Unusual Benefits/Responsibilities

[BJCooperIT]

I had an job interview yesterday that gives rise to a question I would like to ask all of you:

Have you ever had or interviewed for a job that had an unusual benefit or responsibility?

The position for which I interviewed would bring a contractor in to supervise existing staff. Talk about being on the hot plate from day one...

My very first job was in a small leased building. If you came back at night you were permitted to use the swimming pool that sat in the parking lot! P.S. Lesson learned - do not swim alone in a pool after dark.

This morning I saw and ad for a national department store that had an impressive list of benefits including:
[ul][li]Mortgage Assistance[/li]
[li]Car/Boat/Homeowner/Renter Insurance[/li]
[li]Pet Insurance[/li][/ul]
How about it? Anyone been saddled with teaching the boss's brother-in-law a skill, babysitting a co-workers kids, or providing airport transportation as part of your IT job? Anyone have an unusal benefit like the "Dessert of the Month" club?

^{Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw}
Consultant/Custom Forms & PL/SQL - Oracle 8.1.7 - Windows 2000

 

[skotman]

Well I dont know if I would consider this a benefit or a hinderance but here's my story.

The company I was working for (a CLEC) was having trouble paying bills, I had just gotten off of unemployment so I was happy to have any kind of job. Well the one bill they always had trouble paying was payroll.

I ended up getting evicted from my apartment for non-payment so since it was basically the companies fault for not paying me they decided instead of paying the rent they would move me into the CTO's duplex (the two sides were connected) and then let me pay them for utilities.

this worked great, for a little while. About 2 weeks after move in I started getting woken up for tech calls at all hours of the night.

I have since quit that volunteer with possibility of payment, moved out, almsot had to sue for back payroll.

 

[Onyxpurr]

The only thing I was ever shocked by was a job I interviewed in not such a great part of town that was a temp agency. The place looked dingy, the pay wasn't great, and there were no benefits. Then the guy proceeded to tell me that I would essentially do his job (office manager) and be on call 24-7, and would most likely work more than 50 hours a week. I think the pay was around like $13 an hour. Yikes!!!!

Another job I had, my boss also taught at a local university, so every couple of weeks he would have me type up his exams. lol. Probably could pass that class no problem!

Ok, last one...at one temp job I had, I was hired to do reception work. One time, like two days after I was hired, I was walking by the office manager's office and she asked me to come in and then procedded to tell me to get her some coffee. I was astonished and must've looked it because she did a double-take and said, "that was probably innapropriate, huh?" I just nodded my head and walked away. Of course, I was told I could leave before the end of the week. Hey, I don't mind getting anyone coffee if I'm on my way to get some for myself, but that was pushing it!

 

[BJCooperIT]

skotman,
Talk about awkward, no one wants to be an in-house slave! Glad to hear you were able to get out of that position.

Onyxpurr,
The one thing that bugs me about the movie Nine-To-Five is that someone always watches it and assumes that their secretary/assistant/whatever is obligated to perform menial tasks that have little to do with the real job. If it was arranged upfront that "coffee duty" was your responsiblity then it was too late to complain. However, I feel it is totally inappropriate on an employer's part to assume you are someone's beck-and-call-girl without that having been agreed upon upfront.

^{Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw}
Consultant/Custom Forms & PL/SQL - Oracle 8.1.7 - Windows 2000

 

[jsteph]

<<...the movie Nine-To-Five ...>>
The one glaring thing I noticed about that movie after having recently seen it again:

Not a single computer in the entire office! I know it's from 1980, just before the pc invasion, but it's interesting all the same. Just hard to imagine that view of rows and rows of desks with not a single monitor, just typewriters.
--jsteph