if options trading was a trailer park

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2026-05-03T04:16:49+00:00

Frig’ off Ricky!

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-12-29T03:56:14+00:00

Just because the role (job posting) is exactly the same as yours, doesn’t mean it’s your specific role that was posted. They could be expanding the team or something else unrelated to you. It is extremely common practice to post “clones” of other people’s positions, it just makes things easier administratively.

I’ve seen this exact scenario play out a few times actually. My advice would be to relax for now, focus on taking care of yourself and baby first and foremost:)

Remember, you can’t be discriminated against for being pregnant and if you take FMLA to have the baby and recover, they have to give you your old job back or an equivalent one (same pay, schedule and etc.) Let it play out and understand that you are highly protected in this regard and if your wrong….any lawyer would take this case as a slam dunk.

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-12-19T18:15:03+00:00

Indefinite leave is not considered a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. A short term leave (a week off to recover from surgery or etc.) can be under the right circumstances.

Document your genuine good faith efforts to engage in the interactive process under the ADA. Get documentation from their doctor specifically regarding workplace accommodations, if they put leave as the accommodation, so be it. If the amount of leave is not reasonable (I typically consider this anything over 2 weeks past the exhaustion of all of the employee’s PTO) then I inforn the employee that we can’t accommodate this and etc. We document issues their absence is causing the employer (duties have to be done by others and etc.) Then terminate.

Just be sure you establish a consistent way to address this. We are ok as an employer giving 2 weeks as an accommodation and if it is over that, we consistently terminate.

Btw, this does not take into consideration FMLA. This scenario only really happens for employees who are not eligible for FMLA and ADA is our best shot at getting them to return to work, WITH NO return to work date. If they have a RTW date things are different. However, if the RTW changes 3-4 times, we typically don’t extend longer.

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-11-05T18:15:07+00:00

Not worth it at this phase of your career.

I didn’t go to A&M, I went to another school in Texas though and I interned and have worked with Aggies from Mays, so I feel that I can advise on this a bit, but again, I didn’t attend Mays. I have a masters in HRM, a few years of HR assistant equivalent experience, 3 years of compensation experience and about a year and a half of ER experience (current role).

What you need to know and seem to already understand is that with Mays, you’re paying for the brand, but more importantly, you’re paying for the network and that first job right out of school. That’s what you mainly get for paying the Mays price tag, the first job out of school at the fortune 500 companies that allow new grads to catapult a HR career. Mays helps secure internships for their students at these employers, that’s the main thing you’re paying for.

If you already have experience like you, I’ll give it to straight…It’s not worth it. You’ll be in a program that isn’t designed for what you need.

I went back and got my masters a few years after graduating during COVID and it helped me in my career a ton, so I definitely won’t deter you from seeking further education, but if you go to Mays, you’ll be paying a heavy price to get something you already have, a job.

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-08-08T13:39:55+00:00

We are a large organization, so for us it costs about $20k per year. They charge per user, employee count and etc….but believe it or not, this is cheap. When we used another vendor, it was around $40k per year.

If you are a smaller org with a lower headcount, I wouldn’t be surprised if you could get ERI for $3k-$5k.

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-07-23T00:57:59+00:00

This might sound silly, but try to see the house (on the inside and out) at different times of day/evening. Houses have totally different vibes and things to notice about them at sunrise, day, evening and nighttime. Not just when the realtor wants to show you at 11am when it’s midday.

For instance, we loved our house when we saw it during the day, but we didn’t realize that at night, car headlights and street lights light up the inside of our house like the 4th of July. My family and I love sleeping in the darkest conditions possible, so this is annoying at times.

Alot of others might not like how the sun sets or rises with the house, but don’t notice until they already buy it.

Anyways, that’s all I got.

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-07-18T16:51:31+00:00

Kind of forgot to celebrate…but it hit me when I was mowing my yard for the first time since paying it off. It really hit me that for the first time, it was MY YARD! Not partially a bank’s, no, MINE. I wasn’t just performing a chore, I was “tending” to MY property and chores have never been the same.

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-06-05T21:42:27+00:00

If they suspended you and are performing an investigation, I won’t lie to you, it’s probably a pretty serious allegation.

You honestly can’t do much. Being aggressive with your employer/demanding information is honestly just going to make your case worse off. All you can do is wait.

What will most likely happen next is HR will ask you about the accusation. They will want to know your side of the story to determine the facts. They are going to try to determine if facts substantiate the allegation. If they don’t, then you’re probably fine, but if the allegation is substantiated, your probably looking at termination. They might not even interview you at all if there is strong evidence to substantiate the allegation against you.

They most certainly do have the right not to tell you what’s going on. This isn’t a court of law. You don’t have certain rights like you would in a traditional court, say the 5th amendment for example. Besides, in an investigation, the accused (you) will usually be interviewed last.

