New members - Commonly asked questions. - Brown Cafe

toonertoo · 05-28-2008, 05:51 PM

So for all you newbies Welcome to Brown cafe!
Take some time to look around and search on subjects of interest, such as pay rate, progression, union issues, dues, etc. Just use the drop down menu on the search icon. Once you have familiarized yourself, come on in and try out the chat, Sunday is usually the best. Never be afraid to ask "dumb" questions, as nothing is dumb, if you dont know. But there is a wealth of knowledge and info, already stored in the archives.
Enjoy your stay, and we know you will enjoy the Cafe!!

And thanks to Iggyiam for thinking of the idea!! This should eliminate several posts about the same issue.

Iggyiam · 05-28-2008, 06:32 PM

Interview Package Handle

Also If you are wondering about the Tour/Interview processes you will be taken on a tour of the facility. The person will describe the job to you.It is a hard job for the pay and they will ask you what makes you want to continue the processes.If you do not like what you are seeing or hearing you can leave.After the tour is done they will take everyone with you to a room and talk about the benefits seniority and all the in and outs of the job. After this you will be called in one by one to get some basic information. Such as are you a student what brought your attention at a job at UPS. What are you looking for in this job. After this you will be told that you will get a call or to come back another day for a second interview.If you are told you will be called and are not do not feel bad call them yourself. When I was contacted by Human Ressources and was not able to reach them back I kept calling them 2 or more times a day trying to get in contact with someone. This shows them that you are persistent about getting a job.Second interview will be like the end part of the first one where they will ask you why are you interested if you are a student if you have reliable transportation. If everything goes well here they will tell you to come back for the third time here you will need to bring you Drivers Licence and Social Security card. At this time they will tell you when you training will start.

Work Wear

You will need a hard toe shoe not necessarily a steel toe but not a tennis shoe because if one of those packages falls on your foot it will hurt.This is also what the HR people told me is a must from what I have seen people to wear tennis shoes but imagine you are told to wear a safty shoe/boots and you show up in tennis shoes to your traning Also invest in a pair of gloves Mechanics brand gloves are great and I recommend them to all. They are 20$ tho but gloves will keep your hands from drying out and will also help you grip the boxes.

Best of Luck
Iggy
By the way at this time im still not an employee but will start on the 8th.

MonavieLeaker · 05-28-2008, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diegotron

Gloves are for girls, and people who want to keep their hands soft and safe.

I wear gloves everyday..Id like to have my hands when I retire

Iggyiam · 05-28-2008, 07:48 PM

im just passing on what i was told.

trplnkl · 05-29-2008, 04:54 AM

Iggy, just because you have not experienced the actual work at UPS yet does not take away from the very good advice you passed along. Proper footwear can help in avoiding serious injury to your feet. You could probably get away with simple tennis shoes and never have a problem, but there is always a chance that something can go wrong to knock you out of work for a lot longer than you want. I have worked on the belts, and delivered for 20 years and can tell you that good sturdy footwear is a simple fix to a potential problem.

UPS Lifer · 05-29-2008, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by upsgrunt

So they told you not to wear tennis shoes and you believed them without proof? I preloaded 20 years ago and wore tennis shoes. We have 50 people on our preload now and I bet 48 of them wear tennis shoes. Do what works for you and quit giving out advice to people for a job that you have not even reported to yet.

Every operation is different in what they accept. I am not sure that I would go around telling new hires that it is OK to wear tennis shoes.

In 2004, my hub started a no tolerance policy in regards to tennis shoes. We had a grace period for 2 weeks. After that, employees were sent home to get their proper footwear. If they didn't come back they were disciplined. 3 strikes you are out!

This is a safety item and no arbitrator will go against safety policy that is initiated equally and fairly.

UPS Lifer · 05-29-2008, 08:02 AM

One other thing about the actual new hire process....

Each district or region may have a variation on this process. In my old district, HR interviews and screens out candidates before allowing them on a tour. The tour is near the end of the process. If a potential candidate is still interested the final paperwork is signed prior to starting the training process on the first day of Orientation.

So each potential employee should discuss the process with HR so they understand what the process is for that area.

cheryl · 05-30-2008, 11:32 AM

Please post information that would be helpful to new members in this thread.

Be aware that all off topic or non informational posts will be moved to the previous thread about this topic. That one became too far off topic to be a sticky help thread.

Some common searches:

UPSers.com passwords: http://www.browncafe.com/forum/ups_d...psers_com.html

Links to other UPS related sites: http://www.browncafe.com/links.html

The old contract: http://www.browncafe.com/ups_nationa...agreement.html

The new contract: http://www.browncafe.com/ups_nationa...greement.html2

UPSers.com: http://www.upsers.com

bellesotico · 05-30-2008, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UPS Lifer

Every operation is different in what they accept. I am not sure that I would go around telling new hires that it is OK to wear tennis shoes.

Totally agree.
At our center, tennis shoes are prohibited.

The advice I would give regarding shoes is after you find out what is approved footwear for your facility, is if its at all possible..give yourself some time to break those shoes/boots in before your first day on the job. Your feet will thank you.

filiperuvian · 05-31-2008, 11:02 PM

i see alot of black nikes and even brown skater shoes at my center. Obvious no-no, but management's never made a big deal about it...but if you happen to be on their bad side they have every right to point it out if you're wearing those unapproved shoes. shoot, there's a girl that comes in with knee high pink/brown argyle socks and brown skater shoes. i've even seen a rookie driver get away with styling his hair in a mohawk. it wasn't the traditional 'hawk though, he just had really long hair and put it that way. but whatever as long as i'm left alone.

browniehound · 06-02-2008, 08:01 PM

Cheryl posted : "Please post information that would be helpful to new members in this thread."

