Not happy in my job

LegacyUser

Hi all,
I'm just after starting in a new job in a software company about four months ago, and I'm really not enjoying it too much. In the field I work in I was lucky to get the position I wanted, but there are a few things about the company I'm in that I really don't like. There are 8 other people working in my particular department and I get on well with all of them. However, the department director and the "group supervisor" really don't get on well due to overlapping responsibilities and a personality clash, which creates a really bad atmosphere in the office sometimes. I suffer from anxiety sometimes, and that sort of thing really depresses me.

I'm very early on in my career, just out of NUI Maynooth, and the position I'm in is a junior one. Nonetheless I was handed a project a month or so ago which I was happy to do, but it has suffered what we in the trade called "feature-creep" where what the product is meant to do is vague and changes frequently, which generally is not good. I've been stuck on the last part of it for the best part of a week.

My boss and I sat down together for several hours and couldn't figure out the problem, and yet he semi-jokingly says to me every time he sees me "is it finished?" and at the end of the day, things like "we need to get this done pronto as it's super important," which just ends up stressing me out and leaving me worrying about it at home, and also leaves me wondering why he gave a super-important job to a junior just in the door, and why he won't escalate it to someone else more experienced seeing as I've repeatedly told him in the most non-whingey manner than I'm totally stuck.
On a more general note, It's a long commute from the northside to the southside where I work, and it's in a rather grim part of the southside with few amenities around in terms of places to go to lunch etc. Ideally, I'd just like to quit but can't really as it would look bad on my CV, and also the economic climate doesn't bode too well for those moving jobs.

I don't want to sound like a bitchy fe**er as I got my foot in the door with this job, and there are good benefits and nice people in the company. I've been going around almost pretending I don't feel like this, but tonight I just snapped and decided I need to vent, and get advice. I'm also a firm believer that people should be happy in their place of work, otherwise it's 40 hours of having your soul sucked dry, and I've seen it happen to people I know. Also, I've never had this problem in places I've worked before, such as on placements and summer jobs.

Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks for reading

I'm in the same boat OP. Luckily, I am leaving anyway just before Xmas as I am going travelling in Mid Jan for 6 months. I'm completely disillusioned though and I am normally a totally confident individual regarding my future, my own skillset and what I want to do. Monday - Friday = cranky and bored out of my tree for me. Weekends are the only time I can be my normal over confident self as I get to forget about work for a while. My point is it's extremely easy to get depressed and down particularly in the current climate, and if you have people around you who only go on and on about the recession and how bad it is, it's really not the most positive energy anyone (let alone someone who wants to be their own boss, or in your case have a happy job) wants to hear.

I can understand your point about anxiety. I had a big arguement (business related) with my boss and did completely lose respect for him as a leader (even though I never thought he was that great a leader to begin with) and a superior when I saw how a little bit of confusion led him to completely over-reacting towards me. He aplogised the following day blaming it on a bad day etc but people like that freak me out, there like ticking time bombs with no self control over their own emotions so I can understand how you feel with your boss on your ass still asking if the project is done even when you have told him you are unhappy/stuck with the current situation/problem.

If there is one thing I would do, if I were you, would be this: I'd do my best to try resolve this situation in the company (which led to my arguement with my boss where he was cursing and stressing over a very small issue) and if that didn't work, I'd do what makes me happy i.e. leave the job. Take a job in bloody Spar if you thinks it's worth it for the time being and get your head together, you will be earning less money but your head will be stress free and you will be happier. Then just keep looking for jobs and try and find out what it is that interests you/appeals to you and will keep you happy and satisfied.

But seriously, confront your boss and try resolve it and hopefully he won't be stupid enough to turn around and say "if you're not happy, you can leave!". If he does, you're in my boat and you have an immature boss who really shouldn't be a boss and that's enough of a reason to leave!

Edit: My one is a not a career type job either! But if it was, I'd be even more annoyed!

LegacyUser

Straight out of college I found myself working in a software company and <b>dreadfully</b> unhappy. I was working with about four other people, all in their thirties, who had no interest in conversation or anything to do with the new person.

I posted in the jobs section of boards.ie asking if anyone was ever happy in their jobs to try and get a bit of perspective, and frankly the feedback i received was not at all helpful, with comments like, "God, are you a grown-up?".

So i quit after four months. And i moved to another company. No problems with the bump in the CV, I was just completely honest with my new company, telling them that my inexperience led me to chose a job that was not right for me..

And its great, brilliant decision.

Work still sucks (in comparisson to the student life) but its a whole lot better than where i was before.

What a rambling reply! But just to say that when its not right, and its depressing the fe*ck out of you, theres lots of other stuff you can do! Lifes too short!
So thats probably no help to you

Motley Crue

I am in a similar position. Luckily its not a career type job, although it is important in the immediate for paying rent etc, so I have decided to leave just after Christmas if I have not already found something before then (I will have most likely found something by early January). At the end of the day a job, despite what most companies like to think in the interview, is NEVER for life and you have a choice to walk when and where you want to. Its your life and you are only going to get one. You can be dependable, reliable, committed and approachable but you can still flee if you choose to.

