Out of probation
So today I am officially done with m 3 month probationary period at the new job. Technically the 3 months ended July 16th, but they don't consider it over until you've had your performance review at the end of that time.
The review went well. It breaks down a job into something like 8 categories and gives a rating for each with a section each for both praise and criticism. You can get a rating of Poor, needs improvement, competent, commendable, and superior. Its the sort of system where you should never see a poor on your sheet (because that probably means you'll be looking for new work soon) and probably never will see a superior on your sheet (because that would mean you could push for a major raise).
For my part, the bulk of the my ratings, including the overall, were at 'commendable'. I did have one needs improvement, and it had a comment on there about giving too much pushback when alternative suggestions were made. Translation - I insist on someone giving an explanantion other than "This is how we do things here" when someone asks me to do something that doesn't make sense to me. When asked about what I should do about this, I was told "to be more accepting". Somehow, I think that we will be revisiting this issue on my next performance review.
I also received 3 competent ratings, mostly on my understanding of the local technology and my analysis skills. Why? Because I'm still learning the technology and local environment, and as such haven't always known what to ask, or what I'm working with. And truth be told, the fact that I'm considered 'competent' on technology I've only been working with for 3 months is something I'm rather pleased with. Some of the people I've met here have been doing their jobs for years, and I wouldn't give them a competent rating in those categories.
So, once again, my concerns about my being a 'slacker' have proven to be unfounded, and my concern that I was getting enough done proven to be outright ridiculous. One of these days the lesson that my 'slacking' is close to double most people's normal work output will sink in.
The review went well. It breaks down a job into something like 8 categories and gives a rating for each with a section each for both praise and criticism. You can get a rating of Poor, needs improvement, competent, commendable, and superior. Its the sort of system where you should never see a poor on your sheet (because that probably means you'll be looking for new work soon) and probably never will see a superior on your sheet (because that would mean you could push for a major raise).
For my part, the bulk of the my ratings, including the overall, were at 'commendable'. I did have one needs improvement, and it had a comment on there about giving too much pushback when alternative suggestions were made. Translation - I insist on someone giving an explanantion other than "This is how we do things here" when someone asks me to do something that doesn't make sense to me. When asked about what I should do about this, I was told "to be more accepting". Somehow, I think that we will be revisiting this issue on my next performance review.
I also received 3 competent ratings, mostly on my understanding of the local technology and my analysis skills. Why? Because I'm still learning the technology and local environment, and as such haven't always known what to ask, or what I'm working with. And truth be told, the fact that I'm considered 'competent' on technology I've only been working with for 3 months is something I'm rather pleased with. Some of the people I've met here have been doing their jobs for years, and I wouldn't give them a competent rating in those categories.
So, once again, my concerns about my being a 'slacker' have proven to be unfounded, and my concern that I was getting enough done proven to be outright ridiculous. One of these days the lesson that my 'slacking' is close to double most people's normal work output will sink in.