How do I tell my new employer that I can’t use the computer they gave me?

3 Answers
Marko Smith
April 18, 2018, 9:39 pm
Unless your company explicitly has a BYOD policy (Bring Your Own Device), do not in any circumstances use your own machine for company usage. I’m in a similar situation as yours, except I’ve a display larger than 11″. The Visual Studio 2010 (with some extensions) took around 10 minutes to be usable, and some time I can sit back and watch my codes appear letter by letter.
James Wane
April 18, 2018, 9:39 pm
The company I work for does not allow personal computers on the network. It’s viewed as a breach of network security. Personally, if I find myself in your situation, I would make the case that the computer provided to me is not up to standard and will impede my productivity, and request a new machine. I wouldn’t recommend using your personal computer for work regardless. If you want to install stuff on your own machine, for instance, you don’t want to have to worry about how it’s going to affect your work.
Anonymous
April 18, 2018, 9:39 pm
To expand a bit on my comment on @KateGregory’s answer, the problem you face with using your own computer is “who owns what?”. How is a line drawn between things that you do on that computer for the company vs. for yourself? If you work on other projects off the clock, can the company make any claim to those? Does the computer have to comply with all corporate standards & policies, including antivirus, web filtering, remote scanning for unapproved software, etc.? Who owns the software you’re using? Who’s responsible for the licensing? You are going to have to wait a couple weeks before you can make any kind of pitch to get a usable computer. Otherwise, you come across as the new guy who wants everything “just so”, and that will not earn you any points.

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