Senioritis

Lisa Kramer

Lisa Kramer is a contributing contributor at The League of Ordinary Gentlemen.

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5 Responses

  1. Travis says:

    I think part of it is that employers no longer show loyalty to their employees, therefore employees no longer believe they have to show loyalty to their employers. A seniority-based system breaks down when people don’t believe they’ll be able to hold the same job for a long period of time.

    When you show loyalty to an organization, stay with them for a decade, help that corporation achieve record profits… and are rewarded with a pink slip because the CEO wants his fat bonus, well, seniority begins to look like a giant scam.Report

    • MadRocketScientist in reply to Travis says:

      @Travis,

      Travis nailed it. Even amongst my generation (I’m in my mid-30s), the idea of staying with a single company for more than 10 years is just not actively considered amongst the professional set. Hell, even at Boeing, arguable one of the largest companies in the world, with a very diverse set of business units, it is common for people to change positions every 2-5 years, and not stay in the same skill area or business unit, making seniority moot.Report

    • Lisa Kramer in reply to Travis says:

      @Travis, 100% agreed with both you and MadRocketScientist. But it’s a chicken/egg question. Rewarding promotions based on seniority is an example of employer loyalty to their employees. Doesn’t mean it’s the only instrument (as you mentioned, the culture of CEO bonuses at the same time as worker layoffs is a big problem as well), but we have to start somewhere. I’m not ready to accept that because the average 20 or 30-something holds a job for only a few years (and I include myself in this) that we have to assume that is the new reality and can never be reversed.Report

      • MadRocketScientist in reply to Lisa Kramer says:

        @Lisa Kramer, reversing that trend amongst professionals requires corporations deciding that holding onto employees long term is important enough to change benefits & attitudes. Nobody wants to find themselves at age 60 and out of a job before full retirement and unable to find a new one because you only have the limited experience of working for one company.Report

  2. Rufus F. says:

    I often hear people say that teaching is just something that some people are naturally good at and others are just naturally lousy at. My experience, however, is that this is complete crap. I was a shockingly bad teacher my first semester- terrified of speaking before people, I would stay behind the desk , trembling, speaking entirely too fast, and interacting very little with the students. It was a nightmare. I was nearly fired, in fact, which is saying something for a grad student instructor.

    Four years later, I’m not fantastic, but I’ve improved a great deal. What I don’t think people realize is how emotionally loaded the experience is. You’re there because you are a geek on a particular subject and love that subject beyond all human comprehension. So, the idea of taking about it with young people, and maybe getting some of them interested too, is absolutely wonderful. And yet, you find that most of them hate the subject and don’t much like you from day one. It’s crushing- how could anyone be uninterested in the phases of the Thirty Years War?! What has happened to this society?! You start sounding like a paleocon.

    hen you start to chill out and work through your failings. The truth is, if you love teaching, there’s still no guarantee you’ll be any good at it. But, if you love anything in itself and apply yourself humbly to improving, after years of effort, you’ll get a lot better. When you have a class and you explain something difficult to them really well, it’s an unbelievable rush. And really there’s no way to get better than to dive in and swim. A lot of teachers don’t make it past five years and that’s really a shame because I really think most people don’t get to be very good at teaching within that time frame.Report