Guild Responsibilities

I had a bad experience recently. I’ve explained it in person to a few close friends, but I haven’t written it down yet, and I want to, to try and think it through.

Two months ago I interviewed a woman for a sysadmin position. She was great- knowledgeable, cheerful, good at asking questions. I told my manager he should definitely hire her.

I was a contractor at the time, but owned enough of the customer facing code that I guessed I was indispensable. A few weeks later, they hired me as an employee proper. I was happy- signing bonus, pay raise, and I signed out of my timeclock the moment I signed the letter of intent.

It took me a little while to get my ducks in a row on the health care front, I didn’t finish until after my first paycheck was supposed to come ( a day or two later ). I didn’t get paid, but I figured it was going to be OK, it was my fault for being slow with the paperwork.

Then I got pulled in to a meeting with the CEO, who told me that the next round of funding was going to be a little late, and they were telling the Systems Administrator that she couldn’t start early anymore, she had to start a week later on the exact start date in her offer letter. He assured me that I was valued, that the money would come in, that I would get paid.

The Sysadmin we had just hired showed up just in time for the next paycheck. It never went out. I spent another two weeks at work, hoping things would work out. She was great, by the way, everything we’d hoped for, and twice as organized as anyone else.

I had her resume, I had her email. I knew there was a high probability of trouble. I did not reach out to warn her. I fucked up.