Modern Grading Is Broken...Im done. 6 6

[skybolt]

What's even more frustrating is that with the last 2 batches where only 1 book was graded at 9.8, you'd think that this newbie grader would pick the most pristine 9.9 looking copy to bestow the 9.8 grade to. However,  in the both cases, it was a book I had assigned a 9.4/9.6 grade to, since it had a couple of minor color breaking creases. Out of all the slam dunk 9.8 copies in these submissions, you'd think they'd at least pick a book that made sense. My guess is that these new graders are spending very little time inspecting or researching books for production type errors. Instead, they're doing a quick glance over, and if the book looks perfect, then they'll give it a 9.6 grade (just in case they missed something with their quick inspection). When they get to the end and haven't assigned a single 9.8 grade, they just pick a copy at random (or maybe a cover they like) to assign the 9.8 grade to. 

Edited August 28, 2022 by skybolt

[jcjames]

On 8/27/2022 at 9:33 AM, Dr. Balls said:

At the risk of sounding like a 49-year old fogey, I will say here what I say to everyone I talk to who complains about this problem:

”It’s the millennials world now - this is how they want it to run. We just live in it.”

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

[Courageous Cat]

unfortunately  CGC doesn't have robots working for them and lord knows I've had my share of disappointing grades. Know full well that when u submit your books that it will be hit or miss

[MGH]

On 8/28/2022 at 12:33 AM, Dr. Balls said:

I won’t speak for CGC, but this is pretty much the current state of everything everywhere. I am an employer and can tell you that we experience this, and so does every other employer I speak with across many different kinds of employment.

I have zero doubt that they are experiencing the same problems trying to add barely-trainable employees to an already-struggling workforce that is buried with work.

At the risk of sounding like a 49-year old fogey, I will say here what I say to everyone I talk to who complains about this problem:

”It’s the millennials world now - this is how they want it to run. We just live in it.”

 

Edited August 28, 2022 by MGH

[Tec-Tac-Toe]

As concerns modern grading, my last two submissions, one of 35 and the other of 30 comic books, 57 were graded 9.8, 5 at 9.6, and 3 at 9.4. Regarding the 9.6, I only agree with one of those, believing the other four are 9.8. I believe all the 9.4 are 9.8. Despite what I believe, as they say, "it is what it is."

I have never, and may never, resubmit a comic book I submitted for regrading, especially since these are all for my collection as have been all the comic books I have submitted. I may sell them, or some of them, in the "distant" future.

I'll submit again in the coming (comic?) weeks and, once again, play the "CGC Grading Game."

[shadroch]

On 8/27/2022 at 6:04 PM, Dr. Balls said:

I am not sympathetic to that whatsoever. There's always cheaper universities - brainwashing impressionable young people into thinking they need to go to specific schools is one of the major issues with school debt, not to mention there is seemingly no limit to the amount of debt for school loans you can take out. That is a new concept within the past 20 years. In our city, there are two colleges where you can get a four-year degree for $15-$24k. Think that degree from Great Falls College won't stack up against Lower San Deigo School of Fancy People? Guess again - HR doesn't care where your degree is from as long as you have it for the job requirement. Employers are less focused on what school is on your degree and more concerned with what skills, experience, and knowledge. Somewhere along the line, people felt they had a gun held to their head about paying out the nose for tuition. You can still go to school, get a job to pay it off and get a degree without gaining 20 years of debt - regardless of how bad everyone wants you to believe that's not the case.

 

A great part of college,for me, was establishing a circle of lifelong friends. Not to be snobbish but I strongly suspect the friends and connections made at the LSDOFP will serve one better than the friends made at Great Falls.  Do you think a young man might benefit more from joining a fraternity/secret society like Skull and Bones at Yale than he would joining Omega Psi Delta at Suffolk Community?  

The school you attend is every bit, if not more important , than what you learn there. Anyone who thinks college is just four years of your life  is very mistaken. 