LegacyUser

I'd wait and try and sort things out with your boss. Request a meeting in private and tell her that while you are fully competent as a junior, you are not able to complete the task that is clearly that of a senior more experienced employee. He (should) respect that you've been forthright in rasing this concern. As it will ultimatly safe the company time/money in getting the job done.

If you can't come to a suitable arrangement, wait 2 months and give your notice. No harm in staying 6 months in a job for the CV. It's the people that can only stay 3 weeks that worries future employers!

estar

treat this is a learning point.

in every job you will ever have you are going to meet difficult situations and difficult individuals. your boss sounds incompetant, and it is highly likely that he doesnt know the answer either.

the words cover your ass, are very important in any business, patricularly software development, where clients expect the moon, and generally don't understand what they are asking for.

what did you as a company agree to ? what can you be held to in contract?
are you the only person in the company with this experience? if not why not ask your boss for more help from person X as they have previously worked with the technology.

having worked with some f&&kcing bôll##es in the past, of both genders, I think I have finally learned how honesty is not always the best policy in terms of working relationships.

do not let this experience F&ck up your CV. it is a bad time to be looking for a new role, and it is bad to quit, according to people in the industry i have asked it is better to be fired / made redundant than quit - it is easier to explain and cleaner on the CV, patricularly in this time of redundancies.

so seeing as you cannot really quit, you are going to have to find an out.
can you find any answers for your project from the internet or from other previous projects in house.

specific forums can be a great place to get information, as im sure you know.

dont let anxiety and self doubt pull you down. and don't be too honest in self appraisals. if this manager agreed to something not possible, it has to be his bacon that is going to fry, not yours, and ensure you don't admit culpability for problems that arent yours.

perhaps ask for a chat with him, and outline, not what you cannot do, but the general current project unknowns, have them summarised, researched as far as you can, and then ask - how do you think we should proceed.

the reason managers get paid is to manage, and any outside observer will see that you cannot be expected to self manage a project, as a junior.

stay strong, and treat this as a learning curve, and not as the end of your career, or prospects. hold tight, and see what you can take from the job, even if they are such things as - i would never do things like that.

sometimes a negative experience can teach you more than all positive ones.
as long as you view it in the right light.

and my last words are - dont take work home. dont take work home. and finally don't take work home.

do what you can, and cover your ass.

estar

the wise don't confront, they subtley negotiate

always.

ask for a meeting but only after you hve prepared for it. and ask for weekly meetings to update him, so you force him to take back control.

call them status updates. where he gives guidance and direction.

ball back in his court.

fionnmar

estar wrote: »

perhaps ask for a chat with him, and outline, not what you cannot do, but the general current project unknowns, have them summarised, researched as far as you can, and then ask - how do you think we should proceed.

the reason managers get paid is to manage, and any outside observer will see that you cannot be expected to self manage a project, as a junior.
do what you can, and cover your ass.

I worked for eight years in software and cannot endorse estars point enough.. be as clear as you possibly can about the project deliverables and state beside them the 'unknowns' and project risks - bring this to your boss and ask for direction..cc his boss and let everyone know that it is the project that is unclear and fuzzy, and not you.... as a manager now I am impressed when people who show problems also offer possible solutions and then say ' can you think of any other options here'...

do not let yourself suffer over this...highlight the issues and ask for clarity...thats the start of getting the job done....

and as the previous poster says...do not bring work home...

good luck

estar

no need to make enemies. only to be used in an emergency.

a quiet word that isnt on paper to a person who knows a person - can be just as effective as a CC but isnt as traceable.

kingofthecastle

i definitely agree with estar, do not cc you boss's boss. your boss will not appreciate it and think that you are trying to undermine him.

at the end of the day its about responsibility. you say that you are in a junior position which should translate into little responsibility. keep your boss updated and if it all falls apart it is then his responsibility, the buck stops with him, thats what he gets the big money for, and you can always claim inexperience. i definitely would not be thinking of quiting my job over one difficult project

LegacyUser

Thanks a million for all your responses! Yeah covering your ass is important, I learned that for sure. Gonna make another stab at the project today but with little success I fear. I've been re-iterating the difficulty I've been having with the project to my boss, but he just says "try this" or "try that" and then says something like "We've got to get this finished soon or they are gonna turn up the volume on this," which is REALLY helpful - not, and likely because the person who requested the tool was told they could have it by him before he investigated it's feasibility. It's an internal tool - we're not developing it for a customer, but I'm assured it will save the company loads of money once we get it working. As I said, when it started out, what it was supposed to do was well defined and everything was fine. But I've had to keep rewriting and bolting on extra functionality, and I fear the project has suffered due to the constant chopping and revising of code.

