Cover your ass, then follow orders. The job is, whether anyone likes it or not, to do what a supervisor tells you. If the supervisor is an idiot like yours, that doesn’t change. Do the job, cover your ass, and hope for the best.
I appreciate the advice. My boss told me today not to ask again about upgrading the desktop and was visibly angry. I’m planning to email him saying I have a preconfigured Windows 10 replacement ready, but I haven’t touched the current setup as per his instructions. If the current computer breaks, we can swap it quickly. Is this a good approach?
“Per our discussion, you do not want to hear anything more about updating from a windows 7 machine that is no longer being updated, no longer receiving security fixes, and is end of support, to my recommended windows 10/11 machine. You’re aware that I have advised you that not updating is possibly a HIPPA violation.
This email confirms that I will no longer bring the subject up again.”
That’s it. CYA and print that Sent item out. Move on to the next issue.
This is the correct way to do it. Cover your ass.
Yes. And then polish up your resume. Work experience can trump age/even certs sometimes.
This is an awesome moment in interviews to let them know you try to head off problems before they start.
You said you were young, so you might not fully know your own worth yet. I’d rather hire someone who is forward thinking and preventing problems then someone who might have a cert or 2 more than you.
If you’ve covered your ass already, that’s pointless. Hell, if you’ve already got a record of his orders vs your recommendation, it’s more trouble than its worth.
If you don’t, then that’s perfect.
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Your boss is aware of the problem and doesn’t want you to leave a clear paper trail about it in writing. Think about that a little bit.
Welcome to IT.
“This is my first IT job, I’ve only been working here 3 months”
Then you need to learn this lesson quickly: YOU ARE NOT THE BOSS. The Boss is the Boss. Not you. You make your concerns known to him then you leave it at that.
“I’m considering talking directly to the owners about this issue” Yeah, going over his head is really going to go down well /s. As you have proven you are hard of learning, let me state clearly: it won’t, that was sarcasm. The owners will see you’ve gone over your boss’s head and when he says “I’ve had enough of this jerk, let’s get someone else in” they’ll be hard pressed to disagree with him.
“my boss’s refusal puts our operations at risk” Your boss already knows this. Especially as you keep banging on about it. What you’re doing here is heading for an unceremonious out-kicking. Your boss also knows a lot more about the business than you do. If he’s keeping that machine on Win7 then he probably has some good reasons to do so.
“I want to ensure I handle this professionally” No you don’t. You want to force your boss to do what you think he should do. If you were being professional you’d state your concerns, in email if necessary, then move on.
“I definitely feel like I’m going to be used as a scapegoat” That’s why you put your concerns in an email (ONLY to your boss, nobody else. Or maybe a sympathetic team member). This creates a paper trail so that if and when they come knocking on your door saying “Why did you let this happen! You’re fired!” you can point to that email which proves you did everything you could. (Which they won’t by the way. You’re an idiot newb three months into your first job. You don’t have any responsibility yet. So this isn’t on you.)
“I’m also planning on seeking employment elsewhere” It doesn’t matter where you work while you have this attitude. Newsflash kiddo: you’re the asshole here. You’re a newb three months into your first job. No matter what you think you know, you don’t know anything. Instead of trying to dictate to others what you think they should do, try to learn why they’re doing it differently from what you expect. Maybe you have to find somewhere else now; that boat may have already sailed. Maybe if you approach your boss saying something like “er, sorry I was an asshole, I thought I knew more than I do, can we start over and I want to learn from you” (but obvs phrase it better than that) then MAYBE you stand a chance of getting through your first year.
[Sympathetic mode on.]
We all have to learn this stuff and it takes time. Your boss also knows this, and remembers when he was an overenthusiastic hothead. So while all the above might seem harsh, especially the YTA bit, hopefully it’ll cause a course correction (which is my intent here) and you’ll be back on track to a successful career in IT. This position may still be salvageable but you need to go in on Monday understanding clearly that it might not be, and that it is your fault. And maybe you need to be fired a few times before this sinks in. Good luck.
In the end, this is true for any job. Learn to stop caring that you know better than your boss, and just give the minimum expected and ordered effort. It’ll save you SO much stress in the long term. Even if you do manage to improve things, you won’t get paid extra for it, so screw 'em. Just do it the bosses way and then shrug when it goes tits-up. Also, always make sure your resume is up to date and prepare to jump ship at the first opportunity for a better paycheck.
The most important career you can learn is that to your employer, you are neither friend nor family; you are an expendable resource, so treat them the same way.
