Reminds me of the practice of Translations.com / Transperfect, one of the largest language services providers. Their HR policy is to not allow employees to name the company in any online space, social media or otherwise. So when you see staff on LinkedIn, for instance, their employer will invariable say "Leading language service provider" or similar. These seem to be completely unreasonable policies, to me, that in effect are demanding that basic facts are ownable by the company.
Every employee who leaves Apple becomes an ‘associate’
231–240 of 337 posts
Re: Every employee who leaves Apple becomes an ‘associate’
#232Earlier quoted context omitted.
My external title (which is also what's on my resume) has generally not corresponded to my official HR title--which I might not even know off the top of my head. There's this weird fixation on specific levels associated with technical roles at the big tech companies which mostly doesn't exist anywhere else outside of the very highest levels. It's also not clear to me from the article that Apple is changing the person…
Titles are important for pay reasons, as they correspond to pay bands. People that say titles don't matter are probably already making outsized compensation and don't find it important because their resume speaks for itself. A manager and director can be doing the same job, but the title matters in terms of their compensation and potential title at their next job.
I wouldn't dispute your point that titles are important, but would ask, should they be? It doesn't seem that they really mean much at a lot of places, or are sometimes even given out in place of compensation. One anecdote I can think of is my company hired a front end developer right out of a bootcamp. After a few months he went on to a job at a large sports apparel manufacturer with the title of Senior Engineer. He was competent and a sharp guy, but come on, Senior with less than a years worth of professional experience.
Re: Every employee who leaves Apple becomes an ‘associate’
#233Apple, a company notorious for secrecy, may have very legitimate reasons for canvassing employee job titles to a single innocuous string. Unless apple signed a contract with another party that promises accurate and historical internal job title disclosure, this is the fault of the validation services who a promising something they’re not able to deliver.
No one in the article or in these comments is saying that what Apple is doing is illegal or violates a contract. It's just a scummy thing to do.
Re: Every employee who leaves Apple becomes an ‘associate’
#234Earlier quoted context omitted.
Starbucks calls all its employees "partners". Are they misleading future employers in the opposite direction? It sounds to me like Apple is just another tech company that doesn't confirm titles, and that their generic word for "employee" is "associate". That is not a weird Apple thing; if you go out into the Fortune 500, you'll find a bunch of other companies that do the same thing. Contra this article, "associate" d…
Starbuck refers to their employees as partners in addition to an actual title. (I worked for HEB in high school, which did the same thing.) If they genuinely had no titles for anyone beyond partner, then yes, that would be fine. Apple doesn't work like that.
Starbucks has internal titles as well!
Re: Every employee who leaves Apple becomes an ‘associate’
#235There's a database? It feels collusion-y. "We don't trust what you're telling us. We might end up paying you too much. Let's consult the database and see if you're actually a Level 5 Wizard.
Re: Every employee who leaves Apple becomes an ‘associate’
#236Earlier quoted context omitted.
Future employers will ask your level and if Apple tells them something different they're going to think you're lying. I can see it being problematic when applying to Government or enterprise roles. They will do their due diligence and might rescind an offer if they find a discrepancy.
> Future employers will ask your level and if Apple tells them something different they're going to think you're lying. But that doesn't seem to be what's happening. It's clear that "associate" means "they worked here but we won't tell you what as, ha ha". That's not lying! That's just not telling. And it's no reason for a future company to be suspicious.
The problem is that some employers DON'T understand that is what's going on and come to the conclusion that you're lying.
Re: Every employee who leaves Apple becomes an ‘associate’
#237If Apple considers level 1 and 5 to both be associates and doesn’t share more than that that’s… fine? WaPo says this can be a 6 figure difference in compensation but frankly why should a future employer get to know how much I make? Maybe I’m a level 3 but deserved to be a level 4. Maybe I’m a level 5 but actually a level 2 that’s just really good at office politics. If I want my employer to know what number Apple ass…
I cannot wait to check back in with you when you're trying to get a new job and negotiating salary. > If I want my employer to know what number Apple assigned me, I’ll tell them. Literally this article is about employers being like "hmm you told me this number but we don't believe you because Apple says its wrong"
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Re: Every employee who leaves Apple becomes an ‘associate’
#238If Apple considers level 1 and 5 to both be associates and doesn’t share more than that that’s… fine? WaPo says this can be a 6 figure difference in compensation but frankly why should a future employer get to know how much I make? Maybe I’m a level 3 but deserved to be a level 4. Maybe I’m a level 5 but actually a level 2 that’s just really good at office politics. If I want my employer to know what number Apple ass…
> why should a future employer get to know how much I make?
Wait until you find out that credit agencies already has this info separately.
It was recently here on HN. Look for “work number”.
Re: Every employee who leaves Apple becomes an ‘associate’
#239Reminds me of the practice of Translations.com / Transperfect, one of the largest language services providers. Their HR policy is to not allow employees to name the company in any online space, social media or otherwise. So when you see staff on LinkedIn, for instance, their employer will invariable say "Leading language service provider" or similar. These seem to be completely unreasonable policies, to me, that in e…
sounds like something out of the CIA
Re: Every employee who leaves Apple becomes an ‘associate’
#240Reminds me of the practice of Translations.com / Transperfect, one of the largest language services providers. Their HR policy is to not allow employees to name the company in any online space, social media or otherwise. So when you see staff on LinkedIn, for instance, their employer will invariable say "Leading language service provider" or similar. These seem to be completely unreasonable policies, to me, that in e…
sounds like something out of the CIA
Almost. In my experience those periods of employment are just blank.