Dirty secret about an industry that you have worked in?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Feds don't hire the best and brightest. They hire people who are willing to wait 3+ months after an interview for a job offer.

Wow all these stories are crazy. But as an NIH employee and researcher, I can at least safely say the opposite of the above quote is true! I work with amazingly talented and highly intelligent, passionate and caring people. Seriously folks, if you ever have any unusual medical needs pop up and have an opportunity to be treated at the NIH, do it.

My husband works at NIH and would have to agree. He works with some awesome people.

Among scientists and researchers - maybe. Administrative staff is no different from your generic feds.

Do agencies still have admins? At my agency the only admins are assigned to the Division Directors. Every employee does his own time sheet processing, copying, purchasing, travel arrangements, etc. we have for years - maybe a decade, I can't remember.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do agencies still have admins? At my agency the only admins are assigned to the Division Directors. Every employee does his own time sheet processing, copying, purchasing, travel arrangements, etc. we have for years - maybe a decade, I can't remember.

I refer to support functions like HR, finance, payroll, as well as IT.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Years ago I briefly worked for a "famous" crisis management consultant that was a huge fraud but even so many celebrities and high powered executives hired him. I quickly realized that he lied about his past employment, accomplishments and education. He was a master manipulator and when clients complained about unfounded billings or questionable practices he would threaten to sue them and they would go away. He worked for some awful people and industries and though he was despicable made millions!

Why not expose his name here?

Was his last name Donovan?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Sibley Drs, nurses, staff are gossips. It is not uncommon to hear Drs trash patients or their colleagues. Major unprofessional culture.

Oh, I can back this one up. It's part of why I avoided specific pediatricians when my kids needed one. Lots of gossip about the kids and their parents.

Yes. A relative works there and is a total busybody. Talks to me about work people and I don't even know who they are!

That would be HIPAA violation

Not exactly. In my case I'm referring to talking about non-patients. Seems the environment there tends toward a more chatty work culture.

You have busy bodies and chatty nurses and gossip in any office environment. Doctors and nurses are no exception.

Where's the Hippa poster. It's illegal. As for me, I would never hire a Dr who went to GU Medical School.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Give me a break with the daycare stories. The teachers at our center send their own kids there. Explain that?

+1. Our center director and many of the teachers send their kids to our center. I check on the video feed often and have never once seen teachers eating the kids' food, hitting, falling down drunk on the playground, etc.

Same - and I drop in unannounced all the time, as do other parents. Zero issues.

You are kidding yourself. Staff know when parents are in the facility. There are often code words used. "Elvis is in the building" was used whenever a parent was unexpectedly on-site at my last center. I worked with a teacher who would put her long coat over kids and pretend to be hugging them. She was pinching their little ears. Another teacher took kids in the bathrooms out the camera site and smacked them on the head with their shoes if they took them off. These were degreed teachers in accredited centers. Yes I reported.

It would take me hours to list all the scary stuff I saw in even the "best centers". There are some great teachers out there. But there are also some awful ones. Low pay plus the stress of dealing with young children and long hours with few breaks creates a less than ideal environment.

Whatever.

I think it's hilarious at people don't believe these stories. Why would PPs lie about this crap? Nobody is trying to scare anyone off from daycare, but this does exist.

I think there are nannies from the nanny forum who are pretty invested in scare stories. My kids are much older and I did all variants of childcare when they were younger so don't really have a horse in this race, but this is a pattern I've seen on DCUM.

Good point.

+1. DCUM is heavily populated by nannies. I don't trust a lot of what I read. Including the salaries, benefits and how bad daycares are. It doesn't mesh with my own personal experience or from what my friends/relatives say.

I would definitely tell myself the same thing if my kids lived at daycare. So heartbreaking. How would you like to spend 10 hours a day in the same room?

My DS spends 6.5-7 hours a day in a room that's larger, cleaner, safer, brighter, more organized, and full of more toys than most D.C. apartments. He gets music, art, outdoor time, buggy rides, and way more child-focused activity than he gets at home with me. He gets to try new foods, play with his buddies, and get loved on by all his teachers.

Truly heartbreaking, yeah. Bad daycare exists, but it's not all bad.

[Anonymous]

I've read 21 pages and still don't know why I shouldn't order the chicken.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Give me a break with the daycare stories. The teachers at our center send their own kids there. Explain that?

+1. Our center director and many of the teachers send their kids to our center. I check on the video feed often and have never once seen teachers eating the kids' food, hitting, falling down drunk on the playground, etc.

Same - and I drop in unannounced all the time, as do other parents. Zero issues.