I guess this entirely depends on what country you’re from. I’m a developer, and I constantly have to deal with ignorant bosses. They push me to write code faster, sacrificing proper planning, architecture, and testing. Then I’ll be the one sitting up all night fixing a broken release, because my code doesn’t work.
As the professional in this scenario (the one who knows how to develop software), it’s my responsibility to make sure it’s done right. My boss isn’t supposed to know how to do it, so it’s my job to let him know.
Of course, you still have to have your bosses permission to do it, so I totally agree with OP putting pressure on the boss. It’s important that the boss knows what’s at stake, and it’s OP responsibility to make sure he does. But at the same time, it’s important for OP to know why the boss doesn’t want to upgrade, he might have a good reason, or at least it would be easier to argue against.
Again, it probably depends on the country. I work in a country with high job security, but it might be different in other countries (not the responsibility, but the danger of doing your job properly).
lol. no. everything you said, just… lol. no.
The whole point of this post was to get advice, not to be insulted. I’m new to the field, and documenting everything is a valuable lesson I’ve learned. My boss can be unpredictable, and there’s no good reason for not upgrading a system that only runs a single program and has significant security risks. I already plan to send the CYA email tomorrow and then drop it.
I’m not going over anyone’s head. The employee who needs the machine is the one asking for the upgrade because it’s impacting his work. He’s been requesting it for 8 months. Your attitude is unhelpful, and you’re making faulty conclusions. Just because I’m new doesn’t mean I don’t have valid concerns.
I’m looking for advice to handle this professionally, not to be made to feel bad for asking for help. Maybe next time, try offering constructive advice instead of acting superior.
to emphasise something missed - you said the employee using the old machine asked for an upgrade?
make sure you have it in writing. from them, in a full clear email, what they want and exactly why they want it. They need to be verbose enough to cover every point. (it’s okay to secretly help them, but do NOT have your fingerprints on it).
Then, reply and forward that email to your boss, with your professional opinion of their request and their reasons for it.
Include cost for proceeding, and what the costs will be for doing nothing.
Acknowledge that this matter has been spoken in person, an apologise for the informal tact; that this email is intending to follow proper procedure, which you will continue to do in the future.
Ask to confirm their response so you can officially deal with the matter one way or another.
The main thing to add, to clarify: you are the middle man. Don’t make it look like you are the one wanting to do this. The employee is. You are wanting to do your job, which is dealing with problems that are brought to you.
These seems more like a tactic you’d use at a big corporation since everyone has a boss above them. At a small clinic like this, it’s probably fruitless as the stubborn owner isn’t going to stop being stubborn over an email and documentation.
read the OP. There’s owners above the boss. The owner isn’t stubborn, the boss is. They are different people.
If his boss is wasting money/putting their business at risk, they will care.
regardless, the entire point of this has nothing to do with bosses, and more of disentangling OP from this mess. It looks like it’s his pet project, when it should be the other employee’s request / issue.
That’s the whole point. It’s not about a paper trail (though that helps). It’s not even about convincing his boss about this. It’s him dealing with a problem below him and covering his ass. If his boss says no, great! He’s done all he can.
So far, he hasn’t done the first step, which is get shit in writing.
you can advise but the boss man has the final say
I grew up as the “IT guy” in small town America.
This guy, and the people here (not you) sound like a lot of people I know. I’d look for a different job and grow your passion somewhere else. It isn’t worth it. You won’t change them, and they’re just going to make you feel like you’re wrong, even though you’re right. It’s like the movie Idiocracy.
Just curious, what are his reasons for not wanting to upgrade?
Soooo… Haven’t seen anyone ask this. Why DOESN’T he want it updated? Have you checked for running processes, keyloggers (hardware and software), hidden partitions, Veracrypt, etc?
There may be a reason that’s not being shared.
Otherwise I agree with the email routes that get it in writing (or the lack of response as such).
It’s a medical office, $100 says it’s running some outdated software no longer supported by the vendor but must be kept n in operating state because HIPPA requires you to keep patient data of children available until they’re like 25
This is my guess.
You’d think OPs boss would just tell him that though.
“We can’t upgrade because of <whatever software> I’m keen to hear what we can do to mitigate the security risk”.
Some IT bosses aren’t great at communicating why, they just want to stop the convo on things they can’t fix and resume working on progressing things they can
This probably applies to bosses in any role. That said, this boss is not an IT guy, he’s a manager in a “health” business employing an IT guy. Why wouldn’t you tell the IT guy you hired about your IT requirements?
Most IT managers are just techs that stayed long enough to be made manager
That doesn’t sound like what’s happening here. It’s a family business. I think OP is the entire IT department.
