Being bullied? Or just a right of passage

ethernet

Would like an outsider's opinion.

I'm a junior in a large multinational. We're a small team. Our manager is based in the US. I rarely need to talk to him apart from requesting holidays and the pointless performance reviews (it's just a tick the box approach here).

There is one senior who is very difficult to get on with. He's good at which he does but very opinionated, bitchy and borderline self-righteous to others.

Being junior, I know I will make mistakes and welcome constructive feedback. I've certainly learned a lot in my time here so far. I feel this individual is so picky about any work we do though. I once tried to challenge this and the poop hit the fan - told I can't be talked to, I'll never improve, wrong attitude, etc. - a major over-reaction in my opinion. He ignored me on and off after this for some time.

My manager is aware of our less than ideal relationship but pretty much offered not suggestions going forward. Obviously the senior is more important. They talk daily on the phone (formally and informally) and thus have a much better relationship.

What really annoys me though is the fact that many of the people sitting around me have all worked together at some point in other companies. So if I make any mistake or have a disagreement with this particular colleague, I often hear him not-so-discreetly bitching about me.

We've lost a few people on the team in the past few months. Although I've been here as long as this other guy, I hear him on the phone with our manager getting stressed over our workload, dismissing me as a resource in saying we need people who "know" the product and such. Rather disheartening.

Is this just part and parcel of being a junior? Always feeling like a child who is just a burden on his "parents" (seniors). I dread coming into work most days. It's such a dry corporate environment anyway with a high churn rate.

davo10

ethernet wrote: »

Would like an outsider's opinion.

I'm a junior in a large multinational. We're a small team. Our manager is based in the US. I rarely need to talk to him apart from requesting holidays and the pointless performance reviews (it's just a tick the box approach here).

There is one senior who is very difficult to get on with. He's good at which he does but very opinionated, bitchy and borderline self-righteous to others.

Being junior, I know I will make mistakes and welcome constructive feedback. I've certainly learned a lot in my time here so far. I feel this individual is so picky about any work we do though. I once tried to challenge this and the poop hit the fan - told I can't be talked to, I'll never improve, wrong attitude, etc. - a major over-reaction in my opinion. He ignored me on and off after this for some time.

My manager is aware of our less than ideal relationship but pretty much offered not suggestions going forward. Obviously the senior is more important. They talk daily on the phone (formally and informally) and thus have a much better relationship.

What really annoys me though is the fact that many of the people sitting around me have all worked together at some point in other companies. So if I make any mistake or have a disagreement with this particular colleague, I often hear him not-so-discreetly bitching about me.

We've lost a few people on the team in the past few months. Although I've been here as long as this other guy, I hear him on the phone with our manager getting stressed over our workload, dismissing me as a resource in saying we need people who "know" the product and such. Rather disheartening.

Is this just part and parcel of being a junior? Always feeling like a child who is just a burden on his "parents" (seniors). I dread coming into work most days. It's such a dry corporate environment anyway with a high churn rate.

Which part of this makes you think you are being bullied? It comes across that you make mistakes, you don't like having those mistakes pointed out, you think performance reviews are useless, you think all the others are chums, that there is a dry corporate environment even though you work for a multinational (corporate), you "challenged" your superior when he pointed out your mistakes etc.

Have you considered that you might have a poor attitude and that you could be the problem?

Stheno

ethernet wrote: »

Would like an outsider's opinion.

I'm a junior in a large multinational. We're a small team. Our manager is based in the US. I rarely need to talk to him apart from requesting holidays and the pointless performance reviews (it's just a tick the box approach here).

Have you suggested scheduling a monthly meeting with him, like a one on one? Ime large multinationals do not do tick the box approaches to performance reviews!

Being junior, I know I will make mistakes and welcome constructive feedback. I've certainly learned a lot in my time here so far. I feel this individual is so picky about any work we do though. I once tried to challenge this and the poop hit the fan - told I can't be talked to, I'll never improve, wrong attitude, etc. - a major over-reaction in my opinion. He ignored me on and off after this for some time.

He's the senior, he's accountable most likely for the work the team do, and you as a junior thought it was acceptable to challenge him on being thorough checking that work was done? I was literally gobsmacked when I read that!

My manager is aware of our less than ideal relationship but pretty much offered not suggestions going forward. Obviously the senior is more important. They talk daily on the phone (formally and informally) and thus have a much better relationship.

Schedule time to talk to your manager and voice your concerns. Doesn't sound to me like you are being bullied though.

bonyn

Yes, the senior is more important. So stop arguing and being disagreeable.
Give thought to the ideal career path the company can offer you & what you need to do to make it happen.
Try to make your job more interesting by establishing good working relationships with members of other teams. Figure out problems with existing processes and rather than just complain, try to figure out how to resolve them. And make sure you have a few hobbies in the evening so life's not all about work.

cml387

Being an old-timer (along with a lot of other old timers) in a company that is recently hiring a lot of new people, the opening post rings a bell for me.

Yes, you should suck it up to an extent. You will make mistakes, you will be pulled up on them, and being the newbie you'll be talked about.

However don't be afraid to point out (diplomatically) if you think things can be done better. There could be a sense of "it's always been done this way".

Also try to get some allies among the established workers. Try to be extremely good at one thing for a start, make yourself a go to guy/gal for something.