You are kidding yourself. Staff know when parents are in the facility. There are often code words used. "Elvis is in the building" was used whenever a parent was unexpectedly on-site at my last center. I worked with a teacher who would put her long coat over kids and pretend to be hugging them. She was pinching their little ears. Another teacher took kids in the bathrooms out the camera site and smacked them on the head with their shoes if they took them off. These were degreed teachers in accredited centers. Yes I reported.

It would take me hours to list all the scary stuff I saw in even the "best centers". There are some great teachers out there. But there are also some awful ones. Low pay plus the stress of dealing with young children and long hours with few breaks creates a less than ideal environment.

Whatever.

I think it's hilarious at people don't believe these stories. Why would PPs lie about this crap? Nobody is trying to scare anyone off from daycare, but this does exist.

I think there are nannies from the nanny forum who are pretty invested in scare stories. My kids are much older and I did all variants of childcare when they were younger so don't really have a horse in this race, but this is a pattern I've seen on DCUM.

Good point.

+1. DCUM is heavily populated by nannies. I don't trust a lot of what I read. Including the salaries, benefits and how bad daycares are. It doesn't mesh with my own personal experience or from what my friends/relatives say.

I would definitely tell myself the same thing if my kids lived at daycare. So heartbreaking. How would you like to spend 10 hours a day in the same room?

Yea like at school?

It is sad. If we kept my son home, he'd get to spend his days in our luxurious 10 bedroom mansion. So many rooms to choose from! East wing? West wing? Oh the options!

[Anonymous]

Teacher here. A lot smoke weed. A lot.

[Anonymous]

The amount of sexual harassment in colleges would astound you And the mean at high level universities- Ivy's and similar. Be ESP careful sending your kids on trips with profs. Even more common from profs to grad students but sometimes grad students will have sex with profs if they pursue them. Either to have an easier time with Orval's or disssrtation or because they are enamored with them. Still power is so unequal. Profs have complete control over these kids careers. Academic freedom means univ usually turns a blind eye.

Also profs are often ego driven and commonly present their students work as their own. Treatment of grad students is horrible. Pretty girls will be chased around the desk constantly. Although I've known males to be harassed by female profs also.

And not always student to prof. There is a huge amount of extramarital sex happening between profs also. One of the most unethical and depraved group of people I ever worked with overall.

[Anonymous]

I agree with financial services industry. My do is in a related industry and we would never recommend some hire of financial planners unless you have no clue at and many millions of dollars. And I mean many millions. Keep it simple with plenty of insurance and diversified index funds plus some international. Only funds not single stocks. You can read about percentages as you age. But finan svcs people are notoriously terrible at managing their own money and are just trying to maximize their commission. On,y ever use fee based ones and even that I would not recommend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The amount of sexual harassment in colleges would astound you And the mean at high level universities- Ivy's and similar. Be ESP careful sending your kids on trips with profs. Even more common from profs to grad students but sometimes grad students will have sex with profs if they pursue them. Either to have an easier time with Orval's or disssrtation or because they are enamored with them. Still power is so unequal. Profs have complete control over these kids careers. Academic freedom means univ usually turns a blind eye.

Also profs are often ego driven and commonly present their students work as their own. Treatment of grad students is horrible. Pretty girls will be chased around the desk constantly. Although I've known males to be harassed by female profs also.

And not always student to prof. There is a huge amount of extramarital sex happening between profs also. One of the most unethical and depraved group of people I ever worked with overall.

What field?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to be an Au Pair many moons ago and now I'm a mom and I can tell you that no matter how great someone seems always have a camera or people watching. Most of the Au Pairs used to come to "our" home with their kids and it was unbelievable how badly some of these children were treated. One child refused to eat dinner and the Au pair would take him in the basement and you could hear a loud scream and they would come back up and he would be eating. I knew she was smacking him and my biggest regret is not saying anything. I wish I did. The children were ignored constantly. The parents had no clue and thought these AU Pairs were the best thing that ever happened to them. If the Au Pairs were treated kindly then they treated the children kindly, if the parents were being assholes then the Au Pairs were so mean to the children.

That's pretty much true. I caught my Au Pair slapping my 13 month old across the face (she didn't realize I came home early). I backhanded the au pair so hard she went down to her knees. Quite the scene. BTW, she was 25 yrs old, not a teenager straight from mommy and daddy. You'd be surprised at your own reactions when someone hurts your kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. A lot smoke weed. A lot.

A lot of people smoke weed. Doesn't bother me if it's not during or immediately before work hours.

[Anonymous]

Someone I know befriended a very wealthy kid who used to get pot from the neighbors house. This was a very exclusive neighborhood, anyways the house next door had a live in nanny/housekeeper who used to grow weed behind the garage and sell it to the teenagers in the area

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. A lot smoke weed. A lot.

Really? What grade do you teach? This doesn't describe my co-workers - unfortunately.