Walmart is also a family owned business, that term means nothing in regards to company size and org structure. In another comment OP says there are several leadership tiers including managers, directors, and VPs, those org charts don’t exist in mom&pop health clinics. If OP is a one man IT department then this company is grossly mismanaged and is being negligent with their data by hiring a singular kid straight of college to be their IT department, if he’s one of many like they should be then OP is just a new-hire that needs to pump the brakes and learn to follow direction
Dunno, worked in medical for years, and if there’s a system that can replace it and retain the data, no one I worked with would have pushed back.
Note, I think you are speaking of state medical law, which is typically data retention to 25 years post-minor (43), not HIPPA which is data privacy.
Figure out how your boss is ripping off/stealing from the company with this outdated system
I would resend the email and request a read receipt (this is an option in outlook, thunderbird and other email clients likely have this feature as well but I’m only familiar with outlook), if they still do not reply, then I would go over their head.
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Fellow IT guy here (welcome!). It’s like everyone else said: have some proof that your boss was informed of the situation. As someone who worked for a few years in IT: avoid verbal agreements; you won’t be able to prove they happened and they’ll make it your fault. As an example, I refuse to do any work that might have long-term consequences if I don’t have a ticket requesting as such or at the very least a mail in my mailbox. All agreements should be documented somewhere. Email is good, hard copies (paper) are even better.
Always, always, always document your requests. Bosses will not hesitate to throw you under the bus when something THEY fucked up goes wrong. Like southsamurai said: cover your ass, then follow orders. When shit inevitably hits the fan, you’ll have something to point to.
You need a new job.
Should I start searching now or wait until I get my Network+? I have my A+ right now, but I’m probably not going to get my Network+ until 3 months later. I have 3 months on the job here so far, I’m 20 years old and get paid $55k/year.
Not my field and i don’t know anything about this. But it’s clearly a stupid job that’s going to fuck you up.
You’ll quickly learn that money isnt everything. The stress of this nonsense will eventually kill your work ethics. Start looking now.
Start looking now. Tell prospective employers that you’re working on the certification and include it in your CV (as a work in progress, ofc). Job searches take a long time, and the sooner you start, the sooner you’re out.
Edit: @MrBobDobalina@lemmy.ml has exactly the correct approach for getting it in writing. Keep it professional, emotionless, as close to an accurate summary of the situation and the decisions made as possible.
See what you can get by putting some subtle feelers out. Talk to a recruiter or two. Best time to search for a job is while you have one, but you don’t have to commit to it full time unless shit really hits the fan. You’re more likely to get written up than fired initially anyway if he’s not the owner, erratic or not he has to answer for that.
Continue working towards whatever certifications you want in the meantime, especially if the job pays/reimburses you for it.
Counterpoint - almost all jobs will have elements of this type of stressful fuckery. Use it as a learning experience, and do your best to navigate the constraints while maintaining professionalism and value to your employer.
It’s a balance; if it’s truly soul destroying then your health and happiness is more important, get out. However, the more you learn how to deal with this, the less likely you are to burn out in other jobs when they get shit like this. Not so that you can just suck it up and grind away for awful bosses, but so that you can give yourself the maximum options for you, and stress less while going through it.
You already seem to have the right mindset about trying to do this right, so the one thing I’ll say is this: everything in writing, straight away. It’s easy to get too relaxed about this when it’s all going smoothly, but then something catches you out and it’s too late (eg already been told not to bring it up again).
This part will feel awkward, but to protect yourself, you need to send your boss an email summarising your conversation and your understanding of the outcome (not updating). Frame it as a “I hear you, and I apologise for my previous insistence” if it helps smooth things over, but just make sure it outlines your previous queries and suggestions and their response to you. It’s the only way to cover your own butt in these situations, and it’s a great habit to get into after every conversation that has decisions or changes etc. Put it in writing as a summary: you can refer back to it later and it let’s the other person know you understood their position / instruction
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Leave it until the system fails then when things go tits up you can tell the owner that you knew the problem was coming and gave multiple warnings to your boss about it and he shut it down.
Ah yeah just like the other post, make sure there is evidence.
100%. Send emails to your personal address, CYA.
Windows 10 will be in the same boat again in about a year and a half when Microsoft drops support.
Do you really want to have this fight a second time trying to get him to upgrade to Windows 11?trying to get him to upgrade to Windows 11?
If it’s currently running Win7, it likely doesn’t have TPM 2.0, and in extreme circumstances may not even have the SSE 4.2 that 23H2 requires (Win11 will then fail to boot).
And while a RUFUS-modded installer can remove the TPM 2.0 requirement, the SSE 4.2 requirement is kinda baked into the pie; there is no avoiding that.
Win11 is already available… Just go to that.
That’s my point
