only 3 weeks in job and its already very tough

LegacyUser

To give some background, I have 4 years in IT, mainly in support.
I was in my old job for most of that and as i was not learning anything i decided to move on.
3 weeks ago i started a new job. the owners of the small company hired me as I knew them from moving in similar circles.

They knew my experience level, and although could have gotten someone more experienced, they wanted someone with less experience, who they could train up in their methodologies.

week 1 was light enough, some work but nothing crazy.
Im now in week 3, plunged in the middle of a project that was ongoing long before i joined, and with little help, am expected to liase with customers to gather requirements, and decypher complex system rules basd on users descriptions.

It feels that this role has been just dropped on me. Its an area i have little experience in, and am really struggling.

I know it takes a few months to fit into a job, but i would like to ask, would you approach your manager/boss in this situation and ask them to not drop so much on you so early on in a role?

Am i just being a baby and should i suck it up?

My big issue is that I will make mistakes, delay the project and i dont want that to happen.

How would you deal with this situation?

kayos

Remember a kinda joke poem from one of my brothers school mag's and this is one line from it

He who knows not, but knows that he knows not, is awake teach them..

You will need to do a lot of work on your own time to get up to speed. But that doesn't mean you should stay quiet and hope you will catch up. It also doesn't mean you should tell your boss not to give you the work. You just need to explain that you are trying to learn the ropes and would like to have some help in getting up to speed. From what you have written it sounds like you've gone from IT support to some sort of Analyst role.

Your also in a small company these places require you to be able to do everything. Your role might be one thing but you will end up doing multiple roles.

chloek

you are just nervous and apprehensive which is understandable in a new job.
Trust your own ability and get on with the job. your boss would not have given you this responsibility if he did not trust your judgement.

Enjoy your new job and in a few months time you will look back on this and laugh.

CrazyRabbit

I'd rather one of my employees told me that they needed guidance/assistance rather than playing it by ear and making potentially damaging mistakes.

If possible, try speak to colleagues who have some knowledge/experience with the role. If there are none (which explains why the role was dumped on the new guy/girl), then you'll need to approach your boss & ask for training. If they want you to learn their methodologies, then they'll have to train you.

I also work in project management (related to software development) and I know how hard it can be to liase with customers and gather requirements. Best advice I can give is to take some time to write up a bullet point list of the main steps you believe you need to take. Then tackle them one by one. i.e, break it down into smaller & more manageable steps. Also check to see if there is any documentation for previous, similar projects.

Good luck.

squonk

Anyone else there who can help you out OP? You'll need lots of time to get up to speed learning the new role. If the company is small, I can't see you getting sent for formal training as the last poster suggested. I've done a lot of small company work in my past. It's tough going anyway and throwing in learning a new type of role as well makes it more so. Keep trying to stay on top of it but if it feels like it's starting to make you miserable then don't hesitate to go look for something else. Before you get to that stage though do mention it to management. We all hit a job somewhere along our career path that doesn't suit us and isn't what we enjoy. If it starts to turn into that then you're better off going but put the work in first and give ti your best shot.