Here is my contribution to all newbees

. Its what I didn't know for a good amount of time while posting here for a while.

On every post, there is a little arrow on the title page. So, if the subject you read on monday was "UPS management scores at the bottom with regards to their competetion on the latest USA Today survey"

, and you return on friday to read the other posts that were created since monday, you don't have to sort through every post to get to the ones you haven't read yet.

On each subject title there is a little arrow next to the subject heading. Just click on that and it will go to the first post that you haven't read yet.

I hope I was clear enough on this,

Brownie

filiperuvian · 06-03-2008, 02:14 PM

can someone explain how this rep meter thing works? i'm just glad i'm not a single gray square anymore

MonavieLeaker · 06-03-2008, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by filiperuvian

can someone explain how this rep meter thing works? i'm just glad i'm not a single gray square anymore

Simple answer...green is good red is bad
Rep points are given to you if someone agrees or disagrees with you

moreluck · 06-03-2008, 03:06 PM

Just a little deeper on the rep thing......

I agree and disagree with posters all the time and don't rep them. If I agree with a poster and think they have done a terrific job in presenting their side, then I'll positive rep them.

If I disagree with a poster and he/she was a real idiot and obnoxious in presenting his/her point, then I'll neg. rep them.

If anybody causes me to chuckle out loud, that's a positive rep. too.

It's a little deeper than just agreeing or disagreeing, IMO.

MonavieLeaker · 06-03-2008, 03:10 PM

That too...PassYouBy has definately gotten alot of reps from me for his amazing pics

cheryl · 06-05-2008, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by browniehound

Cheryl posted : "Please post information that would be helpful to new members in this thread."

Here is my contribution to all newbees

. Its what I didn't know for a good amount of time while posting here for a while.

On every post, there is a little arrow on the title page. So, if the subject you read on monday was "UPS management scores at the bottom with regards to their competetion on the latest USA Today survey"

, and you return on friday to read the other posts that were created since monday, you don't have to sort through every post to get to the ones you haven't read yet.

On each subject title there is a little arrow next to the subject heading. Just click on that and it will go to the first post that you haven't read yet.

I hope I was clear enough on this,

Brownie

Thanks for the suggestion browniehound.

dilligaf · 06-05-2008, 09:36 PM

Cool, thanks Cheryl! and Brownie!

upsgrunt · 06-05-2008, 09:37 PM

Thanks Cheryl, I NEVER knew that until now!

dilligaf · 06-06-2008, 06:31 AM

Here's a link to Ups National Master Agreement.
http://www.teamster.org/divisions/pa...ent_071012.pdf

Storm723 · 06-06-2008, 12:55 PM

Filip....

This was the greatest thing I ever read!! I asked the same questions yesterday regarding the rep thing and this was fabulous!! So I copied it to pass to you:

Gray means that you don't have a reputation score so your comments are neutral and have no effect on anyone's rep power. You can't raise or lower the rep power scores of the members that you commented on until you've made at least 25 posts.

I agree with Scratch, please don't take the rep power scores too seriously...

I opted to set my own rep power permanently to 10.

Here are the details about rep power:

The rep power displayed is the cumulative total of the reputation comments you have received plus the points earned by posting and the amount of time you've been a member here.

The strength of the reputation altering power of the reputation comments that you make to other members is based upon your own reputation. The higher your rep power the more your comments effect other member's scores.

You must have made at least 25 posts for your comments to alter another user's rep power, if you have made less than 25 posts your rep power comments will be gray (neutral.)

Your own rep power has to be higher than 5 for your reputation comments to effect another member's rep power.

For every 100 points of reputation you have you gain 1 point of reputation altering power.

For every 90 days you have been a member you gain 1 point of reputation altering power.

For every 10 posts you have made you gain 1 point of reputation altering power.

You must give reputation comments to 7 other members before your reputation altering power will effect the same member again.

Your reputation altering power can only effect the reputation scores of 7 different members a day.

Leftinbuilding · 06-06-2008, 07:55 PM

Another little tidbit---you can quickly change the font (larger or smaller) by holding down the "Ctrl" key and rotating the wheel on your mouse. Eliminates having to hunt down your glasses....

Thorn · 06-27-2008, 11:16 PM

Is there a way to block posts from certain forums? I am not in the least bit interested in political arguments, so is there a way to block viewing threads from that forum when I click on new posts?

scratch · 06-28-2008, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thorn

Is there a way to block posts from certain forums? I am not in the least bit interested in political arguments, so is there a way to block viewing threads from that forum when I click on new posts?

The political posts should be going in the Current Events Forum, they should not be in UPS Discussions. I have to admit that I get fed up with politics too sometimes, we have such a lousy selection of politicians to vote for (Sorry, JMHO!). A Thread will often change topics, as a Moderator I can delete or move these to a different Forum. There is an "Ignore" feature that you can use to block certain members posts from showing up on your PC. I wish I could use it, but I unfortunately have to keep an eye on certain people.

Thorn · 06-28-2008, 08:16 AM

When I click new posts, it shows threads from all the forums. I guess I am asking is there a way to filter and choose which forums I want to read from such as just the discussions forum and the labor relations forum and maybe the life after brown forum but not the current events forum and the fedex forum and the IS forum?

I tried the ignore feature once and it was more annoying than reading the ignored persons post. lol.

scratch · 06-28-2008, 08:24 AM

If you are asking if you can edit your account where only certain Forums and Thread Topics show, then the answer is no. Just don't read the ones of no interest to you.