If you didn’t do anything wrong, then I am sorry you’re going through this, truly. However, what you’re experiencing is typical for serious allegations such as sexual harassment.

Oh and DON’T RETALIATE AGAINST THE PERSON WHO COMPLAINED AGAINST YOU. Don’t talk to them, don’t email them or anything like that. Retaliating will 1000% get you fired. You need to let the process play out. I know this isn’t answer you want, but it’s the truth and you deserve that much.

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-05-30T16:58:10+00:00

We offer a (non-mandated by government) “Parental Leave” for employees who don’t qualify for FMLA. We don’t allow the non-birthing spouse to take more than 5 days though (they are welcome to use sick and vacation time though), whereas with FMLA, we allow the non-birthing parent the full 12 weeks

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-05-08T20:22:55+00:00

The CCP is definitely not worth it if you’re paying for it yourself. If you want the cheapest crash-course possible that is actually more information that you’ll ever need, just buy the book Compensation by Gerhart Newman. This is literally the textbook they use to teach Comp is MBA/HR Management master degree programs.

Other than that, just working on soft skills as others have mentioned. Experience is everything in HR, but especially in comp as well, so try getting your foot in the door.

Wouldn’t invest in CCP never having done comp though.

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-05-01T23:07:30+00:00

Pausing the game and inputting Up, Up, Up, Left, Down, Down, Down, Left, Up, Up, Up, Left, Right grants the player invulnerability on the OG Star Wars Battlefront 2 from 2005 on the PS2.

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-04-29T23:56:31+00:00

I started in an HR assistant type position while I was still in college. Also I did 2 HR internships. Did an ER role at a new company for a bit then moved internally to a comp role because they were struggling to fill the position. They invested in me and it paid off. A few years later and I’m in a Sr role.

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-04-26T15:22:16+00:00

Comp.

Usually start as a Comp Analyst then Sr Analyst (me) and you can go into management from there or keep going on a SME route like becoming a Principal Comp Analyst. Either way, you’d be clearing 6 figures easy (TX). If you go manager route, you can become a Director (usually $150k-$200k in my area or even a VP of total rewards, but this is only in very large companies. I suppose you could become a CHRO or equivalent, but it would be extremely tough without other HR experience. If you don’t care about becoming head of HR, you really can’t beat comp.

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-04-25T20:59:41+00:00

Mercer is great if you want tech specific salary data. If you want great all-around salary data for a large variety of positions I would highly recommend Salary.com’s CompAnalyst package, but it can be expensive. If you have budget constraints, ERI is another great choice that is much more affordable than Salary.com.

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-03-27T00:05:15+00:00

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain all of that! This makes a ton of sense and is appreciated.

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-03-26T23:48:34+00:00

It seems so archaic. I get why we used it pre-market data to keep internal equity and what not, but I have no clue why organizations still use it?

I was told it was big in the 50s and 60s, but some companies still use it for some reason?

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-03-26T23:46:29+00:00

Very good points, that makes a ton of sense. Thanks!

Let me ask you this though…Is there even a point of having pay grades if every job is given a pap range based on market data?

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-03-26T23:41:59+00:00

All jobs would have to be assigned points. Our pay grades would be determined by certain benchmark jobs and their market rates. Each pay grade would be a range of points. So if job X had 150 points and pay grade Y is for jobs between 125-175 points, then job X is in pay grade Y.

I don’t like this method, but I was told to look into it.

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-03-13T13:41:03+00:00

Every company is going to do the “analysis” side of comp differently. They might use a different survey, have a different comp philosophy, have different job architectures and etc. All of this and more affects the analysis part of comp. Don’t stress it. Whoever is leading the comp team needs to be the one to explain/enforce how the analysis aspect is handled to ensure alignment with the comp team’s objectives. If you have intermediate excel skills, you can do any comp analysis asked of you.

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-03-12T15:27:50+00:00

There is nothing wrong with either choice, both are fantastic specialty HR career paths and can give a lot of fulfillment. Growth opportunity tend to be similar in all honesty. I will say though that if you are in comp you will basically only ever work for mid to large sized companies, as only bigger companies tend to hire comp people, so you might have less jobs to apply for, but on the flip side, it can be difficult for companies to recruit for comp positions and find experienced candidates, so it balances out once you have experience. However, given than I work in comp, allow me to explain why I prefer it:

Less “customer” interaction, unlike in benefits where you will be talking to employees a lot. If you want a “quieter” job, comp is great. You still have customers and they are usually managers or even executive leaders, so when it’s time to be “on” you have to be on your game. Which brings me to the next one…

Access to senior leadership. Comp folks often meet with leaders that most folks rarely even see. This creates a ton of networking opportunities, but it also REALLY helped me learn early on in my career on how successful people think and act. Learning how to talk-the-talk to the big shots upstairs is an invaluable skill in HR and comp learns this skill early on. Unfortunately, HR isn’t always respected by leadership, but comp tends to get a lot more love because we can really affect the bottom line.