[BigLeagueCHEW]

QC is a thing of the past. All companies do and say is "It looks good to me" get it out the door. 

Edited August 28, 2022 by BigLeagueCHEW

[Mr. Zipper]

On 8/28/2022 at 11:25 AM, shadroch said:

A great part of college,for me, was establishing a circle of lifelong friends. Not to be snobbish but I strongly suspect the friends and connections made at the LSDOFP will serve one better than the friends made at Great Falls.  Do you think a young man might benefit more from joining a fraternity/secret society like Skull and Bones at Yale than he would joining Omega Psi Delta at Suffolk Community?  

The school you attend is every bit, if not more important , than what you learn there. Anyone who thinks college is just four years of your life  is very mistaken. 

In my experience, the benefit of a top tier school is the networking, not the actual education. A few years out of "state college," I worked on Wall Street and most of my colleagues were Ivy League educated. They weren't any smarter than me and didn't do a better job than me. But they had connections and got promoted much faster. They spent Saturdays golfing in Connecticut with their Dad's friends: CEOs and judges. I spent Saturdays fishing with my dad.    I've done ok and I wouldn't trade my younger days for anything... especially not a few dollars more.

That said, the gap has become so wide between private and public schools, I doubt it's worth the difference. A state school education + strong work ethic + emotional intelligence and you will do just fine. 

Edited August 28, 2022 by Mr. Zipper

[shadroch]

On 8/28/2022 at 8:54 AM, Mr. Zipper said:

In my experience, the benefit of a top tier school is the networking, not the actual education. A few years out of "state college," I worked on Wall Street and most of my colleagues were Ivy League educated. They weren't any smarter than me and didn't do a better job than me. But they had connections and got promoted much faster. They spent Saturdays golfing in Connecticut with their Dad's friends: CEOs and judges. I spent Saturdays fishing with my dad.    I've done ok and I wouldn't trade my younger days for anything... especially not a few dollars more.

That said, the gap has become so wide between private and public schools, I doubt it's worth the difference. A state school education + strong work ethic + emotional intelligence and you will do just fine. 

Access to the network may well be worth the price of admission.  It's certainly a factor that should be carefully considered.

[thehumantorch]

On 8/27/2022 at 4:09 PM, Atom Man said:

On 8/26/2022 at 11:57 AM, NumminzAK said:

I’m done with this company.

Grading is Broken.

FIFY

You're not the only one that's done.  

Raw/self-graded is the new black.

The grading companies are struggling right now.  All of them.  Massive increase in demand combined with the effects of Covid on the supply chain and workforce combined with the mass retirement of boomers and a lot of younger people who just don't want to work right now.  I know a few young guys who were working before Covid and haven't worked since it hit and seem to have no interest in going back to work and I know a few older people who packed it in when Covid hit and love being retired.  For those who do come in to work all it takes is one guy coming in with Covid to infect half the office and then they're all isolating for 10 days.  

I've never seen a time like this and it has to be a terrible time to run a business, especially when the business is experiencing insane demand like CGC is.  But CGC and these other grading companies are struggling, are making mistakes, are inconsistent and are showing a huge problem with quality control.  They need to find a way to overcome the current problems and do better.

[LOC Collectibles]

On 8/27/2022 at 2:34 PM, Tnexus said:

I hate when people say this garbage. There's not a labor problem in this country, there's a wages problem. If you pay garbage wages, you're going to get garbage employees.

A full time CGC submission specialist makes $15-$17 an hour based on the CGC job listing. That's about $2350 a month minus taxes (approximate). A 1 bedroom apartment costs about $1300 a month in Fort Lauderdale. That's 54% of living expenses just in rent alone. That doesn't include school, food, gas, phone, bills, outings, family, etc. CGC can pull in almost $1000 alone with just one 25 modern FT submission that takes what? maybe three to four hours of total labor from start to finish?

So yeah, I wouldn't care either if I was being paid like that.