Ideally what I would have liked to happen is that when the two of us looked at it and couldn't figure it out, he'd say "Ok, Ill give this to X or Y" as they'd be more experienced. But instead he's just got me working another three days unproductively on it.

LegacyUser

"I'm also a firm believer that people should be happy in their place of work, otherwise it's 40 hours of having your soul sucked dry, and I've seen it happen to people I know."

It may well be that for your own peace of mind and sanity that you have
to get out of that job.

What have you got to lose if you send out your CV and see if something
else comes along ? Then - you can get out of there and maybe stay for
a long time in the new place. That strategy wouldn't look odd on your CV.

syklops

Can I give my 2 cents. The phrase "Staying at a company for a short time looks bad on a CV", I am sure, was concocted by companies where conditions are bad, either by way of pay or atmosphere or both. And I am quite sure is used to scare people into staying in places where they dont want to stay.

OP, Is this work that you like doing and is it important to your career? Do you like the rest of it, and its just this one thing or are you unhappy with other parts too?

If you are really unhappy in a job, there is no point in staying.

And do not be too swayed by the "Economic Downturn". The building trade is in trouble, there is little wrong with IT. OK, companies are maybe not expanding as much as they were, but people are still going on maternity leave, going to other jobs, so you will find something with out too much problem. A friend of mine was sacked a few weeks ago, and he had a job 4 days later(for more money).

As for your CV by the time you get to the age of 30 you are likely to have had several jobs, and I doubt you will be putting all your jobs on your CV. Most likely you will only put the relevant jobs on your CV.

A few years ago I worked in Intel. I hated it, and left after about 6 weeks. I had been worried about how it looked on my CV, until I told them in my next interview that it was just not right for me, I gave them a few examples, and they said fair enough. Nowadays, i dont mention it on my CV as it is not relevant to my current discipline.

If you are genuinely unhappy in the job start looking for another.

newestUser

syklops wrote: »

Can I give my 2 cents. The phrase "Staying at a company for a short time looks bad on a CV", I am sure, was concocted by companies where conditions are bad, either by way of pay or atmosphere or both. And I am quite sure is used to scare people into staying in places where they dont want to stay.
...
...
As for your CV by the time you get to the age of 30 you are likely to have had several jobs, and I doubt you will be putting all your jobs on your CV. Most likely you will only put the relevant jobs on your CV.

A few years ago I worked in Intel. I hated it, and left after about 6 weeks. I had been worried about how it looked on my CV, until I told them in my next interview that it was just not right for me, I gave them a few examples, and they said fair enough. Nowadays, i dont mention it on my CV as it is not relevant to my current discipline.

If you are genuinely unhappy in the job start looking for another.

Very good advice.

It looks good if you can handle a work situation maturely. Leaving your job because co-workers made it unpleasant can be a perfectly valid reason to quit. You'll look spineless and unassertive if you stay in this job and future prospective employers figure out that you didn't like it there. F*ck it, don't be spineless and unassertive for your own sake, never mind your future bosses!

couerdelion

Ok, my advice from the position of a development manager with 15 years experience in software development...

Software Creep is common, but only if you have weak project managers.
The project should be tied down at the beggining, or contingency factored in. Whoever is your project manager should be acting as a buffer. Put the onus back on them.

The last part of the project is always the hardest. Paretos 80/20 principle is in play for nearly every project.

Juniors are always pushed on deadlines. If we let you get away with delivering late on day 1, then you'll think that is the norm. I always have weekly update meetings with my AP's to check how they are going on. If they flag problems up we adjust the timelines so they don't end up delivering late.

It doesn't sound like you work for a great crowd with the amount of stress you are under. Yes it's a job and it isn't meant to be fun, but you spend more waking time with your colleagues than you do with your loved ones so it shouldn't feel like a prison sentence either! I would be wary of a short placement on a candidates CV, but it wouldn't stop me interviewing them, and if it was properly explained then I wouldn't care.

The IT market is still ok and there is a worldwide skills shortage. Create a plan of where you want to be in a years time, 3 years time and 5 years time. What do you need to do to get there? The grass isn't always greener, but sometimes it's worth checking out

estar

on being positive and trying again for this manager with all the people skills ( not).

all you can do is your best. and thats really all that can be asked of you. you arent a miracle worker, and are a junior. so as long as you are showing enthusiasm, and are willing, he really cant say that much.

the reason they probably arent escalating it along the food chain is becuase it is for an internal client and so they want to minimise use of charge out hours for it that they could be billing a client on.

try and stay positive - are you learning anything from this?

try and do some research so your manager sees you are trying.

i have nearly walked on a job before, and everyone I spoke to that i know
advised me not to.

find a job from a job. it does look better to hve stayed 12 months at least.

that said, nothing is worth your sanity.