization that works at the State level (but I don't know if it is a state entity, or just a state-supporting entity). The position is IT Manager, reporting to a Director that runs all the support services departments. There are a number of people I see on LinkedIn - Security Admin, Network Admin, Network & Ops Supervisor, Technician - that would be under that role, and likely a few more I don't see - Help Desk, Desktop Support, etc. They publish a yearly report and it looks like computer services, equipment, and maintenance ran just over $1M last year. Their total administrative budget was over $9M last year, with the bulk of that (about $5M) being "Employee" costs. I'm struggling to determine what a good salary number would be for someone managing a fair sized group of people on a million dollar budget would be. It's the largest organization I've interviewed with, and I'm excited for the opportunity to try out for it - but I get the feeling that this should earn far more than I make as a one-man-show doing IT at all levels. Salary calculators are all over the place, from $60,000 to $120,000, and seem of little use.

For the professionals here that dabble in salaries or have some experience in the field, what sounds right for a position like that?