(Apologies for the tangent, now back to our scheduled post.)

This guy gets it. And no apology is necessary. There are a lot of clueless comments from individuals in this thread that obviously have no idea what the younger generation is facing now. There is ONE reason why CGC's quality has gone down.. they're not paying enough. This thinking of everyone is lazy and wants to party nowadays is asinine. The kids I know that are in their early 20's are trying to figure out how to survive till next month on next to nothing. They don't have money to party. That's just the images that are propogated on social media. I'm sorry an older generation had to face war. That's nothing I would wish on any human to have to face but don't think there aren't other struggles that younger kids face now. At least you could work 40 hours at a factory job and survive and even raise a family 30-40 years ago. The John Deere factory close to me pays $20.80/hour starting wage. That's the same amount factories were paying 25 years ago. The problem is the older generation lost their nerve. The idea that "you should just be happy you have work" was spread to the masses and the previous generation bought it. Because of that our kids are now paying for it and instead of pointing the blame on the ones at fault (greedy corporations and a corrupt government) you have the nerve to shame our children. That's what they're upset about. /RANT

Edited August 29, 2022 by ANDSOLDIT

[jcjames]

On 8/29/2022 at 9:13 AM, ANDSOLDIT said:

This guy gets it. And no apology is necessary. There are a lot of clueless comments from individuals in this thread that obviously have no idea what the younger generation is facing now. There is ONE reason why CGC's quality has gone down.. they're not paying enough. This thinking of everyone is lazy and wants to party nowadays is asinine. The kids I know that are in their early 20's are trying to figure out how to survive till next month on next to nothing. They don't have money to party. That's just the images that are propogated on social media. I'm sorry an older generation had to face war. That's nothing I would wish on any human to have to face but don't think there aren't other struggles that younger kids face now. At least you could work 40 hours at a factory job and survive and even raise a family 30-40 years ago. The John Deere factory close to me pays $20.80/hour starting wage. That's the same amount factories were paying 25 years ago. The problem is the older generation lost their nerve. The idea that "you should just be happy you have work" was spread to the masses and the previous generation bought it. Because of that our kids are now paying for it and instead of pointing the blame on the ones at fault (greedy corporations and a corrupt government) you have the nerve to shame our children. That's what they're upset about. /RANT

Funny meme! 

 

But I don't get it - maybe I'm looking at something differently.

So instead of taking a $15-$17/hr job because it doesn't pay enough right now... what does that person who needs work do then? Not work? Hold out for a management position?

I guess I'm missing something.

Rent has jacked up everywhere and incomes haven't kept up for quite a while. Yeah, that's very true, and it's far worse in many areas than others. But young people still need to work don't they? Do they make mistakes and do a schlitty job on purpose to "stick it to the man" for not paying them enough? 

You mentioned skilled factory jobs, well those disappeared a generation ago when it was discovered that people didn't care if it shut down a whole town in Michigan or Ohio to buy cheaper widgets made overseas. Now we have the opposite idea - that companies should increase wages for all workers, which means increasing prices across the board. Cutting CEO raises to offset worker raises would be a drop in the bucket in most cases. For example, Walmart's CEO got a $3million salary increase a year ago, so if that were spread among all the Walmart employees instead, each employee would get $1.15 per year more.  

So if folks want higher quality workers at CGC, they'll have to pay significantly more per slab to pay for those higher-priced employees.

And maybe that's what it will take! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MetalPSI]

I'd believe that, except people have told me to my face they are fine being unemployed and waiting for a programming job while they play ps5 in their parents basement. 

These being people between 25 and 35

[LOC Collectibles]

On 8/29/2022 at 4:36 PM, jcjames said:

Funny meme! 

 

But I don't get it - maybe I'm looking at something differently.

So instead of taking a $15-$17/hr job because it doesn't pay enough right now... what does that person who needs work do then? Not work? Hold out for a management position?

I guess I'm missing something.