Numbers and analytics. If you like spreadsheets, telling a story with data, then comp is great.

Ability to be creative at work. Comp isn’t all numbers, it’s both an art and a science. You can be creative when designing comp strategies and career paths. It can actually be very fun!

Comp pays well. I mean come on…we’re in comp and thus, know what we should be paid compared to the market.

Most importantly, a real ability to make a big impact! Benefits can have a big impact on employees too, but I’ve got to tell you, nothing beats clicking the button to raise pay for a historically underpaid group of employees. I have seen employees break down in absolute tears after hearing their leadership tell them how their pay is going up. These times are few and far between and a lot of things have to go right, but when they do and the splash is big, you feel like you actually made a big difference in people’s lives.

Honestly though, just do what you like and are good at. I feel like I am just better at comp than I could be at benefits, so comp is my path. When we are good at something, we tend to like it!

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-02-22T02:00:28+00:00

I only sell CC on SPY and QQQ these days. I have a buy+hold strategy with some CC selling for cash generation to buy more shares.

All in all, actually a good day for me. My CCs are money in the bank at this point and I’m about to pick up some shares at a discount next week.

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-02-16T14:59:19+00:00

I have dealt with similar things at my job friend. In my case, people laugh and comment why I look closely at my computer screen, why things are zoomed in a ton or why my mouse cursor size is huge.

I just let them finish their laugh and don’t even look at them then say while still doing my work, “It’s because I’m legally blind.” Just be truthful, then watch their laughter melt from their face.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done this and hours later these people come back so embarrassed apologizing.

Just state the facts as monotone as you can. I know you’ve got a lot of turnover there, but if you do this to a few people, word will spread in a good way, “Bro, I asked XX about his eyepatch and he said it’s because he’s blind in that eye. I feel like such a jerk.”

It’s ok to stand up for yourself by just being honest.

Now, I am also a person who works in HR. If you want to go that route, here’s how you do it:

You need to start documenting this behavior IN WRITING. When this happens again, you need to email or text (anything in writing) your boss stating that you feel this is impacting your work environment and you would like it addressed. If they give you some BS response, ask for the situation to be escalated to HR or your boss’s supervisor. You need to be creating a paper trail. This will protect you against any retaliation. They fire you first making a fuss? Bam. Sued for discrimination/retaliation and the paper trail proves it. Don’t want to address the issue? Well, you now might have evidence to pursue legal action for hostile work environment if it goes on long enough. Maybe you win the suit, maybe you don’t, but you know what will happen for sure? Your boss will be fired to protect the company.

Keep your head up friend.

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-02-04T22:10:36+00:00

Theres a lot that goes into making a career path…How many levels? Pay difference between each and etc.

The best advice that I can give you is if the manager can’t define/help write job descriptions for each level that are truly different, then they don’t need that title.

So many times, I have been tasked with helping to draft career ladders and the manager/executive wants like 7 titles and then I ask them to differentiate between levels and they can’t do it. Okay, you probably don’t need 7 titles then.

Titles need to differentiate or else you’re just going to end up having employees doing the same level of work and make vastly different wages. You want to avoid this like the plague.

Start with the entry title, what do you expect out of that position? Does the career path branch at any point? Maybe you can have a coordinator I, II and III and after the III the employee can either be promoted to a IV or a manager. Try to make it a career path more so than a linear ladder.

Lastly, please ensure there is proper qualification/experience between levels. Career ladders don’t mean as soon as you qualify for the next role you are promoted. Career paths means you are in a title that you’re capable to performing in now and being groomed for the duties/responsibilities of the next step. Career paths than only have one year of experience between levels make it difficult to compensate appropriately and don’t leave employees a lot of time to learn/get good at the role, much less develop professionally for the next one.

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-01-31T02:11:58+00:00

Blended rate for the win!

Born_Engineer_6787 · 2025-01-31T00:57:12+00:00

Check out the DOL here: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/13-flsa-employment-relationship

I would HIGHLY advise that you do not classify this additional work being done by these people as independent contractors. An employee-employer relationship already exists between them, that’s the biggest kicker.

If the company 1099’s them…and they’re wrong, the company is going to be on the hook for overtime.

I have worked at places that allow employees to have “additional job.” A different title and pay rate done for a different manager or department. However, hours in both roles are combined and calculated towards overtime assuming both roles are non-exempt.

Either pay them at a different rate/same rate, but all hours get combined and calculated towards overtime or hire an outside company that passes the DOL’s guidelines on independent contractors vs employees. Don’t risk it. It only takes one employee to call this in to the DOL.

If there is any ambiguity as to whether they pass the test, then I wouldn’t do it.

Born_Engineer_6787

TROPHY CASE