You are so good... you're fired!

TheDruidBear submitted 518 days ago

I worked for a company who was Chapter 11 as a data entry clerk logging all the service tickets of the electronics department. The database was a simple form with several fields, including the date, model number, and part description. I thought that the computer should know the date and know the description based on the model number. So, I reprogrammed it.

I also noticed that nothing was being done with the data. So, I programmed a few reports, showing the failure codes and the repairs to the parts, if any. In the end, the field service depart, which was losing money had over fist, started seeing patterns and took measures to reduce costs. The repairs became more efficient, shipping costs were reduced, and the department started making money. I was then given responsibility for the entire plants� service records, along with a little raise and produced similar results.

Six months later, I took some (vacation) time to visit a friend who came into town. Before leaving, I showed someone how to enter the data and which reports were required for the week. When I returned, I was handed a pink slip. I had programmed myself out of a job.