Rent has jacked up everywhere and incomes haven't kept up for quite a while. Yeah, that's very true, and it's far worse in many areas than others. But young people still need to work don't they? Do they make mistakes and do a schlitty job on purpose to "stick it to the man" for not paying them enough? 

You mentioned skilled factory jobs, well those disappeared a generation ago when it was discovered that people didn't care if it shut down a whole town in Michigan or Ohio to buy cheaper widgets made overseas. Now we have the opposite idea - that companies should increase wages for all workers, which means increasing prices across the board. Cutting CEO raises to offset worker raises would be a drop in the bucket in most cases. For example, Walmart's CEO got a $3million salary increase a year ago, so if that were spread among all the Walmart employees instead, each employee would get $1.15 per year more.  

So if folks want higher quality workers at CGC, they'll have to pay significantly more per slab to pay for those higher-priced employees.

And maybe that's what it will take! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You're right. I agree that those that don't want to work whatsoever or those that work at a place they hate and treat people terrible because of it are an issue. What I've found from most people is they've found something they can do to make side money so they don't work at one of these $15/hour jobs. I know multiple people driving for Uber Eats or a delivery service of some kind that make $20+/hour. I think they've decided they'd rather have the freedom instead of working for a company that will never appreciate them. It's a weird time in history. I hope things eventually level but I don't see it heading in that direction.

[Mr. Zipper]

Pure generalization, but here goes...

Gen X here.

We came out of college expecting to have to work a lousy low level jobs and slowly work you way up. It was called "paying your dues." I had my share of awful jobs with tyrannical bosses with low pay. I had to have apartment roommates to make ends meet. I had basic cable, a wall phone, a used car and a lot of pasta with Ragu sauce. But, I worked hard and eventually rose above and started landing decent jobs.

Today, I work with and supervise millennials including college interns. Generally speaking we hire bright and ambitious people. I have learned from them and hopefully they have leaned a thing or two from me. That said, they do seem to have higher expectations coming out of college. They do not want to get their hands dirty and there is no such thing as "paying your dues." They expect to walk out of college and land a $100k+ job with an office. They want all the flashy toys pronto and Grubhub every night. 

In all fairness, the cost of college is absolutely ridiculous these days as I am learning with my teenage daughter. They need to find and fix the root of the problem: the cost of college and high interest loans. Why are we still buying hard copy  textbooks for $1000 a semester? It's a racket. Gimmick giveaways don't fix anything, but just sets an expectation there will be another one down the road.

[troydivision1]

Full support 'quiet quitting' / 'doing the bare minimum' at any job.
When (if) any wage increase is capped at 3%-5% per year there is no reason to go above and beyond.
If anything 2008 and COVID (and the current inflation / upcoming economic reset) has shown young adults that work is no worth it.

Your job / company will not be at your funeral.
Your role will be posted online before you are cremated / buried.

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 8/27/2022 at 2:57 PM, Dr. Balls said:

It’s not taboo anymore to not have a job. Or a goal. Or direction. No one expects young people to have it all figured out, but it’s pretty universal that the older generations know that you’ll never figure anything out standing in one place. I think therein lies the pushback from the Xers and Boomers.

X boomers enable X millennials, just like Y millennials push-back along with Y boomers.

I think it simply took too long for millennials to realize how worthless droves of our generation really are. In our 20's, we thought it was cool to 'take it easy' and live with your parents for awhile, but once you hit your 30's and nothing has changed we start to realize that these people are leeches of societal benefits without providing any benefit to society themselves.

A conversation for another time, but just know that most of us aren't as useless as hasty generalizations may make us seem.

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 8/27/2022 at 3:09 PM, Dr. Balls said:

...who the hell is going to buy my comic collection if we have a whole generation of non-fungible collecting paupers with no money! 

[NoMan]

Just keep pressing and cleaning it until you get the grade you want. 

Edited August 30, 2022 by NoMan