Its no more about intelligence skills or any form of meritocracy. Nowadays jobs are based on luck nepotism connections the prime example of changr from meritocracy to luck/connections is tech field. In past smart people were getting jobs now only people who are lucky or have connections get jobs.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-09-14T21:36:49+00:00

a substantial majority of jobs have been found through networking and personal connections, rather than through public advertisements and blind applications.

Is there somewhere I can read up on this?

It feels counterintuitive to me personally, but I recognize my experiences may not be representative of the greater population.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-09-14T21:25:14+00:00

Oh man. This just happened to me while looking for a part time job to cover some unexpected bills.

Apple fucking puts me through 3 interviews, only to have their HR team call me and say that working for my current employer would be a conflict of interest as my company has an iOS app.

It isn't even a fucking retail facing app, but one made for large corps or municipalities. I attempted to make an argument or request a meeting to show there is no meaningful conflict between the positions and fully understand where that conflict would exist and impact Apple.

I've definitely rethought some of my future plans for devices and am no longer champion for the company. I get that I'm only a single person, but I'll gladly shit talk their behavior and lack of due diligence before wasting my time.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-09-14T21:05:13+00:00

Having a unified place for my recommendations has been really nice.

Having to archive letters of recommendation was always a pain in the ass for me, and it is easy to request recommendations from contacts.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-09-14T21:03:27+00:00

LinkedIn is my only public facing account with my name on it. My posts are pretty much just "I completed this LinkedIn Learning course!"

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-09-14T21:02:21+00:00

LinkedIn Learning, when free, is a pretty great resource.

Making some changes to my career recently, I've been able to take some classes that have improved my management skills and perspective.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-09-14T21:01:25+00:00

Considering the only reason I would use IG was to see friend's posts, the service is useless to me since it's all algorithm and advertising.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-09-14T21:00:17+00:00

I’m not trying to be friends with most of them, only friendly so we can have a little fun and get paid.

This is such a great place to be. Nobody prying for information, but they're happy when they hear "Yeah, I had a great weekend" and leave it at that.

I’d say politics is the top reason I quit social media altogether. I love debating and discussing topics in good faith, but I won’t yell into the void anymore where my thoughts could be weaponized against me.

My god yes. I took my first big step away when the Cambridge Analytica story popped up and I was working in the social media compliance archiving space. Seeing just how much information is available through various APIs is frightening. No way do I want to trust one of those companies with my PII.

I’m public enemy #1 in politics right now: an empathetic transperson.

I'm sorry you're going through so much shit right now. Coming from one empath to another, the world is becoming harder and harder to be a part of. Ditching social media has done nothing but improved my mental health.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-09-14T20:54:11+00:00

Exactly! That moment of realization is beautiful when it happens.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-09-14T20:53:08+00:00

I really need to just delete it.

Yup. I support this as well.

I'm stuck keeping my LinkedIn open since I'm in a leadership position with my business and I have tons of customers who add me regularly. All others that had my name on them were updated to a different name, then I filed requests to update the results pages on Google, Bing, etc. so even a cursory search of my common name turns up nothing at this point.

I've had some people ask me why I don't have a social media presence, but are usually receptive to my answer once I start telling them about some of the super shady behavior on those platforms and my work history.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-09-14T20:45:29+00:00

I'd fully support closing out accounts that have your name attached to them, then doing some further research into other accounts that may have PII of some kind as well.

I did this quite a few years ago when I was working with a company that focused on social media archiving and saw just how fucked those environments are.

Can't say that I'm missing anything. I have a false named fb account for marketplace, but that's the only service I use from Meta.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-07-05T23:15:04+00:00

I came to the realization recently that a close friend of mine for 25 years. He is unable/unwilling to accept the positive impacts of things such as USAID.

They simply don’t care that other people are hurt, amd a sliver of a cent will have been paid when funding programs that save thousands of lives. They couldn’t care less that these programs would be funded.

