Company Holidays Banquet and Early Retirement.

[vvsonikvv]

We have our company banquet tonight. There’s going to be food, a live band, the big CEO and VP’s and all the important people to “get to know”. They also have awards they give out for employee of the year, client advocacy, community service, technical excellence, etc. I could be a candidate for some of these awards. I’ve put in a lot of hard hours and excellent service to my company and the client. Who knows…

Have you gone to company banquets? Chit chatted with the big wigs. Schmoozed with your coworkers and moved on up? In essence, this is is an opportunity to indirectly increasing your income (one of the factors towards ER – though not necessarily the most important) by promoting your career . Do you feel important at these banquets, or they have them just because a company “supposed to.” Do you also get year end bonuses at these? Or do you skip these all together?

What are some things one can do to “advance their career” in order to reach ER. There’s the work work work, no life no life and you can get there faster, because you don’t have time to spend, you’re earning more, etc.. but I think that could lead to burnout (something I may be heading towards. See I actually think I’m doing the work work work, tough it out for now, reap the rewards, but I’m not seeing any of these rewards even with my work work work. I've heard its who you know, not just how much or how quality your work is.

I know I’m young (23) and must be patient.

 

[Nords]

Have you gone to company banquets? Chit chatted with the big wigs. Schmoozed with your coworkers and moved on up?
Do you feel important at these banquets, or they have them just because a company “supposed to.” Do you also get year end bonuses at these? Or do you skip these all together?

We used to go to the annual Submarine Birthday Ball, the Navy Ball, and the occasional command "dining in". Near the end of my career we went to my traning command's annual "winter holiday" party and summer luau.

The formal affairs were fun for the first couple years (when we were younger & dumber). From the adverse examples of others I realized it probably wasn't such a great time to get roaring drunk but otherwise the evenings were eminently forgettable. I never saw anyone make a fantastic positive impression at one of these ("Hey, did you see him at the Sub Ball last year? I bet he'd make a great commanding officer!") although there were quite a few negative impressions.

The formal affairs were ruined for me forever by attending Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey. The students were all about the same age (late 20s to mid-30s) and career position so we all shared common interests (rock & roll, partying hearty, no office politics, outrageous alcohol-fueled behavior with subsequent blackouts memory gaps). The Peninsula's catering & entertainment companies also really know how to throw a party so every affair was a wild & raucous time. (I think the school's only flag officer left right after dinner so that he didn't have to personally observe the mayhem.) We were all one big family instead of a bunch of individual commands competing against each other. There were no senior officers frowning around and no "traditions" that we had to obey whether it was a good idea or not. Instead we cherry-picked the best traditions from all the services and made our own memories. We celebrated every service's significant anniversaries... sometimes several times a week.

When I left Monterey and heard some of the plans for Pearl Harbor's next Sub Ball I thought people were joking and starting laughing at all the wrong punchlines. When I realized that they were all deadly serious I quickly volunteered to take the duty that night. I never went to another Sub Ball or Navy Ball again. We went to other high-stress social affairs when our presence was specifically requested but we sneaked out delivered our respects and departed as soon as we could. Maybe it left the impression that the Nords' weren't team players but we were also raising a baby so we probably got some slack.

The training command holiday parties & luaus were great. I think a big part of it was that we had plenty of civil-service & contractor employees attending who wouldn't put up with that tradition/heirarchy crap. That was another big happy family so everyone could have a good time, chat with the boss, and not have to score brownie points. Four years into ER I still socialize & swap e-mail with a number of those people.

What are some things one can do to “advance their career” in order to reach ER.

I don't think it comes from going to the boss' big formal parties... unless you happen to record something embarrassing or incrimnating on a camera.

I think the most important factor in any career is finding a job that makes you happy. When I did that my performance was a breeze, but I hated the "good for your career" jobs.

I think advancement comes from mastering the job you're assigned and then taking it further than people expected it could go. It comes from anticipating the problems that everyone else misses, telling the boss how you're solving them, and then actually solving them. The next step is letting the boss know that you're looking for more training/responsibility and that you're not afraid to leave the company to get it. Of course if you're hanging around 80-90 hours a week you'll likely encounter twice as many opportunities as the 40-hour/week people... but you may be too burned out to recognize the opportunity, let alone exploit it.

Has anyone read Business Week's article on Best Buy's "Results-Only Work Environment" with no timeclocks and no meetings? The HR mavericks that started it actually hid the program from the big bosses for over two years, but now it's caught on.

I know I’m young (23) and must be patient.

That's probably wise advice. However the most successful entrepreneurs have also been young, impatient, intolerant, and extremely confident.

