Monday, April 23, 2007

First Day

Started my new job today. It was full of new faces and forms to fill out.

Then we were informed we were going to go through the sexual harassment course. I have been through so many I could do it asleep, so I thought no problem. The HR person took us to a learning center and seated us. She set us up on our own computers and explained that we did the work books and then took a test at the end that we had to pass at 70% or better.

I hate tests....hate 'em!

This was the most thorough sexual harassment training course I have ever taken. It explained every single nuance of harassment and gave examples and defined each and every term. It was a three hour long process, but I scored a 96% wooohooo for me.

Then I found out for my position I have many other tests that I must pass...uck! So I spent all day today sitting on my butt at a computer learning about the Fair Housing Act, and Leasing for Life and tomorrow is more tests.

The fair housing act was actually interesting, it was really based on history and gave dates and events as to when the federal government started changing laws against discrimination.

I found out that Federal law is the big over all laws, then it break down further in state and get detailed as it breaks down to local law.

I am not allowed to ask any question what so ever that might make a person feel like I am discriminating in any way. I even have to take notes down as to when people call asking about an availability so I can not be sued.

Example:

Mrs. Henry calls at 10 am looking for a 2 bedroom unit, there are none available.
Mr. Jones give a 30 day notice at 3 pm.
Mr and Mrs. Smith come in at 3:30 looking for a two bedroom unit.

I have to document the time and dates so that Mrs. Henry can not come back in and say I discriminated against her by not giving her the apartment.

There are SOOO many rules and regulations. Its nuts!

But overall the more I find out about the company, I am super excited. It seems like a great place to work.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

ooh congratulations on your new job! do you like the people there so far? you sound happy and excited...i am happy for you!

Jay said...

Maybe I should have taken that sexual harassment class. My sexual harassment skills are pretty average. I bet I would have learned a lot of new techniques there.

Oh wait... Never mind. ;-)

Sounds interesting and challenging!

whimsical brainpan said...

I am so happy to hear that you are excited about your new job! I hope it gets better and better. Boy they sure are teaching you to CYA aren't they.

Anonymous said...

Ooh! I want to learn how to sexually harrass people too. Lol.

...I find that it helps if you think of a test as a game, like a crossword puzzle or one of those funny online quizzes. It helps reduce the stress. Good luck with that.

captain corky said...

How come every time I take a test the first thing I do is touch my nose...

Sounds like there could be a lot of opportunity for you.

singleton said...

So they're teaching you the ole "If you didn't write it down, it didn't happen....." chat! The funny thing about that is, it carries over....you'll be scribbling stuff in the car, on the fridge, on the back of checks....and pulling em out later in random conversations.....
Enjoy! Testing 1-2-3 will be over soon and you'll be cruising!

SpongyBones said...

Bend the rules see how much fun that can be!

Greg C said...

I had to have all that training too when I got my real estate license. I have to keep good records too, and if someone wants me to list their home but not sell it to "those people" I have to tell them I can't discriminate and if they can't live with then then they have to find another agent.

Sounds like you found a great company. Got any openings for me?

Greg

skinnylittleblonde said...

Interesting stuff, huh? I doubt that it is any coincidence that the test parallel lawsuits & the prevention thereof. Lol, they should start offering college courses on lawsuit prevention that touch down on the basics of sexual harrassment & discrimination for all the various degrees.
Lol, on the flip side, I find myself scribbling down everything when dealing with finances, government etc. so that I can have the same resources as you, but on a personal level. Kinda like Singleton said ...if it's not recorded in some fashion, it may as well have never happened.

Anonymous said...

Wow, I had no idea things had gotten this complex. I stuggle keeping up with "to-do" lists...I can't imagine adding in a "did" list. Good luck with your testing. It sounds as though you are doing great with it.

Unknown said...

Ugh. Federal regulations. I feel for you ... just thinking about this stuff puts me to sleep. ZZzzzzzzzzzzz