Stuck in the job from hell...

anbrutog

Hi...

I've recently started a Systems Admin position for a financial institution in the City Centre. However , right from the word go there were warning signals that this mightn't be the role for me. I was waiting almost an hour before the interview began, with no apology given for being kept waiting. The interview then took place in the office kitchen , standing up whilst trying to dodge workmen decorating the place. One of the pair conducting the interview ( the MD ..) swore profusely throughout. Left feeling decidely underwhelmed , but took some positives in that from a work and salary point of view it was exactly where I wanted to me ,so despite the red flags that had been raised when I found out they wanted to offer me the position I accepted.
However , the fun began as soon as my first day started. I found out that there was shift work involved , but it didnt stop there. There was on-call work as well, one week out of every four , from when 9 in the evening to 7 the next morning. But the best part was that all this is done pro-bono , for no extra pay. Nothing. As well as that the on-call part is pretty severe, and you can expect not to sleep for that week you are on.
Now before anyone says ,"Surely you must have known about this?? Did you not read your contract??" ..Well yes of course i did.
Thing is though , since absolutely no mention was made of this during the interview or by the agency ( who are Eolas incidently ..following on from another thread ) I let my guard down and only glanced through the contract, which is very cleverly worded as to make what they are doing above board. Ive raised this with management but essentially been given short shrift , with a vague promise that it'll be looked at.To compound the misery I also have the boss from hell ( he started the week after me , had he interviewed me I wouldnt have touched it ), and work with probably the most obnoxious group of w**nkers ive met in a long long while.
I'm finding it next to impossible to get another job due to the times we're in. My question is , firstly has anyone else been in a similar situation , and regardless of whether it says in my contract ( can provide details later ..) is this situation legal??

AB.

AARRRGH

Yes I've been in your situation. You really need to find out for sure does it specify the on call stuff in your contract.

I know working somewhere **** is a killer, but the jobs market really is bad at the moment...

anbrutog

AARRRGH wrote: »

Yes I've been in your situation. You really need to find out for sure does it specify the on call stuff in your contract.

I know working somewhere **** is a killer, but the jobs market really is bad at the moment...

Regarding the out of hours( on-call ) work what is says is..
"You will be required to work out of hours work occasionally, for which there is no extra pay"

And for the shifts ...
"You will be required to work ANY eight hours out of any 24 , for which there is no extra payment"

SoupyNorman

Sounds pretty rough!


Normally I'd say give it time but from working in a similar position I say GET OUT NOW.
Your life will be made miserable as from the sounds of things the is little or no structure and a non-existent grievance procedure.


In my previous job where I was in a System Analyst role for a finance company I worked 9-5 for the first 8months. Then we were asked if we would work 8-4 or 9-6 which I didnt mind, then we were asked if we would consider 10 hour days with time in lieu as remuneration...Here is where I said no, slowly they were asking us to patch holes in their own failures to plan for their own clients needs, I also refused a Blackberry as the company had a 'no overtime' payment policy, to which I adopted a no overtime work policy.

These scenarios that are arising where you work and dont get paid are ridiculous.



In your situation, yes it's probably in your contract but in cloak and dagger language. The fact it wasnt explained to you in an interview indicates that you may not have taken the position had you known, which is underhanded.

If I were you, I'd hand in my notice tomorrow...

anbrutog wrote: »

I'm finding it next to impossible to get another job due to the times we're in.
AB.

Please dont believe this, everyone left and right are using this feeble excuse, if you have good experience, common sense and are tenacious enough you will find another job. Ask yourself...Is it worth having a knot of hatred for your job every morning when you wake-up?

anbrutog

bravestarr082 wrote: »

Sounds pretty rough!


Normally I'd say give it time but from working in a similar position I say GET OUT NOW.
Your life will be made miserable as from the sounds of things the is little or no structure and a non-existent grievance procedure.


