Ask HN: Phone interviews during work • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Phone interviews during work

#11

Post by thrwy10 » Tue, Oct 07, 2014, 5:52 PM UTC

davelnewton wrote: post #5

Are "coffee shops" any good? How can anybody answer that? They're fine if they're quiet and it isn't you that's being the d-bag. If you bill for something that isn't work that's fraud, although a five minute call is a lot different from a full-on phone screen. Go somewhere quiet, don't bill for it. Common sense.

dave, thanks for your response. Rest assured that I won't 'bill' them for non-work related stuff. I assumed it was obvious but will explcitly state that if take an hour off, I'll make it up later in the day.

Re: Ask HN: Phone interviews during work

#12

Post by vishalzone2002 » Tue, Oct 07, 2014, 5:52 PM UTC

I think a company like breather might have a use case here.

Re: Ask HN: Phone interviews during work

#13

Post by JSeymourATL » Tue, Oct 07, 2014, 6:56 PM UTC

The recruiter & hiring manager will appreciate you have competing demands on your schedule. It's entirely acceptable to plan phone conversations/meetings before & after normal business hours, say 6:30am coffee or 6pm conference call.

Re: Ask HN: Phone interviews during work

#14

Post by jpindar » Tue, Oct 07, 2014, 8:17 PM UTC

davelnewton wrote: post #10

AznHisoka wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Umm.. no. I can work 60 hrs a week, but I still get paid for the 40 hours. That's the definition of a salary

I get that being pedantic is fun and all, but give me a break. If your salary reflects a 40-hr week, and you work 60, all you're doing is reducing the $/hr you make. If you do non-work-related stuff at work, and you expect compensation for it, you're billing your company for time you shouldn't be. I refuse to believe you don't get this.

For many of us, our salary isn't for any particular number of hours, but for accomplishing things.

Re: Ask HN: Phone interviews during work

#15

Post by gregcohn » Tue, Oct 07, 2014, 11:42 PM UTC

psychometry wrote: post #7

When I drove to work, I would just go sit in my car. Quiet, discreet, and convenient.

I never thought of zipcar as a phone booth you can rent by the hour, but that's actually a pretty good solve if you have one nearby. You can reserve them in advance.

Re: Ask HN: Phone interviews during work

#16

Post by drstewart » Wed, Oct 08, 2014, 5:09 AM UTC

davelnewton wrote: post #10

AznHisoka wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Umm.. no. I can work 60 hrs a week, but I still get paid for the 40 hours. That's the definition of a salary

I get that being pedantic is fun and all, but give me a break. If your salary reflects a 40-hr week, and you work 60, all you're doing is reducing the $/hr you make. If you do non-work-related stuff at work, and you expect compensation for it, you're billing your company for time you shouldn't be. I refuse to believe you don't get this.

When you're salary your compensation isn't based on your time. So your argument doesn't really make sense. It doesn't matter how much time you spend on non-related stuff at work, as long as you get your work done. That's kind of the point of salary.

Re: Ask HN: Phone interviews during work

#17

Post by davelnewton » Wed, Oct 08, 2014, 10:42 AM UTC

drstewart wrote: post #16

davelnewton wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get that being pedantic is fun and all, but give me a break. If your salary reflects a 40-hr week, and you work 60, all you're doing is reducing the $/hr you make. If you do non-work-related stuff at work, and you expect compensation for it, you're billing your company for time you shouldn't be. I refuse to believe you don't get this.

When you're salary your compensation isn't based on your time. So your argument doesn't really make sense. It doesn't matter how much time you spend on non-related stuff at work, as long as you get your work done. That's kind of the point of salary.

If you're doing your work in under the "expected" hours then you're basically making more $/hr. You can couch it in whatever terminology and pedantry you want--the work you do for the company is the only time in your work chair that counts.

Re: Ask HN: Phone interviews during work

#18

Post by AznHisoka » Wed, Oct 08, 2014, 2:23 PM UTC

davelnewton wrote: post #17

drstewart wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you're salary your compensation isn't based on your time. So your argument doesn't really make sense. It doesn't matter how much time you spend on non-related stuff at work, as long as you get your work done. That's kind of the point of salary.

If you're doing your work in under the "expected" hours then you're basically making more $/hr. You can couch it in whatever terminology and pedantry you want--the work you do for the company is the only time in your work chair that counts.

No.. I think you're an consultant yourself and extrapolating your experience to the 9-to-5'ers. day jobbers can get their work done before lunch, but they're still stuck in their chair until 5 because that's the nature of a day job, and having a salary.

Re: Ask HN: Phone interviews during work

#19

Post by davelnewton » Wed, Oct 08, 2014, 2:52 PM UTC

AznHisoka wrote: post #18

davelnewton wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're doing your work in under the "expected" hours then you're basically making more $/hr. You can couch it in whatever terminology and pedantry you want--the work you do for the company is the only time in your work chair that counts.

No.. I think you're an consultant yourself and extrapolating your experience to the 9-to-5'ers. day jobbers can get their work done before lunch, but they're still stuck in their chair until 5 because that's the nature of a day job, and having a salary.

No.

If they have nothing else to do and they're just sitting around then there's a systemic issue and the employee/employer relationship is broken in one or more of several ways, e.g., employer is over-staffed, employee is under-utilized, etc. An idle employee is a waste of money--e.g., they're effectively making more per hour and/or the employer is incapable of managing their resources, etc.

There's no extrapolation here. If you're idle at work then something is broken, and you're wasting the employer's money. If the employer is ok with the wasted money then it's all good, but the underlying economics haven't changed. If the employer isn't ok with this, or is unaware of this, then there's fraud.

Re: Ask HN: Phone interviews during work

#20

Post by AznHisoka » Wed, Oct 08, 2014, 3:22 PM UTC

davelnewton wrote: post #19

AznHisoka wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No.. I think you're an consultant yourself and extrapolating your experience to the 9-to-5'ers. day jobbers can get their work done before lunch, but they're still stuck in their chair until 5 because that's the nature of a day job, and having a salary.

No. If they have nothing else to do and they're just sitting around then there's a systemic issue and the employee/employer relationship is broken in one or more of several ways, e.g., employer is over-staffed, employee is under-utilized, etc. An idle employee is a waste of money--e.g., they're effectively making more per hour and/or the employer is incapable of managing their resources, etc. There's no extrapolation…

Nobody's arguing whether the system is broken or not. Or whether it's fraud or not. You're attacking a straw man.

The truth is most salaried workers aren't billed per hour.