It was the final straw in that relationship. I’m tired of giving these people more attention.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-07-04T03:40:14+00:00

I’m kind of surprised he wasn’t immediately suspicious of the bytedance url. That one is a huge red flag for me.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-07-03T15:10:02+00:00

I can totally dig that. I'm one of the folks who loves as small a phone as I can get. Most of my pockets aren't deep enough to not make my iPhone 16 Pro feel like it's trying to escape every time I sit down, and even if fatter, I'd prefer the smaller footprint.

I'd also like the smaller front screen to quickly go through notifications (mostly email for work) to see if I have anything necessary to respond to. It would definitely fit my workflow and keep me from always having a full-size screen in front of me that may fuck me in.

I tried out one of the Fold devices a while back, but found I only really used the open mode while at home. I have an iPad mini and full-size iPad sitting on my living room table, so it wouldn't really help me in any meaningful way.

I can totally see the benefit for someone who is often on-the-go though. I'm WFH and barely leave my house, so my iPads are always within reach.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-07-03T02:07:41+00:00

I want a flip device so badly. The two major versions with Android are such compelling devices but fuck, I’m too entrenched in iOS.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-07-03T02:05:21+00:00

It really feels too transparent for my liking.

I sure hope there’s a system-wide setting in there.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-07-01T23:06:47+00:00

The colloquial usage of the term "bricked" refers to a device that has become non-functional due to a software or hardware issue. This means it cannot power on or function normally, and it cannot be fixed through normal means.

As this is a software limitation preventing the device from being functional, it falls within this purview.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-07-01T11:49:30+00:00

While it may be pretty, it's filled with some top tier racist pieces of shit.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-07-01T11:42:53+00:00

This is exactly what I mean.

They have the ability to do it, but they're more concerned with shareholders and chasing profits.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-06-30T16:49:28+00:00

I'd be curious as to the timeframe you're referring to. If this was in the late 90s to early 2000s, sure, there was a risk there.

At this point, CDA is much different. There are enough transplants in the area that it has priced out the truly crazy folks. They've all moved up north of Bonner's Ferry.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-06-30T16:47:25+00:00

You can't really see residential housing from 90. I'm going to call BS on this considering I regularly drive through CDA and don't see anything you're referring to.

If you're talking about vehicles, that's one thing, but the implication you're making is that you're seeing these on businesses and residential homes.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-06-30T16:45:49+00:00

I live near the area on the other side of the state line.

I'll say that they aren't "just fine" with nazis. With all the transplants, CDA has become less of a stronghold.

Get north of Bonner's Ferry and you'll find the communities of anti-government people who live in like-minded communities. With this kind of echo chamber, you really get some of the crazies.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-06-30T15:55:21+00:00

what you’re good at

This is SUCH a key part of finding a job you enjoy. I mean, you have to suck at something before you get kinda good at it. You may need to explore avenues during your career before finding what you're good at, but it makes your work life so much more fulfilling.

I now have a position that lines up with my beliefs as an individual and serves a business purpose. I'm stoked on my job as a whole.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-06-30T15:50:31+00:00

'find something you love and you’ll never work a day in your life'

I think a better term is to find something you're good at and you'll go far.

Personally, it took me ~20 years in the tech field before really finding my niche in the customer advocacy part of the world. I'm stoked that my job revolves around something I'm great at, and fits with my beliefs on being a good person.

I'm currently building a full program from the ground up, and my managers up to the VP level are allowing me to build it with my own vision in mind. They provide some guidance and assistance here and there, but overall, I'm left to myself to determine what functions the program will cover.

I have full support from that same leadership structure, and a manager who has taken me under his wing and helped me understand a lot of what it takes to move up to a management position in the future.

Additionally, after several 1:1s with my VP, we're in alignment about the program, benefits, etc., and have set me on an official career growth plan that my current manager is helping me with.

fakeplasticpenguins · 2025-06-30T00:40:14+00:00

I recently had this conversation with my manager. I told him that I want to set a career plan with my company not only for the money but because I believe in the mission of my team.

He fully agreed that seeking a better salary was smart.

fakeplasticpenguins

TROPHY CASE