In my previous job where I was in a System Analyst role for a finance company I worked 9-5 for the first 8months. Then we were asked if we would work 8-4 or 9-6 which I didnt mind, then we were asked if we would consider 10 hour days with time in lieu as remuneration...Here is where I said no, slowly they were asking us to patch holes in their own failures to plan for their own clients needs, I also refused a Blackberry as the company had a 'no overtime' payment policy, to which I adopted a no overtime work policy.

These scenarios that are arising where you work and dont get paid are ridiculous.



In your situation, yes it's probably in your contract but in cloak and dagger language. The fact it wasnt explained to you in an interview indicates that you may not have taken the position had you known, which is underhanded.

If I were you, I'd hand in my notice tomorrow...





Please dont believe this, everyone left and right are using this feeble excuse, if you have good experience, common sense and are tenacious enough you will find another job. Ask yourself...Is it worth having a knot of hatred for your job every morning when you wake-up?

Yep the place is unbelievable, also never mentioned that I have to work a half day a Sunday once a month which is similarly worded in my contract. My boss is an out and out bullying scumbag who loves to talk endlessly about how much he knows and his "18 years of IT managerial experience" but somehow was unable to install a stick of ram last week( clown tried to put it in a PCI slot). Strange that.
Unfortunately , due to the fact that I have a young family with a mortgage , as mouth watering as the prospect of handing in my notice sounds it aint an option.
I'm tearing my hair out looking for something else ,having to deal with cowboy recruitment agencies is really begininng to get me down. One recruitment agency , mentioned quite a bit in other recruitment agency thread, spent the best part of a week sweet talking me about a job for which he suddenly became quite mute about , but he was well able to ring my boss and ask whether he was hiring , literally minutes after he was on the phone to me..

justmum

yeah, been there myself, was working in a telesales company few years back, OUCH. was there for five years, the staff changed every week. think in the five years i was over there there were five ppl there that stayed for more than a year. I think whether you enjoy a job or not also depends on the management in the company. you enjoy your job a lot more if you feel that if you do your best you are appreciated and respected by the management. If more you do only makes them expect more of you, you just get tired of it after a while.

SoupyNorman

anbrutog wrote: »

Unfortunately , due to the fact that I have a young family with a mortgage , as mouth watering as the prospect of handing in my notice sounds it aint an option.

Okay, that changes the picture. Dont take your eye off the prize however, 80% of recruitmment agents dont listen to a word you say...they are very frustrating to deal with but just keep plugging away until you find the right job...If you were to stop looking you'll never find another!


Have you also considered working in areas that are not exactly in the field you want to work in but have similarities and crossover. This way you can still be exposed to the area which holds your interest but also the field of choice widens in terms of jobs?

anbrutog

bravestarr082 wrote: »

Okay, that changes the picture. Dont take your eye off the prize however, 80% of recruitmment agents dont listen to a word you say...they are very frustrating to deal with but just keep plugging away until you find the right job...If you were to stop looking you'll never find another!


Have you also considered working in areas that are not exactly in the field you want to work in but have similarities and crossover. This way you can still be exposed to the area which holds your interest but also the field of choice widens in terms of jobs?

Cheers. Defintely havent taken my eye off the prize , ultimately I'm looking to get into IT security and I'm studying for the CISSP, which I'm looking to get early next year sometime. Added to which I've plenty of certifications ( CCNA , MSCA , Linux + ) plus a good third level degree. Despite all this I'm still finding it very very tough..

homeOwner

anbrutog wrote: »

Hi...