But what do I know... I've never had a "real" job.

 

[Patrick]

Rule #1: Don't drink too much. Get a drink and nurse it for at least an hour or get water.

Rule #2: If you take your significant other, don't let her drink too much.

You don't want to be remembered as the company buffoon after you've made an ass of yourself.

Have a great time!

 

[Goonie]

We have a annual "holiday party" (normally in mid-January....when the local K of C isn't busy with "real" holiday parties).

I go for the FREE banquet!!!

The hierarchy is usually in the bag after a few trips to the open bar, so trying to impress, or even get them to remember you, is a lost cause! Because they will only remember you, if you make a bigger a** of yourself than they make of themselves! (this is refering to our holiday parties)

I go for the cocktail hour and have a Coke, then stay for the FREE food. When they get ready to give their little speeches speels or whatever, I head for the restroom (where there's less crap). I MIGHT stay and listen to the band for a little bit, IF it's any good....otherwise I head out and go home. I steer away from the back-slapping, buddy-buddy, hierarchy....at all cost!

Promotion in our place comes from on-the-job performance and......ummmm.....some well placed bullsh*tting. I've gone for extra schooling/training (on the company's dime & time), gotten all sorts of certificates and all that crap (and FREE meals). The certificates REALLY impress the heck of the hierarchy!!! (like giving a little kid a nice shiny penny)

It goes back to the old saying "If you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullsh*t"!! (but don't waste it at a holiday party....'cause they won't remember it )

 

[kumquat]

Unless you make an a$$ of yourself they won't remember you were there. They will remember that you weren't.

 

[Arc]

Go and have a good time - whatever that means to you. At 23, the chances are slim that you will be with the same company in 5 years. And if you are, hopefully it will be because you are an asset to the company and recognized as such.

 

[vvsonikvv]

The banquet was pretty fun. It was at a really nice fancy resort. They had open bar cocktails in the beginning. I sat with my friends and had dinner. There were awards given out. No Employee of the Year here. Though I thought I'd atleast be nominated.

We also have this tradition of a video highlights of the year. The theme this year was Saturday Night Live. It was pretty funny. Nice food, I had salad, steak, and some type of creme for dessert. Live band and dancing.

Oh yea, before hand some of the younger folk were hanging out in the hotel room before the dinner and some pre-game. Afterwards though at the hotel room, there was continued drinking, though I didn't participate much. Some of the more senior folk joined us and eventually the CEO. He was pretty much intoxicated somewhat. A lot of the people were kissing up to him. I didn't do any of that. His wife was there too, but didn't drink at the hotel room. She was probably the "spy" telling him, who did what and said what to him the next day. haha.

Overall I had a really good time, because I spent time with my friends in the company. But without them, it would have felt fake and all that. So I guess you can have a good time if your with good company....

With regards to moving on up towards ER, I learned alot about who I was and where I was going as I got a lot closer with my coworker. Discussing our thoughts about our company, our future goals and plans.

There were a lot of fancy nice cars in the parking lot... I actually followed a Ferrari a good part of the drive in. But he turned into some small road towards some super mansion. I pulled up in my 13 yr old acura. If they paid me by how I look, I guess I wasn't going towards ER.. but if I was utilizing my pay based on how I look, well, I'm getting towards ER very quickly.

I'm still looking for an increase some way, somehow.. I'm not sure yet.

 

[Patrick]

I'm still looking for an increase some way, somehow.. I'm not sure yet.

http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/raise/raise.html

 

[REWahoo]

The banquet was pretty fun. ....Afterwards though at the hotel room, there was continued drinking, though I didn't participate much. Some of the more senior folk joined us and eventually the CEO. He was pretty much intoxicated somewhat....

vv, I thought of you when I saw this. Sorry I didn't post it before the party...

Office gatherings — not the right place to be a party animal

Helpful hints on what not to do at the holiday party. A few of my favorites:

Urinating outdoors. Whether it's behind a tree or in the birdbath, it's just wrong. You're not camping.

Mooning. If this needs explaining at your age, you can't come to the party. The only time this is acceptable is maybe — maybe — if there's a copy machine around and no one's looking.

Vomiting. Whatever the reason, whatever you do, just don't. You could be having a late-day bout of morning sickness, and it still isn't OK. Because someone is going to hear while they're dipping shrimp into cocktail sauce and start gagging. And once that chain reaction starts, nobody's safe.

Plugging up the toilet. Going downstairs and hollering over the smooth sounds of Nat King Cole, "ANYONE KNOW WHERE THE PLUNGER IS?" is about the most blatant mood killer in the history of blatant mood killers.