I've recently started a Systems Admin position for a financial institution in the City Centre. However , right from the word go there were warning signals that this mightn't be the role for me. I was waiting almost an hour before the interview began, with no apology given for being kept waiting. The interview then took place in the office kitchen , standing up whilst trying to dodge workmen decorating the place. One of the pair conducting the interview ( the MD ..) swore profusely throughout. Left feeling decidely underwhelmed , but took some positives in that from a work and salary point of view it was exactly where I wanted to me ,so despite the red flags that had been raised when I found out they wanted to offer me the position I accepted.
However , the fun began as soon as my first day started. I found out that there was shift work involved , but it didnt stop there. There was on-call work as well, one week out of every four , from when 9 in the evening to 7 the next morning. But the best part was that all this is done pro-bono , for no extra pay. Nothing. As well as that the on-call part is pretty severe, and you can expect not to sleep for that week you are on.
Now before anyone says ,"Surely you must have known about this?? Did you not read your contract??" ..Well yes of course i did.
Thing is though , since absolutely no mention was made of this during the interview or by the agency ( who are Eolas incidently ..following on from another thread ) I let my guard down and only glanced through the contract, which is very cleverly worded as to make what they are doing above board. Ive raised this with management but essentially been given short shrift , with a vague promise that it'll be looked at.To compound the misery I also have the boss from hell ( he started the week after me , had he interviewed me I wouldnt have touched it ), and work with probably the most obnoxious group of w**nkers ive met in a long long while.
I'm finding it next to impossible to get another job due to the times we're in. My question is , firstly has anyone else been in a similar situation , and regardless of whether it says in my contract ( can provide details later ..) is this situation legal??

AB.

Firstly, if you intend to persue a career as a sys admin, you have to expect on call and shift work. Its the nature of the job (in most companies anyway), so its always best to ask about it in the interview.

Secondly, if you are feeling like this a few weeks into a new job, then I think you need to start looking around. It sounds like a nasty environment and its not going to suddenly grow on you.

Dont quit until you have something else sorted. Use the oppertunity to learn something new and jump ship when you find something else. But if you want to stay as a sys admin, you are going ot have to get your head around on call and shift work, but alot of places give days in lieu or some sort of compensation for on call work.

anbrutog

homeOwner wrote: »

Firstly, if you intend to persue a career as a sys admin, you have to expect on call and shift work. Its the nature of the job (in most companies anyway), so its always best to ask about it in the interview.

Secondly, if you are feeling like this a few weeks into a new job, then I think you need to start looking around. It sounds like a nasty environment and its not going to suddenly grow on you.

Dont quit until you have something else sorted. Use the oppertunity to learn something new and jump ship when you find something else. But if you want to stay as a sys admin, you are going ot have to get your head around on call and shift work, but alot of places give days in lieu or some sort of compensation for on call work.

Well aware that on-call work ( not necessarily shift work though ) is part and parcel of the position. However , it shouldn't be up to me to have to ask about whether there was any involved or not, even the most slightly professional outfit would have the courtesy to mention something like that during the interview phase. Not these jokers however...
I've absolutely no problem doing on-call or even shift work , howver I expect to be informed that I'm doing it and paid the market rate for my troubles. I've gotten neither in this case.

Peewee_lane

OP Im in the same boat.

Back in March of this year I changed jobs and all the warning signs were there, but it cut my commute more than in half and I was delighted to be closer to home for the same salary.

There were plenty warning signs. Basically, they verbally abused me, cursing, on a daily basis, it was mental. It was a sly husband and wife team, they hated each other, still worked together, he had had an affair with a previous secretary and she was seething from it.

Daily screaming matches, etc, so I left after five months, so sadly. I couldnt stick coming home crying each day over not stcking envelopes correctly, etc. Silly junior things that shouldnt matter in the running of a business!

I was out of work all of August, September, finally in October, a recruitment agency got some temp work and hooked me up with a 2 week stint, then they got me a longer temping role. Im desperately looking for a permamnet positon, its terrible. I hate those bastards so much for lying and fabricating all they did in the interviews. Im so angry.

I thought to myself this morning about taking them off my Cv.. saying that I did something else. I dont know. I really dont know.

How long were you in your previous job for?

If you dont mind going from your salary of 22,000+ ... whatever it is, to the dole of €197 a week, then quit, but Im telling you buddy. Im on the ground daily, attending poxy interviews with recruiters and theres feck all out there.

anbrutog

Peewee_lane wrote: »

OP Im in the same boat.

Back in March of this year I changed jobs and all the warning signs were there, but it cut my commute more than in half and I was delighted to be closer to home for the same salary.

There were plenty warning signs. Basically, they verbally abused me, cursing, on a daily basis, it was mental. It was a sly husband and wife team, they hated each other, still worked together, he had had an affair with a previous secretary and she was seething from it.

Daily screaming matches, etc, so I left after five months, so sadly. I couldnt stick coming home crying each day over not stcking envelopes correctly, etc. Silly junior things that shouldnt matter in the running of a business!

I was out of work all of August, September, finally in October, a recruitment agency got some temp work and hooked me up with a 2 week stint, then they got me a longer temping role. Im desperately looking for a permamnet positon, its terrible. I hate those bastards so much for lying and fabricating all they did in the interviews. Im so angry.

I thought to myself this morning about taking them off my Cv.. saying that I did something else. I dont know. I really dont know.

How long were you in your previous job for?

If you dont mind going from your salary of 22,000+ ... whatever it is, to the dole of €197 a week, then quit, but Im telling you buddy. Im on the ground daily, attending poxy interviews with recruiters and theres feck all out there.

Was in the previous position for about 5 years almost , loved it , both the work and the people. However , for the last year I moved in with my partner on the other side of the city , and the commute has been nothing short of heartbreaking , upwards of 4 hours a day in total sometimes to get to work. So for that reason , I left for what I thought would be a far better position , both in terms of location and financially.
Re taking them off your CV , possibly. One good thing about the role I'm in at present is that its at least challenging , and I've learnt a surprising amount already. I don't need them for a reference but still have them down on my CV , anyone that asks why I'm leaving will be told that as they are a financial institution they are dependent on the world markets , and we all know how things are on that score. Might be worth saying you took a career break to do some sort of non - work related course or went travelling if you dont want to put punch and judy down on your CV...

Darragh29

anbrutog wrote: »

To compound the misery I also have the boss from hell ( he started the week after me , had he interviewed me I wouldnt have touched it ), and work with probably the most obnoxious group of w**nkers ive met in a long long while.

I've certainly been here OP. I worked for the biggest shower of absolute useless C*NTS that I have ever come across. Ultimately I found that in order to keep myself sane, I had to work for myself because I kept ending up in situations like your own...

strangeloop

anbrutog wrote: »

My boss is an out and out bullying scumbag who loves to talk endlessly about how much he knows and his "18 years of IT managerial experience" but somehow was unable to install a stick of ram last week( clown tried to put it in a PCI slot). Strange that.

I've worked with plenty of "IT" people like your boss. Look on the positive side of this, the guy is a moron and totally clueless. If you know more about IT than him - which doesn't sound hard, then you can really have fun with him..:cool:

the_syco

anbrutog wrote: »

Added to which I've plenty of certifications ( CCNA , MSCA , Linux + ) plus a good third level degree.

Look up Hays IT. They, unlike a lot of other "IT" agencies, seemed to know what IT certs actually meant. They also got me a good few interviews, all relevant to what I was going for.

me_right_one

anbrutog wrote: »

Was in the previous position for about 5 years almost , loved it , both the work and the people. However , for the last year I moved in with my partner on the other side of the city , and the commute has been nothing short of heartbreaking , upwards of 4 hours a day in total sometimes to get to work.

Lad, no offence, but you were mad to give up a job cos of a commute! Welcome to the world of non-dublin residents! U should have gotten a motorbike, or moved somewhere closer. As for quitting, when the time is right, quit with style!!! Let your dumb boss have it, tear into the MD and let all your grieviences off your chest. Punch your boss and kick over the table! Seriously though, on your last day, let it all out. It will give you the psychological edge when you start somewhere new

pipsqueak

yea punch him in the choppers!

Saint_Mel

strangeloop wrote: »

I've worked with plenty of "IT" people like your boss. Look on the positive side of this, the guy is a moron and totally clueless. If you know more about IT than him - which doesn't sound hard, then you can really have fun with him..:cool:

Next time theres a management meeting, tell him to warn people that typing "google" into google will break the internet